Today's Article: Destination God, Part 1: Introduction and Chapter 1: American Religion in the Fifties

It's been a while (quite!), but I decided it's time to dust off some of my old college papers and place them on this blog for the Article Archives. There's still a few of these left that definitely deserve a place there after all. Today, I start with the first part of my personal favorite, Destination God, an exploration of the representation of religion in the science fiction films of the 1950s. This is one of my longest papers, so it will take a while before it's all here, but it makes for a fascinating read regardless. Something to help you get through the vacation month of August perhaps?
 

Inleiding

Deze scriptie handelt net als mijn bachelorscriptie over Amerikaanse sciencefictionfilms uit de jaren vijftig. Aanleiding hiervan is – naast mijn immer voortdurende liefde voor het sciencefictiongenre in het geheel en de sciencefictionfilms uit de vijftiger jaren in het bijzonder – een gevoel van onvrede over het eindresultaat van mijn bachelorscriptie dat mij heeft achtervolgd. Hoewel mijn uiteindelijke bachelorscriptie, getiteld It Came from Cold War America: wetenschap en Amerikaanse sciencefictionfilms in de vijftiger jaren, geenszins slecht werk was, bleek het achteraf incompleet. 

 

In het stuk beschreef en analyseerde ik het genre dat ik opgedeeld had in drie omvangrijke subgenres, te weten de ‘terrestrial creature’ films, de ‘alien invasion’ films en de ‘altered human’ films. Ik had deze indeling zo gemaakt aan de hand van de films die ik destijds voor mijn scriptie tot mijn beschikking had, alsmede een vergelijkbare indeling gemaakt door de auteurs van de bronnen die ik ervoor bestudeerde. Pas laat in het researchproces ontdekte in een vierde subgenre dat minstens zo belangrijk was voor het onderwerp: ik heb het nu aangeduid als het ‘man into space’ genre en zal het in dit paper alsnog kort analyseren aan de hand van de representatie van wetenschap in dit subgenre. 

 

Daar blijft het niet bij. Ik wil mezelf niet onnodig herhalen of me richten op een enkel subgenre. Ik wil het sciencefictiongenre als geheel belichten vanuit een andere invalshoek aan de hand van een nieuw onderwerp: religie. (Ik schrijf dit paper niet voor niks voor de Onderzoeksseminar Film and Religion.) Al tijdens mijn eerste onderzoek merkte ik op dat religie in de films uit deze tijd een vaak aangekaart onderwerp is dat zowel een nauwe band met wetenschap als een afkeer ervan leek te hebben. Daarom richt ik mij in deze scriptie – die zowel een gedeeltelijk vervolg op mijn bachelorscriptie is als een geheel nieuw paper met een niet eerder behandeld onderwerp – op de rol van religie en haar connectie met wetenschap in het Amerikaanse sciencefictiongenre van de jaren vijftig. De onderzoeksvraag van deze scriptie luidt als volgt:

Hoe wordt religie gerepresenteerd in Amerikaanse sciencefictionfilms in de vijftiger jaren?

Als tweede hoofdvraag zou ‘wat is de relatie tussen religie en wetenschap in deze films?’ geformuleerd kunnen worden. Zoals ik zal schrijven zijn beide concepten niet per definitie los van elkaar te zien in het sciencefictiongenre in deze tijd. Dit paper zal zich daarom ook richten op verschillende andere vragen die zich terloops zullen aandringen. Zijn religie en wetenschap met elkaar in conflict in dit genre? Vullen ze elkaar juist aan? Wordt wetenschap gezien als het Kwaad dat de mensheid het Einde der Tijden zal brengen, of is zij de redder van de mensheid? Zijn wetenschappers en buitenaardse wezens Christusfiguren of juist demonen? Speelt wetenschap voor God? Is wetenschap zelf wellicht een religie te noemen?

Zoals gezegd zal ook het ‘man into space’ subgenre in dit paper belicht worden. Ik zal het analyseren op dezelfde manier waarop ik de andere drie subgenres heb beschreven: eerst zal ik het subgenre definiëren, vervolgens zal ik toelichten welke rol wetenschap en religie erin speelt, en tenslotte sluit ik af met een casestudy waarin ik een specifieke film die exemplarisch is voor het subgenre zal analyseren. Dit subgenre leent zich prima voor een lezing van de rol van religie in sciencefiction, gezien de filosofische en existentiële vragen die erin aan bod komen. Desondanks zijn de andere drie subgenres ook van belang voor het beantwoorden van de onderzoeksvraag. Dit geldt het sterkst voor het ‘alien invasion’ subgenre, waarin de buitenaardsen ofwel met vreedzame bedoelingen komen waardoor zij doen denken aan Christusfiguren, of het zijn agressors die de Aarde met geweld willen veroveren, waarop de mensheid zijn hoop op goddelijk ingrijpen kan richten als de wetenschap faalt de veroveraars te weerstaan. Dit subgenre en het ‘man into space’ subgenre zullen in dit paper het uitvoerigst aan bod komen. Zowel het ‘terrestrial creature’ als het ‘altered human’ subgenre laten minder ruimte voor religie in hun strijd met monsters, en waar religie wel naar voren komt is het doorgaans gericht op het aloude ‘playing God’ thema. Om deze reden zullen beide subgenres in dit paper korter behandeld worden. Desondanks bieden ook deze subgenres interessante perspectieven op het overkoepelende thema.

Ik zal dit paper afsluiten met een casestudy van een film waarin religie een prominente rol speelt, waarin ik mijn bevindingen van de rol van religie in het genre als geheel zal toelichten. Gezien mijn achtergrond als filmstudent zal ik mij niet bezighouden met de definitie van ‘religie’, aangezien ik niet de pretentie heb een sluitend antwoord te kunnen leveren op de vraag wat religie precies is. Hiermee heeft religiestudies zich immers al decennia lang bezig gehouden. Wel zal ik proberen een redelijke beschrijving van de belevenis van religie in de Amerikaanse samenleving van de vijftiger jaren te geven, voor zover dit überhaupt mogelijk is. Hierbij laat ik de minder opvallende religies die zich in het multiculturele Amerika ophouden buiten beschouwing, aangezien zij niet of nauwelijks gerepresenteerd worden in de filmindustrie van de jaren vijftig: alleen de mainstream religies als protestantisme en Rooms-katholicisme hadden in Hollywood destijds sterke invloed. Een steekhoudende definitie van ‘wetenschap’ heb ik reeds geleverd in mijn bachelorscriptie dus zal ik ervan afzien mijzelf te herhalen door het begrip hier opnieuw te definiëren. 

