Author: Robert Greenberger

The Taken franchise has worked at all thanks to two people: Luc Besson and Liam Neeson. Besson has seemingly been coasting since 1994’s The Professional and certainly has returned to familiar territory with this franchise. Neeson has stopped showing his considerable acting chops by going the action route pretty much since he picked up a lightsaber. Despite its utter predictability, the first Taken proved enormously popular, especially considering its early 2009 release date.

The inevitable sequel, Taken 2, mined much the same ground although it varied things just enough that the rescued daughter (Maggie Grace) now helps dad find their missing mom Lenore (Famke Janssen). Enough seemed to be enough and Neeson thought a third chapter was out of the question. 20^th Century-Fox thought otherwise and asked Neeson and cowriter Robert Mark Kamen for one more. We were told things would go in another direction but I doubt anyone anticipated it going even lower, down the rabbit hole as it were.

Taken 3, out now on home video from 20^th Century Home Entertainment, has Neeson’s rep held hostage and he has to spend nearly two hours trying to reclaim his good name or be arrested for seemingly killing his ex-wife. Of course he didn’t do it and he has to figure out who killed her and why pin it on him? As a result, we have the usual set pieces, the action chases and action fights that keep good stunt people employed. Olivier Megaton is back for his second consecutive turn behind the camera but like the script, brings nothing new to the table. Everything looks swell and blows up just fine but everything about the production feels worn out. Thankfully, the negative criticism and weak box office means Maggie Grace’s newborn baby at the film’s end will be safe from a sequel.

About the best that can be said of this production is that Besson and Kamen knew it needed something more and they tried to actually develop the characters somewhat but it was far too little and way too late.

The Blu-ray transfer is perfectly fine without much to complain about so is swell to look at and the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound is a solid match.

The Special Features feel just as worn as the feature. The best may be the unrated, extended version that adds about seven minutes of mayhem but you’d be hard pressed to identify those minutes.

There is the “Flashback Malankove” (7:16) deleted scene from the theatrical release followed by Sam’s Bunker, A.K.A. The Rabbit Hole (3:01), a mindless animated “tour” through Neeson’s secret hideaway and its armory. There is also the location-focused Taken to L.A. (4:16); A Taken Legacy (4:54); a Gallery (1:05); and Theatrical Trailer (2:15).

The notion of a hero having to deal with the son he never anticipated is certainly an interesting one especially with the added twist that the boy is already 10 and has been trained to be the ultimate assassin and future leader of a global terrorist organization. When Grant Morrison retconned Mike W/ Barr’s Son of the Demon graphic into the core DC Universe continuity, it had the virtue of freshness with a touch of audacity. He got far more interesting mileage out of the addition of Damian Wayne to the story than I anticipated. The core elements of that arc have been nicely replicated in the latest direct-to-video release Batman vs. Robin out now from Warner Home Entertainment.

This 80-minute feature is a much stronger outing than the last few, with credit going to the decision to change writers from Heath Corson, whose efforts have been weak, to the far superior J.M. DeMatteis. I’ll stipulate that Marc and I are old pals but the adaptation is deserving of the praise regardless of who wrote it. Director Tony Oliva, who has also been involved in the previous misfires, is back and frankly, rises to the occasion by making the character bits as visually interesting as the action sequences. That said, they remain overblown including the climactic fight which is wrongheaded on many levels.

Picking up where Son of Batman left off, Damian has come to live with Bruce (Jason O’Mara) in Wayne Manor and Batman is trying to instill a sense of morality in his latest Robin, lessons never quite taught by Damian’s grandfather, Ra’s al Ghul. Damian, for his part, is impatient at every turn and is increasingly annoyed that Bruce and Batman are holding him back. Complicating matters, Batman is now enmeshed in the latest schemes from the Court of Owls, the secret long-time hidden society of Gotham powerbrokers who unleash their fist of justice, (Jeremy Sisto), when they don’t get their way. To take down Batman, they decide to seduce Damian into siding with Talon.

