*Yes, even though the title of this column is “Why I hated Sin City” I’m leading with another bullet point. It’s my column, so I guess I can do that. If you’re that interested in Sin City, skip to the next bullet point.

I’m not a fan of changing characters/plots/shows and keeping the same names. If you’re going to change major things, then change the name of the show and don’t pretend it’s the “original” idea. My favorite example of this is Battlestar Galactica. The series on the SciFi Channel is NOT Battlestar Galactica. They’ve changed the characters, the plot, and the story’s premise. Heck, even the genders on the characters have changed.

Despite my strong feelings on this topic, every so often a show re-writes a plot line or a character and I like it better. Naturally this causes a lot of internal conflict. Because clearly I don’t support this approach – just look up a few sentences ago. So I’m never really sure how to feel.

Fortunately I’m making a mental exception for the new TMNT cartoon on Fox (as well as Starfire on Teen Titans, but lets not confuse the issue). The two big changes they’ve made since the original cartoon is that Splinter was really a rat (not a human) – this is the change they made in the live action movie. The second change is the identity of Shredder. He’s gone from a human to an Utram. And it’s this story element that I like the best. It’s added a new set of storylines to the overall story, and I think it makes it more interesting. Although I suppose mileage may very on that view.

So I’m still torn about this show, after all I want to be intellectually consistent. But you have to ask yourself: What’s better than ninja villains from outer space? Not a lot I tell ya!

*I heard some great news this week; the original He-Man cartoon is coming to DVD. Apparently all the parties involved have finally agreed to release the episodes. One thing I did find shocking is that they made 130 episodes. I had not idea there were that many, I certainly don’t remember that many from my childhood.

The DVD’s will include interviews and the like. And will be available on July 12.

*So I was flipping the channels as I was eating lunch over the weekend (Tomato Sandwich for those of you scoring at home), when I just happened to stop on Teen Titans on Cartoon Network. It was the episode where Mad Mod manages to change the US Constitution and therefore take control of the US making it so the British never lost the American Revolution.

The scene I saw was after Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire, and Raven had been fighting over whose plan they would use to defeat Mad Mod. All four plans had failed up to this point. When Starfire makes the dramatic statement that the Constitution isn’t simply about voting, it’s about compromise. This is one of the most astute comments I’ve ever heard from a TV show, let alone a “kids” cartoon.

It shows a surprising understanding of the Constitution and the processes involved in the US government. In fact, the Constitution itself was a series of compromise. And as Starfire suggested, it’s this compromise that has given the United States such a powerful governing document.

I found it very refreshing to see a cartoon say something that wasn’t one of those tired “vote or die” clichés we all here when someone is talking about government.

*Well I did it, I finally took the plunge. I plopped down my $9 to go see Sin City, and guess what – it was the biggest waste of $9 I’ve done in a LONG time. I disliked the movie so much that I actually contemplated leaving the theaters. I’ve never left a movie theater before, but I was very, very close. I think I probably would have if I hadn’t decided to do a write-up in this column. And to give my true opinion I knew I needed to stay to the very, boring, depressing, obvious ending. I hope you’re happy.

So what are my thoughts? Well the first is that it’s not one movie, it’s really three or four mini films glued together. Now while I didn’t like this, I’m not really faulting the movie. The interesting thing is that it made the movie more about Sin City than about that people living in the city, and I thought that was pretty cool. However, you’d think more people would be talking about that aspect of the movie. I had no idea it was more of an anthology comic book “feel” than a whole movie.

The biggest problem is that, simply put, this movie wasn’t fun. I did not enjoy myself, and that should really be the primary goal of any movie. I looked at my watching thinking “this must be almost over by now” and I was 35 minutes into the movie. Not an auspicious way to start a film. I found that because there were so many “mini movies” that I couldn’t get into a rhythm, and that made the film seem much longer than 2 hours.

Going into the movie I heard a lot about how violent the film was. While I didn’t think the violence was totally over the top, I didn’t find it particularly enjoyable. As crazy as it sounds, I think there is such a thing as “fun” violence. Arnold Schwarzenegger mowing down a bunch of communists – that’s fun. This was not. This was violence meant to shock the audience. And I just don’t enjoy that.

Finally, (for now) the dialogue was fantastically cheesy. I’m sure it was supposed to be cheesy, but it was SO cheesy that you couldn’t help but be taken out of the movie. And I think it’s a serious flaw if the audience is reminded that the movie is fake. Anytime you pull your audience outside of the films universe you are removing the illusion of a living world that you’ve been creating.

I have no doubt that this movie accomplished everything it set out to accomplish. And I suppose that’s the problem.

*Wow, I didn’t mean to go off so long on just one topic. You know this column by now, it’s supposed to be short thoughts! I guess I just had a lot to say on Sin City. I suspect I’ll have more…

*Heh, I guess that didn’t take long…

One thing that I did realize by watching the movie is how they managed to cram all those stars into one movie. As I mentioned two weeks ago, I wasn’t sure how you could get all those celebrities together and still be successful. Well it’s simple if you make several short movies into one long movie! But I do have to give them credit, it did work, and having all of those big-name actors wasn’t really a distraction. Except for Elijah Wood that is. It was strange to see Frodo killing people.

…okay, enough of Sin City for a while.

*I often wonder anymore how it is that I’ve become sucked into the DC universe. Even typing that makes me feel a little dirty. And yet, it’s true. I used to love Marvel, and I would buy Marvel titles almost exclusively. But I find myself drifting more firmly into the DC camp. I’m not really sure why that is, but I think it has to do with DC characters. I find so many Marvel characters to be “more of the same”, while DC characters seem to be more unique. Perhaps it’s because I’m not as familiar with these characters, or perhaps they are genuinely better than the Marvel characters. I don’t know. But as of right now, I think I only regularly buy two or three Marvel titles a month, verse several times that for DC. Who would have thunk.

*I’ve already run a bit long today, so I think that’s enough. Hope you enjoyed the big 2-4!

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