 

Het corpus aan films zal, afgezien van haar omvang (een totaal van 41 titels), inhoudelijk niet verschillen van het corpus van mijn bachelorscriptie. Ik zal mij beperken tot het behandelen van Amerikaanse sciencefictionfilms uit de periode 1950-1959. Films uit andere landen die destijds ook actief met het genre bezig waren (zoals Japan en het Verenigd Koninkrijk) komen niet aan bod, ongeacht de ongetwijfeld fascinerende religieuze (sub)teksten die zich in deze films ophouden.

Hoofdstuk 1: Religie en/in Amerika in de vijftiger jaren

Voordat ik inga op de rol van religie in sciencefictionfilms is het noodzakelijk dat ik het begrip ‘religie’ in een historisch kader plaats. De rol die religie speelt in het genre is, net zoals de rol van wetenschap, beïnvloed door de tijdsgeest en het is nodig dat ik een aantal zaken hierover vermeld zodat de religie zoals we die later zien in de sciencefictionfilms in een context geplaatst kan worden. Religie speelde in de jaren vijftig een aanzienlijke rol in de Amerikaanse samenleving, waardoor ik het niet in veel detail kan beschrijven aangezien mij de ruimte en kennis daartoe ontbreekt. Gelukkig heeft een aantal auteurs vanuit het perspectief van de godsdienststudies gedegen onderzoek gedaan naar de belevenis van religie in de Amerikaanse samenleving destijds. Gebaseerd op hun werk kan ik ten minste de belangrijkste aspecten kort toelichten, maar ik ontken niet dat deze toelichting onvolledig is: zij dient uitsluitend als achtergrond voor de daarop volgende analyse van het sciencefictiongenre. Hoewel niet alle fronten waarop religie actief was in de jaren vijftig (zeker niet de kleinere, minder invloedrijke religies, aangezien deze geen invloed hadden op de productie van Hollywoodfilms) direct gereflecteerd werden in het sciencefictiongenre is het toch bruikbaar een overzicht van de werking van religie destijds te schetsen, wat ons helpt de invloed van religie en haar representatie in films te begrijpen. 

 

Zoals ik beschreef in mijn BA-scriptie werd de Amerikaanse samenleving in de jaren vijftig gekenmerkt door angst voor de dreigende situatie die de Koude Oorlog geschapen had, alsmede de verandering binnen de samenleving op technologisch en cultureel gebied. De angst voor een atoomoorlog hing als een schaduw over de samenleving heen, terwijl de dreiging van communistische elementen binnen de eigen maatschappij de politiek vooral in de eerste jaren van het decennium beheerste. Tegelijkertijd werd men geconfronteerd met een lange reeks technische innovaties (zowel negatieve als positieve) waaraan men in korte tijd moest wennen, en waren de rolverdelingen tussen mannen en vrouwen enerzijds en de oudere en jonge generaties anderzijds veranderd. Verandering en angst, dat waren de concepten die het tijdperk het best typeerden: Errol Vieth spreekt in relatie tot beide aspecten over ‘two significant threads that weave through the fifties’.¹ Het is alleen maar begrijpelijk dat velen in zulke tijden als nooit tevoren toevlucht zochten tot hun geloof, hetzij het traditionele Protestantisme dat tot nog toe de dominante godsdienst was in de Verenigde Staten, hetzij in andere religies die steeds prominenter werden. Religie bloeide op als nooit tevoren: er werden meer Bijbels verkocht en kerken werden op zondag in de vijftiger jaren drukker bezocht dan ooit.²

 

In zijn diepgaande onderzoek naar religie in het Amerika van de jaren vijftig omschrijft Robert Ellwood het decennium als een ‘spiritual marketplace’³: er was een divers aanbod aan verschillende (interpretaties van) religies: het merendeel was Christelijk, maar ook het Jodendom bleef stabiel, evenals de religieuze ‘underground’. De Amerikaanse samenleving werd altijd al getypeerd door een diversiteit aan godsdiensten. Na elk naoorlogs tijdperk vond een sterke opleving van religieuze interesse plaats. Dit gold voor de jaren vijftig even sterk als voor eerdere tijden. Het grote aanbod aan religies duidt Ellwood aan als de ‘supply side’ van deze spirituele markt die eenieder de mogelijkheid biedt een geschikte, voor hem/haar werkende geloofsbelijdenis te vinden.⁴ De diversiteit aan religies zorgde echter voor spanningen tussen de grotere religies, voornamelijk tussen het traditionele Amerikaanse Protestantisme en het Rooms-katholicisme dat in de naoorlogse jaren een grote groei doormaakte.⁵ Deze competitie versterkte de nauwe banden die men met de eigen kerk had, aangezien de kerken zichzelf sterker konden profileren door zich tegen de waarden van de ander af te zetten: Ellwood omschrijft deze concurrentie als de nodige ‘medium tension’ die voor de bloei van de kerken zorgt.⁶

 

Religie richtte zich in deze periode vooral op het gezin en propageerde een houvast aan gezinsnormen en familiebanden die als hoeksteen van de samenleving moesten dienen in deze woelige tijden. Het ideaal van ‘togetherness’, waarin de man buitenshuis de kost verdient en de vrouw op het huis en de kinderen past, in een algemeen harmonieuze sfeer tussen alle partijen, stond rotsvast en vond op grote schaal navolging.⁷ Gezien het grote aantal gezinnen dat Amerika rijk was dankzij de baby boom van na de oorlog is het logisch dat godsdienst actief een rol speelde bij het helpen functioneren van deze ‘nuclear family’ en het opvoeden van de kinderen. Hiermee schaarde religie zich onder het gevoel van ‘conformity’ dat de Amerikaanse massacultuur beheerste, maar voor velen als inperking van vrijheid en zelfontplooiing voelde. De kerk moest dan ook leren omgaan met assertieve getrouwde vrouwen die vaak buitenshuis wilden werken, jongeren die zich schuldig maakten aan ‘juvenile delinquency’, en anderen die zich afzetten tegen het patriarchale conformistische systeem dat de kerk voor ogen had.