DeMatteis’ script takes the broadest of strokes from Morrison’s stories and melds them nicely with Scott Snyder’s more interesting issues of Batman.  As a result, the story’s best moments can be directly traced to his work such as the constant contrasts between Batman/Robin, Bruce/Damian, Damian/Dick, Batman/Talon, and so on.

Although the story frequently wants that Damian is only 10, he continues to display skills, knowledge, and attitude way beyond that of any 10 year old I know. On the other hand, emotionally, he is fragile, jealous of Dick Grayson, annoyed at Ra’s and Talia for abandoning him, and pissed at Bruce for not treating him as a peer despite clearly not being ready.

The film is not perfect. The film opens with Damian having stolen the Batmobile to take down Winslow Schott, called the Dollmaker here, and not the Toyman – which makes no sense. Gotham has enough oddball villains, one drag one in from the Superman books and then make him look like Jason from Friday the 13^th? Then we get to the major battle in the Batcave, which is far too easily breached. Nightwing is literally pinned from shoulder to legs by the Talons but shakes off the multiple wounds without leaving behind a drop of blood or appearing weakened. Similarly, Batman takes a beating in a museum and then in the Batcave, including what might appear to be a mortal gut wound, but moves around without wincing, bleeding, or weakening.  There seem to be an endless supply of resurrected Talons which beggars credulity. Oliva’s propensity for drawing out the action sequences needs to be reined in already.

The story avoids the death and resurrection of Damian (for now) with a far more satisfying conclusion where Damian wants to take control of his destiny, no longer a pawn between parents and their conflicting agendas.

The character designs are still annoying with overly angular faces and impossible muscled necks. Bruce isn’t handsome and dashing and the various Owls, when out of the mask, are uninspired. What’s interesting about Andrea Romano’s vocal casting is that by using Sisto as the surrogate father Talon, she cast an actor who has previously been the Dark Knight in New Frontier. Intentional or not it brings a new layer of complexity to the relationships.

Overall, the Blu-ray experience is fine for most viewers. The colors are strong and the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track quality is just swell.

Warner has released this in a variety of formats with the combo pack containing the Blu-ray, DVD, and Ultraviolet digital copy. There’s even a gift pack complete with Batman figure. The Blu-ray edition has the usual assortment of special features starting with commentary from Creative Director of Animation Mike Carlin, director Oliva, and producer James Tucker. The three have worked on enough features together they have some interesting comments here, comfortably riffing off one another, and providing context for this outing.

Gotham City’s Secret: The Mythic Court of Owls (31 minutes) is a somewhat belabored look at Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s layering of the Court of Owls over the history of the New 52 Gotham City. Additionally commentary comes from DC Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras (who I guess read the stories), Oliva, Tucker, and author Phil Cousineau, who has the least relevant things to say and could have been entirely excised.

The same gang of creators return for The Talons of the Owls 14 minutes) which specifically looks at the Court’s one man army. One interesting take away from these two features is that Capullo’s art, seen on the large screen, is remarkably detailed.

Coming later this year is something complete different and we get a Sneak Peek: Justice League: Gods & Monsters (11 minutes). Considering this is Bruce Timm’s return to the DC heroes after a break, it’s impressive to see how fresh his thinking is for what is essentially an Elseworlds take on the Big Three and I admit to being suitably enticed.

The disc also contain four onus episodes from the DC Comics Vault: “The Color of Revenge!” from Batman: The Brave and the Bold, “Old Wounds” from Batman: The Animated Series, “Obsession” from Superman: The Animated Series, and “Auld Acquaintance” from Young Justice. And then we close out with Merrie Melodies: Super-Rabbit (8 minutes).

Christopher Nolan thinks big. There’s little question he has an impressive imagination and his body of work speaks to those larger issues. Often writing with his brother Jonathan, they have produced a series of films with a polish and gravitas that few other big budget spectacles can match.

And yet…

And yet, in almost every case, the lapses in story logic rob the movie of its power so you always walk out of the theater shaking your head in bewilderment. The great ideas and execution found in Memento and again in Inception are spoiled in his other films, notably The Dark Knight Rises. Such was the case with Interstellar, coming to home video via Paramount Home Entertainment this Tuesday. The larger theme of where we do go when we ruin the Earth beyond repair is a timely one as more and more reports indicate this is the century we hit the ecological tipping point.

