peterfaure

Well, the movies starts off well with a touching tribute to Stan Lee..... It's just about all downhill form there. Marvel seems mostly interested in making specific audiences happy these days, and in this movie it's about women of course. To be fair the whole "empowering women" theme is not too in your face (although it's a little disturbing that pretty much all the male characters are either villains or idiots, like a completely out of character Nick Fury now turned stooge and comic relief for the powerful amazon from outer space).... But really it's just a poorly written script (one chase after another with no real character building or sophistication), and a poorly acted movie (especially by Brie Larsen, who walks around with a perennially dazed expression probably meaning that she still doesn't really get what kind of character she's supposed to portray). In conclusion there really wasn't much in this movie, aside from the usual CGI eye candy, and I wish they had used more from the comic books (which had way better stories than this mess.....).

I don't read comic books these days, but I loved them when I was younger and I found most shows based on heroes from my youth to be middling to poor....and very disappointing. Not anymore Titans changed all that. It's not the same as the comic book it's based on, of course (a book I loved by the way) but I actually think all the changes are for the better. Titans is darker, grittier, and edgier (without being too extreme). The photography and soundtrack are excellent, the actors are all great for their parts, and the plot is, so far, intriguing and addictive.... It's not as lavishly made as Avengers, of course, but for a TV show the production and direction are well above average and all those elements combine to create a haunting mood reminiscent of 'Watchmen'. At times, in fact, it's hard to remember it's just a TV show; it feels more like watching a very good movie. It is much more violent than comparable shows, as the Titans leave a trail of dead, crippled and (occasionally) smoldering ruins wherever they go, but I think it fits the theme of masked vigilantes more than the usual vanilla takes on it. I understand some fans of the comic book are upset (the story is not the same and the characters have also been made darker and edgier, starting with a Robin that makes the Dark Knight look like a wimp), but for me that's what's great about it. In short, if you are one of those people who just watch TV shows based on comic books to complain about how different they are from the books then yeah, it's not for you. But if you are open to something different and enjoy odd mixtures of horror, mystery, action, and drama, you will not be disappointed.

So I will keep this review short. The movie is overall entertaining, as long as you don't mind a slow pace and prefer suspense over mindless action. It also touches on interesting topics and creates undeniable tension. Overall, more Blade Runner than Star Wars (very different from both in terms of plot though), but I mean it as a compliment. However, when compared to the novel it was based on (and it's worth noting that the novel was the first in a trilogy rather than the standalone story this movie appears to be), well, it's really just a colossal disappointment. Some of the elements of the novel are present (the main characters, the shimmer, the lighthouse) but the movie completely changes all of those elements to make them fit a much shorter story that is nothing but a shadow of the novel, considered one of the best SF novels of the last few decades. I can't go into details without spoiling both the movie and the novel, but let's just say that the movie failed to convey any of the beauty of the novel, cheapened and simplified all the characters and the plot, and really missed on some of the key elements of the novel, elements that made it unique in SF literature. Comparing this movie to the novel, in fact, is like comparing a light bulb to the sun. If you like to read, do yourself a favor and read the novel instead of wasting two hours in a movie theater.