Desondanks werd de kerk door velen gezien als een bolwerk dat de goede waarden verspreidde onder de Amerikaanse bevolking en streed tegen de destabiliserende invloeden die het communisme onder de bevolking kon verspreiden. Ook hier gold ‘togetherness’ maar dan op macroniveau, het niveau van de staat: iedereen in de samenleving behoorde zich te scharen onder het kapitalistische systeem en te waken voor ondermijnende communistische invloeden. Alle Amerikaanse instituties, politiek, leger, wetenschap en kerk, waren verenigd en stonden klaar om elk probleem dat Amerika bedreigde aan te pakken.⁸ Uitzonderingen werden niet getolereerd: wie tegen de autoriteit van dit systeem was werd gezien als mogelijke tegenstander van de staat.⁹

Alle religies waren sterk anticommunistisch, hoofdzakelijk door de inperking van godsdienstbelijdenis die het regime in de Sovjet-Unie voorstond. Men had genoeg om bang voor te zijn tijdens de Koude Oorlog, maar de kerk kon helpen deze angsten te beteugelen.¹⁰ Helaas ging de kerk, net als de politiek, soms te ver in haar pogingen de Amerikaanse staat tegen het rode gevaar te beschermen: zo zorgden de nauwe banden die de Rooms-katholieke kerk onderhield met Senator McCarthy in zijn heksenjacht op communisten voor een deuk in haar imago toen McCarthy uiteindelijk ten onder ging na ongestoord de levens van vele onschuldigen verwoest te hebben. Hoewel ook de andere religies anticommunistisch waren hadden zij van begin af aan een kritischer blik op McCarthy gericht.

Ongeacht blunders als het McCarthy-schandaal bleef het bolwerk der kerken overeind in haar strijd tegen het kwaadaardige communisme, dat vaak werd afgebeeld als een ‘religie des kwaads’ die erop uit was de Westerse wereld op te slokken. Hoewel de Koude Oorlog vooral draaide om het conflict tussen ideologieën kon het met behulp van dergelijke metaforen beschouwd worden als strijd tussen ‘the god-fearing and the godless’, waardoor er een religieuze factor aan toegevoegd werd.¹¹ Voor Amerikanen was het duidelijk dat hun vrije staat door God gerechtvaardigd was als de hoogste macht, volgens sommigen ‘the highest pinnacle of human civilization’, die onder dit uitzonderlijke moreel andere naties bijstond in hun gevecht tegen de communistische doctrine.¹² Amerika had een missie: het verspreiden van Gods boodschap van vrijheid en rechtvaardigheid en het verslaan van doctrines die deze waarden niet respecteerden. Zo had zij het Nazisme verslagen, en als God het wil zou zij ook de Sovjet-Unie verslaan.¹³ Niet voor niets voegde men onder Eisenhower in 1953 de aanvulling ‘under God’ toe aan de ‘Pledge of Allegiance’.¹⁴ Bovendien werd ‘In God We Trust’ in 1956 het officiële motto van de VS.¹⁵ God stond aan de Amerikaanse kant, en een goede Amerikaan geloofde in God, terwijl atheïsme als voorbode van communisme werd gezien.¹⁶ President Eisenhower zelf stelde:

Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first, the most basic, expression of Americanism. Without God, there could be no American form of government, nor an American way of life.¹⁷

Religie kon als wapen ingezet worden tegen de Sovjetdoctrine: al tijdens Trumans presidentschap (1945-1953) werd religie gebruikt als propagandamiddel om de vrijheid in Amerika tegenover de onderdrukking in de Sovjetstaten te benadrukken. Amerika presenteerde zich graag als sympathieke wereldleider in de hoop dat andere landen, die konden zwichten onder communistische invloeden, dit Amerikaanse voorbeeld zouden volgen.¹⁸ Dianne Kirby merkt op:

[…]the conflict with the Soviet Union had to be unfolded as a particular sort of Christian enterprise. It was presented as part of America’s ‘manifest destiny’ and sustained by the conviction that the American cause was morally right and the communists were evil. […] Religious faith in the ‘free world’ represented a means of inoculating people against the ‘virus’ of communism.¹⁹

Uiteraard werd ook de filmindustrie ingezet als propagandamiddel om deze religieuze boodschap te verspreiden. Hierbij moet gezegd worden dat het sciencefictiongenre minder frequent voor propaganda werd gebruikt dan bijvoorbeeld de spionagethriller of het Bijbelse epos. Desondanks zullen we in latere hoofdstukken zien dat ook dit genre niet gevrijwaard bleef van propaganda tegen het communisme en voor religie.

Ondanks de wereldwijd uitgedragen boodschap dat God aan de Amerikaanse kant stond was er echter geen eenduidige invulling van God of religie in Amerika. Ondanks de sfeer van ‘togetherness’ en het feit dat de kerken eensgezind waren in hun minachting van communisten vormden ze geenszins een front, maar waren ze verdeeld. Interreligieuze banden werden nauwelijks onderhouden, hoewel met de bijeenkomst van de ‘World Council of Churches’ in Evanston in 1954 wel een poging werd gedaan de onderlinge banden te versterken. Het gedeelde optimisme op deze bijeenkomst leverde echter geen concreet resultaat op.²⁰ De Protestanten en Rooms-katholieken bekvechtten met elkaar over issues als McCarthy of de aanstelling van een Amerikaanse ambassadeur in Vaticaanstad (een belangrijke stap in Trumans plan om de banden met Vaticaanstad aan te halen om de religieuze buffer tegen het communisme te versterken), terwijl het Protestantisme – hoewel de kerk met de meeste aanhang – verdeeld was tussen de liberalen en de Evangelisten. De liberalen meenden dat de invulling van het gospel gerangschikt moest worden naar de tijdsgeest en men vrij was te luisteren naar de wetenschappelijke en filosofische opvattingen van de eigen tijd, terwijl de Evangelisten het zagen als onverbiddelijk onveranderlijk en universeel door de eeuwen heen.²¹ Vooruitlopend op de zaken, de liberaal Protestantse visie zien we het meest terug in het sciencefictiongenre, terwijl Evangelische en ook Katholieke visies slechts sporadisch in deze films zijn terug te vinden, niet altijd op positieve wijze. 

