Tracing Human Target's roots

He's not exactly the household name that Superman and Batman have become, but Christopher Chance also traces his roots back to Action Comics, where he first appeared back in 1958. He was an obscure figure who made small appearances until he was resurrected in the early '70s and then landed his own series.

FOX is not the first network to bring the character to TV. A short-lived ABC series introduced The Human Target to audiences in July 1992. It starred Rick Springfield (yes, THAT Rick Springfield) and lasted all of seven episodes.

I've never seen a single episode of that original series, so I'll reserve judgment on it until I have a chance to sample it--if that's even possible at this point.

In its original comic book form The Human Target had a noir feel to it. At a time when super-powered heroes dominated comic books, it's probably no surprise that Chance was little more than bit player.

He is, nevertheless, an intriguing character as he was originally imagined--body guard, master of disguise who impersonates his clients to draw out would-be assassins. The FOX series doesn't necessarily take advantage of all those original talents. He's now more of a tough-guy figure with a mysterious past. But it's easy to see how a character who wouldn't necessarily be a successful comic book figure competing with more familiar characters is tailor-made for a TV show.

One aspect of the show that can be developed further--or clarified--is how the team extracts payment from its clients. In the pilot episode Chance slips a diamond ring from the finger of his client, suggesting that they'll take payment however they can get it.

When you look back at the character's roots and the original series, it's obvious that FOX could be doing a lot more with the character. But, ultimately, recasting him in the mold of a James Bond-like figure may turn out to be the stroke of genius that gives the series a chance to survive longer than the seven-episode run of its ABC predecessor.

The tongue-in-cheek tone certainly makes the show entertaining, and the strong characters are appealing. Chance's unpredictability and resourceful are primary source of entertainment in the show. Where else might you see a character escape a tightly secured building by blasting a hole through the floor with a plasma cannon?

With each episode, the shadows of Chance's past loom larger. Obviously, the show is building up to something related to his former employer. Where it's going we'll have to wait to find out.

Law Abiding Citizen: A Bloody Mess?

It's easy to sympathize with Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler). Bad men assaulted his wife in front of him and killed his little girl. He, if anyone, deserves justice. But the attorney trying the case (Nick Rice, played by Jamie Foxx) made a deal--primarily to ensure his good conviction record--that essentially put a man to death while giving the real evil behind the crime an easy sentence.

Clyde, naturally, wants to strike out against not only the man who put a knife in his belly and killed his daugther, but also the system that gave this man a lenient sentence.

After all, we see it all the time. Trivialities determine the outcomes of legal cases. Bad guys go free. We all think back to O. J. Many of us remain convinced that he got away with murder.

As just an aside, I will note that in the American psyche, getting away with murder is an extraordinary--and terrible thing. If you watch Discovery Channel or CourtTV with any regularity, however, then you sometimes wonder how anyone gets caught. Getting away with murder--at least for extended periods of time--seems to be a rather easy accomplishment.

Kurt Wimmer and F. Gary Gray (the writer and director of Law Abiding Citizen), it would seem, would have you believe that the system is broken and needs to be fixed. Certainly, the whole idea of making deals to get a conviction is just wrong. The problem is, the deal that we see unfold in Law Abiding Citizen is flawed. Sure, it COULD happen, but it takes a leap of logic to accept that it actually WOULD.

Law Abiding Citizen is one of those wish-fulfillment movies that aims to give the audience what it wants. What it thinks we want is for all the guilty people to be punished in a manner that matches the crimes they've committed. Rupert Ames gets his comeuppance with the execution of his death sentence. Instead of the allegedly painless chemical death, he suffers an exceedingly painful one, wracked with spasms that send many from the room.

Certainly, when any of us imagine what we'd like to do to Clarence Darby (the actual perpetrator of the atrocities), we see the acts Clyde commits. That's the wishful thinking that resides deep within our psyches.

But Clyde is not lashing out at a villain who has trespassed against him; he's lashing out at a system that he feels has betrayed him. That means punishing the criminals, the attorneys, the cops and the judges as well.

Yes, we have to acknowledge that our system isn't perfect. The personal and political ambitions of the individuals involved certainly skew the objectivity of the outcomes of many legal trials.

But is an explosive, cell phone shot to the head an appropriate punishment to the judge who presided over a flawed case?

Is a fiery car bomb justifiable for an aspiring attorney who was part of the case?

