Some of the best football coaches in the history of the game are masters at underplaying their team’s ability.  They do this so as to not have everyone in their conference gunning for their boys.  It’s usually a pretty sound strategy.   Fly under the radar.  Stun everyone with your on field ability.  Don’t overhype.

It was said again and again and again that AVATAR would be the game changer as it pertains to cinema.   James Cameron said repeatedly that he had to wait for technology to catch up with his ideas.  Everyone waited with bated breath for the next STAR WARS.  Then the movie was released…

The problem with reviewing a movie like AVATAR is the hype that surrounded it.  One can’t separate one’s self from all of the bold statements made by James Cameron and the studio.   I, for one, tried to go into this movie with as much separation from the hype for what has been touted as THE game changer in cinema, and just get ready to see a movie.  As much as I tried though, the thought was always tickling the back of my brain, “This doesn’t quite live up to the hype.”

As has been said ad nauseam, the story is not new.  It’s been used and used again.  Why? Because it’s a story that resonates with us all. Entering into a situation with preconceived notions that are shaken and shattered, and ultimately finding a cause worth fighting and dying for.   However, just because the story isn’t new doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be used.  As I said, it resonates with the viewer.  It works.

However, if one is claiming to change cinema as we know it, one can’t use such a familiar story in such a familiar way.

Then, there’s the technology.  I find it odd and somewhat hypocritical that the same critics who attack George Lucas for letting story suffer in the name of the technology he wants to use in his films are the same ones lauding this technology as the greatest thing ever.  Why? Because you put on some glasses and the images separated a bit?

That’s overly-snarky.  The truth is, I wasn’t too blown away with the CGI used in this movie.   It was CGI.   I think I tend to accept it more readily than some, but at the same time, the environments looked way too CGI.  A lot of attention was put on the making the digital characters work, and I have to give the team at WETA credit there.   Some enhancements to the way motion capture is done was used to get a full range of emotion from a face more we’ve ever seen.  The eyes were alien enough that they didn’t suffer from the “dead” look associated with many CGI characters out there today.

However, game changing?  I honestly can’t say that it was.  We’ve seen fully realized digital characters before, and in some instances just as good.  Let’s compare WETA with WETA and point to the character of Gollum.  He was realized as a fully digital character using motion capture technology to get all of the movements down, and there are very few people who would argue that he didn’t work.   When you look at “the other” big effects company (ILM), this is something they’ve been doing for ten years.  Whether you love him or hate him, Jar Jar Binks was realized as a digital character interacting with real people and while we’ve all heard the arguments against Jar Jar, one I’ve never heard was how he didn’t hold up interacting with other actors.   Then there’s Yoda.  There are moments in REVENGE OF THE SITH when I would swear to you that there is an actual little green guy right there on screen.   ILM also did the work on the first HULK.   Again, like the movie or hate it…there are moments where the Green Goliath looked like there was actually a gigantic man with green skin standing there.   Heck, even the Transformers looked awesome on screen.

The design of the movie was pretty enough.  The colors were bright, and the world was alien enough, but the designs of the world just didn’t set completely right with me.  Adding an extra set of legs and a few antenna like growths to earthbound animals serve only to make the universe that has been set up feel a little too bound to the rules of our world biologically.  The creatures all felt too familiar.

(I hate to keep coming back to this.) When a movie is hyped as being the movie that will change how movies are made, it gets compared to movies that DID change the face of cinema.  In the instance of Avatar, it may have expanded what has been done, but I would be hard pressed to say that it has “changed” anything.

Having said ALL of that.  I really liked this movie.  I truly did.  My biggest problem with the movie was simply Sam Worthington slipping out of his American accent a little to0 much.

The story, though predictable, worked for me.  It’s a simple three acts.  In act one we are introduced to the characters and the situation.  In act two, the protagonist grows from his presuppositions about the world around him to become a part of it and suffers for it.  In Act three, we get the resolution to the conflicts set up in acts one and two.  In this case,  I am a sucker for the oppressed rise up to defeat the oppressive type stories.  Jake Sully’s speech to the Na’Vi was one that got me excited for the fight to come. AND WHAT A FIGHT! (more to come on that)

The sense of fun and adventure for which I go to a movie like this were there.  If you can’t enjoy seeing a dude tame a wild flying dinosaur, then you have lost touch with the kid that fuels the geek inside of you.

I liked all of the characters (cookie cutter though they may be), and the conflicts and their resolutions worked.

And quite frankly, the ending battle scene was fantastic.  Ground battles, air battles, explosions, last minute rescues, and a final showdown all worked together to make a great climactic battle scene.