 

Ellwood typeert de jaren vijftig als het ‘laatste moderne decennium voor religie’.²² Ondanks de vele vormen van religie in de Amerikaanse samenleving werd dit tijdperk beschouwd als ‘an age of faith in competing totalistic belief systems’.²³ Religie was een middel waarmee men zich kon afzetten tegen andere denkbeelden, vooral de niet religieuze (of zelfs antireligieuze) zoals het communisme. Het belijden van een religie werd als norm beschouwd, evenals de invloed van religie op politiek en samenleving. In de jaren zestig verdween dit beeld langzaamaan dankzij de grote culturele veranderingen in dat decennium. Ontzuiling en postmodernisme zorgden voor een nieuwe culturele discours over religie: hoewel nog steeds belangrijk in de ogen van velen was de geloofsbelijdenis van de jaren vijftig en daarvoor definitief veranderd. 

 

1 Vieth, Errol. Screening science: contexts, texts, and science in fifties science fiction films. Londen: The Scarecrow Press, 2001: p. 55-56

2 Ellwood meldt het hoogste percentage kerkbezoek ooit gemeten in Amerika als 47 procent in 1955 en 1958. Kerklidmaatschap groeide van 57 procent in 1950 tot 63 procent in 1959. Ellwood, Robert S. The Fifties Spiritual Marketplace: American Religion in a Decade of Conflict. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1997: p. 1, 5 / Vergelijkbaar spreekt Biskind over een verhoging van het aantal verkochte Bijbels, met als uitschieter omstreeks 10 miljoen in 1953. Biskind, Peter. Seeing is believing: how Hollywood taught us to stop worrying and love the fifties. New York: Pantheon Books, 1983: p. 115

3 Ellwood 1997: p. 6

4 Ellwood 1997: p. 6-7

5 Ellwood 1997: p. 59

6 ‘Low tension’ zorgt ervoor dat mensen zich niet nauw genoeg met hun kerk verbonden voelen, ‘high tension’ spreekt juist te weinig mensen aan. Ellwood 1997: p. 8

7 Ellwood 1997: p. 3, 16

8 Biskind 1983: p. 102

9 Jancovich, Mark. Rational fears: American horror in the 1950’s. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996: p. 15

10 Ellwood 1997: p. 25-26

11 Kirby, Dianne. Religion and the Cold War. Hampshire en New York: Palgrave Macmillan Ltd., 2003: p. 1

12 Ellwood 1997: p. 4 / Kirby 2003: p. 1

13 Kirby 2003: p. 3

14 Ellwood 1997: p. 117 / Kirby 2003: p. 3, 96

15 Kirby 2003: p. 96

16 Over dit punt zijn veel auteurs het eens. Kirby, Ellwood, Biskind en Cowan geven allen aan dat het geloof in God een essentieel onderdeel was van de instelling van de gemiddelde Amerikaan. Kirby 2003: p. 2, 3 / Ellwood 1997: p. 42 / Biskind 1983: p. 115 / Cowan, Douglas E. ‘Intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic: Science, Religion and the War of the Worlds.’ The Journal of Religion and Film, vol. 11, nr. 1 (april 2007): p. 15

17 Biskind 1983: p. 116

18 Kirby 2003: p. 6, 12, 77

19 Kirby 2003: p. 77

20 Ellwood 1997: p. 54, 130-132 / Kirby 2003: p. 94

21 Ellwood 1997: p. 47

22 Ellwood 1997: p. 230

23 Ellwood 1997: p. 231

Today's News: Machete Kills some more in second trailer

Hot off MovieScene:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/149073/nieuwe_trailer_machete_kills

Looks good, exactly what one can hope for in one's Machete movie: over the top characters (including tough dames in skimpy outfits), over the top action and over the top guns and knifes (and the occasional machete no doubt). Judging from this trailer, the plot has me confused a bit though, in terms of continuity with the previous film. How come Machete is suddenly working for the US government? After all, he's a Mexican ex-federale who previously got caught up in an assassination attempt - a set-up, sure, but still - on a US senator and afterwards rallied illegal Mexican immigrants to stage a revolt of sorts against democratically elected government officials. That's not the sort of person you're likely to see on the side of the American president. However, if I was the American president, I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of any conflict Machete is involved in... I'm sure director Robert Rodriguez will come up with a logical narrative string of events explaining this situation adequately. Say what you will about the wacky contents of many of his films, in terms of story structure they're pretty solid. Except for that intentionally omitted reel in Planet Terror, but that's another story entirely.

Machete doesn't text, Machete doesn't tweet: Machete kills! Personally I can't wait for this flick to arrive in theatres. Hopefully the Dutch distributor will have his release date sorted out pretty soon, as we're still unsure when this sequel is supposed to be available for viewing in the Netherlands. If not Machete, the suspense kills.

