A little end of the week update on the writing. (!!!)
About 10k this week. So far, so good! If I can only keep up the pace of the last couple of weeks, I should be done with the book in a month or so. 100,000 words is approximate, by the way. I have a feeling I’ll go over by at least 10-20k.
I’m feeling really great about the book’s momentum. It took me a long time to find the groove on this project. Not all of the words this week have been awesome ones, but I found my happy place where story and character are really happening now.
As I type this, a group of very talented up-and-coming writers has embarked on their first week of the 30th (!) Clarion West Writers Workshop. Most of you who follow me and read my blog will know what the workshop means to the people that apply, to the people who attend, and to the alumni (like me!). It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience to totally devote yourself to the writing life, and one of the most intense six weeks a writer can experience. It’s amazing.
Clarion West is fortunate to have some grants from corporate donors like Amazon, but it’s really the writing community and the grass-roots backers that keep it strong year after year. During the six weeks of the actual workshop, the annual Clarion West Write-a-Thon is an opportunity for participants and sponsors to raise some money and awareness for this fantastic program. I’m participating again this year, planning to finish my novel by the end of the workshop (I’m in the home stretch!)
Many other fantastic writers (some much better known than I!) are also participating. If you don’t want to back me, consider supporting Clarion West in the name of your favorite author. This workshop makes a lot of dreams come true. Mine included.
So, before I start the review, I have a confession to make. I kind of started composing this in my head days ago, long before seeing the movie. I’d seen all the trailers, and most had failed to move me. They all showcased a Superman who was a cold, brooding outcast. I was sure that Superman in handcuffs was the epitome of Zack Synder’s cynical, nihilistic, hyperkinetic brand of film making. Conventional wisdom on the interwebz was that the movie was a big letdown*.
“MoS = PoS,” I even snickered to a friend.
I was happy to be proved wrong. Minor spoilers ahead.
Remember that feeling we all got when watching The Phantom Menace? How fifteen minutes in, the elation of OMG New Star Wars movie was replaced with a gnawing feeling it was a terrible film?** Man of Steel was like that, but in reverse. I went in grumpy, disinterested, ready to hate it. Then I found myself liking it. A lot.
The first part of the film deals heavily with Krypton’s destruction, a civil war, Zod’s coup, and all the things that lead Jor-El into deciding to shoot his only son into space. The Kryptonian design aesethtic is gorgeous, the vistas spectacular, and Russell The Crow turns in a compelling performance as Jor-El. I was always a fan of the Krypton-centric episodes of Superman: The Animated Series,*** so including such a well-realized vision of Krypton really won me over.
It’s at this point, the movie descends into a bit of a mire. Zod & Co. are locked away in the Phantom Zone (which might be a ship, might be hyperspace, I’m a little unclear how they survived Krypton’s eye-popping explosion or how they got back out afterwards). Baby Supes’ pod flies to earth and just before it crashes, we smash cut to adult Clark walking the earth like Kane from Kung Fu, doing good and trying to figure out who he is. It was a rough transition at first, partially because I expected the usual origin story fare. Instead, the young boy discoverying his powers and gaining wisdom from his adopted father, Jonathan Kent, was told in a series of flashbacks throughout the course of the movie. It took me a while, but once I got into the groove of it, I really appreciated the nonlinear aspect of the story. The movie felt a lot less front-loaded as an origin movie than most superhero films do.
It was also an interesting (and very modern) twist to portray Pa Kent as a bit of a naysayer. Traditionally, Kent is always urging his son to become a good man, to do what’s good and right. Make no mistake, he does that here, but in a much more cautious and restrained way. Costner’s Pa Kent knows how paranoid and easily startled modern Americans (earthlings) can be: he’s even willing to die to make his point to Clark: Don’t reveal yourself to them until you –and they–are ready for it.
