JLA: The Movie - Notes on the soundtrack

Wow, it has been quite some time since I’ve done a JLA: The Movie post. Check out all the links here. The other musical post related the movie can be read here.

Many of the tracks you’ll see here will be rearranged (and in some cases made more symphonic) by the original artists in collaboration Hans Zimmer. I’m going to avoid making a movie where the music is playing ALL THE TIME. Basically, we’ll hear music only during montages and portions of selected super-fight scenes or when we introduce one of the characters (Booster).

Mercy by One Republic

I thought this one would be good “showing the heroes saving folks” montage that should kick off the entire trilogy.

All fall down by One Republic

As mentioned in this movie trilogy, the heroes aren’t going to have it their own way all of the time. I thought that All fall down would be appropriate during or after some of the more powerful members are defeated, leaving the less powerful leaguers (e.g. Blue Beetle, Booster, Green Arrow, etc) as the last line of defence. There will be moments of doubt intermingled with damn the torpedoes during this montage.

Welcome to the black parade by My Chemical Romance

Similarly to All fall down, this track will play when “the rest” realize that “the best” (Superman and the league) can’t just punch the bad guys really hard and actually need the rest’s help. Here, I plan to use only the first minute-long monologue-like intro, which has always reminded of a cool superhero origin story...

When I was a young boy
My father took me into the city
To see a marching band
He said, "Son, when you grow up
Would you be the savior of the broken
The beaten and the damned??

He said, "Will you defeat them
Your demons and all the non-believers
The plans that they have made?
Because one day, I'll leave you
A phantom to lead you in the summer
To join the Black Parade"

Clocks by Coldplay

I’ve chosen this track as Booster’s introductory theme, because being a time-traveller from a future where he basically had to steal the details of the league’s demise to try and help them, there’s going to be a lot of doubts for him.

Yes, he wants to help the JLA, but has he gone about it the right way? Then there’s the fact that he doesn’t have all the details of the fall of the league. In addition, there the secret time travel aspect that he thinks he has to keep from the JLA. Booster also feels the sense of home in our era, even though he’s “accepted” only because there’s a crisis before he can get rejected...Then, there the destiny / phantom stranger aspect (mentioned in one the links above). All in all, an apt song for one of our three central POV characters (Flash and Martian Manhunter are the other two if you were wondering).

Princes of the Universe by Queen

I can think of few better songs that embody the collective feeling of superiority the Apokalips Champions feel toward our little mudball.

Carry on wayward son by Kansas

This one I swiped from Supernatural, but I thought it would be great for our Superman-Batman (World’s Finest) scenes. Both Bruce and Clark are doing things (be it a never-ending battle or an obsessive crusade) their parents would not have wished for them, but on some level they’d be proud.

Fix you by Coldplay

A plot point I haven’t mentioned is that Barda dies (or is believed to have died, again I’m not telling which is true) somewhere in the middle or near the end of the second movie.

Now, to put this into perspective you should realise that when the league realises that it’s Darkseid they’re facing, they send J’onn to recruit Scott and Barda’s help. Initially they refuse, citing how content they are in their semi-retired life in suburbia. Throughout the first movie the audience see their happy existence increasingly being intruding upon by media reports from people like Billy Batson questioning the dangerous happenings. Soon, it becomes clear to them and the audience that they’ll have to get involved.

So, flash-forward to right after Barda’s death in the second movie where we find Bats remarking that “someone as gifted as Scott, who reluctantly joined the mission in the first place and has suffered such a great loss because of joining, may be dangerous to team.”

Cue the excerpt from Fix You. We cut to Scott feverously working on a device. There is some speculation that it’s a bomb. It isn’t, but Scott is silent about its exact nature.

I saved the world today by Eurythmics

This is one of the anthems for a temporary victory where the team is pretty banged up but successful in what they’ve tried to achieve. Nobody has the energy to high five anyone else.

Grace Kelly by Mika

Can you picture Booster and Beetle singing along to anything else while flying around in the bug. Of Course, J'onn sneaks up on them in the middle of their performance...

Yet another cut scene from JLA: The Movie (inspired by a discussion on art)

A comment I made a while back (about “fallen angel art”) at Comics Make Me Happy inspired the following scene (provisionally entitled “Underfoot”) from JLA: The Movie...Yes, sometimes I find MY OWN comments to be such a source of inspiration I feel the need to link to them.

When and where?
This is near the end of the first movie...The setting for this scene is Earth (Do we have to use NYC?)

Superman, J’onn, and Wonder Woman had just left for Apocalypse via boom tube a minute before. Booster and Beetle are relaying this fact to the rest of the league, who arrived after Supes and company had left.

The camera slowly cranes up at an angle that captures the league looking up at the sky above them.

Suddenly, there is a huge explosion in the upper atmosphere. In the wake of the explosion, we see a giant open Boom Tube and three figures falling from the sky (all fallen angel-like).

