Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow Review

(As a manga, not a comic, otaku, I will strive to reflect on connections to the comic canon in this animated or live action adaptation. I owe the fans at least that much, since I read my comics backwards mostly)

The Avengers are not a Marvel group I know much about, though they’re becoming well known and widespread recently, especially with the rumors of an Avengers film coming out in 2011. Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, there’s lots of famous names in the group (Captain America being sadly lacking in a movie I want to watch with just him). And there are two other Avengers films I’ll review. This one’s a bit different, since the Avengers are notably absent in their original form. But I’ll get to that with synopsis.

We begin with an unknown person telling a group of four children a story of the Avengers and how they eventually took to creating lives outside of crimefighting. Captain American and Black Widow fell in love, as did Giant Man and Wasp, and Black Panther and Storm (implied and also canon, I believe). Also, Thor left the group to go to Asgard. And oddly enough Hulk was never mentioned in the group, which will be explained later on. The four children who are being told the story are suggested to be the four children of the Avengers. But a new threat appears, Ultron, and the Avengers are sorely defeated without Thor’s help, but the children are hidden away in a place where Ultron cannot find them, so that they are at least safe from his wrath and that there would be hope for the future. We shift to 12 years later and the children are enjoying themselves, albeit Thor’s daughter is depressed, but takes out her anger on Pym (son of Giant man and Wasp) and Azari (son of Black Panther and Storm) playing tag. James (son of Captain America and Black Widow) is awoken, generating a conflict between them since James feels nothing impressive will happen and his friends are less than realistic about the way things are. They’re stopped by one Tony Stark, one of the few surviving Avengers. Tony tries to comfort James in his frustration, but James rejects him. An alarm goes off and the children hide in their quarters, but meet Vision (another surviving Avenger) as he tries to sneak in, revealing that Ultron’s power is expanding, damaged from his wanderings in his city. Tony goes to repair Vision, telling the children to stay where they are. They ignore him of course and get into Tony’s secret lab. They find the Iron Avengers, android imitations of the original Avengers, and Vision reveals that Hawkeye’s son is alive. James unknowingly activates the Iron Avengers and they launch off to attack Ultron. This lets Ultron onto their location and he summarily defeats and takes control of the Iron Avengers. Ultron attacks the base, Tony keeping him distracted in his Iron Man suit as the kids are ordered to leave the base. Vision forcefully hacks the ship and they jet away, Tony being captured. Vision runs out of energy and the kids take the ship to Ultron’s city, though they are forced to leave it before it is destroyed. In the process of attacking the city, they meet up with the son of Hawkeye (the archer in the opening story), Francis Barton, who rescues them. He reluctantly guides them to Ultron’s citadel so they can rescue Tony. The kids find Ultron’s collection of the fallen superheroes’ costumes and items and are discovered, but manage to escape with Tony after Hawkeye Jr. decides to help them. The group escapes to find Bruce Banner, the Hulk, who was an unmentioned and unofficial member of the Avengers. Bruce rejects their invitation, but the kids decide to draw Ultron to Hulk’s hideout. Torunn (daughter of Thor and Sif) begs her father for aid and her sword that she lost in the city before returns to her magically. The group fights against the Iron Avengers, defeating them. Pym then manages to bring out the Hulk and he fights against Ultron with decent success. But after he is knocked out by Ultron’s power, Pym yet again provokes the Hulk to mercilessly pummel Ultron and tear him in half. Afterwards, Torunn takes on the responsibility to throw Ultron into space. She is saved by her father who returns her to earth in Asgardian armor and the group mobilizes to destroy the rest of Ultron’s empire after he is gone as the movie concludes.