In a near future that looks remarkably like 2014, a blight has decimated the world’s ability to feed its growing population. Federal resources have been yanked from programs that do not directly address the problem or so people are led to believe. It turns out NASA has become a black book operation, off the grid and dedicated to finding somewhere for us to go.

From there we’re propelled into the story of Joseph Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a former NASA pilot turned farmer, raising his children Tom (Timothée Chalamet) and Murphy (Mackenzie Foy) on the family farm with his father-in-law (John Lithgow). Murph thinks her room is haunted until she and Coop realize there are messages and coordinates being sent by some intelligence. They follow the message and find NASA, which just happens to be in need of a pilot for their last mission. Just like that, Coop says goodbye with a promise he’ll return, while he rockets off towards a wormhole and whatever may be on the other side. Accompanying him are biologist Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway); physicist Romilly (David Gyasi); geographer Doyle (Wes Bentley); and robots TARS (voiced by Bill Irwin) and CASE (voiced by Josh Stewart). Back on Earth, Brand’s dad, Professor John Brand (Michael Caine), promises he will solve some of the physics that will help determine how to get millions from Earth to the stars. In time, the adult Murph will join his quest.

Basically, the entire second act of the film gets us to the other side where one of the three potential new homes for humanity turns out to be a watery dud and the second one is a frozen wasteland. There, they find Dr. Mann (Mat Damon), long believed dead, and here the conflict escalates with the fate of civilization hanging in the balance. Oh year, and thanks the time dilation effects from the wormhole, hours to them become years back home so video recordings show us Murph (Jessica Chastain) and Tom (Casey Affleck). growing up. Then things go very, very bad.

And then they get outright weird. Nolan offers us a heady homage to 2001 with the Tesseract within the black hole and all sorts of gibberish follows until the inevitable return to earth.

So, we’re left asking lots of questions about how the time dilation really works, why the gravity of the black hole doesn’t crush everything in its path, how it is anywhere near Saturn without wrecking the solar system, and so on. Coop spends zero time training to fly the new vessel or get to know the crew but when push comes to shove, he coaxes the starship to do amazing things that provide some of the few thrills. Other story logic questions plague the third act as well but for those who haven’t seen it yet, I’ll leave those alone.

For a movie that hinges largely on the relationship between father and daughter (now Ellyn Burstein), their meeting in the waning minutes is surprisingly mild and anticlimactic. Similar emotional peaks and valleys are missing from the film which spoils some fine performances, notably Mackenzie Foy’s young Murph. Some of the most intense moments are when Coop returns to the ship after the first world and catches up on 23 years of video messages from his kids. It stands out because so much is missing from the rest of the film.

As a story, it feels like bits and pieces have come from elsewhere, especially Stanley Kubrick’s head-scratching 2001. There is, therefore, one plot twist I didn’t see coming and it was a welcome surprise given how much else was predictable. Even so, so much remains unexplained, all of which robs the film of the greatness is aspires to.

The high definition transfer nicely mixes the widescreen 2.39:1 and IMAX full-frame 1.78:1 ratios, using the storytelling to help. Only true videophiles will be concerned with the little nits in the look of the film. The rest of us will think it looks just fine, albeit diminished, on our home screens. If anything, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is even better so together, it makes for a fine viewing experience.

While the combo pack boasts three hours of special features, the film’s missing coherence is not here. Instead, there’s a dedicated second Blu-ray disc that starts off with The Science of Interstellar (50:20) as Matthew McConaughey narrates a look at the film’s scientific foundations. Consulting Scientist Kip Thorne looms large here, as the feature explores the film’s themes and the current theories on finding life in the universe, space-time, wormholes, black holes, and the theory of relativity.