Henry Cavill brings a lot to the role of Kal-El/Superman. He spends a great deal of the first part of the film casting long, brooding glances off-screen. In the trailers, this made me cringe. I was sure our new filmic Superman was cast too much in the Bale Batman mold, and with Nolan’s fingerprints all over the production this could only lead to bad things. But as depicted in the film, Superman’s struggle to come to grips with being a god among humans played really well. It’s an aspect of his character that is only occasionally emphasized in the comics (and perhaps not as much as his “Boy Scout” persona) but it’s an absolutely essential part of who he is.
Cavill’s performance echoes the classic Reeve Superman with his calm, quiet interactions with the people of Earth. There’s authority, of course, in his insistence that we play by his rules, but also a deep, abiding reassurance that he is here for the greater good of all of us. That sounds very parental (and even paternal, I know), but Superman has always been on our side. And he always will be.
Michael Shannon’s General Zod is at least as compelling as Stamp’s from Superman II, though much better rounded and occasionally even a little sympathetic. He, too, is trying to do the “greatest good” for his people, only his methods differ radically from Kal-El’s. Also, all the Kryptonian tech was very cool. I might have mentioned that before…
My review’s starting to get a little long, so I’ll just mention a few other things I really liked: the ancient Kryptonian ship in the ice (nod to the Fortress of Solitude?), Jor-El as a helpful, passionate hologram (his tutelary recap of Kryptonian history as an animated metallic mural in a WPA style? Squeeeeee), Jenny Olson! the way the movie acted as an origin story for Clark Kent as much as Superman.
The visual effects were stunning (big kudos to my colleagues who worked on it, it’s gorgeous), but at times veered into just plain over the top. I know Snyder can’t help but play with ALL THE TOYS, but especially after seeing Star Trek into Darkness, I have a lower tolerance these days for stuff happening so damn fast. And hey, you kids. Get off my lawn.
Besides the relentless action, the overall tone of the film was sometimes too weighty, too serious. There were some nice light touches, but not often enough. Fortunately, it never descended into the melodramatic introspection that the Nolan Batman films were wont to do. Another minor nit to pick was Zimmer’s score. Mostly, it was beautiful, but as with the Batman films, the score had a lot of rising notes that never quite coalesced into an iconic theme. I guess they are trying to avoid the inevitable comparison to John Williams’ Superman theme, or Danny Elfman’s Batman. Still, would it kill Zimmer to pay off those awesome rising notes for once? 🙂
Overall, I recommend Man of Steel, but don’t take it as seriously as it takes itself, and you might just enjoy the ride.
*And for many, the movie was a big letdown. I respect that. Supes means very specific things to some people, and messing with backstories is tricky for beloved characters. I pretty much hated Peter Parker’s revised origins in the recent Amazing Spider-Man, even as I thought Andrew Garfield did a decent job in the role. Hey, brooding is part of Parker’s ouvre, too.
**Disclaimer: I still like and watch TPM. Does this make me a terrible person? Maybe.
***Still the best recent treatment of the Superman mythos in Film & TV as far as I’m concerned.
Don’t we all wish we could see the future? Catch a glimpse of of how things turn out if we choose A over B, go right or left? What if you got that glimpse and didn’t like how things turned out? Would you blame the one who gave you that peek? Would you blame yourself?
I’m very stoked to be a part of the anthology What Fates Impose edited by Nayad A. Monroe and published by Alliteration Ink. In twenty one stories by an amazing group of contributors (including Inkpunk cohorts Wendy N. Wagner, Erika Holt, and Remy Nakamura!) you can read all about the consequences of trying to peek into the future. The antho is running on Kickstarter, and as of this writing, we are a little over 25% funded with 27 days to go. If you’re inclined to back us, I would deeply appreciate the support. Any amount will help, but there are many fabulous rewards for helping What Fates Impose meet our goal.
At $25+, your pledge will entitle you to a PDF booklet of five fate-themed cocktails custom-designed by yours truly! (Including a couple of virgin cocktail recipes as well). I love crafting cocktails at home for friends, and occasionally write about my mixology adventures on this blog and over at The Functional Nerds (as the Booze Nerd). I created custom cocktails for all of the Inkpunks, and even brought a portable bar to World Fantasy a few years ago to mix drinks. I love sharing my knowledge (and my booze), so I hope this helps encourage you to start you own home bar. I predict it will! 😛
If you can’t donate, but would still like to support the project, consider passing word along to your friends by using one of these handy buttons.
