Weekly Update: Journeyman May be Next Highlander; Preacher TV Series Shelved; Cher May be Catwoman

To start off, we would like to draw attention to the newest contributor to the Axiom’s edge site, Sam Christopher. He will be contributing reviews and articles on Science Fiction and Fantasy movies, books, comics, and maybe a television series or two. We welcome him aboard and hope that you enjoy his work. Check out his recent reviews of The Dark Knight film and the Star Trek - Titan book series . . . Summit Entertainment has announced plans to reboot the Highlander film franchise and are pursuing Scottish actor Kevin McKidd (Journeyman) to carry the sword as the lead character. No additional information is known at this time, but after the debacle that was Highlander: The Source, the only direction for the franchise has to be up from here . . . Cable channel HBO has shelved its plan for a small screen adaptation of the Vertigo comic-book series Preacher. They claimed that the project developed by Mark Steven Johnson (Ghost Rider, Daredevil) was too dark and controversial. No word at this point on whether he will try to shop the project to other venues . . . Word is that Christopher Nolan is in talks with singer/actress/sleaze-queen Cher to play Catwoman in the next installment of the Batman franchise. Wasn’t the plethora of big-name talent playing super-villains part of the reason that the film series descended into a camp parody of itself in the 90’s?

Film Review: The Dark Knight

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)

In one sentence: An excellent gangster film elevated further by one plot turn and the transcendent portrayal of one of fiction’s greatest villains by the late Heath Ledger.

Nuts and Bolts: The Batman film franchise that was rebooted with the release of the masterful Batman Begins in 2005 continues with this year’s The Dark Knight, a suitably moody film that twists the Batman story from superhero sf thriller to a sort of reversed Donnie Brasco-type mob movie. Writer-director Christopher Nolan has fashioned a story wherein the title character is revealed to have evolved into a James Bond kind of hero who relies as much on gadgetry as muscle and will to get things done. In doing this our storyteller is following the familiar path laid out by director Tim Burton’s Batman (’89) and Batman Returns (’92), and perhaps engaging Nolan’s own reported love for the Bond character as well.

We’re told through conversation, mainly between Bruce Wayne (played again by Christian Bale) and his butler Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine), that Batman has done what he promised in the first film: “rattle all the cages” of Gotham’s underworld. Aiding him in this endeavor are the aforementioned Alfred, Batman’s gadget maker Lucious Fox (Morgan Freeman), Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman), Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes (Played by Katie Holmes in the first film, Maggie Gyllenhall here), and new District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). The Joker himself lends an unlikely, and unwelcome, hand, as he is positioning himself to take over as crimelord of Gotham. In the ensuing battles, everyone suffers loss of one kind or another, everyone changes in one way or another. The Batman becomes grittier, finding again what he had in the first film (and perhaps what he had never really lost, only submerged) and showing that the Man is far more than the sum of the parts of the Machine. More, he shows a hopeful side as well, one that we rarely see these days in the character. And long-time Bat-fans know the fate of Harvey Dent. I won’t give the picture away here; it should be experienced.

My view: Nolan has an obvious understanding of and love for the characters of the Batman mythos. He rarely disappoints me with his choice of turns and twists, although he often surprises me. This can be great, as in the plot turn in the middle of the film that turned my opinion of it completely around (and, no, I will not tell you what it was), or it can be not-so-great, as with the end of this film, which I was not happy with, although it was a logical consequence of the storyline. The main actors are also craftsmen of rare skill. Bale, Caine, Oldman, and the sublime Freeman are marvelous, both ensemble and separately, and I can only say that I hope a way is found for them to stay together on this franchise, with Nolan at the helm, for several more years at least.

And now I reach the part of this review I have dreaded most. I find myself unable to leave it here without saying what must be said about a great sadness that comes with this film: Ledger’s Joker is a throwback in many ways to the ‘40s version of the character, making demands coupled with terroristic threats that he will ruthlessly carry out if not given what he wants. His on-screen persona goes from nutty vicious criminal mastermind to completely insane vicious criminal mastermind before our eyes and the changes are so subtle it’s hard to tell where they began, or if they were just always there and his growing respect, and perhaps even love, for Batman as a kindred spirit pushed him just a little further over that edge. The talk of a posthumous Oscar is not hype; Ledger has crafted a character that will be hard to duplicate, one filled with such rich nuance that the viewer is astonished by the reality brought to such an unreal personality. The world lost an artist on January 22, 2008.