Today's Mini-Review: The Wolverine

The Wolverine: ***/*****, or 7/10

Hugh Jackman returns to the role of Logan, the X-Man with the healing factor and adamantium skeleton and claws, for the sixth time (after only a brief but hilarious cameo appearance in X-Men: First Class (2011)). Several years after the cataclysmic events of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), that witnessed the death of his beloved Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) at his own hands for the greater good, Logan is still in agony, travelling through Canada aimlessly in search for something to believe in again. When young female ninja Yukio (Rila Fukushima) finds him at a bar picking a fight with irresponsible hunters, she offers him a chance for redemption, of sorts. Her employer, the powerful Japanese clan leader and major industrialist Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi), is dying and wants to thank Logan for having saved his life back in 1945, when an atom bomb was dropped on both their heads at Nagasaki. Logan haphazardly accepts the invitation but is dismayed to learn the old man's offer of taking his “curse” of “immortality” – not wholly accurate, as Wolverine isn't truly immortal, he just ages much slower than everybody else – for himself so he won't have to die,and Logan can live a normal life if he so chooses. All too soon, Logan finds himself immersed in a complicated web of intrigue in the clan's affairs, revolving around Yashida's legacy and his decision to leave everything to his granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto) upon his demise. Before long, the girl has to run for her life, dodging Yakuza bullets and ninja swords, but fortunately Logan has taken a liking to her and aims to protect her from harm. Matters turn worse when Yashida's shady physician, a sexy mutant poisoner named Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova), manages to disable Logan's healing abilities, thus rendering him vulnerable. 

Credit has to be given to Jackman for sticking to the Wolverine character for so long, which prohibits the use for a reboot at some point as most other superheroes with movie careers have already experienced. It also allows for Logan's emotional and sensual side to be explored, something director James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma) doesn't amply succeed in. It seems odd for this typically 'loner' character, who finally found a family with his fellow mutants, to just go and get himself caught up in what's basically a very private affair in a family he doesn't know, in a culture he hardly understands, even though he had nothing to lose. The various family ploys and their ramifications for Japanese and Yakuza politics hardly feel coherent, as everybody has his or her own motivations for gaining power, some of them underexposed, others needlessly complicated and layered so their bigger picture proves difficult to grasp. Logans romantic entanglement with Mariko is a typical Hollywood love plot, except for Logan being plagued by inexplicable, pointless visions of dear deceased Jean: of course her death still haunts her, but apparently her mental powers have left some sort of astral imprint upon Logan, or so I surmise since the writers never bother to fully explain this aspect of the plot. It just seems like an overly simple, lazy excuse to get Famke Janssen back for a few short sequences. Whatever the movie lacks in character logic it mostly makes up for in action, with a knife fight on the roof of a high speeds train as the most intense moment in that category. Otherwise however, the action scenes seem somewhat repetitive with their focus on samurai and ninja clichés, culminating in a big action piece between Logan and a mecha-warrior with a burning sword, which is this movie's take on Marvel's original Silver Samurai character. The make-up of some featured characters sure deviates from their original comics counterparts, as was to be expected but necessarily appreciated. Similarly to Silver Samurai now being a robot-armour instead of a kinetically charged mutant in shiny, traditional Nippon warrior garb, Viper has transformed from a typical assassin dabbling in assorted toxins to a full fledged snake like mutant, complete with silly forked tongue, the ability to spit poison and skin shedding issues. The only character who stands out next to the ass-kicking Wolverine himself is the tough, lite and wise-cracking Yukio, both dangerous and playful, who brings some much needed lightheartedness in an otherwise all too dramatic and emotionally heavy superhero film. The Wolverine is only a minor improvement over Logan's previous solo adventure X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). Though more room is given for Logan's personal turmoil, the side characters for the most part aren't as colourful and compelling this time around, nor is the action delivered in a diverse manner to keep capturing the audience's imagination. Nevertheless, the short teaser for the next X-flick, next year's X-Men: Days of Future Past, wedged in halfway into the end credits, sure makes the levels of anticipation rise tremendously, considering what other popular characters make a comeback.

Today's Double News: if posters come I'm ready!

Got a double dip of news today, thanks to my own forgetting to post half of it earlier this week (that's so not like me!). So there's a bit of older news here as well, but I can live with that. Today, posters are in my blood!

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/148993/nieuwe_poster_thor_the_dark_world

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/148972/nieuwe_posters_300_rise_of_an_empire

A lot of new one-sheets, thus. And a lot of me doing free advertising for these movies on MovieScene, and now on this mine own blog. I ought to get at least a Christmas cards from the studio execs.

Let's start with the older news. The 300 posters (yes, I know there's only six of them, I was referring to the title) were already spotted earlier at Comic-Con, which in online terms makes them ancient history by now, but hey, I have yet to see them adorning walls in theatres and the movie is still more than half a year away (even though originally, it was supposed to be released in fall 2013). Say what you will about them, at least they offer consistency compared to the character posters released for the predecessor in 2007, which took a very similar route. The big difference is these are only showing heads while their original counterparts also showed the rest of the characters depicted. Guess not more is needed here. The silly taglines - 'Athens will burn', is that some sort of cleverly hidden social commentary on Greece's internal affairs? - and the gritty faces set the mood perfectly; as if that was needed, since people who saw the first film will know exactly what they can expect, while I doubt this flick will draw many audiences unfamiliar with the first 300. Gotta love these expressions. Eva Green looks utterly pissed off. Me thinks she's still mad about "her" TV show Camelot getting cancelled after only one season, so shooting this movie no doubt provided some violent therapy to blow off some steam for her. Cersei Lannister Lena Headey by contrast appears reserved and calculating, yet regal as ever. She's not done playing queen yet, returning to her role from the first film. Good to see she can also play a nice queen instead of only the scheming, bitchy variant we've all come to love on Game of Thrones. That is, if you can sincerely call a queen who orders her men to go out and spill rivers of blood in excessively disturbing manners in any way 'nice'. But then, the alternative we see in Xerxes (poor Rodrigo Santoro in dubious bling-bling make-up again) isn't such a good option either. After the stuff he pulled in the first film you sure know you don't want him to be your monarch. In summation, these character posters will do a decent job preparing people's expectations for 300: Rise of an Empire (I'm still unsure what empire is being referred to exactly, but it's clear the people behind these films don't give a rat's ass about historical accuracy, nor will the general audience). I'm moderately excited about this film myself. I gotta admit I hated 300 the first time I saw it, but it grew on me in later viewings as I came to understand what the film was all about: gratuitous violence relayed through hyperstylized imagery. Who could say no to some more of that?

