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Environmental Storytelling in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.

10/28/2019

By Bill Friedell

In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. (James Gunn, 2017), one of the primary characters in the film is the celestial being named Ego the Living Planet(Kurt Russell). He is not only a character, but a setting. Throughout the film’s runtime, Ego’s planet undergoes many visual changes that inform the viewer to perceive events. In fact, the entire film brilliantly utilizes its sci fi setting to better tell its story, and by looking at Ego’s planet, the Guardian’s ship, Contraxia, and the Sovereign's home planet helps visually inform the journeys of each character.

To sum up the plot, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 picks up with the Guardians after a mission gone wrong, driving a wedge between Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and Rocket (Bradley Cooper). When the team meets Ego, claiming to be Peter’s father, invites Peter and the Guardians back to his planet. Splitting into groups Peter goes with Drax (Dave Bautista) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) with him as he reconnects with his father, while Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel) fall into trouble with the Ravagers, led by Peter’s surrogate father Yondu (Michael Rooker).

As soon as the Guardians are taken to Ego’s planet, Gunn hits you with vibrant colors and whimsical atmosphere, perfectly complemented by George Harrison’s song, My Sweet Lord. Blue, orange, and yellow skies with a perpetual aurora borealis touch high mountain formations and lush green and red terrain. Cascades of multi colored bubbles adorn the sky. It is a paradise. Before this scene, the Guardians were hesitant to trust Ego, but the beauty of his planet is alluring to them.

This allure is even more important to Peter because Ego is Peter’s father. The film firmly establishes that Peter experienced a lot of sadness in his childhood because of a lack of a father. As a child, he told the kids at school that his Dad was David Hasselhoff and was away being an actor and musician. While he displays hesitancy over believing Ego wants a relationship with him after all this time, Peter seeing his Father’s planet is the beginning of Peter letting his Father into his heart.

It isn’t until later on in the film, when Peter and the Guardian’s learn the true nature of Ego’s need for Peter that the Planet himself changes. This change is signaled when Gamora and Nebula (Karan Gillen) discovers a large pile of various bones hidden away on Ego’s planet. The placement of the bone pile is a planetary skeleton in the closet, buried away from the pleasing aesthetic of Ego’s world. These bones are the other children of Ego who failed to harness the power he needs to ignite seeds he has planted to make everything into his image. Peter, now able to harness the power, can change the Universe, the entire setting into Ego. The facade is lowered even more by seeing the true face of Ego on the surface of the Planet itself, straight out of a Marvel comic.

Ego (Kurt Russell) in his planetary form.

Ego as he is depicted in the comics.

In order to defeat Ego, they must enter the planet’s core and destroy Ego’s brain. Inside the core, it is hollow and rocky, reflecting Ego’s heart. Ego has removed everything from his life that would impede what he calls his “purpose”. When Ego explains his history to Peter and the Guardians, it is done in these cores that house statue interpretations (in clip below), showing his quest for life and falling in love with Meredith Quill (Laura Haddock). Now revealing the lie, he never made a meaningful connection with any other lifeform he came across, seeing them as a disappointment. That is, until he met Meredith Quill, Peter’s Mom. He knew that his love for her would make him abandon his purpose, so he implanted a tumor in her and never returned to Earth. Now he is on the eve of his purpose being fulfilled, but he has alienated every connection from his life, leaving him a hollow planet. It’s also worth pointing out that the designs of all the statues on Ego’s planet are featureless, showing a lack of identity in others outside of his own self-perception. The universe is a blank setting that he wishes to imprint with himself.

As Peter and the Guardians fight Ego, the planet crumbles and conforms to Peter and Ego, using the environment around them and the power it gives them against each other.And as Ego’s brain is destroyed, Ego’s “human” form fades into dust as his true self, the planet crumbles around Peter, symbolizing their broken relationship. But, Yondu, Peter’s “true” father saves him from the planet’s destruction, cementing Yondu’s arc from a failed father to no longer being isolated by his mistakes, finding redemption in saving his son.