After the engaging science, we move to the fanciful stuff under the umbrella title Inside Interstellar. There are fourteen features of varying lengths, exhaustively looking at the music, mechanical beings, starship designs, miniatures and so on. The final piece has the cast and crew reflecting on the film’s goals and hopes for the future. For the record the pieces are Plotting an Interstellar Journey: (7:49); Inside Life on Cooper’s Farm (9:43); The Dust (2:38); Tars and Case (9:27); The Space Suits (4:31); The Endurance (9:24); Shooting in Iceland: Miller’s Planet/Mann’s Planet (12:42); The Ranger and the Lander (12:20); Miniatures in Space (5:29); The Simulation of Zero-G (5:31); Celestial Landmarks (1080p, 13:22); Across All Dimensions and Time (9:02); and,  Final Thoughts (6:02). Overall, these not only vary in length but in detail and interest but there’s certainly something for everyone.

The combo pack does also offer up a nifty and collectible IMAX film cell.

One could argue that Moses is the most significant and influential character from the Old Testament. After all, he led the Hebrew out of slavery and delivered the Ten Commandments. His birth story proved influential, notably to Jerry Siegel a few thousand years later. As embodied by Charlton Heston, there was never a mightier figure which is why it has taken until 2014 before anyone attempted a modern day retelling of his story.

Ridley Scott brought all his filmmaker skills to Exodus: Gods and Kings and the movie is a visually sumptuous. The Middle East provides a nice visual backdrop to this story and the movie deserves to be seen on the large screen. Watching the Digital HD version on my computer screen, courtesy of 20^th Century Home Entertainment, shows the limitations of epics on any home screen. There is so much detail and scope that deserve the silver screen so the home version blunts its impact.

Scott was roundly criticized for his casting white folk in the lead roles but commercial considerations made any other choice untenable. With that said, he chose well with Christian Bale as Moses, paired opposite Joel Edgerton as his adoptive brother Ramesses II. Yes, more racially accurate people should have been cast from there on down but this is an argument you’re not going to win so let’s move on.

I wish the movie was so deft. The film’s pacing is one of its largest problems. We dwell on a battle with the Hittites at the beginning that has little bearing on the rest of the story and should have been trimmed so we could get on with things. As it is, there are long, drawn out scenes where very little of note happens or gets said. Then, when we get to the 10 plagues, we only see a few of them, when we wanted each and every one. That said, when the plagues arrive, we do get a far better sense of how each decimated the Egyptian people, weakening Ramses’ resolve to keep the Jews in his grasp.

Which brings us to another issue of contention which are the biblical and historical inaccuracies. While Ramesses II is likely the unnamed Pharaoh in the Exodus story of the Bible, the pyramids the Jews are seen building were completed centuries earlier. What were they building? Hard to say but certainly the pyramid for Seti I (John Turturro) since these resting places tended to take over a decade to complete. Moses’ divine power to turn a staff into a snake is absent as is his stutter – he’s downright eloquent at times.

There are some very interesting character dynamics that are begging to be better explored. First, there’s Moses being raised by Seti after his daughter and his even-handed treatment from Seti, much to Ramesses displeasure. Then you have Moses and his long-lost brother Aaron (Andrew Tarbet) or his wife Zipporah (Maria Valverde). But the chief dialogue is between Moses and God, in the form of a young boy named Malak (Isaac Andrews), who is at least seen next the Burning Bush. Malak seems unhappy with Moses’ performance and attitude but sticks with his chosen avatar and there’s no reason given. Why Moses? Why let the Jews suffer for years while Moses goes into exile, marries, and raises a son of his own? Nope, no one questions this, just somberly accepts their fate.

The film overall is somber and dreary, lacking in the spark of life. There’s little sense of joy in the palace or the caves or the huts or the desert. There’s a distinct lack of humor in the tale, which may be true in the Bible, but here, we had a chance to bring more life to the players.

Instead, we get a visually feast beginning with the arrival of the plagues right through the parting of the Reed Sea (wherever that was). Here, Scott easily outdoes Cecil B. DeMile and brings us a parting worthy of the moment’s spectacle.

The 2:30 film has a very nice transfer and plays smoothly. The colors are rich and the sound, through standard computer speakers, was acceptable.