Red Alert: This is a long post, and contains spoilers a little ways down.
I haven’t been so excited for a summer movie this year as I’ve been for Star Trek Into Darkness. Despite 2009’s Star Trek major plot holes and logistical issues, I’ve generally been a fan of J.J. Abram’s reboot. Roddenberry’s characters are iconic enough to withstand (and even flourish from) new interpretations and perspectives. Like Batman, Spider-Man, James Bond, or even the works of Shakespeare, there’s room to explore the essentials of Star Trek from many angles.
So in that regard, I enjoyed what Star Trek into Darkness had to offer: the friendship between Kirk and Spock, the rousing adventures aboard the most famous starship ever, the stirring score, and the top-notch jaw-dropping vfx. The overall plot was a nice twist on some Star Trek stories that have come before.
If you’re looking for some big-budget, gorgeous tentpole summer entertainment, Star Trek into Darkness is the movie for you, even if you’re not usually a fan of Trek. I really liked it.
If you are a Trek fan, then there might be some things that bug you. Like in the 2009 film, all that slam-bang hi-octane action that general audiences love comes at a steep price. A lot of what made the original incarnations of Star Trek great was the thoughtful exploration of the diversity of the new worlds and alien life they encounter. The (admittedly techno-babbly) approaches to explaining the workings of the universe and the mysteries of space. It’s about the evolution of the Human Adventure and our ability to rise above the sins of our past to become bold, wise, and tolerant of infinite diversity in infinite combinations.
I think, like Chris Pine’s Kirk, the J.J. Abrams’ Trek is still trying to get there.
Serious spoilers ahead, so stop reading now if you haven’t seen the movie yet.
Kirk is Still a Punk.
For most the film, Pine’s Kirk is full of arrogant swagger and an almost thoughtless slave to impulse. We’re supposed to buy that Kirk’s “gut feelings” are superior to Spock’s logic (or Starfleet’s directives), but mostly he just seems to be a really lucky guy. Now even Shatner’s Kirk had plenty of all of the above, but Pine’s Kirk is mean, spiteful, and more than a little vengeful.
I applauded when Kirk cooled down from his anger over Pike’s death enough to order the capture of the fugitive John Harrison — but winced big time at the moment of JH’s surrender when Kirk started using him as a punching bag. Maybe Shatner’s Kirk might have thrown a suckerpunch, but I just can’t see him repeatedly wailing on a guy like that. Yeah, I know that this Kirk is younger and hasn’t quite matured to the one we know and love. And they went a little way towards that by the finale. But still.
Where’s the Science in my Fiction?
Look, I’m all for some action packed space opera, but Star Trek is supposed to be full of pseudo-science and galactic sensawunda. The vfx provide some serious eye candy, to be sure, but the movie barely allows the audience to register the majestic shots of the Enterprise or the Vengeance or really anything else, let alone allowing the crew of the Enterprise itself to register the awesomeness of the universe. Aside from a few passing techno-babble moments that seem designed more as plot conveniences, it’s like the filmmakers decided that slowing down for any sort of science, for any sort of self-reflection would be boring. I don’t know, maybe that would bore general audiences, but I sure missed it. Again, we’re supposed to understand that Starfleet is finally getting down to the business of exploration, boldly going by the end of the film, but I don’t feel like the story fully supported that conclusion.
As for the science-y stuff, this is a movie that makes the explorers and scientists of Prometheus look positively cerebral in comparison, so, yeah.
Have you Seen the Bones, man?!
There was not nearly enough Karl Urban in this film. Traditionally, Dr. McCoy has helped to anchor the relationship between Kirk and Spock (the “Triumvirate”), and Urban is so good at channeling the ghost of DeForest Kelley, it’s a real shame McCoy doesn’t feature more prominently in the film. I would have preferred to see more of him, and less of characters like Dr. Marcus. (Well, I guess we see a LOT of her, but that seems to be the main reason she’s in the film, to strip down to her underwear. sigh.)