You can't watch the death of Sarah in the film without wondering at the justice Clyde is dispensing. Her car-bombing death is the clarion call that what the film depicts is not justice.

Yes, we get it! The American legal system is seriously messed up!

But is it broken to the degree that we should ignore the basic civil rights Americans accept should be granted to every citizen? That's the real question.

The fact the film ignores is that innocent people are convicted all the time based on questionable evidence. False confession is far more common than people realize.

The fate of Clyde's cellmate springs to mind. The audience has no idea what this man was guilty of. Yet we're supposed to accept his death at Clyde's hands without question. The basic assumption seems to be that he was in jail; he must have been guilty of SOMETHING. Did he really deserve to be treated to a nice meal and then a knifing? That's the question I pose to the audience. The objective answer is, we don't really know.

I grant that the political ambitions of those involved are problematic in our legal system. Such ambitions can certainly skew the motives of those involved. The protections are afforded for a reason--to ensure that every individual--regardless of race or social status--has an equal chance to defend himself against whatever legal charges are brought to bear.

Do people beat the system? Sure.

But the problem is that far more than those who evade justice are punished for crimes they didn't commit. That is the idea that this film ignores or refuses to believe.

I keep thinking of the fate of Sarah, an innocent attorney, who was caught up in this plot and suffered a fiery death. Sure, it's easy for me to sympathize with her because she's young and pretty, but, in any event, she seems to be the most innocent victim here.

The final lesson is not to make deals with murderers. It's easy to agree with that basic idea, but the reality is far more complex.

The ultimate goal is the truth. The real question is, how do we get there?

24

Big surprise: Jack gets nabbed and tortured. Again. How much punishment can one guy take--especially after coming back from death's doorstep from the previous season? Has anyone done a parody of 24? I'm envisioning something like the Black Knight scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I can see Bauer as the limbless knight taunting Arthur to come back for more. "'Tis but a flesh wound!"

FOX doesn't even bother to build up suspense any more. The trailers for this week's episode (which aired on 2/16/2010) even showed us that when the Russians abducted Jack, they'd get more than they bargained for. Sure enough, after enduring some electrocution, punches, and knife wound gouging, Jack disables his torturer, turns the tables and proceeds to kill everybody in the building except for the Russian mafia boss, Bazhaev (Jurgen Prochnow), who, after predictably brokering an immunity deal with President Taylor (Cherry Jones), is shocked to find that his son has betrayed him. I've seen more immunity deals brokered in the last two seasons than I would have imagined possible. That's almost certainly a commentary on what would happen if we'd ever be crazy enough to elect a WOMAN president--especially if she were a Democrat.

At some point, I want Omar Hassan (Anil Kapoor) to say "Who wants to be a millionaire?!" That would just make the season for me.

The plot thickens in the Dana Walsh-former-identity-ex-boyfriend saga. Again, predictably, the ex-boyfriend has decided not to sever ties with Walsh after the successful robbery they've pulled. It looks like Walsh has decided to take matters into her own hands, tailing her former beau and his partner. She's shown pulling a gun from her purse in the epilogue to the episode.

Meanwhile, slimeball Arlo (Chris Diamontopolous) has revealed to Cole (Freddie Prinze Jr.) that Dana has secretly met with someone (the ex-boyfriend) who is obviously more than just a passing acquaintance. So even if Dana does bump off the ne-er-do-wells, she'll still have a lot of explaining to do to current fiance Cole.

Good grief! You'd think an organization that can track people via drones, has access to pretty much anybody's files from, well, just about anything--well, you think they could vet their own staff a little more thoroughly than to hire this trailer trash. Oh, yeah, right--she was fighter pilot on the Galactica! That's all we need to know.

Honestly, I think I watched a grand total of maybe three Battlestar Galactica episodes (the NEW Battlestar Galactica, that is). Somewhere along the line, I lost interest. But one thing's for sure, and I don't care what anybody says, Katee Sackhoff is not Starbuck. You can make her as tough as you want and have her smoke cigars, but she's still not going to replace Dirk Benedict.

Yes, I concede that the original series was pretty lame. Even as a teenager when I watched it, I knew it was silly. But still. It was the actors and the characters they portrayed that made it a success, and I maintain that it's a mistake to attempt a complete remake of a signature character like Starbuck.