The Guardian’s ship, the Milano, also subtly tells the tale of the Guardians. In the beginning of the film, the Milano is a place of comfort and home, emphasized by the use of Lake Shore Drive, by Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah. A golden sunset radiates the cockpit and the wooden paneling that holds the ship’s cassette player. Once the Sovereign fleet attack the Guardians, their ship is left in pieces, just like Rocket and Peter’s relationship. Their inability to work together caused the group to be unable to properly escape, and if it wasn’t for Rocket taking the batteries from the Sovereign, they never would have been in the situation. As Star Lord, Drax, and Gamora leave with Ego, they walk towards sunlight, as Rocket turns away. It isn’t until the end of the film, at Yondu’s funeral, that this golden light returns, showing their return to being a family.

This use of environmental storytelling doesn’t just apply to the overall narrative of the film. The settings are also utilized for characterization. In the director's commentary for the film, Gunn talks about the specific use of color combo=inations for specific scenes, which informs the production design (Gunn, 2017). For the Sovereign's throne room, they are characterized with a gold and blue color scheme, giving the Sovereign a regal, utopian aesthetic. Seeing as they perceive themselves as being genetically perfect beings, this choice of color seems fitting.

Contrasting the Sovereign is the planet Contraxia, where the audience is re-acquainted with Yondu. It is a snowy, cloudy planet that houses an outpost filled sleazy neon signs, perfectly reflecting Yondu’s current state, as he is shown isolated in a room, looking down on the rest of his Ravagers completely alone. Over the course of the film, he realizes that he isn’t alone, and that he had not driven everyone from his life

The Sovereign throne room. On the throne sits Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), leader of the Sovereign.

The planet Contraxia.

Settings are an important stable of storytelling that can also undergo change the same way a character transforms over the course of a runtime. As Gunn points out in the film commentary, he aimed to make a film that was a spectacle as well as a character driven, personal film (Gunn, 2017). By utilizing the blockbuster and success of the original film to build a unique universe within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even utilizing a character who is a setting, to visually display deeper meanings.

Works Cited
"Play Movie with Audio Commentary by Director James Gunn." Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Dir. Gunn. Walt Disney Studios, 2017. Blu Ray

Personal Identity in The Prestige

10/20/2019

By Mason Leaver

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Prestige.

Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige (2006) is an impressive cinematic achievement. The film manages to fit a wealth of themes and ideas into a standard run time, focusing on the nature of entertainment, the morality of creativity, and the cost of rising to success. However, the central concept of the film revolves around the theme of personal identity, and it is explored through the developments and opinions of the two main characters. The Prestige presents two different philosophies about the nature of personal identity, one inspired by Derek Parfit, and the other a much more original philosophy, loosely based off of thoughts from David Hume.

In order to understand the philosophies of The Prestige one first needs a crash course on The Prestige, then on what exactly philosophers mean when they say “personal identity”. Hopefully you’ve already seen The Prestige if you’re reading this article, but here’s a refresher. The film is about two rival magicians, Alfred Borden, played by Christian Bale, and Robert Angier, played by Hugh Jackman. The film revolves around their rivalry to become the best magician in the late 19th century. Eventually, Borden develops an impossible trick: “The Transported Man”, where Borden walks through a door on one side of the stage and comes out another door on the other side of the stage instantaneously. Eventually, after a trip to see Nikola Tesla, Angier develops his own version of the trick, involving a cloning machine, which instantaneously clones Angier and generates the clone in a nearby location. At the very climax of the film, we learn how both men did their “Transporting Man” trick. It turns out that Borden was not one man, but two; a set of twins who both dedicated their lives to becoming one man together, all for the sake of this one perfect trick. Angier, however, cloned himself and killed off the old version. But what is most interesting is the characters’ perspectives on their own personal identities.

The Borden Twins prepare their trick.

Angier steps into his cloning machine.

The idea of personal identity is all about the question “What makes you… you?”. More specifically, The Prestige concerns itself with the question “What does it mean for me to be the same person over time?”, a topic often referred to as “persistence”. A philosopher might ask a question regarding persistence such as “Are you the same person now as you were when you were five? What does or does not make you the same person as her?”. There are a few ideas about how we survive and persist over time. One prominent theory is the body theory, which says that personal identity persists over time because you remain in the same body from life to death. Another popular theory is John Locke’s theory of survival, in which he said that you survive if someone in the future has psychological continuity with you, which is to say that they remember having had your experiences.