Khaaaaan!
The worst kept secret in recent movie history. Benedict Cumberbatch gives a fine performance, and the new backstory of this Khan is intriguing in many ways. (The internet tells me that Benecio del Toro was originally approached to play the part. I think I would have preferred him, to be honest. He’s good at playing characters with a crazy streak, and Khan always balanced on the razor’s edge of his high-IQ and his human megalomania. Hey, just like Kirk did.)
BC’s Khan is not nearly as sympathetic as Montalban’s Khan, and not nearly so passionate or compelling. Without the events of “Space Seed,” or the tragic marooning on Ceti Alpha Five, we just can’t invest in him as a villain in the same way. We never meet any of the other supermen, and so his relationship to his “family” will have to wait for another movie. Or not. While they clearly left it open for Khan’s return, I’m hoping they leave that plot alone…. “buried alive….”
Odds and Ends
Too much stuff in my eye- and ear-balls. I make a living doing visual effects. I love ‘em. There was some damn fine work in this film, too, kudos to ILM and all the other shops who worked on it. The planetary vistas were especially lovely in IMAX. But everything was so frenetic, there was barely time to appreciate any of it. The sound mix in the IMAX theatre was a little heavy on the screeching, thudding, thumping parts of the soundtrack and some of the dialogue suffered as a result. My eardrums, too.
J.J., please stop using brewery interiors or real nuclear reactors as sets. Even with the Trek set dressing, they look too real-world and damage the illusion we’re in the 23rd century. They don’t mesh with the rest of the sets well at all. Star Wars’ grounded, lived-in look could never be mistaken for a real place, even if it was filmed in actual houses in Tunisia or in the Redwoods of California.
The Enterprise underwater? Aside from featuring the few truly majestic shots of the ship in the film, there’s no reason for them to have parked down there when orbit would have been fine.
The USS Vengeance. It suffers from the same problems as the Narada in the last film. Too big, too dark, too evil-looking to be taken seriously. And all too easy. There was something about the commandeering of the USS Reliant in the earlier Trek that made Khan even more of a threat. It was a slightly inferior ship to the Enterprise, and it was mainly Khan’s tactics and element of surprise that bested Kirk and his crew.
Also, I still have trouble wrapping my brain around how big the ships are in the Trek reboot.
Another space-jumping/body surfing action scene? Did we run out of ideas? Granted, it was well done, with some spectacular effects, but why not launch a shuttle full of Redshirts to go with Kirk and Khan to take the Venegance? I’m sure they had plenty to spare, and Marcus’ ship seemed deserted. Khan might still have been able to overcome them all in his turnabout play, but it would have been a more reliable kind of boarding party.
Where’s the rest of Starfleet? It’s easier to swallow the Enterprise being “the only one within range” to stop a threat when they’re out there in space. But the climax of the film is in Earth-Moon orbit. Where are the evacuation ships and the mass transporters to rescue the hapless crew of the Enterprise? Hell, where’s the rest of the Federation?
The Starfleet Fashion Show. I don’t know why this bugged me, but it did. Normally I’m a costume freak (I love the redesign of the classic uniforms and I appreciated the nod to TMP uniforms and even some suggestion of different branches of Starfleet), but I didn’t like all the militaristic gray and black.
All my points above are pretty nitpicky, but I really did enjoy the film despite these flaws. I particularly liked the echoing of Wrath of Khan in the finale, even if they did verge into the cartoonish with Spock’s own “Khaaaaan!” moment. I’m looking forward to seeing the next installment of the franchise, with hopes that it gets back to the other things that made Trek so great in the first place.
I haven’t been so excited for a summer movie this year as I’ve been for Star Trek Into Darkness. Despite 2009’s Star Trek major plot holes and logistical issues, I’ve generally been a fan of J.J. Abram’s reboot. Roddenberry’s characters are iconic enough to withstand (and even flourish from) new interpretations and perspectives. Like Batman, Spider-Man, James Bond, or even the works of Shakespeare, there’s room to explore the essentials of Star Trek from many angles.