Favorite D.C. COMICS Moments in Movies and Television

 

Below is a list of my favorite scenes from various movies and television shows featuring D.C. Comics characters:

FAVORITE D.C. COMICS MOMENTS IN MOVIES AND TELEVISION

1.  “Justice League” (2017)  – Barry Allen aka the Flash tries . . . and fails to save his Justice League colleagues from the paranoia and wrath of an amnesiac and resurrected Clark Kent aka Superman.

2.  “Batman v. Superman:  Dawn of Justice” (2016) – D.C. Comics original trinity – Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman – gather together for the first time in a live action production, when they team up to take down Doomsday, the monster created by Lex Luthor.

3.  “Legends of Tomorrow” (2.07) “Invasion!” (2016) – The Arrowverse heroes gather for a final confrontation against a group of alien invaders known as the Dominators in this crossover event.

4.  “Suicide Squad” (2016) – Chato Santana aka El Diablo confesses the true details about the death of his family to his Suicide Squad colleagues in a bar in this poignant scene.

5.  “Legends of Tomorrow” (2.14) “Moonshot”– Legends member Dr. Martin Stein aka Firestorm I, distracts the Mission Control members at NASA circa 1970 with his rendition of “The Banana Boat Song”, while the other half of Firestorm, Jefferson Jackson, work to prevent them from detecting Dr. Ray Palmer aka the Atom from moving the Apollo 13 capsule.

6.  “Superman Returns” (2006) – In a spectacular action sequence, Superman saves both a space shuttle in route to a launching pad and the jet plane conveying it, following a nationwide power outage.

7.  “Wonder Woman” (2017) – A determined Princess Diana of Themyscira aka Wonder Woman leads the charge against a battlefield dubbed as “No Man’s Land” in an effort to reach a Belgium town and General Erich Ludendorff, whom she believes is Ares, the God of War.

8.  “Batman v. Superman:  Dawn of Justice” (2016) – Bruce Wayne aka the Batman battles against thugs hired by Lex Luthor in order to save Superman’s mother, Martha Kent, from them.

9.  “Man of Steel” (2013) – In this controversial scene, Superman is forced to save a family of humans by killing the last remaining Kryptonian, General Zod.

10.  “Superman:  The Movie” (1978) – Superman makes his first appearance in Metropolis, when he saves Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane after her fall from a damaged helicopter, atop the Planet building.

11.  “Arrow” (5.17) “Kapiushon” (2017) – After being tortured for a while by the villainous Promethus, a distraught Oliver Queen aka the Green Arrow finally admits his penchant for killing.

12.  “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” (1.12) “All Shook Up” (1994) – While a deadly meteor streaks toward Earth, Jonathan and Martha Kent tries to convince their adoptive son, an amnesiac Clark Kent, that he is Superman.

13.  “Batman v. Superman:  Dawn of Justice” (2016) – Various journalists, commentators and scientists debate in a montage scene about Superman’s true nature and goal on Earth.

14.  “The Flash” (3.23) “Finish Line” (2017) – Before a defeated and vindictive Savitar can kill the Flash, the latter’s fiancee, Iris West, shoots him dead.

15.  “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” (2.18) “Tempus Fugitive” (1995) – The vindictive and sarcastic evil time traveler, Tempus, reveals Superman’s true identity to an astonished Lois Lane.

16.  “Batman v. Superman:  Dawn of Justice” (2016) – Clark and Lois enjoy a sexy respite in a bathtub, following a serious discussion over his rescue of her in North Africa.

17.  “Batman” (1989) – Bruce Wayne aka Batman crashes through the glass roof of  Gotham City’s Museum of Art in order to save photojournalist Vicky Vale from criminal Jack Napier aka the Joker.

18.  “Legends of Tomorrow” (2.17) “Aruba” (2017)– Before he can kill Legends leader Sara Lance aka White Canary, the villainous speedster Eobard Thawne aka Reverse-Flash is killed by Black Flash, the Speed Force enforcer and former villain Hunter Zolomon aka Zoom.

19.  “Green Hornet” (2011) – Newspaper publisher Bret Reid aka the Green Hornet and his partner Kato are chased along a Los Angeles highway by minions of gangster Benjamin Chudnofsky in order to prevent them from publishing an article exposing a corrupt district attorney in Chudnofsky’s pay.

20.  “Gotham” (1.01) “Pilot” (2014)– Rookie police detective James “Jim” Gordon of the corrupt Gotham City Police Department is forced to fake the death of minion Oswald Copperpot aka the Penguin, after being ordered to kill the latter by gangster Carmine Falcone.