The Digital HD comes complete with the bonus features, which features Scott’s Commentary. There also The Lawgivers’s Legacy (23:14), where academics extol the facts and suppositions surrounding whether or not there was a real Moses and if so, when did he operate and whom did he oppose. There are nine Deleted Scenes (14:37), the most valuable one being Moses coming down from the mountain to find his people worshipping the Golden Calf. Additionally, there are fourteen BTS Enhancement Pods (48:13) covering each major aspect of mounting a production of this nature. Finally, there are The Gods & Kings Archives split between Pre-production, Production and Post-Production stills, sketches, artwork, and design.

Lionsgate had an opportunity to take advantage of the crass commercial stunt of splitting Mockingjay into two films and enrich the world and characters. Somehow, though, they squandered the opportunity and turned out a leaden adventure that did little more than spin its wheels as we are forced to wait for the final chapter. Given the content of Suzanne Collins’ final installment in her Hunger Games trilogy, this could have been a done-in-one, albeit lengthy, final film. However, it was decided to split it into two and here, we should have gotten to know everyone a little better.

After being available for online viewing, Mockingjay – Part 1 arrives on disc Tuesday in the standard combo pack, giving you Blu-ray, DVD, and a digital copy.

Katniss Everdeen’s journey from Tribute to Icon showed us a petulant, reluctant hero in the making and with Jennifer Lawrence wonderfully assaying the part, her growth should have been stronger on screen then the print version. She remains resistant and reluctant, finally willing to trade being used as a stalking horse in exchange for help freeing Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson and the other Tributes held by the Capitol. She clearly sucks at being anything than what she is as seen in the amusing public service ad filming scene but finally reveals her inner fire when District 8 is bombed.

The game being played against President Snow (Donald Sutherland, the second best bit of casting in the series) is a tricky one, especially considering his decades of advantage. His moves are cold and calculating, yet his clearly is over-confident and misfires when he bans the Mockingjay symbol from being displayed. As he tightens his grip on the districts, more and more rebellion is sparked. That he and Katniss exchange moves for as long as they have shows he has underestimated her. But not before outfoxing her on more than one occasion, including the brainwashing of Peeta, surreptitiously releasing him so he would become his secret weapon, which is more or less where this half ends.

The first set of missed opportunities are close to home. Mom and Prim have survived the devastation of District 12 and they are seen here and there and yet neither one is given much to say or do and their relationship with Katniss is at arm’s length, which goes against everything established in the first book. Then we have the introduction of President Coin (Julianne Moore). In the BTS material, she is said to have had a strong take on the character but it doesn’t come through on screen. Her growing relationship with Katniss would have been nice to see much as more could have been done with Plutarch (the dearly missed Philip Seymour Hoffman) and even Hamish (Woody Harrelson).

Instead, we go from District 13 to visit District 12, rescue a cat; visit District 8 and narrowly avoid being blown up, and back to District 13 as others try to free the Tributes. Katniss broods a lot and seems so obsessed with Peeta’s freedom she barely has time for Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), whose love for her has forged him into a hero, not that you can really tell given how little he’s given to do.

The movie is incredibly faithful to the book but screenwriters Peter Craig and Danny Strong made one significant change: Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) has survived and has been brought to District 13 where she bonds with Katniss in a nice way. Given their skills, it’s sad that this was a brief highlight and so much of the film is a series of action set pieces and missed opportunities. Director Francis Lawrence did a far stronger job with Catching Fire and while he handles the scope and action nicely, the human touches feel thin. One hopes the final act redeems all concerned and ends the series on a high note.

The film’s transfer to High Definition is splendid with sharp colors and little lost to the shadows. The audio is just fine, too.

