Characters Galore!

This week’s slate features three types of characters – those that are animated, those that are cartoonish and those that are foreign.

First up is the DC Comics’ “Superman/Batman – Public Enemies”. DC usually makes an effort to cast better-known TV actors in their direct to DVD comic-based features, and this one is no exception. Tim Daly, John C McGinley, Xander Berkeley and CCH Pounder all participated. Best to me was Allison Mack from “Smallville” finally getting her due as a superhero herself. But, as a veteran anime watcher, I have to say I was a bit disappointed. Although the effects were interesting, the animation didn’t always work for me. Action-wise, it’s fine. But the characters are too angular for my taste. The story held my interest, but could have been more fleshed out. I’m also all for Superman getting one-upped, albeit temporarily. Plus, considering Disney now owns Marvel, at least DC has a real studio behind it. **1/2

Second up is the fiasco known as “Jennifer’s Body”. I have no excuse as to why I watched this, and I felt cinematically unclean afterward. My only justification was curiousity regarding Diablo Cody’s horror-writing abilities. Unfortunately, there are none. At least she tried. The plot is as non-existent as the nudity the fan boys were dying to see. The soundtrack contains a plethora of 80s remakes; however they are massacred by other artists so badly it’s hard to even identify the source material. Did I mention Megan Fox yet? Megan Fox, who is so bad an actress even Michael Bay (hack that he was) called her out? The highlight of the film was seeing Fox get speared. (Hey, maybe they could put her on RAW to guest host and improve ratings!) Cody will redeem herself with other projects, notably “The United States of Tara”. Fox, however, is approaching beyond redemption. I’ll avoid mentioning Amanda Seyfried, as I’m forgetting her presence, for which I’m sure she thanks me.*

Third was “Martyrs”, a French horror film. In today’s climate of America regurgitating 80s horror or ripping off Asian horror, it’s usually more worthwhile to watch foreign horror. That being said, I’m still not sure what to make of this film. It’s disconcerting. Basically, a young girl with a violent and tortuous past (literally) goes on a quest of revenge, taking a friend of hers along for the ride. The plot gets a little difficult to follow and the subplots do get a bit on the ridiculous side, but I can’t recall the last time that I’ve been this intrigued and repelled by a film simultaneously. (Perhaps the “Funny Games” remake.) A few shots made me gasp. Others had me hiding my eyes. The worst part of the film was the ending, which I found ambiguous but stupid. This isn’t a film for the faint of heart, but I can appreciate gore in the right environment. It’s also redeeming that there is other horror out there – if you can stomach it. **1/2

“Superman/Batman: Public Enemies”, PG-13, 67 minutes
“Jennifer’s Body”, R, 102 minutes
“Martrys”, R, 99 minutes

Until next week, stay tuned. You never know WHAT I'll watch next! Take care.