WETA continues to establish itself as a top dog in the movie making industry.  James Cameron can still make a movie, and as of now the film has grossed over one billion dollars worldwide.  So from a money making standpoint, the hype paid off.  People had to go see this thing.  I don’t know if the audience that filled theaters for AVATAR would so readily fill the theaters for a sequel, but I’d be there.   If for no other reason to run with Na’Vi again, to climb floating mountains, and to try to learn to “see.”

When this movie is released on Blu Ray, I’ll buy it.  I’ll watch it again and again.  It’s that good.  It’s just not the cinema shattering second coming that we were told it was.

If you like sci fi and fantasy and haven’t seen AVATAR yet, get to the theater and see it.  It’s definitely worth the price of admission and then some.  However, hold on to your Lord of the Rings boxed set, keep Star Wars on it’s pedestal, and have a great time with AVATAR.

It’s no secret that I am a child of the eighties.   I am of the old fogey-ish opinion that I grew up in the “good old days” when Star Wars ruled, Transformers went from being things on telephone poles to characters in  a great cartoon, G.I. Joe was stomping Cobra, and He-Man had the power.   And that was just the afternoon when I got home from school.  In the evenings there were talking cars, furry aliens, good ole’ boys, and a crack commando unit wanted for military crimes they didn’t commit.

The A-Team was one of those shows that was appointment television in my house.  It never occurred to me that with all the shooting and explosions that no one ever died.  I just thrilled to the adventures of B.A., Murdock, Face, and Hannibal.  I too loved it when a plan came together.  I laughed at Murdock’s antics, cheered when B.A. kicked butt, and hoped to one day be as cool as Face.

In 2009, a couple of the eighties franchises that we love got a bit of a kick in the pants due to not-so-well-received theatrical releases of The Transformers and G.I. Joe.  In other past eighties slaps in the proverbial face, The Dukes of Hazard was turned into a parody of the original series, and now Hollywood is trying to remake everything we once held dear.

So it was with great trepidation and skepticism that I heard about The A-Team being made into a feature film.  However, today this was posted around the interwebs…

Of course the minute I posted the video it was taken down. But, now it’s officially up and running over at Yahoo.

Click here to check it out

I’m sold.  More to come as we get in to some other posts later this week.

Just a note to let everyone know.  You can preorder your official GOL T-Shirt or hoodie now until December 15th.  We are shooting for at least 100 items to be sold, this would be a great help to the site and bolster some things we are wanting to do with the site and podcast down the road a bit.

Pre-orders will last for two weeks.  At the end of the two weeks, allow 4 to 6 weeks for the printing and shipping of  the shirts.  So while you won’t necessarily be able to have them by Christmas, you should be able to fulfill one of your most important resolutions for 2010:  SUPPORT GEEK OUT LOUD AND GEEK OUT ONLINE.

Depending on how these official shirts of the the official podcast of Geek Out Online sell, we have ideas for other designs down the road and may even go so far as to open up a full time store for the site where you can order GOL and GOO merch along with Big Honkin Show merch.

For now, let your geek flag fly proudly with an oh-so-cool shirt, hoodie, or both. Just click on the T-shirt tab above to order yours.

We are finally able to get a look at a mock up of the hoodies.  They are black with the GOL logo on the front and the “stenciled” logo on the back.  They will look suhweet.

Anyone who has been reading DC Comics knows that when one references the World’s Finest then they are talking about Superman and Batman. These are the two heroes that define heroics in the DCU. Sure there are other heroes that are big as well. Flash, Wonder Woman, Plastic Man… but in the end they all look to these two for guidance.

Superman, a being from another world who found himself on Earth and has become its greatest protector. With the ultimate list of powers he fights the good fight and makes sure that the world is safe for us normal folks.

Batman, a regular human without any special powers. A man with an intense drive to rid his city and eventually the world of pain and fear. He has managed, through hard work and determination, to perfect his body and mind and become the world’s greatest detective and fighter. He is the Batman. You know you’re tough when you get a “The” in front of your name. Not even Superman has that.

But this comic does not feature this crime-fighting duo. Instead, it focuses on their legacy.

In this first issue we get the team up of Red Robin and Nightwing.

Tim Drake is Red Robin. Tim was the third person to carry the mantle of Robin, boy sidekick of the Batman. For years he trained and fought alongside Gotham’s hero and eventually the man under that cowl adopted him. The world believes that Bruce Wayne is dead. Tim refuses to believe that his adopted father is gone and is now searching the world to find clues to where he may be. He has taken up the name and disguise of Red Robin after Dick Grayson, the original Robin, took up the mantle of the Batman and made Damian Wayne his new Robin. Damian Wayne is the biological son of Bruce Wayne and the daughter of one of Batman’s greatest foes, Rahs al ghul.