The Blu-ray comes with an assortment of special features built around the eight-part, two and a quarter hour “The Mockingjay Lives: The Making of Mockingjay – Part 1“: 8-part feature-length documentary which covers everything from the story to the special effects, costuming, and casting. The BTS footage demonstrates just how much fun they had shooting the film, which is good considering how dour the story is. What’s frustrating is that the director, producers, and cast all have strong ideas about the characters and story but so little of it made it on screen. There is also a commentary from Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson.  “Straight From the Heart: A Tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman” is a nice ten minute tribute specific to his involvement in the last three films in the set. Songs of Rebellion: Lorde on Curating the Soundtrack” features Lorde detailing all the choices she made in assembling the soundtrack album and we have her “Yellow Flicker Beat” music video. There are also a handful of deleted scenes, only one of which I think should have been restored to the film.

Overall, it was entertaining but disappointing but I will be there for the finale to see if they can trump the great wreck of a second half the novel itself was.

Aquaman finally gets his due in Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, out now from Warner Home Entertainment. In the latest installment in the new linked video continuity, all inspired by the uninspiring New 52 reality. As is fitting in a spotlight film like this, Aquaman’s origins are explored so we also get the tried and true enmity between Arthur Curry and Orm, the Ocean Master.  There’s lots of shouting, fighting, fish, and Sturm und Drang but honestly, not a lot of warmth and emotion—much like the current source material.

Queen Atlanna (Sirena Irwin) rules over forgotten Atlantis which is about to be proven a real legend as it braces for war. The undersea kingdom is discovered when Cyborg (Sean Patrick Thomas) investigates a sub having gone missing. Upon discovering the existence of Atlantis, he summons the rest of the Justice League — Superman (Jerry O’Connell), Batman (Jason O’Mara), Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson), Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Flash (Christopher Gorham) and Shazam (Sean Astin).

As the story churns along we meet drifter (get it?) Arthur Curry (Matt Lanter), who gets caught up in the battle, displaying unusual abilities to telepathically command sea life. He also meets Mera (Sumalee Montano) who has powers of her own and its true love in an eye blink. Arthur finally meets Orm (Sam Witwer), his half-brother who is angry at everyone. Aiding him, because one villain is never enough anymore, is Black Manta (Henry Lennix).

What is missing from the mess of heroes, villains, and fish is heart. Writer Heath Corson has become their go to writer but he is a by-the-0numbers scripter so there’s a sameness permeating the video. Director Ethan Spaulding may need to learn about characterization and pacing but Producer James Trucker should know better given his strong pedigree.

I’ve written previously about my dislike of the current character designs, too top heavy, too angular, and not really resembling their comic book counterparts. It’s more of the same here but it also looks a little cheaper, a little more rushed and stilted which is a shame.

The video comes in 1080p/AVC-encoded format which is fine for this limp effort bettered only by the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track.

As has become habit with these discs, there are some fine and some less fine special features. What’s really missing is a piece placing Aquaman in context, exploring his 70+ year existence, noting his other media appearances and examining how he’s become the butt of pop culture humor. But that piece is missing. Instead, we have Villains of the Deep (12 minutes), which examines, instead, Ocean Master and Black Manta. While good, it needs the good guy counterpoint. There’s also Scoring Atlantis: The Sound of the Deep (30 minutes) which is a lengthy examination of the development and scoring with composer Frederik Wiedmann, Tucker, recording engineer John Rodd, and conductor Russell Steinberg.

A nice surprise is the Robin and Nightwing Bonus Sequence (4 minutes) as Tucker explains how this 45-second piece worked as a prequel to the Batman/Green Lantern Scarecrow chase. 2014 NY Comic-Con Panel (27 minutes) showcases Tucker, Corson, character designer Phil Bourassa, dialogue director Andrea Romano, and Aquaman’s voice Matt Lanter.

From the DC Comics Vault (83 minutes) offers up four episodes: “Aquaman’s Outrageous Adventure!” and “Evil Under the Sea!” from Batman: The Brave and the Bold, “Menace of the Black Manta and The Rampaging Reptile-Man” from the 1967-70 Aquaman series, and “Far from Home” from Justice League Unlimited.

