Oz Comic-Con causing Sydney to geek-out!

Cosplay craziness has taken over Sydney this weekend with Oz Comic-Con...and it really is a whole lot of crazy. Yet it is the type of crazy you will love if you are serious about "geek" culture.

Don't be fooled though. Oz Comic-Con has something for everyone, but one's first Comic-Con experience can be a real eye-opener. Probably the most shocking thing about a Comic-Con is how much effort people put into their Cosplay costumes, which can be hard to understand if you haven't witnessed it before or if you are not one of the die-hards.

Yet, once you get past how scary good (or just plain scary) some of the costumes are, there is so much to enjoy for movie and TV lovers. Oz Comic-Con is in Sydney for this weekend (September 10 and 11 2016) at the Sydney Exhibition Centre @ Glebe Island. As it was opening day, the halls were packed with high energy and excitement from fans and exhibitors alike. It truly is heaven for lovers of everything sci-fi and fantasy with everything to satisfy your passion and make you feel as close to your favourite films, television shows and print (including comics and books) as possible. It is no wonder people choose to participate in Cosplay when visiting, why not really feel as though you are in these worlds by making yourself into a character in the narrative?

Along with stalls selling the best in pop culture merchandise, there are exhibits from the Star Wars, Marvel and Star Trek universes....all of which are incredibly impressive. You can enter the world of Star Wars and have your photo taken with Captain Phasma, Kylo Ren or a Storm-Trooper, as well as get excited with previews for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story which is due out this December.

As it is Marvel's Captain America's 75th anniversary, it is only fitting for he to have his own exhibit. There is a little something for all Marvel lovers though. You can even battle your friends to see who is the mightiest by attempting to remove Thor's hammer!

Of course, one of the most popular parts of any Comic-Con is the special guests. In Sydney this weekend, film and television guests include Aaron Ashmore ("Warehouse 13"), Charles Martinet ("Super Mario Bros"), Charlie Carver ("Teen Wolf"), Christian Kane ("Angel"), Daniel Portman ("Game of Thrones"), Devon Murray (Harry Potter), Hal Rayle (Transformers), Joe Flanigan ("Stargate: Atlantis"), Katee Sackhoff ("Battlestar Galactica"), Ken Kirsinger ( Freddy vs Jason), Ksenia Solo ("Lost Girl"), Maggie Roswell ("The Simpsons"), Max Carver ("Teen Wolf"), Mitch Pileggi ("The X-Files"), Nicki Aycox ("Supernatural"), Rachel Miner ("Supernatural"), Rainbow Sun Francks ("Stargate: Atlantis"), Stephen Hunter (The Hobbit) and Timothy Omundson ("Psych"). However, the two most popular guests based on their panels and their autograph and photo demands were Karl Urban (Star Trek, Lord of the Rings) and Freddy Kruger himself, Robert Englund.

And of course, the Cosplay. There are several competitions that take place over the two days so the more effort your put in the better. Again, some of the costumes are quite unsettling, but you also have the hilarious and the ridiculous (such as Mario jumping out of a pipe just like in the video game and an AT-AT walker). One of the most entertaining aspects of the Cosplay happens outside the exhibition hall. It is not every day you see Kylo Ren sitting on a Sydney ferry just chatting to his friend (who is not dressed up at all), Shrek sitting on the dock at Darling Harbour or three bearded girls sitting side by side checking their phones.

However, a tip if you are a girl and wanting to dress up for any Comic-Con this year or next, if you want to be original avoid going as Harley Quinn. The character which Suicide Squad has made popular once again was the most popular female Cosplay today and therefore lacked originality. So stand out from the crowd and pick someone else! As for the male characters, there wasn't one character that was more abundant in the crowd than the others and some very original ones were seen out and about.

Oz Comic-Con is an interesting and enjoyable day out for any pop culture enthusiast. Thankyou to Blue Planet Public Relations for the chance to check it out and we can't wait to go again next year!

If you would like to go to the Sydney Comic-Con today (Sunday September 11 2016) or want to find out about Oz Comic-Con in your city, please see the official website http://www.ozcomiccon.com/2016/

Pete's Dragon (2016) film review

Year: 2016
Running Time: 102 minutes
Director: David Lowery
Writers: Malcolm Marmorstein (based on the screenplay by), David Lowery and Toby Halbrooks (screenplay)
Cast: Oakes Fegley, Bryce Dallas Howard, Oona Laurence, Robert Redford, Wes Bentley, Karl Urban

Pete's Dragon is now showing in the United States and will open in Australia on September 15. Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.

Once again, another film enters cinemas this year that looks deceptively like a stereotypical remake. However, Pete's Dragon is only loosely based on the 1977 film of the same name with the only concrete similarity being that there is a boy named Pete who's best friend is a dragon named Elliot. Disney's new film has gone in the opposite direction of it's namesake and instead of remaking Pete's Dragon as the musical comedy it originally was, they have turned it into a family drama that is simple and quick, but incredibly sweet, loving and moving.