While the body theory and the memory theory of persistence are popular ones, they are challenged by the philosophies and ideas presented in The Prestige. Angier’s cloning machine is one such problem. After all, Angier’s clones are entirely psychologically continuous with the original (they have all of the same memories). According to Locke, they ought to be the very same person. This is actually a philosophy that Angier embraces. It is important to remember that Angier kills off the Angier that is cloned after each trick, so that there is only one Angier. The Angier which was copied is killed, and a new Angier takes his place, only to be killed the next time the trick is performed.
However, Angier does not see this as a death. Rather, Angier sees himself as surviving through the trick, because each clone is psychologically continuous. Each copy is just as much Angier as the original was. This seems to be the viewpoint shared by Nikola Tesla earlier in the movie, after Angier has seen the many copies of his hat. Angier asks Tesla which hat is his, to which Tesla replies, “They are all your hat, Mr. Angier” (The Prestige). That is to say that every hat has the same identity as all of the others. Each copy is just as much the same hat as the original. This view also happens to be shared by modern philosopher Derek Parfit. In his book “Reasons and Persons”, Parfit introduces a thought experiment almost identical to the one presented in The Prestige, involving a teleporter which malfunctions and creates two seperate copies of the same man. Parfit argues that since they are psychologically continuous, both versions are the same man, and that if one copy were to be destroyed, the personality and identity of the man would still be alive. It’s an odd concept, and it challenges our typical notions of the Self, but the film presents a fresh and interesting perspective on the problem.

Angier's many hats.

The other main character, Arthur Borden, holds a philosophy which is quite unique, and seems to have been made by Nolan specifically for the movie, through a mixture of David Hume’s views and Nolan’s own interpretation. Borden seems to agree with the eighteenth century philosopher David Hume, who argued against the idea of a persistent self at all. Instead, Borden seems to focus on a personality. David Hume denied the idea of a persistent self, arguing that, much like Theseus' famous ship, we constantly change over time, and that survival was a myth. Instead, Hume believed that we were “bundles of perceptions”, a collection of mental states and events which change over time. Alfred Borden seems to embrace and adapt this position. The two twin brothers together make up the one person “Borden”. We can call the twins Alfred 1 and Alfred 2. Both Alfred 1 and 2 see their own individual lives as irrelevant and meaningless; they find their true identity in the shared personality of Alfred Prime. If the twins both see themselves as nothing but a bundle of perceptions, mental states and events, they might form an argument something like “We both are one personality. There is no self, but only a bundle of experiences. Each of us represents one half of this bundle. If we (I) act as one personality, what have I to lose?”. It’s a strange philosophy, but one that is extremely unique and original to this film. Nolan presents both men’s philosophies as flawed, and asks us to understand and empathize with them, without actually accepting them as true.

Nolan has created two characters with very interesting philosophies on the self. Angier, who clones himself repeatedly and kills off the cloned copy, sees the self as persistent through memory, not through the body. Angier aligns with the viewpoints of the philosopher Derek Parfit. Alfred Borden, who is in fact two twins assuming the identity of one personality, somewhat aligns with the philosopher David Hume, but has also developed his own philosophy based on his circumstances.

Sources

Vesey, Godfrey Norman Agmondisham., and Derek Parfit. Philosophy in the Open. The Open University Press, 1978.

Hume, David. “Of the Immortality of the Soul.” Of the Immortality of the Soul, The University of Adelaide Library, 1777 https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/h/hume/david/of-the-immortality-of-the-soul/

Olson, Eric T. “Personal Identity.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 6 Sept. 2019,
www. plato.stanford.edu/entries/identity-personal/.

