Tag Archives: Jena Malone

Batman in the DC Extended Universe: Rumors, Robins and the Red Hood

Eagle-eyed viewers in the theater way back in early 2013 might have been quick to notice a specific little easter egg in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, but nobody really expected that to develop further than an interesting cameo. Which easter egg? I can only be talking about the Wayne Enterprises satellite that is destroyed during Superman and Zod’s climactic Metropolis-smashing battle, which is referencing another member of DC’s Trinity of heroes.

Continue reading Batman in the DC Extended Universe: Rumors, Robins and the Red Hood

Female Robin Carrie Kelley Cast for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice?

On top of the huge news that came from Warner Bros. regarding the future lineup of DC Comics films comes this huge rumor – Batman’s most trusty sidekick may make an appearance. And she (yes, we just said SHE) may have already been cast.

So where did this rumor come from? A news report stated that one of the film’s background talents divulged a few details about what additional superheroes may pop up. One of them is Batman’s most revered partner-in-crimefighting, Robin, who is rumored to be the Carrie Kelley version of the character. For those of you out there who’ve read The Dark Knight Returns, this news should come as an exciting surprise. This rumor could have some more legitimacy placed behind it due to the film being heavily inspired by Frank Miller’s epic miniseries.

So who’s the lucky lady rumored to be donning Robin’s outfit? The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’s own Jena Malone! Miss Malone has also done some TV and movie work in Law & Order (as Michelle Landon), Sucker Punch (as Rocket) and Time Out of Mind (as Maggie).

Jena Malone in 2011's SUCKER PUNCH.
Jena Malone in 2011’s SUCKER PUNCH.

Another cool tidbit that emanated from the Batman v Superman’s ongoing production revolves around Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) and Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) crossing paths.  A scene is being prepped within the Michigan State University campus’ art museum that could set up the problems that exist between two of DC’s most powerful men.

 

We’re hoping this latest Batman v Superman rumor rings true. We’re looking forward to seeing Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the announced DC characters show up. We’d be even more ecstatic to watch the Dark Knight jump across rooftops with a female Robin in tow.

What do you think of Carrie Kelley as Robin in the film, or Jena Malone playing the character? Sound off in the comments below and join the discussion at the Grizzlybomb Facebook page!


 Images: DC Comics, Warner Bros. Pictures 

Grizzly Reveiw: Sucker Punch

Take the setting of One Flew Over the Coocoo’s Nest, add the underlying theme of Inception, and a bit of style from The Watchmen. Then combine with a cast that looks like that of Coyote Ugly and a Kill Bill level of female sword play, you should have a movie that any dude will love.

Now on the flip side for the ladies. Imagine a Moulin Rouge type of setting, a Buffy-like level of girl power, and wardrobe department that could make any girl look good. Sounds sweet right?

So why wasn’t Sucker Punch? 

It had all the above elements, but was missing a key component. The story is what makes the movie. Director Zack Snyder nailed all the visuals, his pacing was good, and he inserted a really good soundtrack. Hell, even the story in its primal stages is promising, we just don’t see it develop fully.

Some Minor Spoilers Ahead, Tried Not to Ruin It… 

We open the movie strong. The music is good, the slow motion is fitting, and despite the film speed the pacing is fast. Our principal character, Baby Doll is like the subject of a Fairy Tale – dead mother, evil Step-Father, tragedy strikes, and she is thrown into an extraordinary situation and forced to inspire others.

We are introduced to her new home, an asylum with the aesthetics obviously influenced by Arkham…

mental-ward

The cause of her incarceration there being the accidental killing of her sister, and we see the gears in her head start to turn. As soon as she enters the place she begins to plot her escape. We see clues about how she’ll make her eventual break, and we are hurriedly introduced to the rest of the cast. Her escape has a timer on it as her evil step-father plots to have her silenced. Then – Boom. Our setting changes. Now inside her head, the asylum has become a Nightclub/Brothel, and infinitely less interesting a setting than the actual one we just left.

This is the 2nd level of her mind and this setting gives Snyder excuse to dress all the girls as scantily as he wants, and this is also the point where the Inception comparisons start to pass through the heads of the audience, or at least those who can follow what’s happening. In this setting the girls are no longer inmates at the asylum, but instead sex slaves, forced to dance on stage and pull in cash for the boss, who in reality is the crooked orderly at the hospital who is conspiring with the step-dad.

Baby Doll, going deeper into her own mind, enters another plane of existence. This is the whole Inception ‘dream inside a dream’ scenario. In this plane she is a great warrior. She meets a totally unexplained Wise Man (who I assume is maybe her real father) and he tells her what to do. It was like that scene in Final Destination where the Candyman shows up, has no reason to know whats happening, and then proceeds to explain the entire plot of the movie to the main characters. So now, armed with a sword, a pistol, and an incredibly short skirt, we are given maybe the best action sequence of the film as Baby Doll fights 3 giant robot Samurai. This is all happening to her as she dances in the Nightclub level of her mind. Throughout the movie, each major action sequence in the 3rd level is triggered by her dancing in the 2nd level.

After returning from this fight with the Samurai, the 2nd level dance studio is amazed at her ability to move, but all she cares about is the escape plan she brought back from the deeper dream state. This plan however looked to me less like a plan, and more like a list. It was reminiscent of the Underpants Gnomes on South Park. She convinces 4 of the other girls to help her with her escape, and from there on, each time she dances, and enters that 3rd level in her mind, they are there with her. As the movie progresses we get several more action sequences as the girls try to accomplish the tasks that will make their escape possible.

From here, after the first sequence with all 5 girls fighting, it starts to get repetitive. The mysterious Wise Man is present in all of these delusions, but not in any of the other levels of her mind. In the end however, once Snyder has brought us back to reality (Oh there goes gravity…Sorry) and the movie is about to end, we meet the Wise Man. He is completely out-of-place and seems to somehow be in on all that was transpired earlier…which makes no sense whatsoever.

The we close the movie out with a voice over. Now I know some people don’t like voice overs, and it’s considered lazy storytelling and all, but I’m a sucker for them. Think The Sandlot, where Smalls tells us what happened to all the guys with a voice over at the end, gives me chills. When done right, it can really make for a strong ending. But the voice over writing here was atrocious. It ended the movie with a bad taste in your mouth.

Don’t get me wrong here though, I didn’t hate this movie (even if the people I saw it with did), I felt I got what I expected, and I was entertained. Overall it was actually really cool, but cool doesn’t always mean good. My biggest problem was really just the wasted potential here. They took would could’ve been a great movie, and gave us a mediocre one.

And for that I give Sucker Punch only 2.5 Bears.