In the small Pacific northwest town of Mulhaven, there has always been stories of dragons in the woods, but with so little evidence they have never been proved to be much more than folklore. However, when a young, orphaned boy, Pete (Oakes Fegley) emerges from the wilderness, the town is shocked that he was able to stay alive living by himself for so long. Park ranger, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) is able to earn Pete's trust and he confides in her about his best friend, Elliot, which challenges everything she and most of her family has ever believed.

While vastly different films, Pete's Dragon can be likened to the 2016 Ghostbusters. Both may be classified as remakes, but neither primarily aspires to replicate the original on a bigger and better scale as stereotypical remakes tend to do. In both cases, the filmmakers use the originals only as inspiration to do something new and different with the story and this is what should be done with remakes. A remake should be a product of seeing an original opportunity in an old idea.

Although the 1977 Pete's Dragon is loosely classified as a Disney classic, the Don Chaffey directed film which starred Sean Marshall, Helen Reddy and Mickey Rooney is considered mediocre at best. David Lowery's film may be a very different film to the original, but is so superior in it's production that it has the power to become the more referenced out of the two in years to come.

The 2016 Pete's Dragon is a truly surprising experience. While the film seems quite quick as it takes place over only two days and the story easy and straight forward, there is a great deal of power behind it's simplicity. The film is filled with so much love which is transcended onto the screen in the sweetest of ways so that it would take a cold heart to not be moved by Pete and his dragon. The audience feels an instant emotional attachment to the two unlikely friends as a result of splendid character development (especially that of Oakes Fegley's Pete) and wonderful casting and direction. This attachment formed between character and audience is one of the things which makes Pete's Dragon extremely moving. The soundtrack for the film is also beautifully utilised to give greater depth and understanding to the situations at hand.

In an age where CGI is such a dominant feature in mainstream Hollywood films, it takes something special to be truly surprised by the phenomenon these days. The CGI development of Elliot is outstanding, but not in the way it traditional sense. Elliot has been constructed with so much love that he is immediately likable and it is easy to forget that he is not a real being that is being filmed alongside Fegley. He is the perfect mixture of pet and best friend and while the idea of chemistry between an actor and a CGI created animal may seem impossible, it is certainly proved otherwise here.

This is a definite area of credit for Oakes Fegley. Acting alongside a CGI creation is often difficult and when this is so it transcends to the screen, but Fegley does a superb job of making us believe that he is really there with his best friend who just happens to be a dragon. Fegley's performance as Pete is one of the best by a young person of the year. Like Elliot, he is immediately lovable and empathetic. Fegley allows the audience to watch Pete go through some heavy emotions (such as hurt and grief, as well as the complicated notion of separation anxiety) in a way which is devastatingly real.

Bryce Dallas Howard also gives a performance which is just beautiful. Her portrayal of Grace is stunningly heart-warming and maternal. Robert Redford also does well as Grace's father, Meacham and makes the most of the screen time he is given. Karl Urban character of Gavin, who is the film's villain, is perhaps the only let down. He comes across as corny and over-exaggerated without a hint of real menace, which makes him a lousy nemesis to Elliot.

Who would have thought that in 2016 Pete's Dragon would be a loving family film that brings a tear to your eye on more than one occasion? What David Lowery has done with his film is truly wonderful and a perfect example of what a remake should be...inspired, but original in it's own way.

8/10

Suicide Squad (2016) film review

Year: 2016
Running Time: 122 minutes
Director/ Writer: David Ayer
Cast: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akkinuoye-Agbaje, Viola Davis, Jared Leto, Cara Delevingne, Joel Kinnaman

Suicide Squad is now showing in cinemas everywhere and is distributed by Warner Bros in the United States and Roadshow Films in Australia.

If Suicide Squad was a school student, it's report card would read "Tried really hard". This is how I want to approach the film. David Ayer's contribution to the DC universe is deeply flawed and not the follow up to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that it should have been, but with a little knowledge about the background of the film and what happened prior to it's release, one can see what went wrong.

The premise for Suicide Squad is so exciting, especially for those who are fans of the DC comics. Villains are called upon to do good because the way US intelligence officer, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) see's it, no one cares if the bad guys get killed. She recruits deadly hitman Deadshot (Will Smith), crazy and loopy villainess Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), grief-stricken Diablo (Jay Hernandez, Occa assassin Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and Killer Croc ( Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje). Waller and Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman)lead them to battle a supernatural force from ancient times, the Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) who seems undeafeatable in her quest to take over the modern world. They must all work together to achieve the unthinkable, but nobody counted on Harley Quinn's boyfriend, the Joker (Jared Leto) interrupting the party to take his girl home.

Back in April, the news of Suicide Squad reshoots sent rumours flying that the cast and crew were back on set in an attempt to make the film more humorous and light-hearted. Director Ayer responded to this by tweeting:

David Ayer ‏@DavidAyerMovies Apr 11

#SuicideSquad “reshoots for humor” is silly. When a studio loves your movie and asks what else you want, go for it!