Honorable Mention:  “Batman Begins” (2005) – Batman refuses to save the life of his former mentor Henri Ducard aka Ra’s al Ghul from a runaway monorail, after foiling the latter’s plans to destroy Gotham City.

"END OF WATCH" (2012) Review

"END OF WATCH" (2012) Review

If there is one present day screenwriter who has written so much about the working-class neighborhoods of Los Angeles, it is writer-director David Ayer. In the past, he has written crime dramas such as "TRAINING DAY", "THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS", "DARK BLUE" and "STREET KINGS". Just last year, he added another entry in his crime filmography with last year's "END OF WATCH". 

Shot in documentary style (at least some of it), "END OF WATCH" followed the daily grind of Brian Taylor and Mike Zavalas, two young Los Angeles Police Department beat officers who are both partners and close friends, who patrol the streets of South Central Los Angeles. Taylor, a former U.S. Marine, is video recording his police activities for a film class, much to the annoyance of his fellow cops. The partners deal with a fire, occupants of a crack house, a public disturbance call that leads to a fight between a Bloods gang member named Tre and Zavalas, and a noisy party filled with Latino gang members that include a leader named Big Evil. But when Taylor has a hunch about Big Evil and convinces Zavalas that they should stake out the house of the home of the gang leader's mother. When they do, the partners pull over a truck that leaves the house, arrest the driver and discover ornately-decorated firearms and a large amount of money inside the truck. Further investigations of the house leads to the discovery of more arms, human trafficking victims, and a warning from an ICE agent that the partners have stumbled into an operation with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. The agent warns Taylor and Zavalas that they are over their heads, but the two officers end up ignoring him. The young officers' private lives are also explored. Zavalas' wife is pregnant with their second child and Taylor meets and ends up marrying a young woman named Janet.

"END OF WATCH" is not a bad movie. It provided an interesting look at the daily lives of police patrolmen in the working class neighborhoods of Los Angeles. In a way, it almost reminds me of the 1988 movie, "COLORS". In many ways. The movie also benefited from some superb performances by leads Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña. The two actors managed to create a sizzling screen chemistry that made the close relationship between the two characters believable. They especially shined in the movie's last reel, which featured Zavalas' account of an embarrassing and funny encounter with his in-laws. And I also found Ayer's direction very energetic. To my surprise, I was not even bothered by the the movie's handheld camera format. And Ayer's handling of the shootout between the two cops and Big Evil's gang members, who are working on behalf of the Mexican cartel, was outstanding. In fact, I consider this last scene to be the movie's pièce de résistance.

Despite the virtues I have listed . . . I did not like "END OF WATCH". I do not dislike the movie. But I did not like it very much. Part of my disappointment with the film has to do with David Ayer's screenplay. I could not tell whether he had intended for "END OF WATCH" to simply be a documentary style look into the lives of two police patrolmen . . . or a story about two police officers' troubles with a Mexican crime cartel. It seemed as if he was trying to mix two different crime genres and failed to balance it out. It did not help that the subplot regarding Taylor's film project had no real impact on the movie's main narrative and it was simply discarded two-thirds into the movie. Ayer's script allowed an ICE agent to warn Taylor and Zavalas that they had stumbled into a Mexican cartel operation following their arrest of the truck driver. But when an ICE surveillance camera recorded a cartel member putting a hit on the two young officers using Big Evil's gang, the ICE agent failed to make a reappearance to warn the pair. Instead, Ayer's script allows Tre to issue the warning. And I found myself asking . . . why. Why did Ayer allow Tre to issue a warning about the hit and not the ICE agent? 

Aside from Brian Taylor and Mike Zavalas, the movie's other characters strike me as one-dimensional . . . especially the character of Tre and the members of Big Evil's gang. In fact, some of their dialogue felt as if it was over two decades old and had been lifted straight from "COLORS". Ayers tried to broaden the other characters. He managed to somewhat succeed with the Gabby Zavalas character, portrayed by Natalie Martinez. But everyone else seemed to fall flat. David Harbour was simply wasted as disenchanted police officer Van Hauser, who continuously warned the two younger officers that the L.A.P.D. will stab them in the back one back. Unfortunately, Ayer never explained Van Hauser's mindset. Watching "END OF WATCH", I found it hard to believe that Anna Kendrick was once nominated for an Academy Award. She was surely wasted in this film as Taylor's girlfriend and eventual wife. And her character struck me as even more one-dimensional as the gang members.

I wish I could say that I liked "END OF WATCH". The trailer had impressed me. I was also impressed by the performances of Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Michael Peña, who projected a dynamic screen chemistry. And I found the shootout between the two cops and Big Evil's gang dynamic. But somewhere along the way, the one-dimensional supporting characters and questionable subplots simply left me cold.