An Elseworld Story on the Big Screen: Joker Review

10/18/2019

By Bill Friedell

One of the most interesting approaches of superhero stories has been the idea of reinvention. While there have been many multimedia adaptations of the Batman in comic books, tv, video games, and film, the Joker has too been reinterpreted by many artists, writers, and actors. But most versions of the Joker in film posits that there must be a Batman in order for their to be a Joker. That is, until Todd Phillips’ 2019 reimagining. Taking the approach of a character falling further and further into madness, Joker reimagines the clown prince of crime’s origin in a realistic 1980s context that refers to contemporary issues.

Joaquin Phoenix’s performance as Arthur Fleck/Joker is the clear standout of the film, delivering a truly transformative and startling portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime. From the minute you see Phoenix, he instills a level of uncomfortableness that never truly leaves, from his lanky, malnourished physical appearance, to his specific walk and run, to his terrifying, uncontrollable laughter. Once you see him, you know he’s going to fall off the deep end and it's only a matter of time before he causes serious damage to others.

The cinematography, music, and production design also impress. Everything is seen through the eyes of Arthur, bringing us into his mental state with the choice of shots (as seen in the pictures provided). The score by Hildur Guðnadóttir, particularly the leitmotif that accompanies Arthur throughout the film brilliantly complements Arthur’s interpretation, instilling dread, tragedy, and dark triumph of the Joker. The overall pacing is slower than most comic book films, allowing us to wallow in Arthur's POV and build a true sense of dread.

The production design is most evident in Gotham City, which truly feels like 70s and 80s New York. Gotham City has always been an exaggerated New York with its crime ridden, garbage filled streets. Like all the best interpretations of Gotham City, it is on the brink of collapse. While it is not full to the brim with supervillains, it is falling to economic ruin as the divide between the rich and the poor grows, which escalates as Arthur inadvertently gets involved in this struggle between the 99% and the 1%.

Arthur going up and down this stairway is a reoccurring visual that represents Arthur's (Joaquin Phoenix) rise and fall.

The cinematography brings an intimacy and intensity that puts the viewer on edge, particularly in this close up on Arthur (Joaquin Phoenix)..

Gotham city is trash filled and on the brink of collapse, a perfect backdrop for the fall of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) and his rise as the Joker.

Phillips brings an incredible sense of subjectivity to the film. It presents the story in a way that confuses reality and delusion. Phillips introduces the audience to this storytelling dynamic early enough to understand Arther’s desire for validation as he watches a late night show. He imagines himself as he is acknowledged in front of a crowd by late night host Murray Franklin (Robert Deniro). As he descends further into his mental illness and makes worse and worse decisions and losing the people in his life, we see that these dream scenarios become less delineated from reality.

While this approach requires active spectatorship, it also allows for shallow characterization among the supporting cast. Most of the characters in the film have similar bad interactions with him, which leads him to kill those he perceives as treating him badly. Is this all in Arthur’s head? If so, what are the implications Phillips wants us to take away? Ultimately, I perceived Phillips to be commenting on Arthur’s narcissistic need to be noticed and recognized in some sort of way, discovering that killing those he deems worthy of death gives him that attention.

One of the major stylistic influences on the film is Martin Scorsese, specifically King of Comedy (1982) and Taxi Driver (1976). These films follow Rupert Pupkin and Travis Bickle, who descend into criminal acts (usually violent acts) in response to the society around them and being denied something they want. The most specific references to Scorsese appear in the relationship between Arthur and Murray Franklin. De Niro starred in both Taxi Driver and King of Comedy as the protagonists. While shots and ideas are shared by these three films, it never took me out of the film, due to the more intimate point of view the film allows us into.

This standalone take on Joker brought to mind the approach of an Elseworld Story, a type of story DC Comics would tell outside of traditional comic book continuity and drastically shift major aspects of the characters for new story potential. In the case of Joker; it tells the story of the Joker's origin without Batman in the style of a Scorsese film. This approach to superhero films could rejuvenate the genre in a way that James Mangold’s Logan (2017) did: placing familiar characters in new circumstances. Joker is very much in the spirit of this comic book storytelling tradition. With its 80s New Yorke style Gotham and Scorsese archetypes, it allows the character to manifest as something new entirely: a lone vindictive killer who incidentally incites a revolution, as oppose to the criminal mastermind who is the inverse of Batman in every way.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight by Brian Augustyn and Michael Mignola tells the story of Batman in the 1800s hunting Jack the Ripper.