We also see an armada slowly flying out of the boom tube. Near the front, we see Darkseid standing on the deck of the main destroyer (in his typical “I shall crush this world underfoot” dead-stare-and-hands-behind-the-back manner).

“Ted, those three...It’s Supes and the other big guns,” Booster says, a shocked look in his eyes.

CUT TO:
A closer shot of Superman, Wonder Woman, and J’onn still falling from a dizzying height. It seems as if their falls are taking forever.

CUT BACK TO:
A medium shot of the ground and the rest of the JLA looking up. The camera then zooms in on Booster and Beetle.

“Superman!!!” Beetle screams.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll survive the fall,” Booster says. “You know, super-dense molecules—”

“You don’t understand,” Beetle says. “Look at his trajectory - he’s coming down right where I parked the bug!”

Another cut scene or dvd extra from JLA: The Movie...

The scene opens with a steamed up bathroom mirror...

Cue this song:



The mirror gets wiped clear, revealing Hal Jordan’s bare upper body. Comb in hand, he’s lip-syncing and pointing at his reflection...He’s singing to himself about himself.

CUT TO:
The Watchtower hallway.

This is from the back shot of Hal.

Hal, now fully uniformed and sporting his Ipod, quietly sings along ("We made our connection...") while shuffling rhythmically down the hall, twirling around every half a dozen steps, on his way to transporter / teleporter room. He’s got a hot date.

"Hal!" Suddenly, J’onn ghosts through the wall a foot in front of Hal.

Hal falls over from being startled and plucks off his earphones. “Damnit, Martian. When will stop doing that??”

J’onn turns awayin the direction of the conference room, and telepathically answers, When it no longer amuses me. "Hal, It's an emergency. We're needed.”

More GL user icon fun from the Interwebs...

Here’s a user icon, courtesy of someone with a lot of time on their hands (well, more than me).

It proves that there IS good taste on the net, people.

It also reminded me of how I can reduce the special effects budget on JLA: The Movie, so I can spend it on my stellar cast and, of course, catering.

To refresh everyone’s memory, for the Green Lantern’s ring constructs I intend using a state-of-the-art special effects hardware I call Luminous Effect Geometric Objects combined with another tip I picked up from the FX masters at Industrial Light and Magic called Practical Application of Incandescent Noticeable Tint.

JLA: The Movie – How it should be done (Part 7)

This post is sort of supplemental to the series  in the sense that there are some things we could include or not. Click here to read Part 6 and find links to all of the other posts in the series.

I give you Evangeline Lilly (our #1 pick for the role of Wonder Woman) who has recently shocked us with the “I’m done with acting” announcement.

Now, I give you Anna Friel (from Lands of the Lost).

Is it just me or could Evangeline and Anna be sisters? Not twins, but there's slight  resemblance, right? No, I’m not trying to replace Miss Lilly as Wonder Woman. Nor am I envisioning a role for Donna Troy in this movie – that ship will never sail...

No, this has to do with a scene that could make it into the movie or could be done as an extra for the dvd special edition. Bear in mind that this is a movie, so we’ll take some liberties with the source material accuracy and such...

Our scene sees the league (minus Scott and Barda who are missing at the point) landing on Paradise Island (Themyscira) to learn more about “the source” from Earth’s resident expert, he Amazon Queen, wonder woman’s mama. The JLA have been granted access under Diana’s auspices. Booster Gold (Sean William Scott) and Beetle (James Roday from Psych) are also along and are the only two that aren’t up to date on Amazon custom.

Blue and Gold are at the back of the party as they make their way to the palace under the watchful eyes of Diana’s Amazon sisters.

Beetle sees a beautiful Amazon warrior and remarks to Booster, “Wow. She’s beautiful, tall and looks like she could handle herself. I’m in love.” He sees another Amazon sentry. “I think I’ve just fallen in love again.” He sees another five along the path, all taller than him.

Booster says, “It’s weird, they look super-aggressive. Then again, it must be their way of showing how super-interested in us they are.”

“I think you’re probably right. I am loving the boy-girl ratio on this island. Man, our odds must be off-the-charts here. Too bad, we’re here doing the hero thing.”

"Yeah, hero stuff comes first, but next time I’m definitely checking out the nightlife...”

CUT TO:
The Amazon royal palace.

Wonder Woman embraces her mother (played by you guessed it...Anna Friel). Yes, Evangeline and Anna  look of simlar age, but that’s the point here. Well, you'll see in a minute. Anyhoo, Diana introduces the rest of the league to her mother.

After being introduced, Booster Gold (played by Sean William Scott) blurts out, “Wonder Woman, your mom is hot.”

The palace hall goes quiet. The rest of the league, Diana, and her mom give Booster brief looks ranging from annoyance (Batman and Hawkman) to judgment (Supes) to disappointment (J’onn) to embarrassment (Flash) to superiority (Hal) to thankfulness (as in thankful that it wasn’t him who made the slip up -Beetle).

I think this extra will be called “Paradise Bust” on the dvd.