8/23/2016 2 Comments 'Stranger Things' TV Series ReviewIf you're a fan of classic '80s movies, the likes of Poltergeist, E.T., and The Goonies, then chances are high that you've had at least one friend tell you to go on Netflix and watch Stranger Things. And I'm here to tell you that they're right. I haven't been this excited about a new show since last year's Jessica Jones, which falls behind Stranger Things by a considerable margin.
The story, set in early November of 1983, explores the small town of Hawkins, Indiana as it's plunged into a rapidly-darkening mystery following the disappearance of young Will Byers (Noah Schnapp). As several parties deepen their search for Will, including his family and group of best friends, they slowly start to piece together a puzzle that tells them something far bigger is looming over Hawkins. If there's any quote that sums up this show pretty well, it would be the description of "Stephen King shot through the lens of Steven Spielberg." From the costumes, music choices, and call backs to aforementioned '80s classics, this show is so steeped in the culture of the decade that it feels as though it were actually made 30 years ago. Even the soundtrack, while relying on hits from The Clash, the Bangles, Modern English, and Toto, has its own original compositions, all scored on a synthesizer (I'm practically counting down the days until the vinyl release). And yet, with all of that said, the show never feels unoriginal. It doesn't rip off any of these elements, but rather pays loving tribute to them, and combines them all into something new and gripping. Another big factor that sells the show and garners a lot of investment is the acting. Each of the characters in the town is richly developed with their own backstory, and it would take up an entire review to address each one, so for now, I want to address the major players, and their respective actors. Firstly, it wouldn't be an '80s product without Winona Ryder giving it her all, and this one is no exception. She shines as Joyce, the despairing mother of the vanished Will, whose mental health looks as though it's violently deteriorating...but she may just be telling the truth. Her determination to find her son drives her to the brink of insanity, and during the episodes where her knowledge is ahead of the audience's, you start to question whether or not she's already crossed that line, and the effect just wouldn't be the same, were it not for Ryder's commitment to the role. The other standouts include Will's group of friends, Mike (Finn Wolfhard); Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo); and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin). These kids are straight up right out of Stand By Me, and I mean that in the best way possible. Not in the sense that they're ripping off Stand By Me, but rather that they manage to emulate that film's core chemistry. Everyone in the group acts and talks like a real 12-year-old, to the point where they act as though they're not even being filmed. You really do believe that they probably would hang out together off set and spend an entire Sunday playing Dungeons and Dragons in the basement, and it's because they all work off of each other so well. But the most immersive breakout performance has got to be from child actor Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven. Because I want you to experience the show and all of its mysteries for yourself, I've been very vague in my plot synopsis, and I feel that I must continue in this trend when describing Eleven's character. Suffice it to say, she's pretty awesome, and Brown is a true show-stealer, crafting something huge and attention-holding out of pure subtlety. Her lines are few and far between, but they always end up opening another door in the plot. When she's not literally speaking with dialogue, Brown is able to speak a whole performance with her facial expressions, using her eyes to encapsulate vulnerability and power all at once. In an era where you see a lot of people over-acting their way into audience's memories, it was very refreshing to see such a restrained child actor captivate with just her presence, and I can't wait to see her in future projects. And while I could also gush over the rest of the cast (namely David Harbour as the town's police chief, on the search for Will for personal reasons), there are actually more reasons to like this show, particularly in the realm of visual style. As it would turn out, Matt and Ross Duffer, the brothers behind the show, filmed the series on digital footage, and then passed the footage through a filter that was universally used in the 1980s, to give it that grainy, but not quite low quality, visual aesthetic. It's enough to make up for the film's use of CGI, which, while mercifully minimal, is blatantly out of place against the old school look when it is present. If I have any regrets concerning Stranger Things, it would be plowing through its eight-episode entirety in exactly a week. In the past couple of days, I've come home from school excited to turn on Netflix and watch more, and then remember that it'll still be a while yet before more comes. So if you're going to invest in one-season Netflix programs, pace yourself. Other than that, this is a delightfully bizarre "best of '80s cinema" greatest hits compilation that builds on nostalgia and elevates the old elements to new and ambitious ground.
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If you know your way around some of the graphic novels that encircle Batman, then you probably know that Watchmen author Alan Moore's The Killing Joke is one of the more acclaimed pieces about the Caped Crusader. For nearly thirty years, fans have eagerly awaited a film adaptation of the book, and now, it has finally arrived...as the first animated feature based on a DC comic to recieve an R rating. But does The Killing Joke meet the hype?
The story, intercut with one possible origin tale that the Joker (voiced by Mark Hamill) retells, largely follows the Joker's attempt to prove to Batman (voiced by Kevin Conroy) that one bad day is all it takes for someone as sane as can be to completely fall down the rabbit hole, and go as mad as the Joker. There are aspects about The Killing Joke that I really enjoyed, and aspects that I didn't, so let me address the positives first. Right out the gate, it's a delight to hear Hamill and Conroy give life to the graphic novel's clever script. I'll admit that as I was reading it, I was reading all of the Joker's lines in Hamill's voice (Hamill gave life to the most iconic Joker voice in Batman: The Animated Series), and it was a real treat to hear his him actually speaking the lines. Another strong point is the accuracy to the original story (with a few exceptions that I'll cover shortly). During the plot's most essential scenes, images and sets from the comic are recreated shot for shot, word for word, and the effect is truly satisfying for any previous readers. The result makes the film a breeze to watch, clocking in at a brisk hour and fifteen minutes, even with an added thirty-minute first act. Now, about that first act. Some viewers have liked it, others have hated it, and I can understand both sides. Firstly, I don't think it's a spoiler to tell you that it's all about Batgirl (AKA Barbara Gordon, daughter of the police comissioner). What I won't spoil is what happens to her, but suffice it to say, this additional chunk of film exists to establish the viewers' empathy with her prior. Here's why it doesn't work: I'm all for character-building, but this is simply the wrong use of her character. What we're given is an examination of Batgirl's crime-fighting partnership with Batman, and while it is interesting, what we need to be seeing is the relationship between Barbara and Jim Gordon. He's the one who takes an emotional hit later on in the film, not Batman, but Barbara and Jim only share one brief scene together. Again, while the material is entertaining, it feels like a very good episode of The Animated Series that has very little to do with The Killing Joke. Another issue that I feel will probably bother me more than anyone else (because few people notice things as minor as this) is the color palette. While the film certainly isn't unpleasant to look at, it could have used a bit more variety. Too often I noticed that when a particular color was used (such as red or grey or green), you wouldn't often see a different shade of that color, so everything looked to be in the same scale, regardless of the time of day or night. A little bit of experimenting with shadows and sources of lighting could have made the world a bit more immersive, but again, you probably won't notice it as much as I did. Overall, I have some mixed thoughts on The Killing Joke. As an adaptation, it gets the core of the story right, but its additonal changes are a bit of a damper on ther material. The Batgirl prologue, while entertaining in its own right, easily could have been cut for use in a different story, and the altered ending (no spoilers, obviously) just totally didn't work for me. As a film in general, the two leads reprise their roles to perfection, and it's well-paced for sure, but the visual style is always exactly what you see, and never anything more. To be honest, The Animated Series was a lot more visually ambitious, and the average episode was less than one-third the runtime of this. For everything I liked, there's something I didn't, so it's very okay. You could say the filmmaking crew brought their all into trying to adapt such an acclaimed piece of work, and sometimes, it feels like they brought too much. I'm glad I saw it, but it's not likely to stick with me. I'm giving Batman: The Killing Joke two and a half out of four stars. |
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