-Sam Christopher

Book Review: Star Trek - Titan Series

Combined Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Taking Wing: 4 Stars
The Red King: 3 Stars

This story, told over the two books, Taking Wing and The Red King, is the beginning of a new Star Trek franchise set in the post-TNG universe. Titan is a new design, the Luna Class Starship, built mainly for exploration, apparently commissioned to make clear that the Federation is getting—it hopes—back to what has always been its stated purpose: To seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly… you get the idea. For several years now the Federation has been in turmoil with one armed conflict after another: The Klingon Civil War, the Dominion War, various battles with the Borg, the battle with the Romulan Praetor Shinzon from the last film, Nemesis, through to the events of the Time to… book series which lead more or less directly into this one. Even the “swashbuckling” time of Captain James T. Kirk, with its emphasis on “cowboy diplomacy”, seems a peaceful alternative to the nonstop conflict we’ve seen from Trek of late.

Titan has several characters familiar to those who only know of Trek from the small and large screens. Will Riker, the First Officer of the Enterprise-D from the TNG television and film series, has (finally) accepted promotion to captain. His wife Deanna Troi, the half-Betazoid Ship’s Counselor from TNG, is Titans Counselor and Diplomatic Officer. TNG’s Nurse Alyssa Ogawa is also on hand in Sickbay. Also, from the teleseries Voyager, the Vulcan Security Officer Tuvok, now a Federation undercover agent on Romulus, is brought into the mix. Titan also features the return of a character who was only shown once, way back in The Original Series, and then only as a baby. Admiral Leonard James Akaar, son of the Capellan “queen” Eleen (played by the stunning Julie Newmar), born under the care of Dr. Leonard McCoy, and named for McCoy and his captain, James Kirk. It is also stated in this story that Akaar and Tuvok once served together and were close friends under the command of Captain Hikaru Sulu of the Excelsior.

But this ship also boasts the most diverse crew in Starfleet, with many crewmembers requiring special environments in both work spaces and private quarters. Some readers may recall the old ST novels where we were told that a Horta, among other very alien aliens, had joined the crew, and some of us (this reader included) may have thought this a ridiculous stretching of our suspension of disbelief. On Titan, they make this work. Melora Pazlar, also from an episode of ST: Deep Space 9, is from a “micro-gravity world” and keeps her quarters, and the stellar cartography lab whenever possible, at around 1/64th of one Earth gravity; she also has a suit she can wear so as to be able to function in higher gravity when necessary. Aila Laveena, the helmsman, is a Selkie, a race that is amphibious in youth but become fully aquatic in adulthood. There is also a Cardassian, a Ferengi, and several Bajorans, as well as other races sprinkled throughout. The Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shenti Yisec Eres Ree is a Pahkwa-thanh, which is described in the novel as “built like a running dinosaur” with “a mouth full of sharp, finger-length teeth that glistened wetly”. Dr. Ree also has a marvelous sense of humor, playing off his obvious look of predator very well.

The story: Authors Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels have given us an excellent beginning to a new chapter in Trek lore, my only quibble being the romance in the novel. I am not opposed to it in general-- as Kirk once said, “It happens to the birds and the bees”—whether hetero or homosexual in nature (there are a couple of gay characters). Some of it, particularly the interaction of First Officer Christine Vale and Science Officer Jaza Najem, just seemed forced and out of place. But that’s really minor point. This story is well written, filled with colorful description and smart dialogue that introduces the ship and cast very well while giving us an engaging tale of adventure and wonder at the same time.

-Sam Christopher

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Review - Eureka, Season 3

Television Series: Sci Fi Channel, 10 PM EST Tuesdays

Rating (after four episodes): 4 out of 5 Stars


THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS

Eureka popped up on the Sci Fi Channel two years ago and has since become a summer staple that has provided enjoyable viewing through its first two seasons. Much lighter in tone than say the Sci Fi Channel’s Battlestar Galactica, it has made science fiction television fun again with regular doses of humor from its stable of eccentric characters (though the show does have its serious side as well). Set in the fictional town of Eureka, located somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, which is populated by many of the world’s most brilliant (and eccentric) scientists who work for Global Dynamics and who spend their time pushing the boundaries of scientific possibilities. In the middle of this myriad of geniuses is Sheriff Jack Carter (who is cursed with only a slightly above average IQ, though he does possess a considerable amount of common sense) who is regularly called upon to clean up the mess when experiments get out of hand. Through its first two seasons, the series has been comprised primarily of stand alone episodes, though there have been season-long story arcs each year threading their way throughout these episodes.