Christopher Kent is Nightwing. The biological son of General Zod and the adopted son of Clark Kent. Chris has pledged his life to Superman and to follow in his footsteps. Over the last few months Chris has gone from a young boy to a young man due to some growth spurts of unknown origin. His mental minds has progressed as well and he now finds himself a part of a duo with another kryptonian named Thara who has assumed the costumed identity of Flamebird. As Nightwing and Flamebird they hunt down General Zod’s sleeper agents on Earth.

We begin the issue with Red Robin in Amsterdam taking on a biker gang. He’s doing pretty good on his own but receives a little help from Nightwing. At first he thinks it’s Superboy who has helped out but when he sees the newcomer he goes on the defensive until Chris reveals himself. Tim had met him before but Chris had been a little younger at the time.

It turns out Chris has come to Tim for help. Thara has been captured in Gotham City and Tim is the only person Chris trusts to help get her out of harms way.

There is a bit of introduction for a couple pages as DC Comics makes sure we know whom we’re dealing with and usually that causes me to speed read and skim, as I already know the history of these two characters. But this time I read on as the dialogue is natural and flows. Chris needs a friend and, at this point in his life, so does Tim.

There was a bit of griping from the Superman fan community when Chris popped up a couple years ago and was adopted by the Man of Steel. A lot of folks didn’t like it and it didn’t help that the comic appearance came right on the heels of the addition of a biological son for Superman in the most recent Superman movie, Superman Returns. I think Chris got a bad rap for this and wasn’t given a fair chance as his own character.

While I’m a fan of Chris and his addition to the mythology, I haven’t really been a big fan of the age spurts. I liked him as a kid and having to grow up as the son of Superman. But I’m getting over it the more I see him in the comics. He is well written so far and I look forward to seeing more of him in the future.

But I digress…

It turns out that the Penguin has Thara locked up and a man known as the Kryptonite Man is keeping her weakened. The point of all this is that Penguin is going to auction her off to the highest bidder for whatever that bidder feels like doing with her. Medical experimentation comes to my mind. I bet you there are a few folks out there who would like to see how a kryptonian works.

Tim and Chris get to the Iceberg Lounge and find that the interior has been coated with liquid lead. I like this as I bet there are a lot of things villains in the DCU do to ward off the stronger heroes. A little lead shielding just in case Superman comes snooping around sounds like something the Penguin would invest in.

Tim goes in first to scope out the situation and soon finds himself face to face with the Penguins goons and needing help in the form of Nightwing. Chris comes up out of the floor and dumps a barrel of the liquid lead onto the Kryptonite Man and manages to take him out of the equation.

With the villains defeated and Thara rescued the heroes help Tim with his work in Amsterdam. He manages to find another clue that may lead him to where Bruce has gone. With the adventure over they go their separate ways. This was a successful team up of the sons of Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne.

We also see that another villain of the Superman world has taken the Kryptonite Man away. The Toyman seems to have plans for our green friend. Plans that include him strapped to a medical gurney under the watchful eye of a scalpel-wielding automaton…

STORY: 4/5

It’s a pretty simple issue but I really enjoyed it as the first team up between the adopted sons of the World’s Finest. I liked the intro of the characters and how they trusted each other because of who their fathers were. I want to see more with these two and I’ll definitely be picking up this title from now on.

ART: 4/5

It looks good for this story and there are a lot of really cool panels that showcase the two heroes but it did have one problem that I see a lot of people doing in comics that feature these to characters.

They make Tim and Chris look too old. I’ll allow for Chris looking older than he should as we really don’t know his age now due to the growth spurts. But we know how old Tim is and ever since he got into the Red Robin costume he has been drawn as if he were in his twenties. He hasn’t graduated high school yet! Anyway…

COVERS:

COVER A: 3/5

While I really enjoyed the look of the cover and the art of Phil Noto I would have liked to have seen a team up cover with both Red Robin and Nightwing instead of just Nighwing.

COVER B: NO RATING

This cover features Red Robin but I have yet to find an image of it. So… yep.

ALL IN ALL –

A great start to what is going to be a four part mini series. I wouldn’t mind a full blown ongoing if all the issues are as good as this one.

To check out more about the World’s Finest check out these comics and DVDs and help the site out while you’re at it.