Superman: Red Son, by Mark Millar and Dave Johnson, takes place on an alternate world where Superman landed in the Soviet Union and exeplified Communist values.

One issue the film had was the usage of Batman lore and mythology. While the redefinition of Thomas Wayne as a privileged one percenter running for mayor and including Arkham Asylum as Arkham State Hospital is well done, the inclusion of young Bruce Wayne and the use of a major moment in Batman lore feel ancillary. The subjectivity of the film does give purpose to this scene, but it ultimately took me out of the film. Because of seeing this scene in so many other Batman films, it stuck out from the approach the film had taken that it drew attention to itself. The film works best when it is focusing on its singular take on the Joker, reinterpreting the characters and world separate from Batman.

Overall, Joker is a unique film in the comic book film genre. The overall craft of the film from, direction, cinematography, score, and acting work beautifully and allows for a film to rest in the uncomfortable subjectivity of a truly disturbed central character. While it may wear its influences on its sleeve and had one note supporting characters, the overall journey from Arthur Fleck to Joker is satisfying and disturbing to watch. If you go into this movie with an open mind to a new interpretation of the Clown Prince of Crime, you my find this film may be up your alley.

Works Cited
Augustyn, Brian, et al. Batman: Gotham by Gaslight. DC Comics, 2017.

Millar, Mark, et al. Superman: Red Son. DC Comics, 2003.

The World's End: The Art of Genre Shifting

10/14/2019

By Bill Friedell

One of the great modern masters of genre filmmaking is British director Edgar Wright. Throughout the Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy, Wright expertly tells human, relatable stories wrapped in genre conventions. Shaun of the Dead (2004) combines the Rom-Com and Zombie genres to tell the story of a man who needs to take responsibility and initiative for his life. Hot Fuzz (2007) combines action movie clichés and horror mystery elements to showcase the mundanity of police work and tell the tale of a man who needs to connect to people rather than cling to his job so seriously. In The World’s End, Wright continues to mix and match genre elements to comment on where we come from, where we are going, and the people we become as a result of it. What I wish to focus on is the way Wright takes the presupposed genre of the film (a bar hopping dramady) into an entirely new genre (sci fi invasion) while maintaining the dramatic throughline despite the change in stakes. By analyzing the pivotal scene in which the turn occurs as well as exploring what led up to the turn and how it affects the story moving forward, Edgar Wright along with actor/co-screenwriter Simon Pegg flip the script on the audience and enhance the themes and stake while doing so.

A brief summary of the plot: The World’s End follows the story of Gary King (Simon Pegg), a middle aged alcoholic who invites his high school friends to join him on a pub crawl called “The Golden Mile” in their old town. The turn occurs when they discover that the town has been secretly overtaken by alien invaders. In order to avoid being replaced, they must carry on the Golden Mile as if they know nothing.

What’s remarkable about The World’s End’s setup to this genre turn is that the story does not indicate that it is going to be a sci fi film until it becomes one. Shaun of the Dead delights in the foreshadowing of zombies in the background of the first act. Even Hot Fuzz has foreshadowing sprinkled throughout the film before the mystery at the center of its story is revealed. In The World’s End, Wright keeps its foreshadowing closer to the chest, with any sort of foreshadowing being more lowkey and comfortable in the context of a comedy. Simple observations such as not being recognized by certain people and closed off behavior, and the general bizzare energy of being in their hometown appears to be normal for these men, except for Gary who can’t stand it. As Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg point out during the film commentary, Gary is relieved to find out that aliens took over the town, because it means that it isn’t the traditional reasons one would feel this way: getting old (Wright, Pegg, 2013).