Eureka’s consistent quality and inventiveness had impressed me most across its first two seasons as it came up with clever plots or fresh twists on old ideas. However, after seeing the Season 3 premiere, I started to worry that maybe the series had lost steam. While this episode offered a typical situation where yet another invention got out of hand, Eureka has done quite well with this type of story in the past. However, this time around, it found itself heavily burdened with predictable television clichés. Here we were given the well tread situation of a father not trusting his child to become more independent (Carter and his daughter Zoe) along with the hard-nosed, by-the-book expert (corporate fixer Eva Thorne played by Frances Fisher) being sent in to corral the mavericks. The latter situation I would have expected Eureka to provide a fresh spin on, but they followed the typical pattern. The expert comes into the picture and starts telling everybody to do things by the book, some SNAFU happens and the expert wants it handled the “right” way, the mavericks end up relying on their seat-of-the-pants approach and manage to return everything to normal and make the expert look foolish in the process. I know this formula goes at least as far back as a black and white Andy Griffith episode, and I was disappointed to see Eureka revisit the this tired plotline without giving us any sort of new spin.

After the premiere, though, the series showed a quick upward trend in the quality of episodes. In fact, they quickly pushed corporate fixer Thorne to the background and started to get back to business as usual (though she apparently will be critical to this season’s story arc). The second and third episodes of the season approached the same level of quality we had seen in the first two seasons with just a few bumps in the road here and there, but with a sufficient number of laughs. As I sat down to watch the fourth episode (“I Do Over”), I have to admit that I let out a groan as I saw they would rely on the Groundhog Day repeating day plot device. But the writers ended up spinning it with the expected Eureka inventiveness and turning it into an excellent episode. And if any series deserves a stab at this type of story, it is Eureka as it fits right into the milieu of the series. And I have to admit that I did not see the ending on this one coming. The writer’s threw me for a loop and created a key turning point for the series.

The characters are what make this series so enjoyable and pretty much all of the regulars are in place in Season 3 (at the beginning at least). Henry Deacon is in jail as the season begins (where we left him at the end of Season 2), but new introduction Eva Thorne plays an important part in returning him to the fold. Sheriff Carter’s sister Lexi (Ever Carradine) joins the fold in the fourth episode and appears set to stick around for while (not certain if that is good or bad, though). On the missing list are Matt Frewer (Max Headroom) as Jim Taggart and Sheriff Carter’s new girlfriend Callie (Sonja Bennett). No explanation has been given for their absence, though I am hoping Taggart will make his way back. Always a great character actor, Frewer’s portrayal of the Aussie animal expert has been priceless. He has been busy with the Watchman movie (playing the villain Molog) and the Canadian series Intelligence, so I am hoping his absence is only temporary.

Ratings-wise, the early returns show Eureka pulling its usual numbers in its timeslot, so the Sci Fi Channel should be happy on this front. Unfortunately, only eight episodes of Season 3 have been produced so far due to ripple effects from the writer’s strike. I have heard rumors that Sci Fi plans on doing 21 total episodes and splitting the season as it usually does with shows like Stargate: Atlantis. If this is true, it is good news because it means more of Eureka for the current season. In the mean time, just sit back and enjoy one of the few truly fun and inventive shows on television.

-John J. Joex

Buy Seasons 1 and 2 of Eureka at the Axiom's Edge Webstore

Weekly Update: Stargate: Atlantis to End; New SG Series on the Way

The Sci Fi Channel has announced that Friday night staple Stargate: Atlantis will end its run when the series wraps its fifth season in January 2009. However, the crew of Atlantis will not fade into oblivion. The Sci Fi Channel already has plans for a two hour movie which will premiere on the channel in 2009 followed shortly after by a DVD release. This will follow the model of its predecessor, Stargate: SG-1, which ended its run after ten seasons but has since generated two successful direct-to-DVD movies. Both incarnations of the franchise will apparently continue on for the near future with made-for-TV/DVD installments . . . On the heals of the Stargate: Atlantis announcement, the Sci Fi Channel has announced that a new chapter of the franchise will be starting to carry on the torch. Long in development, Stargate: Universe will finally make it to the small screen. The co-creators of SG-1 and Atlantis, Brad Wright and Robert Cooper, will stay on board to direct the show about a new team which discovers an abandoned starship named Destiny. However, they find themselves trapped on this ship as it travels into deep space trying to make contact with distant Stargates (sounds sort of like the Stargate franchise's take on Star Trek: Voyager). A two hour premiere movie is set for early 2009 and the regular series will take up its place on the schedule next Summer . . . Fear Itself seems to have faded into oblivion. After airing eight episodes, it has disappeared from NBC’s schedule with five shows still in the can. The series started out with only mediocre ratings then took a nose dive after a one week hiatus. It was replaced on August 7th with an episode of the reality series America’s Got Talent which more than doubled the average ratings that the horror anthology had pulled in July. Fear Itself has since been preempted by coverage of the Olympics, but with its poor ratings performance and the new season just around the corner, it’s unlikely it will return to the airwaves. It’s a shame, because the show was really quite good. A couple of episodes are available for viewing on Hulu.com (none of the ones that have not aired, though) and maybe eventually all thirteen will be made available so that fans of the series can catch its complete run.