There are eight important characters, five of them being the titular Next Avengers themselves. James, son of Captain America and Black Widow, has a classic older teen personality, laid back and cautious, an interesting blend of his mother and father’s traits. Torunn has something of a father complex in that she desires to meet his expectations, even speaking in an Old English form on and off with regular teen idiom, influenced by her being raised primarily on Earth. Azari, commonly the voice of reason and a stand out minority character, has the interesting dual traits of Black Panther’s enhanced agility and Storm’s electricity (not her full control over the weather, if only to lower his power to a comparable level). Pym is the youngest and the shortest, serving mostly as comic relief along with being a tech expert in the group. Easily scared and easily amused as well, he reflects his youth very well through the film. Francis Barton is the last of the Next Avengers to be revealed and possibly the oldest, though we don’t get any real age references to determine the kids’ ages beyond being in their early to late teens. Sarcastic, self serving and very self reliant, he’s one of the members without any apparent enhanced resistance and like his DC counterpart in Green Arrow, has issues with authority, but begrudgingly helps those in need. Tony Stark and Bruce Banner are the last surviving Avengers and maintain their general behavior from their glory days: Tony pushing himself hard to improve himself and Bruce being excessively withdrawn in order to serve the greater good in preventing the Hulk from being released. Betty Ross makes an appearance, a balance and control to Hulk’s anger and Bruce’s isolation. Ultron is the last character with significant importance, the antagonist with enough power to intimidate, but not the sheer potency that comes with other larger Avengers foes like Loki and Skrull invaders.

Two themes run through the film, one of them more character centered, the other emphasizing the overall importance of the Next Avengers. Torunn presents a large subtheme with her Asgardian heritage as well as the recognition of the plot that her father is still alive, unlike her other siblings’ parents. Her belief that she is immortal and invulnerable leads to her losing her sword in their first fight against Ultron’s robots, not to mention it gives her a strong reality check that she is less than invulnerable. She eventually realizes that her humanity, even if she is Asgardian, is something she has to accept. In embracing this, she even takes on the task of flying into space to throw Ultron into the depths and is praised by her father for her courage. The cycle is complete as Torunn is praised as an Asgardian and invited to live in Asgard with her parents. But she admits that her place is with the human/mutant family she has on Earth. The other theme is the Next Avengers accepting and taking on the responsibility they have as the next generation of surviving superheroes. This is truly a large responsibility, since we get the indication that Ultron wiped out almost all the superheroes in the world, not just the Avengers. James is the impetus to this change in their motivation, taking after his father who started the original Avengers. And the others follow suit, fully realizing their powers; Azari projecting a panther of electricity, Pym managing to increase his size along with his original power to decrease it, Torunn fighting with an Asgardian’s strength, and Hawkeye Jr. taking on his father with just his bow skills. The previous Avengers either leave in peace or follow behind as old experts who can guide the new Avengers into the future.

All in all the film is good, even if there is an awkward mix of a child friendly approach to Marvel comics with the younger characters along with the realization by adult viewers that the children are for all intents and purposes orphaned, as well as the dystopian feel the film also gives to a viewer. The kids’ less than intelligent actions and phrases (except Francis’ less than intimidating threat to James of “If you talk about my dad again, I will punch you in the face,”) can be excused, and their ambition can be admired, fighting against villains stronger than them and taking on very adult responsibilities to save the world from a global threat. But the moments of comedy kind of make this an awkward view, albeit this is a decent attempt to introduce the Avengers to a younger audience, in contrast to what the Ultimate Avengers movies will no doubt present to us in the future. A 4 out of 5, with a 90% recommendation, the star lost because of the sheer paradox of kid humor with what is a decidedly angst filled setting of the end of the world along with a few confusing plot holes (they never say who Francis’ mother is, though it’s implied from canon it’s Mockingbird, along with why Pym Jr. didn’t use his size increasing powers from the start as opposed to at the end). But I still recommend this if only for the “What If” potential it inspires. Until next time, Namaste and Aloha.

League of Extraordinary Gentlmen Review

(As a manga otaku, not a comic otaku, I will strive to the best of my abilities to reflect on connections of the adaptation in question to the comic canon it derives from. I owe that much to the fans.)

I had seen the trailer for this film years ago, and thought little of it, similar to the adaptation of Sherlock Holmes recently out in theatres. But I decided to take a consumer risk and buy this and after watching it, I was hooked for a time into understanding the comic backstory and discovering that there were actually multiple leagues through history. But historically speaking, this film is very nice for people who are literary and history buffs. The fact that the film roots you in the beginning of the 20th century is impressive enough, but the fact that we’re primarily in Europe only further emphasizes how foreign the locales may be to an American viewer, even with Tom Sawyer as an unofficial member of the league in this film. But enough of my waxing on the literary appeal; let’s summarize the plot instead.

