Film & TV Blips: Indiana Jones 5, Fantastic Four, Torchwood

Indy 5 

News hit the 'net this week about Indiana Jones 5. According to reports from outlets such as New Zealand's Stuff, a story is in progress centered around the Bermuda triangle, which could mean a return to a more mystical macguffin, rather than the sci-fi trappings of Indy 4, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. 

Crystal Skull met with much critical and hard-core fanboy disdain, but still took in $780 million-plus worldwide.  Harrison Ford has admitted he wasn't too happy with the film and neither was co-star Shia LaBeouf, who blamed himself as an actor, rather than the story from George Lucas, said to have pushed the aliens theme on director-collaborator Stephen Spielberg, with a script by David Koepp.

Sources told Stuff the movie will be shot "the old-fashioned way," meaning far fewer CGI effects than the last outing. This will reportedly be Ford's last outing as Jones, which makes sense, since he's nearing 70. And while LaBeouf will return as his son "Mutt," aka Henry Jones III, most fans don't want to see him "take over" the franchise, nor does he appear to want to do that.  Still, it's a chance for him to redeem himself. Most of all Indy 5 - still untitled - is an opportunity for all involved to make Doctor Jones' swan song film one that will not just be another mega success at the box office, but a movie to truly satisfy the most loyal of fans.

Torchwood Returning

One of my favorite science fiction series appeared to be gone or in limbo, but this week brought news that Torchwood will be back - on Starz network in the U.S. while continuing to be a BBC production. There was talk of a Fox "American" version earlier this year, which brought a lot of skeptical nay-saying. 

Now it's official that the show, which seemed to end with last year's riveting mini-series Children of Earth, will be back with principle (and surviving, considering the show's cast death toll of its few years so far) John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness and Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper.  The new series will by helmed by creator Russel T. Davies, who spun Torchwood off Doctor Who (In fact, the show's title is an anagram of Doctor Who....see?).

 

Originally set in Cardiff, Wales, the new series will have a more "global" scope and Starz said the show will have a much bigger budget than previously. Does this mean a different locale out of the UK? Shooting out of L.A. or New York.  That strikes me as a bad idea. Part of Torchwood's flavor (as with Doctor Who) is it's UK-ness, if you will. True Barrowman is a Scotsman with an American accent, having grown up in the U.S.  

Now that Davies has turned over Doctor Who to showrunner Steven Moffat after reviving the Time Lord's adventures with an acclaimed four-season run, along with various TV specials, he'll truly be able to focus all his energies on Torchwood and as a program rich in style and imagination (far superior to the touted likes of Fringe in America, or yes, the vaunted and too-darned hyped Lost) Its return is welcome, indeed. But of course that likely means we won't see it on BBC America, which is kind of a sham, as I liked the branding. 

Fantastic Four Reborn

The two Fantastic Four films from Fox were a disappointment to comic book fans, not so much the humor, because that's always been part of the FF, but because of changes in the origin (linking it to villain Doctor Doom? And we won't talk about the botched job on him). Though some had issues with the casting, such as Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman, and more rightly so, Julian McMahon as Doom with no European accent, among other things, it was more a case of the story in each film.  Both had some charm, but were clearly kid stuff.  

Ain't It Cool News reports that Fox, which still owns the rights to the film franchise, is looking at a reboot called Fantastic Four Reborn. One of the best things about the first two Fox movies was Chris Evans' Johnny Storm, the Human Torch. But now, he's signed and shooting Captain America: First Avenger, part of the Marvel Studios productions that include the Iron Man movies and the upcoming Thor, then eventually, The Avengers. 

It's interesting to note that back in the mid-'90s, when comic sales were lagging for the F.F., red-hot artist Jim Lee and writer Brandon Choi gave the super-powered family foursome a makeover in a series re-launch as part of the Marvel "Heroes Reborn" line, which lasted about a year or so. Still, the best Fantastic Four tales since the original Stan Lee and Jack Kirby run in the '60s and John Byrne's time on the book in the '80s, was writer Mark Waid's work earlier in this decade, followed by J. Michael Straczynski.