Now to look at the scene in which the turn occurs (Clips below). Gary King goes to the bathroom, knowing that his friends want to call it a night, ruining his plans to finish the Golden Mile. Nearly slipping in the bathroom, he nearly punches the wall in the same exact spot he hit as a teenager when he first attempted the Golden Mile. It symbolizes Gary’s desire to return to the past, to remain in his prime despite being well past it. As he goes to the bathroom, a teenager goes to the bathroom. Despite Gary’s attempts at small talk, even asking the teen to join him on the Mile (which Wright and Pegg determine to be his lowest point), that is when the twist occurs as a fight scene breaks out, causing the teen to lose his head, revealing that he isn’t human (Write, Pegg, 2013). After the head comes off, Gary’s friends storm into the bathroom, ready to ditch him for lying to them earlier, but end up roped into the conspiracy. Now this group of friends at their lowest moment are now forced together in order to survive.

The central drama in The World’s End is what’s crucial to the execution of the turn and the success of the movie itself. While being an alien invasion story, the central plot focuses on the character of Gary King. The reason Gary continues the Golden Mile isn’t because they need to keep their cover. It’s because he wants an excuse to continue his path of self destruction. This throughline never changes and is actually enhanced by the fantastical setting.

Another film of Wright’s that nailed the hard right turn that involved a shift in genre was Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010). Scott Pilgrim began as a simple, quirky, stylishly directed love triangle story that turns into a video game-eque action film where Scott must fight his girlfriend’s evil exes (see the two clips below). Just like The World’s End, Scott Pilgrim takes a shift in genre, but the central ideas, themes, and drama remain the same. Scott Pilgrim is about the baggage we carry into a relationship and how we respond to it. When Scott has to fight his exes, it becomes an exaggerated metaphor for something that many people struggle with in their romantic relationships.

The World’s End uses the invasion as a sort of intervention for the group of friends. Each character has unresolved issues that went unresolved. Gary peaked in high school and never moved on. Andy (Nick Frost) was horribly let down by Gary ditching him in a car crash and is dealing with a wife who is leaving him. Steven (Paddy Considine) was kept down by Gary, causing him to never be able to pursue a romance with Sam (Rosamund Pike). Peter (Eddie Marsan) is reminded of the pain he felt when being bullied in high school after seeing his high school bully in a pub. The town brings about these issues the characters are dealing with and giving them a situation to change them. They face their personal problems by metaphorically confronting them as they are confronted with aliens that offer a sort of reset button by turning everyone who they deem a problem into a robot (referred to as a blank). Gary can be reborn as his younger self, but it wouldn’t be him. By the end of the film, Gary is confronted by the Network, the intelligence behind the invasion. He sees Gary as representative of the whole world, irresponsible screwups. However, Gary and his friends stand against the Network proud of the fact that they aren’t perfect because that’s what makes them human. The aliens are attempting to reform humanity within their hometown, but find that they need to replace the entire town with blanks (which they note is more than they do with other planets they have inhabited). The large scale plot of the world being forced into correction reflects Gary confronting the failings of his life.

Genre filmmaking at its best takes real world issues and themes and packages them in fantastical settings, elements, and characters. By taking the invasion story and beginning it as a comedy about friends getting drunk on a pub crawl, Wright seamlessly invites the audience to partake in a stylish, comedic, action packed tale of regret, friendship, and soldiering on in the face of regret. It’s one thing to write a twist that recontextualizes the film at the very end, but it’s another to shift genre and have the genre change enhance the drama already found in the story.

Works Cited
"Feature Commentary with Writers Edgar Write & Simon Pegg." The World's End. Dir. Wright. Universal Studios, 2013. Blu Ray

Preparing for War: John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum Review

10/11/2019

By Bill Friedell

One of the best theatrical experiences of the summer was found in John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum (Chad Stahelski, 2019). The John Wick series has raised the bar for action films with gritty, well choreographed action sequences and simple worldbuilding. Chapter 3, like its predecessor, it raises the stakes and scale of the story, while also maintaining the quality of the action and spectacle as well as fleshing out the world of John Wick.

To sum up the plot, John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum follows the titular John Wick (Keanu Reeves) as he fights for his life, now having a large bounty on his head after breaking the rules of the Criminal Underworld at the end of Chapter 2. Without the services and privileges his former life afforded him, he fights his way to survival so that he may live and remember his deceased wife.