Now, if it's visual spectacle you want in your posters, there's the latest one-sheet of Thor: The Dark World for ya. By Odin's beard, this is something else entirely! It looks utterly fabulous and rich, even if it's in many ways simply a few heads put together. Nevertheless, it clearly showcases its stellar cast (and Tom Hiddleston's Loki's back, yay!) and its continuing journey into the epic fantasy realms of Marvel's take on Norse mythology. And as a bonus for movie aficionados like myself, it also undeniably hearkens back to the good old poster art the likes of Drew Struzan (except photoshopped instead of hand drawn). There's also a definite Lord of the Rings vibe to the piece, which is never a bad thing. If this poster is any indication, I'd say Thor: The Dark World is in good hands, courtesy of Alan Taylor. Who happened to direct no less than six episodes of Game of Thrones, thus taking us full circle to the previous bit of news, thanks to the number six and Cersei Lannister Lena Headey. If that's not a sign from the gods I don't know what is.

Jurassic Park Series 2: Quetzalcoatlus

Year of release: 1993-1994

Accessories:

-Three pieces of capture gear

-Collector’s Card # 32

Description: this big Pterosaur figure features a long, skinny body ending in a small tail. Right under the tail it has a pair of thin, long legs, each with three claws. Two of these claws are poseable, with the third one positioned opposite the others, so the creature can grab things like human figures or small dinosaurs with these claws. On its left upper leg this critter is marked with a large white JP logo, numbered .18. The whole body, including its legs, arms and neck, is coloured grey, light grey on its underside (belly, throat and lower part of the tail) and dark grey on the rest of the body, almost black on its back. The claws on its feet are not painted differently.

The front part of the body ends in a thin neck with a big head on top of it. This head sports huge beak, not in a spiky shape as with the various Pteranodon figures, but of a much more elaborate and detailed, somewhat boxy, design. The head ends in a small pointy crest, but the most noticeable feature is the fiery crest on top of the skull, above the little black eyes. Most of the head is coloured bright red, except for a small area under both eyes and the very lowest part of the beak, while the crest on its head is mostly yellow with some red at the bottom, reinforcing the 'fire' feel of this figure (hence its nickname, Firebeak). The inside of the mouth is not painted.

Most noticeable are the wings of the Quetzalcoatlus. On each side of its body, a black clamp is positioned, to which a thick arm is attached, ending in four fingers, the last of which is very long and runs to the tip of the wing, where a small rectangular pin is found. The pins can be pushed into the small holes next to the creature’s legs, creating a wings-folded-in system. The wings can fold out with force by pressing the large button on the back, which also controls a flapping wings mechanism. The rest of the wings consists of a fine cloth, coloured similarly dark grey as most of the figure (though a variation with dark beige, almost light brown, cloth also exists), with a plastic strip in the middle of the wing holding it together, though giving the wings a bat like motif.

This figure comes with three pieces of capture gear. There's the typical small cuff, which comes with every JPS2 dinosaur in one shape or another. Also included is a big head piece, which fits around the beak and partially over the head so the Quetz can't open its mouth. Lastly, there is a small leg piece that restrains both legs.

Analysis: the JPS1 Pteranodon was a rather disappointing Pterosaur sculpt, but Kenner showed it was capable of doing better by giving us this vastly superior Quetzalcoatlus figure. It has a much different feel and looks fabulous, especially the head sculpt with its bright fiery paint job. The rest of the figure features a somewhat monotonous paint job though (too much grey, some additional colour schemes would have helped), but it's still a wonderful sculpt with plenty of action features, some good, some only decent.

Like the JPS1 Pteranodon, and in fact almost every Pterosaur sculpt, this Quetz has a large beak that can be opened for grabbing prey. The beak is big enough to catch most human figures, and thanks to its mouth's serrated inside (but no teeth) figures won't slip out so easily. As if the beak isn't enough, this figure also comes with large claws on its feet for grabbing additional victims. These can really hold a figure tight and they’re strong enough, so when “in flight” the catch doesn’t shake loose and fall to the ground (though its legs are less stable and usually bend down when the Quetz is lifted up, but this doesn't hinder the claws' effectiveness).

Then there are the wings. Though their design is original, they're less of a success then the rest of this sculpt. They're unfortunately rather small (also because the torso is just too long), and though the cloth is a nice touch, it’s more susceptible to damage and dust, so rough play is not recommended. Also, the arms are way too thick compared to the rest of the body, and thanks to the extra strip of plastic in the middle of the wings this figure has a sort of bat like quality to it, unlike real Pterosaurs had. The clamps next to the body make the wings look too artificial. So far the look of the wings, but now for their use. The flapping wing mechanism works much better than the one the JPS1 Pteranodon featured, though a smoother button would have been preferable, because now it hurts the fingers when the button is pressed too long. The unfolding system is a bit odd; though in real life Pterosaurs could fold their wings in some fashion too (in order to walk using their hands), it would probably not be very healthy for a Quetzalcoatlus to fold its wings in this position. But the unfolding looks cool, and it certainly saves space when the creature’s wings are folded in. Overall, credit has to be given to the Kenner designers for the originality of these wings, but as for their use they could have done a better job.

That leaves the capture gear, three pieces in total. The cuff like tag that comes with this figure like it comes with all JPS2 creatures is a redundancy, since the figure itself already is tagged with its JP logo. This tag is only a nuisance, since it's so small it gets easily lost and as such makes complete Quetz figures harder to find. The other capture gear is more useful. The leg piece restrains both legs, but not the claws. The head piece works well and totally subdues the figure's head, with no way of getting rid of it (in fact, it's really a tight fit and not always easy to remove). There's no capture gear included to restrain the wings however, so basically the Quetzalcoatlus can just fly away. Maybe the wings-folded-in system was designed to take care of that, but since the Quetz can just fold them out, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Playability: this figure provides for more playability options than most other Pterosaur figures. It has poseable claws and legs, its mouth can be opened, its neck twisted 360 degrees (though there's no real reason to do that other than sadism). The flapping mechanism works fine, and the folding of the wings is an interesting additional option, though of limited use. Added to this are the three pieces of capture gear, one of which serves no real purpose, while the other two do an effective job restraining specific areas of the body, but overall won't stop the creature from escaping.