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Weekly Update: Christopher Lloyd to Play an Elf; O'Loughlin Signs Deal with CBS

Genre veteran Christopher Lloyd has signed on to the upcoming fantasy miniseries Mirabilis on the Sci Fi Channel. The series takes place in a land which relies on a magical element known as bloodsteel. The sources of this metal begin to dwindle and an evil warlord attempts to gain control of what is left (hmm, sound like some parallels to modern times?). Lloyd will play a senior elf who has mastered bloodsteel sorcery and who will stand against the warlord. No date has been set yet as to when the miniseries will air . . . Moonlight star Alex O'Loughlin has signed a one year talent holding deal with CBS. The network, whose entertainment chief is a noted fan of the actor, plans on finding a new project for O'Loughlin. This, along with Joel Silver's announcement at the San Diego Comic Con that Moonlight is defunct, pretty much puts a stake in any chance of the vampire series returning to the air . . . CBS Consumer Products has announced that it will sell a full-sized replica of the captain’s chair from the original Star Trek series. Allegedly it is fully functional and will replicate the sounds of the original; I am guessing you will not be able to achieve warp speed with it, though. The chair, which will sell for $2,000, will go on sale online and at retail outlets before Christmas.

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Review - Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Three Part Web Micro-Series

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS

During the lull earlier this year while the writer’s strike lingered on, Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly) started to work on a little project to keep himself occupied. With this project, he wanted to break new ground and find a different way to reach the viewing public unhindered by the manipulation of corporate executives. So he decided to pool together other creative talent that he had worked with previously and produce an inexpensive yet professional looking micro-series that would air on the Web and be available for download at a nominal fee. From this, the musical, super hero comedy Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog was born. (Read more about Whedon’s plan.)

The series is comprised of three approximately 14 minute episodes which tell the story of an aspiring super-villain named Dr. Horrible who is campaigning to become a member of the nefarious “Evil League of Evil”. Along with his more sinister designs, the nebbish villain seeks to gain the attention of Penny, the girl he sees frequently at the laundromat and pines for from a distance. Acting as a foil to Dr. Horrible is the self-absorbed super hero Captain Hammer who remains close by to thwart the villain’s plans. All of this is carried off with minimal special effects, but the few that are used are quite good considering the limited budget. Making up for the dearth of special effects is the wonderful musical score produced by Whedon and his brother Jed.

The series skewers the super hero genre, reminiscent of FOX’s short-lived live-action version of The Tick, albeit set to music. With a writer of Whedon’s caliber onboard, though, Dr. Horrible rises above simple parody. He tells the story from the point of view of the title character in an attempt to give us a different perspective on the standard hero vs. villain story. Thus we find out that Dr. Horrible is not really a bad person, deep down. He is simply the emblematic nerdy, picked-on guy who lashes back at the world because of his plight. Captain Hammer, on the other hand, is the egomaniac bully who torments Dr. Horrible and his ilk to make himself feel superior. Ultimately, Dr. Horrible gains the upper hand, but achieves only an empty victory because of what it costs him, and his ultimate comeuppance helps bring a lyrical, poetic quality to this gem of a series (that’s enough spoilers, watch the show for the full story).

Along with Joss Whedon’s excellent writing, Dr. Horrible contains impeccable performances that help carry this production into the stratosphere. Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) offers the perfect interpretation of Dr. Horrible as a trod-upon everyman just looking to make a name for himself in the world. Harris provides just the right balance of menace and pathos in his performance while showcasing his amazing skills as a singer (he has performed on Broadway). Nathan Fillion (Firefly) is less of a singer but still fits perfectly into the role of the narcissistic Captain Hammer. He’s the good guy that you just love to hate. And rounding out the central cast is Felicia Day (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as the good-hearted Penny who is the focus of Dr. Horrible's unrequited affections and who more than holds her own when singing next to Harris.