Tangent over. They tried to throw us a curve this season by presenting the audience with a president of an Islamic nation who was sincerely interested in peace and disarmament. It was kind of a joke to begin with and anybody paying attention would know it would not turn out well. Given the network on which the show airs, the parallels with the current political situation in Iran are no mystery. So, naturally, it is no surprise when the apparently earnest and kind newfound ally turns to human rights violations, terrorist plots from within, yadda, yadda.

It's hard to take the show seriously at this point. I'm watching now just to see Bauer kick some butt and watch him escape from one near-death encounter after another. Annie Wersching's presence is another plus. So I have a thing for redheads. So sue me. Her transformation from a by-the-book FBI agent in the previous series to a disturbed, ruthless and even amoral one now has been interesting to watch. She learned all her tricks from Jack, naturally.

And it occurs to me, of course, that this show--and its network, I suspect--would have us all believe that torture is a useful and necessary tool to get the job done. That job is, of course, to protect the American People from the Bad Muslims who are out there waiting to blow us up with any explosive device they can get their hands on.

I'm beginning to think the secret to preventing another 9/11 is just to monitor all the Radio Shacks.

Yes, I'm cynical about the show. It's almost comedic, really, but I'm still watching. I guess the over-the-top seriousness is why I like Human Target so much. It has no pretenses about depicting any kind of reality. I'd rather watch a show that knows it's make-believe than a show that pretends truth but wouldn't know it if it landed in its lap.

Smallville: Zatanna

Back-to-back Smallville episodes featuring Zatanna (Serinda Swan). It was really difficult to press the delete button on those episodes. My suggestion to the producers of Smallville: Make Zatanna a permanent member of the cast and place her gratuitously in every scene. It's just a suggestion.

I only watched a few episodes of Smallville when it premiered. It was a show that I really wanted to like but just couldn't get into. I was reading comic books before the casts of many of the modern super hero movies and TV shows were even born, and it always bugs me when the writers and producers monkey with the stories.

Smallville lost me when it started to look more like a teen soap opera than anything else. There was just too much of that teen angst thing going on. Tom Welling's got that perpetual wounded puppy look on his face. Juggling the whole saving the planet thing, keeping the super-hero identity secret from everybody but the other super heroes and Chloe and gazingly longingly into Lois's eyes may just be too much for him.

If the show had been on the air when I was a kid, I would've been writing hate mail to the network.

My interest was rekindled when other characters from the DC Universe started appearing: Green Arrow, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Cyborg ... Zatanna, Zatanna, Zatanna. The two-hour "Absolute Justice" episode also threw the Justice Society and Hawkman into the mix. I loved seeing Dr. Fate. He needs to come back soon (that is, someone else needs to be drawn to that mask--and quick).

It's been kind of fun to see them come to life on the TV screen, even if it does seem like a bunch of LARPing teenagers.

For the record, I'm more of a Marvel guy than DC. I collected The Amazing Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Uncanny X-Men and a few others. Most of my DC reading happened in the late '60s. I really liked Legion of Superheroes and Teen Titans as a kid, so I'm enjoying the other characters they keep introducing.

Sure, the whole "I'm in love with him but he's in love with somebody else and I'm really sad about my life" (queue "Love Stinks") business is still going on in Smallville in ample measure, but I think I can live with that as long as they keep shuffling in characters like Green Arrow. And Zatanna. Did I mention that I just watched back-to-back episodes featuring Zatanna?

I think I'd watch Smallville every day for hours on end as long as Zatanna were onscreen. If I were to run into Serinda Swan in real life, I could deny her nothing. If she told me to fall down on my knees and worship her, I just might. If she asked me to give her The Amazing Spider-Man #129 ... well, I might have to think about it for a minute--but I'd be thinking hard.

And that little fantasy interlude was completely wasted on Clark. Pity.

In the weekly lovelorn loser department, Chloe was in the same room with a shirtless hunk, and, just her luck, he turned out to be a 12-year-old under a curse from Zatanna's father. But things seem to be looking up in that department, since it appears that Oliver's making his move on her.

Speaking of Oliver, it showed him practicing with his bow at the end of the episode, and laughably, I noticed the arrows were spaced out rather widely on the target. I don't care if he WAS drinking double malts, the REAL Green Arrow would split a dozen arrows through a dime from 25 yards while blind stinking drunk.