As per usual in this series, Keanu Reeves is doing some of the best work of his career. Reeves and Wick are an actor and character match made in Heaven. Reeves wonderfully portrays the desperation and physicality that John Wick requires in this film. His physical performance in the action sequences are nothing short of exceptional. Halle Berry also gives a good performance. She gives an attitude and intensity that leaves a mark despite not having a lot of screen time.

John Wick (Keanu Reeves) rides a horse through New York to escape the city.

Every action sequence brings a new element or fighting style, keeping the audience engaged and on the edge of their seats. Whereas previous entries focused on a mix of gunplay and hand to hand combat, the situations John finds himself in calls for new ways to fight enemies, such as throwing knives found in a weapon’s store when he doesn’t have a gun or utilizing a library book as an improvised weapon. Whether it be an all knife fight, a firefight involving attack dogs, horseback chases, and motorcycle sword fights, the film gleefully and skillfully juggles lots of different balls in terms of its action set pieces and does this brilliantly.. The brutality is also ramped up, intensifying the already intense action and furthering the enjoyment. All the stuntmen and crew deserve praise for what they accomplished. The only complaint I have with the action is that the final action sequence is comprised of three different stages of opponents. While in of itself, the action sequences are well done and have wonderful choreography and character moments, it begins to feel its length as it goes on for so long.

The thematic throughline line of consequences forces John (Keanu Reeves) to confront the entirety of the criminal underworld.

The aesthetics of John Wick remain as strong as ever. The city of New York at night with its neon lighting in the rain perfectly reacquaints us with the series’ world. The Neo Noir aesthetic uniquely characterizes New York as a foreboding threat as he is hunted down by various assassins. And as the story leaves New York, we get a variety of locales, from Casablanca, to the wide, empty desert, and all the way back to New York, uncovering new facets of the criminal world of John Wick. The underworld of John Wick is expanded, showing where John Wick was trained, the Casablanca Continental, and the manufacturers of the gold coins used in the underworld.

Thematically, John Wick Chapter 3 is about consequences and the choices we make. As introduced in Chapter 2, the elite criminals known as High Table demand John Wick’s blood for breaking the rules of the underworld. Everyone who had a part to play in John’s actions is being punished. Through John’s journey in this film, despite his more than capable ability to survive, John has effectively ended the life he wished to have away from being an assassin. By showing the depths John goes to to find a path forward, the furthering lore of John Wick’s world thematically develops the idea of fighting a system vs bending to it.

John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum maintains the high standards of its predecessors while raising the bar for its quality of action. The world building nicely complements the themes of the film as well as continuing the themes of the previous entries. The acting and stunt work are superb and the direction is some of the best action directing of the 2010s. If you are a fan of good action, John Wick Chapter 3 is a must-see experience.

The Art of Title Design: Deadpool

10/7/2019

By Joseph Naguski

The classic tune “Angel of the Morning” by Juice Newton fills audiences' ears while the timeless Marvel opening flashes on the screen of this title sequence. That is, until viewers are greeted with the gruesome image of a man screaming with a bullet hole in his head, his cigarette airborne and spit flying in multiple directions. Our 2016 review by Cayce Bower gave a glance into the grotesque tone and implementation of 4th-wall breaking elements set by director Tim Miller in the 2016 anti-hero action film Deadpool. This title analysis will take you on an exploration into the outlandish and dark comedy that overtakes the title sequence of the first film in this unconventional “superhero” franchise.

