The Fountain

It's funny how things work out - I just read VALIS by Phillip K. Dick, which got me re-reading The Invisibles (and I never realized just how much Morrison took from Dick's work for that series). And then I watched this movie, which belongs in the same general conceptual category as those two works. (I also watched The Number 23 right before reading the final volume of The Invisibles, in which the number 23 frequently comes up. The Empire Never Ended. Try to remember.) Spoilers to follow.

The major concept shared by all three, and the key to understanding The Fountain, is the idea of all times being one. The story of the Fountain jumps back and forth between thee distinct time periods, with Hugh Jackman's character in three different incarnations: The Inquisition, the present day, and the far future. Really, this is just a narrative tool/distraction which serves to illustrate the whole "all times are one" idea. It's made explicit in the film through his character having hallucinations/interactions with the experiences of his former lives & his wife.

The major unifying theme for all three of these time periods is Jackman's act of hubris & placing his thirst for Knowledge over the material world. The movie, on a surface level, appears to have obvious religous/spiritual meaning, but really it totally subverts that by reminding the viewer to stay grounded (another interpretation is that man was not meant to know certain things, which may have spritual connotations). In the Inquisition scenes, his greed when he finds the Tree becomes an act of Hubris which damns him physically; during the present day, he repeats that mistake by throwing himself into his work to save his wife's life rather than enjoying his time with her; in the future he has found the tree but tries to control it with similar good intentions, once again damning himself.

It is not a perfect film - there is a lot of obvious, cliched symbolism which is annoying and can distract the viewer (but similar to the time jumps, that distraction may be an intentional narrative tool). It is unnecessarily obtuse and difficult to follow at times (but in the same ways that The Invisibles is). Also, I "got" the movie when I realized that its major moment of revelation is essentially the same as Grant Morrison's ending to "Here Comes Tomorrow" in New X-Men. Not that that's a bad thing or anything. But it's an interesting movie and worth watching if you're familiar with the above two works and are looking for something else to reinforce that conceptual framework.

My favorite kid

So I was at work and had the book I'm currently reading (VALIS by Phillip K. Dick, which is completely blowing my mind) out on the desk. My favorite kid notices the cover and, like me, his mind is blown (literally, eyes wide and mouth open). I asked him what he thought was going on in the picture. His response: "They're sharing their thoughts". Me: "Like mind reading?" Him: "No, like they're putting their brains together and they have all the same thoughts as each other and they're just the same." You can see why he's my favorite.

The Order!

You know, I thought The Champions was a better name (like everyone else) until I actually read the thing. I realize it wasn't planned this way, but I think The Order is a better thematic fit for this series.

I don't know if it's intentional or what, but Fraction seems to be taking shots at The Authority & the brand of superheroics introduced & popularized by that series - the celebrity-partier-superstar form of heroes. (the "we fight hard, we play hard" school). He deliberately makes an example of heroes who act this way, thinking their powers and heroic acts allow them the privilege, and tears them down for it. I kind of like that idea, especially for how well done it is - one of the heroes in question has legitimately just saved LA, and done so by risking his own life. Fraction isn't just portraying these guys as blowhards, they're much more rounded than that. (Also - the motif of alcohol, combined with power-drunk Superheroes, make this an Initiative tie-in with a legitimate reason to include Iron Man)

Anyway, back to what I was saying. The words "Order" and "Authority" pretty much make me think of the same things: establishment, status quo, etc. Since this series appears to be taking The Authority and turning it on its head, I like the implied relationship of the new title. "Authority" is the aspect of power looking down on us; "Order" is the part of the status quo keeping things calm and, well, orderly.

So what else? The lead character, Henry, is automatically tied into these themes as a recovering alcoholic, and Fraction gives us a legitimate reason to accept this guy as a leader: he was Tony Stark's AA sponsor. His flashback monologues also give us a sense that this guy has already experienced & denied that celebrirty/party lifestyle. On the other hand, he's no longer a "star", so will the allure of the lifestyle draw him back in? Fraction has set up a complicated, realistic character in only one issue which introduced a plethora of other characters & concepts. This dude is the next Grant Morrison, I tell you.