Realism: Quetzalcoatlus was not a creature seen in the first JP movie, or its sequels, so the Kenner designers got to be imaginative on this one. They were bound to get a few things wrong as such, but nothing major. The shape of the beak is inaccurate, since Quetz had a more typical elongated 'spiky' beak, like the various JP Pteranodon figures. The shape and size of the crest on this figure are not far off, though the crest on the end of the head is also wrong. The length of the torso and the shape of the wings are off, while its neck is too short, but the overall size of this figure compared to human figures is reasonably accurate.

Repaint: no, this sculpt is new. It would be partially repainted for the TLWS1 toy line, as the Giant Pteranodon figure (body, legs and wings, but not the head). The Quetz's head sculpt and capture gear would not be repainted.

Overall rating: 8/10. An excellent new Pterosaur figure, with a cool head sculpt and a lot of playability, though it has some minor downsides. This figure is well worth getting, but it's quite rare and usually fetches high prices, especially for MIB and complete samples, so be warned.

Jurassic Park Series 2: Electronic Baryonyx

Year of release: 1993-1994

Accessories:

-One piece of capture gear

-Collector’s Card # 37

Description: this bipedal dinosaur stands in a slight walking mode, with the right leg posed forward and the left leg backward, its right arm extended while the left arm is held back. Its tail leans downward, forming a tripod position with the legs, which helps the figure's balance because it has a tough time standing up straight, even though it also has claws on the back section of its feet). Its head is raised upwards, clearly showing the long snout of this fish eater. It has a small bump on its snout, between the eyes, and an even smaller one above the nostrils. It also has rows of very small bumps, barely visible, running from the back of its head over its neck. Baryonyx is equipped with a snap jaw action: pulling the right leg back makes the head move forward, opens the jaws and makes them snap close with a typical snapping sound, while also releasing a high pitched snarl.

This Bary features a three way paint job. It has a yellowish green underside (throat, belly, lowest part of the tail, upper inner parts of the legs), and is black on top (neck, back, upper part of the tail) with black stripes and spots running over the sides of its neck, the flanks, upper legs and sides of the tail. Between the light green and black the creature sports dark green, swampy paint, also found on parts of the head, most of the legs and all of the arms. Bary's claws are not painted differently. Most of the head, particularly the snout, is coloured light red, while the figure has black eyes, white teeth and a pink inside of the mouth (including tongue). On its right upper leg a yellow JP logo is located, with the number .23 next to it.

This figure comes with only one piece of capture gear, the typical cuff like tag which appears a required accessory to any JPS2 dinosaur. It's painted entirely dark metallic grey (darker than most other capture gear) and is also a bigger side than on the other smaller JPS2 dinosaurs (except for the Lycaenops, which has a tag about the same size). The only place the Bary's tag really fits is around its neck.

Analysis: another relatively unknown dinosaur figure that made its way into the second JP toy line (and seems less unknown these days, though this figure probably didn't have much to do with that), is the Baryonyx. This figure is blessed with an excellent paint job (minus the paintless claws, which is all the more of a bummer because they're pretty big), in colours that give it a jungle or swamp feel. The latter is not unlikely since Baryonyx supposedly lived on a largely fish based diet, so it would have scoured swamps in search of prey. The red on the face seems in contrast with this, but gives the figure a more diversified paint job.

Bary's main attraction is the wonderful snap jaw biting action. Of course, we have seen biting actions before in JPS1, and we would see them many times again (including the basically identical snap jaw action on the TLWS1 Electronic Velociraptor, which was of a much lesser quality because of its fragility), but Baryonyx got to put a new spin on this old routine. In this case it's not just biting, but an elegant motion in which Bary plunges its head forward, opens its jaws, takes a bite and snaps its jaws close, then retreating its head, while at the same time producing a sound. It looks quite cool and it works well, though the jaws open less than they are capable of, so this attack only works on smaller victims, but this includes limbs of human figures (which is what we want to attack the most with our dinosaur toys, isn't it?). The jaws can open separately from the snapping action, allowing for bigger prey to be caught. Unfortunately, the sound is of lesser appeal than the biting action: it appears to be a high pitched version of the classic Godzilla roar, and doesn't really fit on this creature, being reduced to an ungratifying snarl by being distorted like this. A more original roar would have been preferable, but this one will have to do.

Like with the JPS2 Gallimimus (and basically all dinosaur figures, but more so this pair because they don't come with other capture gear), Bary comes with a single tag as its sole accessory. Fortunately it's a lot bigger this time, but it still adds little to the figure, considering it already has a JP mark on its right leg. It's not so small that it gets lost easily, but it doesn't make much of an impression so most people tend to forget Baryonyx actually comes with any capture gear at all and complete Barys are much harder to find as such. Which is quite a nuisance for completists, because this already is quite a rare figure.

Playability: not as good as most of the other JPS2 dinosaurs. Both the arms and the legs are poseable, though they can only move so far because of the way they are attached to the figure's torso. The arms and legs are in each other's way to some extent, they're positioned much too close to each other, also hindering overall poseability. The right leg also works only in connection with the snapping action, it can be posed but it will flip right back and it can't be used separate from the biting jaws. However, the snap jaw action works fine and looks quite cool. The snarling sound doesn't contribute much, nor does the single piece of capture gear (which only works when put around the neck, since it'll slip off the tail and can't be placed on other body parts), though fortunately it's not as small as most JPS2 tags, so it'll get lost less easily.

Realism: Baryonyx was not featured in the JP movie or any of its sequels, so the toy designers only had the real animal to work from. They got the head right for the most part, featuring elongated jaws for catching fish (though not as crocodilian as the real deal) and a bump on its head. It's also good to see they didn't forget the longer claw on the hands. However, the posture this figure assumes is off, its head is raised too much. The torso is too small so the arms and legs are positioned too close to one another. In comparison to human figures, the animal is about half the size of a full grown Baryonyx.

Repaint: no, this is a new sculpt. It would not be repainted for later toy lines.