We begin with some text indicating what I just told you, the time being 1899 and the nations of Europe being at an uneasy peace. The indication is that new weapons will be used and they are. The England Police are powerless against the single tank that trudges through the town and crashes through the bank. And the men inside are Germans, breeding suspicion among the English. The Germans deny this and another group attacks a factory in Berlin, further confusing everyone as to who is behind this group, led by a man with a cane with a skull on it and a metal mask. The scene shifts to Africa, where the British Empire calls on the services of one Allan Quatermain, who reluctantly agrees after some soldiers attack the building he was hiding out in. The intent is to create a group of unique individuals to combat the mysterious group that threatens to hurl Europe into a war of unheard of proportions. Quatermain is escorted to London where he meets three other members of the newly formed League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Captain Nemo (from 20000 Leagues Under the Sea), Rodney Skinner (not the Invisible Man himself, but close enough) and Mina Harker (from Bram Stoker’s Dracula). Their mission is to stop the man responsible for the attacks, one Fantom, from attacking a conference of the world’s leaders in Venice. Their employer, M, directs them to find two other individuals, Dorian Grey and Dr. Jekyll. They find out about Nemo’s impressive technological advancements, like his car. They first seek out Dorian Grey and are attacked by Fantom, aided by Tom Sawyer who assists them. Fantom escapes and Dorian eventually decides to join, if only because he’s bored and has a hard on for Mina (who is revealed to be a vampire). After discovering Nemo has a subarmine, Tom (who joins the League) and Allan capture Dr. Jekyll’s counterpart in Paris, Mr. Hyde, and he is convinced to join as well. After a series of interactions between the various members (Tom rejected by Mina, Allan showing Rodney he isn’t as stealthy as he thinks, conversing with Nemo on his past and showing Tom about the English way of shooting, and Allan reflecting with Mina about trust issues within the League, as well as Dorian making moves on Mina and Dr. Jekyll confronting his inner demon as well as noting Nemo’s past). The group arrives in Venice and manages to stop Fantom’s attempt to collapse the entire city of Venice by destroying the many pillars underneath it with a combination of Tom’s ambition and Nemo’s technology to stop the chain of dominoes. Quatermain chases Fantom, saying he’s discovered the spy, suspected to be Skinner, but it’s revealed on the Nautilus that it was Dorian, who shoots Ishmael, the second mate. Not to mention the even larger revelation that M is actually the Fantom. Dorian escapes as does M. Nemo seeks to track them, but it is revealed by M that there are bombs onboard and that he has planned to collect samples of each of the League to create an even stronger army than before. The sabotage nearly sinks the Nautilus, but with Jekyll’s decision to collaborate with Hyde, the Nautilus is saved and repaired. It’s discovered that Skinner stowed away with Gray and knows the location of M’s secret base. The group follows him to Mongolia where the group meets with Skinner and devises a plan to sabotage M’s plans. Skinner will plant bombs to destroy the labs, Nemo and Hyde will rescue the prisoners, Quatermain and Sawyer will seek out M and Mina will confront Gray for his treachery. Tom and Allan find M, and Nemo and Hyde are found out by a soldier as they free the prisoners, the two split up, Nemo rescuing the scientists while Hyde holds off the attacking soldiers. M manages to escape after it is revealed he is James Moriarty, rival of Sherlock Holmes. Dorian and Mina face off, Mina eventually stabbed and apparently killed, but turning the tables and impaling Dorian against the wall, revealing his photo and killing him for good. Meanwhile, Sawyer fights off Reed and with Skinner’s help, manages to stop an armored soldier, Skinner burned badly and Sawyer taken hostage by Reed, still invisible. Hyde also has his share of problems fighting an unnamed henchman (Dante, I think), who overdoses on Jekyll’s elixir and becomes a monstrous entity of pure muscle and strength, which Hyde manages to defeat as they get it cornered in a room with a narrow opening where the explosion started by Skinner buries him. And in the final confrontation between Quatermain and Moriarty, Quatermain saves Sawyer from Reed, but is fatally wounded by Moriarty as he escapes. But Sawyer manages to take Quatermain’s advice and take out Moriarty with a shot from 600 yards or so and saves the day, even though Allan succumbs to his wound and dies. The League buries him in Africa and as the film ends, we get the potential for a sequel as Allan seemingly comes back from the dead, since a witch doctor blessed him, saying Africa would never let him die.