Kitson's art is terrific. I usually think his art has a slightly corny quality that I don't like, but it seems to be gone here. Very nice facial expressions and body language, making his characters seem real and human, combined with a very laid-back sense of fun. I love it.

Another small thing I loved: their armored character, we assume, was designed at least in part by Stark. Iron Man is the name of a Black Sabbath song, so this armored character gets to be named after another Sabbath song: Supernaut. Intentional? I don't care, I enjoyed it.

Perfect comic. A+

Also this week: Captain Americs 28: Brubaker knows what he's doing. Even without Cap, this series is managing to run on his supporting cast and legend of Cap, as well as the mystery of what exactyl did the Skull need Cap out of the way for? I don't think the series can run indefinetly without the title character, but Bru should be good for about 12-18 months of stories like this. I loved the bit with the SHIELD againt "offering" to be the next Cap. B+

World War Hulk 2: Meh, I'm already losing interest. I felt like I just re-read the first issue with new scenes added. It doesn't help that I loathe Hulk's cliched, cheesy "Warbound" and their uninspired dialogue. There were a few things I enjoyed this issue, like Hulk beating the crap out of Reed, and Rick Jones' analysis of the Hulk's behavior ("you always seem to hit whoever needs hitting"); I'm not sure if that's enough to keep me involved. And really, hasn't the military learned by now? Missiles and Thunderbolt Ross don't phase the Hulk. C+

Comics 7/11/07

Green Lantern 21: A little too much recap, considering most of the people buying this will have read the Sinestro Corps special (from only 2 weeks ago) or will have had it spoiled on the net by now. This story needed to have more happening right off the bat, and I'm already worrying that at something like 12-14 issues this is going to be way too drawn out. Not off too a good start, spending too much time dwelling on points we already know and not getting into the action we're all looking for. C

JSA 7: Another "meh" issue (christ, I've been so negative lately). Introduction of a character who seems interesting, except that he's marred by overly convenient powers and backstory. The script also hams it up way too much, and I'm not at all buying his ridiculous costume (design and application). Good ideas, but poor execution. Another C. Johns, what are you doing this week?

X-Factor 21 is here to rescue me from my negativity with a virtually perfect issue. Beautiful artwork (something about the look on the "second" Madrox's face on pasge 1 is absolutely hilarious to me), tons of subplots hung together well, great characterization, and oddly foreboding atmosphere. Plus, PAD's going into one of my favorite "lost" plots of his - his old idea from his fist X-Factor run of Rahne's powers having the side effect of putting her in heat. I'm glad he's getting a chance to explore that plot; it always struck me as a really interesting idea. Like I said, no complaints here. The difference in quality between this and Fallen Angel is amazing. A+

Comics

Action 851 (3-D Version): I'm torn on this one. If it had come out on time, with the whole story flowing smoothly month-to-month, i'd be more enjoyable. But waiting 5 months for this, and knowing it'll be a few more till we see the conclusion, makes this issue frustrating and meandering. Not enough happens to justify the wait, and frankly, the whole issue seems to be in service to the 3-D gimmick more than anything else. Much as I love Adam Kubert's art, it's very muddled in this issue. Just too much stuff going on in every panel. I'm going to have to go with a C- for this one.

All-Star Superman 8: This entire issue read like some kind of weird fever dream (to quote Supes himself from this very issue). I didn't like it on first read, but it grew on me with subsequent look throughs. Just read it and allow the experience to kind of wash over you and it's a fun issue. We've all had a day or two where we just feel superior to everyone else (like Quicksilver waiting behind people at ATMs); this issue captures that frustration of having to explain everything to simpletons. And the look on Zibarro's face when he mentions there's only room for one is worth the price alone. Quitely is a genius. A-

X-Factor 20: Whole storyline felt like it took one issue too many to get to the point, but this was still solid. PAD's doing more with the M-Day concept than the entirety of the X-office, it seems. And this leaves me genuinely curious to see what Quicksilver's going to do next, so thumbs up. A

Fallen Angel 17: This, on the other hand, is crap. I was going to drop this after the previous storyline but I gave PAD one more issue to keep me. I regret the decision. Complete waste of money. The first half took me about 2 minutes to read, and the flip book portion was a chore to get through. Boring, uninteresting, and doesn't even leave me curious as to the issue's "big mystery". This is coming off my pull list. F