And his intentions were reinforced with this tweet from August 6 after his film was released with incredible ticket sales:

David Ayer ‏@DavidAyerMovies Aug 6

Thank you thank you thank you! To the folks making @SuicideSquadWB a success this weekend. It's just a fun Summer movie with a good heart.

Despite it's huge box-office figures during it's opening week, the film has been torn apart by critics. Much of the criticism is warranted, but for almost every part of the film that is criticised there is a reason why that decision was made by the makers. The finished product has come to prove that these creative decisions may not have been the right decisions as far as the critics and members of the public are concerned, but Ayer and his cast and crew evidently tried very hard to make it work and remained true to this vision.

Perhaps the biggest problem with Suicide Squad is that it is not the atmospheric, dark tale of these menacing villains that people were expecting and craving. DC films do traditionally have a dark, dramatic edge to them, especially those that exist in the world of Batman. While their fierce rival, Marvel is known for superhero films that are somewhat lighter and have a humorous edge that is expected and embraced.

David Ayer's tweets above indicate that what he was attempting was to grab a piece of what makes a Marvel film work and use it in his film. Suicide Squad makes the bad guys the good guys and seeks to humanize the villains in order to make them more relatable and likable, especially Deadshot, Harley Quinn and Diablo. It's almost an obvious storyline and concept for the film and it is here that the DC universe darkness is taken away and is replaced with empathy. With this switch, the film is automatically lightened and with that comes the reassuring freedom that it is okay to laugh and have fun with the bad guys.

Yet, it does feel as though this has been taken too far. Suicide Squad is trying so hard to make the audience have fun and you can even see how hard it is trying. If Ayer hadn't denied the rumours that reshoots had taken place to make it funnier, you could have believed them after having watched the film. However, with this information that Warner Bros gave the go-ahead for more of what Ayer wanted in the film, this is also obvious that what was wanted was as much of a heightened sense of fun for the audience as possible.

It cannot be denied even by the harshest critic that Suicide Squad does have it's moments where it is indeed fun, but in many instances they become too over the top and the amusement turns instead into a series of eye-rolls. Many of the attempts at humour are so obvious that they fall flat and some characters so stereotypical and exaggerated that they are cringe-worthy (especially Captain Boomerang, who is played by Australian Jai Courtney, but feels like a caricature of the stereotypical Australian). The soundtrack for Suicide Squad is extremely cluttered with a series of pop-rock anthems playing one after the other creating a sensory overload and annoyance with this bombardment. Such musical hits in a film should make the audience want to tap their feet and smile, not rolls their eyes and think "Not another one".

Although the screenplay does have a clear idea of where it is going and what it is saying, it is cliché and once again, far too obvious. How do you create a great villain when the whole film is about villains? Cara Delevingne does as well a job as she could with her character of Judy Moone who morphs into the Enchantress. While she is actually quite likable as Moone, Enchantress is not only a dull villain for the film, but is also an extremely overused type of enemy and is the female version of one in another superhero film from earlier this year, X-Men: Apocalypse. With such a cliché villain comes a disappointing cliché storyline and ending.

The best part about the film is undoubtedly Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and this in itself is a reason to celebrate. This is Harley Quinn's first cinematic live-action venture and the film is undoubtedly hers. Robbie herself shines as she plays a role with a huge amount of character and all attention is on her in every scene she is in. Out of all the members of the squad, she has the most screen time and the most extensively covered backstory. This can be assumed as one of the things that Ayer decided the film needed to have more of after test-runs. Harley Quinn is the source of the large majority of laughs and really almost everything that comes out of her mouth is meant to be amusing. Luckily, she is such a great character that this isn't too much of a problem, but it is obvious that she appealed greatly to test audiences as she will larger audiences.

Along with Harley Quinn comes the Jared Leto portrayed Joker. The unfortunate thing for Leto and anybody who was ever going to sign on the play The Joker was that nothing could ever stop comparisons to Heath Ledger. Leto does what he can with the role and he does well under the circumstances. His character has the menace of Ledger's Joker, but the colour of Jack Nicholson's, which is the way he has been directed and it is just a shame that the role comes with embedded comparisons so that Leto cannot be praised in his own right.

Leto's case is not helped by the amount of editing his character has. Even before Leto confirmed that a great deal of the Joker's scenes did not appear in the final cut of the film, it is obvious. The Joker is one of the most popular villains in the DC universe and his role is edited so much that it feels as though he has only been included as he is Harley Quinn's boyfriend. According to Leto, there was enough footage shot of the Joker for he to have his own film and this is more than believable as so much is left unspoken of. Although there are no guarantees that the film would have been better with more Joker in it, it does suffer from it's obvious editing as no one should be able to acknowledge editing in the final product and this contributes to it's uneven execution and sloppy finish.

Suicide Squad tries and tries hard to be a spectacular film event. Unfortunately, the film which David Ayer wants it to be is not the film that audiences wanted it to be. Suicide Squad will owe it's staying power to the force that is Harley Quinn and falter because of it's over-exaggeration, sloppy creative choices and unwarranted editing,

4/10