Bone: Out from Boneville Tribute Edition
By Jeff Smith
192 ages, Scholastic Graphix, $14.95

Bone is a phenomenon that just keeps growing, it seems.  Jeff Smith’s self-published debuted in 1991 and charmed readers who discovered the black and white fantasy. However, he found a brand new audience when Scholastic added the series, in color for the first time, to their Graphix imprint. There now are the nine volumes, Rose (with art by Charles Vess), Tall Tales, Bone Handbook and three illustrated prose novels from Tom Sniegoski.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of this incredibly successful partnership, Scholastic is releasing next week a hardcover Tribute Edition of volume one. The complete, still-charming is on hand but there is also additional material. We start with the 10-page poem “An Ode to Quiche”, written by and critiqued by the monsters who plague the fellow from Boneville. There are nine pinups culled from the other volumes so it’s nice to see plenty of Smith’s lovely cartoon work.

The tribute comes from an assortment of talented folk, who just all happen to be producing work for Graphix, including Kate Beaton, Jeffrey Brown, Frank Cammuso, Nathan Fox, Jimmy Gownley, Kazu Kibuishi, Mike Maihack, Scott Morse, Jake Parker, Dav Pilkey, Greg Ruth, Dan Santast, Raina Telgemeier, Doug TenNapel, and new-to-the-party Craig Thompson. These are uniformly lovely images that are done with affection and shows the versatility of the source material.

Graphic novels have grown a lot since they became a thing back in the 1970s and it’s terrific there is a robust market now for children to discover graphic storytelling. The versatility and promise of the medium is more often found here than in the stand comic books no longer being produced for these readers. It’s nice to see Scholastic celebrate with Bone.

Given the genre cred of Simon Pegg and the ascendance of Rosamund Pike, I approached Hector and the Search for Happiness with a certain level of curiosity. I was unfamiliar with the original novel by French author Francois Lelord and somehow missed the film’s release back in September. 20^th Century Home Entertainment resolved that with the release today of the film on DVD.

In short, the film is about a psychiatrist, Hector (Pegg), who wants to shake up his tedious life. He doesn’t feel like he’s good at his job or able to help people, and laments to his girlfriend Clara (Pike) that he has yet to sample the very experience he recommends to his clients. As a result, he goes walkabout, seeking to taste life and find happiness. Then things happen.

It’s a charming premise and certainly well-trod territory but one expects, well, more from the story, especially considering the strong cast, anchored by Pegg and Pike but also including Toni Collette, Stellan Skarshard, Jean Reno, and Christopher Plummer. Perhaps it has something to do with the many hands — Peter Chelsom, Francis Lelord, Tinker Lindsay, Maria von Heland, and François Lelord — to handle the adaptation. Chelsom (Hannah Montana: The Movie) directed the film which attempts to be motivationally uplifting but somehow comes across as a journey filled with good intentions, rarely delivering on the promise.

Considering his long-term relationship, it doesn’t make a lot of sense for Hector to leave Clara behind rather than share the experience with her. After all, they do not have children and surely she can take a break from naming pharmaceuticals. Instead, he waves cheerio and leaves London from China and Shanghai exotic nightlife as seen by a wealthy businessman (Skarsgard). After mistaking true love for prostitution (Ming Zhao), he hightails it to Africa where he reconnects with an old friend (Barry Atsma). The humanitarian work is rejuvenating but he somehow gets mixed up with a drug dealer (Reno).

All the way, he is writing fortune cookie-worthy sayings in his notebook, these bon mots clearly becoming his new guiding principles. In case you miss the message they appear on screen, bringing his notebook to annoying life. As a result, he also wants to make amends so completes his travel in Los Angeles where he seeks out an old flame (Collette). While they, he just happens to find a leading happiness researcher (Plummer), so participates in a brain study.

The film is pretty to look at and the performances are solid uninspiring, much like the script. The intentions are noble and honorable, but Pegg mined a similar theme with far better results in The World’s End. His need for fulfillment, while missing the obvious back home, remains a truism but it’s annoying that Clara feels empty without a child, the worst sort of feminist message.

The film is accompanied by the short Around the World with Simon Pegg, a travelogue that’s wittier than the film. There’s The Making of Hector and the Search for Happiness which shows lots of noble intentions gone awry. Chelsom provides an audio commentary that, to be honest, I skipped given my overall disappointment with the final product.