Sigh. Well, I'm trying to tolerate the romance subplots and the angst to enjoy the extended cast.

I wonder when Zatanna will be popping in again?

Human Target (continued)

One of the aspects of "Human Target" I like is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. In this respect, the stories and characters are very much in the vein of the classic James Bond movies. "Human Target" makes no pretense of being serious drama. Shows like "24," on the other hand, feed us over-the-top content and take themselves deadly seriously. Everything's a crisis in these shows, every choice a life-and-death decision. You'll never see Jack Bauer flirting with a sexy client while bashing in the heads of the bad guys. I often wonder if Thomas Gibson's face hurts after shooting episodes of "Criminal Minds," in which he seems to wear a perpetual scowl, brows furrowed with concern over everything.

Amid such overly serious content, it's fun to enjoy an adventurous romp like "Human Target." Certainly there are other shows that are more fantasy than reality and seem to have fun with their subject matter. "Fringe" springs to mind. But even "Fringe's" title suggests it can't take itself entirely seriously. "Human Target" is more reminiscent of "The Destroyer" series of books. It's serious stuff, but Remo Williams, like Christopher Chance, hardly takes anything too seriously. It's not in his nature. The stakes are often high and the bad guys are, well, very bad, but you'll never catch Chance or Remo scowling and looking overly concerned about it. They just do their thing.

It usually takes me a while to feel comfortable with the characters in a series, but after watching just a few episodes, I already like the characters in "Human Target." Winston is a great straight man to Chance's facetiousness. Characters like Chance usually work best when they have a foil for their antics.

And poor Winston's got his hands full because Guerrero is also a loose cannon. Neither he nor Chance are the kind of dogs that heel when they're told do so. Two renegades, one straight man, lots of beautiful women ... it's all in good fun.

Human Target: My New Guilty Pleasure

If James Bond were American, he could very well be Christopher Chance--if that is in fact his real name, and, quite frankly, we can't say for sure that it is. Yes, I am ignoring for the moment that Matt Helm was the original American James Bond, but, the fact is, the Matt Helm movies were more spoof than anything, so I don't think they count. And, yes, one could validly argue that the title could go to Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), but Bourne just doesn't have the panache to pull it off. Oh, to be sure, in the spy game he's a worthy adversary and could probably kick James Bond's butt. It takes more than weapons expertise, resourcefulness and fisticuffs, however, to be James Bond. One must comfortable in a tuxedo, suave with the ladies and able to move easily in a variety of social circles.

Chance, played by Mark Valley, does all of that--and often in ways that are surprising to the viewer.

When we are first introduced to Chance, it's easy to dismiss him as another handsome jock, heavy on muscle and light on brain power. Time and again, however, he proves us wrong on that count.

Take, for example, the pilot episode in which his cover is to serve as his client's (played by Tricia Helfer) Japanese translator. 

She asks him, "Can you pull this off?" To which Chance characteristically replies, "We'll see."

At this point we humble and judgmental viewers are slapping our heads, thinking, oh, no, here it comes.

We are thus surprised when Chance converses easily with the Japanese investor with whom his client is meeting. In fact, they have an extended conversation in Japanese. His client later asks, "What was all that about?" Chance then explains that the gentleman wanted to know how he recognized his dialect and was able to converse in it so well.

In another episode, Chance poses as an attorney for a mob kingpin to flush out the dirty cops who are after his client, an assistant district attorney. The DA challenges Chance's demand for immunity for his client whereupon Chance rattles off several cases in which such a precedent had already been established. His assistant DA client later asks how he knew all that. He claims that he made it up, but she says that she's done her homework and knows all those cases. Chance merely shrugs.

There almost always doubts as to whether Chance can pull off a job. In the mob kingpin episode, for example, he meets his client in sweats and a t-shirt covered with food stains. The prospective client eyes him dubiously.

Chance's partner and the man who runs their little vigilante operation, Winston, played by Chi McBride, is often as skeptical as the audience and the clients. Chance is always quick to brush off the doubts with a cocky smirk.

"Between the mob boss and the shooters who want you dead, you're screwed. Of COURSE we'll take your case."

Like a chameleon, Chance moves easily from sweats and stained t-shirt to a suit and briefcase or a tuxedo or even--as the situation warrants--a monk's habit. And he fights adeptly in any attire, utilizing in Bourne-like fashion all manner of objects as weapons--seatbelts, hardback books, censers on chains ...