Overall rating: 6/10. This figure sports a neat paint job and comes with an excellent new take on the old biting action, but has some irritating design flaws and a disappointing roar. It's one of the rarest JPS2 figures and often fetches near outrageous prices, especially MOC samples. It doesn't come highly recommended, but if you find one for a decent price, don't hesitate, because it does have some redeeming features.

Jurassic Park Series 2: Electronic Gallimimus

Year of release: 1993-1994

Accessories:

-One piece of capture gear

-Collector’s Card # 47

Description: this bipedal dinosaur features a rather plump body, a long neck, and an elongated bird like beak. It stands in a largely neutral posture, with its beak opened (it can't be closed), revealing a long thin tongue. Despite its big round torso and comparatively short tail, it can stand quite well balanced on its slender legs, also thanks to its big feet (though these have very short claws). Gallimimus comes with a leg kick attack action: a large button is found on its back, which, when pushed, causes both legs to move back and forth. This also activates screaming noises, three identical screeches in rapid succession.

This figure's predominant colour is light brown, which is found on its flanks, the sides of the tail and neck, all of the arms and legs and parts of the head. Its underside (belly, lower parts of the tail and neck) is coloured beige. A big blue stripe runs from the back of the head over its neck and back all the way to the end of the tail. Red stripes run over this blue colouring, three on the upper part of the neck, seven on the back and eight more on the tail. An additional red stripe runs on each side of the neck under the blue stripe. The red paint on the neck and head is of a slightly darker shade than the red stripes on the other body parts. The upper jaw is also red, while the inside of the mouth (including the tongue) is pink. This creature has small black eyes. Its claws are not painted, and it comes with a red JP logo on its right upper leg, next to the number .24.

Gallimimus comes with a single piece of capture gear, namely the typical cuff like tag that accompanies every JPS2 dinosaur. It's quite small, though the circular part above the cuff that carries the JP logo is bigger than on the other tags of a similar size that are seen in the JPS2 toy line (for example, those of the Pachycephalosaurus and Tanystropheus). The tag fits best around the lower legs or the neck.

Analysis: after being left out of the JPS1 toy line completely, Gallimimus finally got a figure of its own (as well as a hatchling) for the JPS2 toy line, no doubt because Kenner was bold enough to produce figures of little known prehistoric creatures, and Galli belongs to that category, even though it was seen in the actual JP film. The Gallimimus figure turned out pretty well, featuring a decent enough paint job, though additional stripes or spots on the limbs and painted claws would have made it better. It has a neat design, though it looks a bit fat and has weird feet and a beak that looks plain ridiculous (and unfortunately can't be closed to make the animal appear less silly). An interesting aspect of this sculpt (as well as of the Baryonyx figure of this toy line) is the fact that it is a fair size bigger than the JPS1 electronic dinosaurs (the carded ones, not the big figures like the Red Rex). This trend of making medium sized electronic figures would be continued into Kenner's TLWS1 toy line.

Gallimimus most original feature is its action option, which is labelled a 'leg kick attack' action, though when in use it seems more like he's making running movements than doing any kicking (after all, he's not nicknamed 'Speeder' for nothing: running away was his main role in the JP movie). Also, you have to hold your Galli in a weird angle if you want it to actually kick its victims. Legs are not often equipped with a main attack feature, so this was a new concept on Kenner's part, which would be occasionally repeated in following toy lines. The TLWS1 Parasaurolophus uses the same system, but that figure has one major flaw the Galli does not have: the Galli's legs are capable of being posed independent from another. So it's not like when you pull the left leg back the right leg moves along, they can be used separately (which is why the figure can stand up straight, unlike the Para, which has issues in this regard), but they are both moved back and forth when the button on the figure's back is pushed. Whether you apply it to running or kicking, the Galli's leg mechanism works well. It also activates the screaming noises, three in a row. They're high pitched screeches, which fit well on this creature (in fact, they're nigh movie accurate).

A single JP tag completes this set, but it's a totally useless accessory. The whole notion of tags carrying the JP logo to indicate they're JP dinosaurs is redundant considering the dinosaurs are already marked by JP logos on their bodies. The JP tags are often a nuisance because then tend to make complete figures harder to find, and this is notoriously true in the Galli's case: the tag of the Gallimimus is so small it's easily lost, and therefore complete loose samples are very hard to find. The best way to get a complete Galli figure is to get one MOC, but those are almost equally rare and usually fetch very high prices, effectively shutting a lot of collectors out from getting complete Gallimimus figures. Fortunately, not all collectors are obsessed completists.

Playability: just fine. Galli has poseable legs, which can be posed separate from another despite the leg kick action which makes both legs move. The arms are also poseable, but they look odd in most postures because of their 'hanging down' stance. The leg movement action feature works fine and can either be used for kicking aggressors or running them over. The single JP tag doesn't really add anything though, except annoyance over the fact that most Gallimimus figures have lost theirs.

Realism: unlike most JPS2 dinosaur figures, Gallimimus was actually seen in the Jurassic Park movie (as well as in The Lost World). It did resemble this figure a lot, but it's not a complete match. This sculpt has shorter legs, a plumper body, a shorter neck and a bigger beak, but the basic shape is not too dissimilar. The paint job is not identical (no red and blue on the movie's Galli), but the overall brown scheme looks relatively the same. This figure's screeching noises are quite similar to the sounds the Gallimimus made in the movie, and surprisingly so, since none of the other JPS1/2 electronic dinosaurs produced noises that were even close to movie accurate (which was especially disappointing on the Rex and Raptor figures).

Repaint: no, this is a new sculpt. It would not be repainted for later toy lines.

Overall rating: 7/10. This is a fun new figure, with a decent enough paint job and an interesting (and up till this point, original) action feature. It has some minor design flaws though, most notably its goofy head sculpt, and it comes with one single accessory whose main function seems to be to annoy collectors. However, it's worth getting your hands on. That is going to be a challenge, since this is one of the rarest of Kenner's dinosaur figures. Even for loose samples prices are often high, while they tend to soar to astronomical heights for MOC figures. If you decide you want one, be sure what you get yourself into.