All the members of the League are depicted excellently. Sean Connery as Allan Quatermain is irreplaceable, sardonic, old, wizened and experienced from the 19th century as the great white hunter in Africa. Shane West portrays Tom Sawyer, the only American and the ambitious young adult who takes on the promise of the new century as the League begins to come into the light after all those years of hiding. Naseeruddin Shah is Captain Nemo, actually depicted as his Indian ethnicity from the books, is a true exotic character, fighting only hand to hand and with a blade, with seemingly peak human strength, but no special powers or superhuman strength like the others. Peta Wilson depicts Wilhelmina “Mina” Harker, the only female member, but a true vampire, summoning bats and sucking blood like no one’s business. Tony Curran does Rodney Skinner, the original comic character who stole the invisibility formula, and the comic relief, but also a surprisingly courageous soul who comes through in a pinch. Jason Flemying portrays Dr. Henry Jekyll, also getting into makeup for Mr. Hyde occasionally, a divided personality, withdrawn and timid on the one hand and bestial and rough on the other, eventually lining up in some way with the titanic monstrous form without and the intelligent personality within. Stuart Townsend does Dorian Grey as well as I can imagine with a comic book spin, suave, debonair and as he put it “complicated”. Richard Roxburgh portrays M, the Fantom and Moriarty, three radically different and yet interrelated characters, each with personality traits, voices and behavior within the narrative itself.

The two themes in the film are spread over time, the main one being the progress of the future and the danger and promise it holds for the new generation. This is emphasized by Moriarty’s characterization, probably being still relatively young, but as he said reborn after his accident, which according to my research would’ve been only 8 years ago in 1891 when he and Holmes fell off Reichenbach Falls. The ambition on his part to push the world into the future with advanced industrial technology as well as gaining profit from selling it could be seen as a capitalist virtue, but his desire to do this even at the cost of sacrificing lives does make his dream seem twisted in comparison to Nemo’s technological progress, who would be according to the history of the novels, at least in his 50s, if not his 60s (though they could’ve altered the history in the graphic novel in relation to Nemo to make him younger in contrast to his appearance in the Jules Verne novel set in 1866, which would have him aged 30+ years from then to 1899). The other theme is more related to the oldest and youngest characters, Quatermain and Sawyer. This comes about with the interaction of their English and American thinking as well as Quatermain’s relationship to Sawyer as a projection of his lost son and the eventual conviction that his young protégé will carry on the future as well as he did in the 1800s. Other more minor themes of sorts are Jekyll resolving his internal conflict with Hyde and Dorian and Mina’s romance ending with Mina noting that her immortality is less tragic than Dorian’s, dependent on the hiding away of his cursed picture. Nemo’s theme is not confronted as much, though I imagine his decision to come into the light in the ending indicates he is at least at peace with the issues he had from the Jules Verne novel (which I won’t spoil).

All in all, this film is great, though the accessibility issues I reflect on with a lot of these adaptations commonly harm my recommendation percentage. But even if one doesn’t understand the rooting of these characters in English prose from the 19th century by such great authors as Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde, there is still the action/superhero atmosphere presented persistently, keeping you on the edge of your proverbial seat. The subplots balance out what would’ve been an otherwise unnecessarily action packed film with more mature themes, but not mature enough to give it an R rating, so the kids and teens can go to this legally with their parents, who can probably appreciate the literary influences more than the kids. On a concluding note on the comic relations, this is very much a sampling of what is a much larger storyline to my knowledge, involving other big villains, like Fu Manchu, Professor Moreau. It does involve Moriarty, although in a somewhat different vein and as the main overall antagonist, not to mention Rodney Skinner replaces the original Invisible Man, who according to this timeline would’ve been dead as per the events of the book and original characters such as Reed and Dante also make this very much a redux of the original premise which was much larger, spanning many eras and even travelling to Mars at one point I believe. But overall, a 5 out of 5 with a 60% recommendation. Until next time, Namaste and Aloha.