So it would seem Chance has good reason to be cocky--he's smart, tough, knowledgeable, and he's always got Winston and Guerrero (played by Jackie Earle Haley) on the end of a cell phone call to help out when things get complicated.

Guerrero is depicted as the gadget guy and thief who can find out anything and figure out any electronic device. Well, almost, anyway. Sometimes luck plays as much a role as anything, as when Winston needed his help disarming a bomb and couldn't decide whether to cut the red wire or the blue wire.

"Did you just flip a coin?"

In spite of moments like these, the team succeeds, with Chance playing the role of muscle and charm.

There's almost always an attractive woman in the mix, but Chance always seems to maintain a certain distance. He smirks, he flirts, he winks, but that's about it. There's a woman in his past it seems (and I sometimes wonder if it's Olivia Dunham), and maybe that's why he doesn't get too close.

In one of the closing scenes of the pilot episode Chance is seated with Stephanie (Tricia Helfer) in what appears to be a tender moment. She thanks him for saving her life and wonders how she can repay him. He holds her hand affectionately, it seems, and then slowly slips the big rock off her finger. Payment received.

In "Embassy Row" Chance partners briefly with a gorgeous FBI agent who wonders about his identity. When she runs the prints she pulled from the handcuffs they shared, she finds a lengthy list of names to go with them. Winston chastises him for allowing his prints to be taken and wonders if he did it on purpose. In response, Chance smirks inscrutably and we are all left to wonder if indeed he intended for the lovely agent to come looking for him.

When Chance finds that assistant DA Allyson in "Run" has a tracking device planted on her, he orders her to undress in the car so they can get rid of it. Later, in the back seat of a taxi she remarks that he's managed to get her to talk about things she hasn't mentioned to anybody. He replies, "And I've seen your panties."

He's as suave with the ladies as James Bond, kicks butt like Jason Bourne, shares Chinese food with his dog, speaks fluent Japanese and he can fly a plane. What's not to like?

Winston rolls his eyes, Chance smirks and Guerrero just manages to creep everybody out. It's all good.

Zombieland

Let's face it, the whole idea of some kind of plague or biological weapon turning people into flesh-craving, undead monsters has become cliche. Is it even possible to make a serious zombie movie any more? Somehow, I doubt it; thus the most recent memorable entries in the genre include "Shaun of the Dead," "Fido" and now "Zombieland," which was recently released on DVD and stars Jess Eisenberg as an introverted, obsessive-compulsive nerd who has devised a set of rules for surviving the zombie apocalypse.

I was going to make up my own set of rules about watching "Zombieland," but I only came up with one: Don't eat Hormel Turkey Chili with Beans while watching "Zombieland" (or any other film for that matter that depicts flesh eating, decapitations and various dark, viscous fluids oozing from mouths). Actually, I did come up with a second rule: Keep one finger on the volume control. It's one of those movies in which you find yourself listening to dialogue and then are suddenly assaulted with an overly loud rock-and-roll soundtrack.

The opening sequence of the film introduces us to the basic rules of surviving in Zombieland, or Z-land, as the characters come to call it. Later, Eisenberg's character meets up an Escalade-driving, zombie-ass-kicking cowboy played by Woody Harrelson. Harrelson's character introduces another rule of Zombieland--no names. Thus, the characters come to know each other by the towns from which they hail. Harrelson is Tallahassee, Eisenberg, Columbus, Abigail Breslin is Little Rock, and Emma Stone is Wichita.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed "Zombieland." When I initially saw the trailers for it, I dismissed it as yet another cliche injected into an already tired horror-comedy genre. While some of the jokes lean toward the lame side and there's a definite level of predictability to it, I still found the characters interesting and enjoyable to watch. The story itself is a bit thin, but it's easy not to care about that when the characters are so entertaining. And, since I'm not the type to research everything about a movie before I watch it, I was surprised and thoroughly enjoyed the appearance of Bill Murray in the film.

Woody Harrelson is a crazy, hilarious nut and Eisenberg is perfect as the OCD nerd (maybe a little too perfect).

The amusement park scene made me think, "Oh, this should be a video game." And then I realized that, minus the comedy, it already is a video game series called Left 4 Dead.

Bottom line: It's a worthwhile rental if you're into the zombie horror comedy genre AND if you're not eating Hormel Turkey Chili with Beans.