After the audience is delightfully introduced to the man with a bullet going through his forehead, the out of place soundtrack continues and the title sequence meanders through a plethora of spilt coffee flying through the air as credits fade into the screen. These credits aren’t just an ordinary list of actors however, as we are taken into a car the credits “SOME DOUCHEBAG’S FILM” and “STARRING GOD’S PERFECT IDIOT” appear into focus. Then suddenly the film’s universe breaks the 4th wall for the first time, showing an edition of People Magazine with Ryan Reynolds (the actor playing Deadpool) on the cover with the headline “SEXIEST MAN ALIVE”. The screen then continues to wind through a multitude of gore and sarcasm-filled credits with little doses of Easter-eggs for comic book fans thrown into certain spots. Eventually we are finally introduced to our lovely protagonist Deadpool as he has his junk on top of one man’s head, one hand shoving his fingers into the eyes of some goon, and in the other he is giving an insanely powerful wedgie to another goon (who is blasting a sub-machine gun into a blown-up car). The screen then zooms out to a super wide shot revealing the whole ridiculous scenario unfolding in the sequence. A drawing of Deadpool slicing a bad guy’s head off then floats into the screen before quickly zooming into the start of the film.

For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, read the review, or just need a refresher: Deadpool revolves around Wade Wilson, an ex-special forces soldier turned mercenary whose life takes a dramatic turn when he is diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer, leading to him leave his love so that she does not have to witness his demise. He is approached by someone introducing him to an experimental treatment for the cancer, guiding him to a man named Ajax who is actually performing experiments on people to try to awaken mutant genes inside them. After a multitude of tortuous experiments at an attempt to trigger the genes, Ajax awakens the genes inside Wilson which cures him of his cancer and gives him superhuman abilities including enhanced healing and superhuman strength. However, this comes at the cost of his severe disfigurement. With the help of some others he searches Ajax who has kidnapped his love and evidently has a cure for his disfigurement.

Title sequences are meant to give the audience a taste of what is yet to come. Deadpool does this so well is because the wacky events of the title sequence were actually created before the actual scenes for the film. This way when the actual events occurred the title sequence would not have to be changed for every little detail. The scene shown within the sequence is a precursor to a later scene in the film which gives the audience the details as to why the crazy highway scene occurred in the first place.

A shot from the highway scene that the title sequence foreshadows

Comedy is not something that is easy to get right the first time. Comedic timing was a big part of making this title sequence so successful to gearing up audiences for the film’s story. Director Tim Miller removed many of the gags originally used because the jokes become cluttered when presented so closely to each other, leaving audiences spending more time trying to get the jokes than actually enjoying them. The writers of Deadpool are the same as in the 2009 film Zombieland, which features a similarly grotesque title sequence. In Deadpool, the use of generic and comedic title credits instead of the staff’s actual names adds on to the uniqueness of its quirky persona. This was actually not what was originally intended for the film’s opening sequence, but everyone loved it so much they decided to keep the generic credits. As for Easter Eggs placed into the title sequence, there are a couple which are spotted. The coffee cup that has Rob L. on it is a nod to Deadpool comic book artist and co-creator Robert Liefeld. Another one is the green card showing Ryan Reynolds rocking spandex and a superhero mask, and lastly the obvious magazine displaying the actor on the cover.

Juice Newton’s “Angel in the Morning” is certainly a perfect fit to be the contrasting piece to the mayhem that fills the title sequence. Director Tim Miller said in an interview with Will Perkins from the website www.artofthetitle.com “I think everybody gets a smile at the contrast of hardcore thugs off to commit murder and mayhem listening to Juice Newton. It gives them a sensitive side!” (Tim Miller)

The title sequence for Deadpool was designed by Blur Studio, who has made the title sequence for the Netflix series Mindhunter and the film The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo which I have previously wrote an article on. Deadpool’s sequence is a super-meta anomaly with beautifully crafted visual effects backing up the insanity of the events that occur later in the film. The title sequence was mapped out by Blur using techniques they have developed through their extensive work in video game cinematics and created using 3ds Max. 3ds Max is a professional computer graphics software designed for making 3D animations, models, games and images. This along with some other programs such as V-Ray and NUKE to help form the compelling visuals for the sequence.

Deadpool takes everything you would expect from a superhero film and creates a super-meta version of that with amplified comedy fulfilled through the eccentric use of over the top violence, language, and sexual humor. Its title sequence takes these things and fits them all into a nice two minute warm up for the absurdity audiences are about to embark on.

Work Cited
Perkins, Will. “Deadpool .” Art of the Title, 22 Mar. 2016, www.artofthetitle.com/title/deadpool/.