The amazing cast and behind the scenes talent (which includes Joss’ brothers Jed and Zack assisting on writing and composing) as well as the fantastic musical score make Dr. Horrible into much more than a one-off side project. The series went online July 15^th and attracted so much traffic that the web-server crashed and remained down for several hours. After that minor glitch, the series has continued to draw strong interest and Whedon is currently looking at producing additional installments. We can only hope that more is coming as Dr. Horrible has franchise potential and could help spearhead a whole new trend in the entertainment industry. I believe that maybe five to ten years from now we will look back upon Dr. Horrible and other web series such as Sanctuary as the trailblazers that helped break an outdated mold and expand our range of viewing options.

The series is still available for free online viewing at Hulu.com or you can download it a $1.99 per episode at iTunes. A DVD release is also in the works which will include extras such as a musical making-of documentary.

-JJJ

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Weekly Update – Sci Fi Wire’s Top 10 Canceled Sci Fi Shows; NBC Sneak Preview

The Sci Fi Wire has released its list of the “Top 10 Brilliant But Canceled” Science Fiction and Fantasy series. Topping the list is Firefly with Wonderfalls, Now and Again, Alien Nation, and Space: Above and Beyond rounding out the top 5. Noticeably absent were this past season’s cancellation victims, Jericho and Moonlight. Perhaps this means that they are holding them off the list until their ultimate fate is decided (Jericho still appears to have a chance for survival but Moonlight has one foot if not both in the grave) . . . NBC will offer a sneak peak at its fall season hosted by Chuck star Zachary Levi. Also included in the preview will by Christian Slater who will star in My Own Worst Enemy and several cast members from Heroes. The preview will air on NBC at the end of August or beginning of September and will be available online in the weeks leading up to the Fall Season premiere . . . The Sci Fi Channel has announced that a Battlestar Galactica prequel movie will air after the series concludes in 2009. The movie will focus on events immediately preceding the Cylon attack chronicled in the mini-series that launched the reboot of the series . . . Sam Raimi’s small screen adaptation of Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth novel series has been renamed from its original title Wizard's First Rule to Legend of the Seeker. The series is set to debut in syndication on the week of November 1^st . . . Fear Itself was replaced on August 7^th with an episode of the reality series America’s Got Talent which more than doubled the average ratings that the horror anthology has pulled over the last few weeks. This does not bode well for the future of the series.

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Primeval Debuts on BBC America August 9th

Series Profile:

Primeval
Network: BBC America
Start Year: 2007
Format: Live Action
Episodes: 13 (through Season 2)
Episode Length: 60 min
Day and Time: Saturday 9 PM EST
Category: Science Fiction; Time Travel

Synopsis: This British import tells the story of a group of scientists who investigate anomalies in time in the Forest of Dean which are causing dinosaurs to travel into the present. A popular series across the waters, it has produced two seasons (a six episode first season and a seven episode second season) with a third planned for 2009.

Johnny Jay Says: Sounds interesting. We’ve seen some good imports from Britain over the last few years (Doctor Who, Torchwood), so hopefully this one will keep up the trend (and is it just a coincidence that they all have time travel as a core premise?).

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Weekly Update - Fear Itself Drops in Ratings; More Dr. Horrible Coming

After taking a one week break on July 10^th, NBC’s Horror anthology Fear Itself has seen a significant drop in its ratings. Over its first four episodes, it was averaging a rating of approximately 3 – 3.4 and managed to hold onto the audience of its lead-in. This has dropped significantly though with the series receiving 2 on July 17^th, a 2.2 on July 24^th and a 2.6 on July 31^st. The good news is that the rating is trending upward, the bad news is that the show is now losing a considerable amount of the audience from its lead-in these past three weeks. This puts a damper on the chance of Fear Itself receiving a renewal and it may even be yanked from the schedule before completing its run in favor of yet another reality series . . . The huge popularity of Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog on the internet may result in the continuation of the series. Whedon is currently considering a sequel to the three-part web series that bowed on the web in mid-July. No specifics are available on additional installments at this time, however, fans may be solicited for their ideas for potential additions to the Evil League of Evil.

Watch Fear Itself and Dr. Horrible on Hulu.com