Rogue One nitpicks

In the beginning of Episode IV, Captain Antilles and Pricess Leia are obviously lying to Vader when they say the Tantive IV is on a diplomatic mission. But it's at least a plausible lie. Now, in the final scene of Rogue One, Vader actually sees the Tantive IV flying away with the Death Star plans aboard. Any plausibility for the diplomatic mission lie is completely obliterated.

The second nitpick is a bit of a continuity problem.: Vader interrogates Captain Antilles: "Where are those transmissions you intercepted?" Later to Leia: "Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by rebel spies." Of course, with the final scene of Rogue One, we learn that the Tantive IV didn't intercept any transmissions--they were physically carried aboard.

First Impressions and Initial Thoughts from Star Wars: The Force Awakens (spoiler warning!)

Warning: This post contains SPOILERS. DO NOT READ further if you don't want to see them!

 

Seriously, I mean it. Don't read any further if you don't want to see spoilers.

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I saw "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" last night. It was an awesome experience to see Episode VII the night before it opened! It will take some time (and perhaps another viewing or two) to form a fuller opinion of this new episode, but I wanted to provide some of my initial impressions and post some questions raised by the movie. To be very clear, Some of these questions may be answered in The Visual Guide, which was released today and which I haven't seen yet. Some answers may also be found in other parts of the canon. This post deals exclusively with the characters and plot as revealed in the movie itself. Lastly, these comments represent my first impressions, raw and unvarnished thoughts without having read any additional spoilers or without having talked extensively without anyone else about the movie. This blog post is intentionally critical and shouldn't be seen as a negative view of the movie. I reserve the right to change my opinion based upon further information and discussions.

Finn is a First Order Stormtrooper (FN-2187) who participates in the attack on a village on the planet Jakku. After seeing a fellow trooper (and presumably a friend) killed, he hesitates to continue the attack and refuses to participate in the assassination of the villagers. This is all that it takes for Finn to defect. We learn very little about his background other than that, like other troopers, he was taken away from his parents at birth. Is there a larger motivation for what Finn does?

Finn is also surprisingly good with Luke's lightsaber. There has been some suggestion that this means Finn is a Jedi. I don't think this is the case. The lightsaber aside, Finn appears to show no Force awareness. And besides, non-Jedi have used light sabers before--Han used Luke's in Episode V (The Empire Strikes Back) to cut open the tauntaun. But if Finn night be a Jedi, his lineage might be important. However, we haven't seen any of that yet.

Captain Phasma is Finn's stormtrooper captain. She shows up in a few scenes, and ends up turning off the shields under duress. Why not die for what you believe in?! She is otherwise a non-factor and seems like an add-on (perhaps to add another female to the cast...which seems irrelevant given she's a stormtrooper with a helmet on). What's the point of her character? Assuming she didn't die in the trash compactor, I'd hope that Phasma has a more meaningful role in Episode XIII.

Kylo Ren is the movie's black mask-wearing, light saber-wielding primary villain. He's also, to me, the movie's oddest character. Soon enough, we learn that Ren is actually Ben Solo, the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo. Why he wears a mask is not clear. In one scene, he is shown speaking to his "grandfather," which is revealed to be the burnt-out mask of Darth Vader. Is Ren trying to emulate Vader? It seems this is the case, right down to the modified voice. When I first heard Ren speak, I actually thought there might be something wrong with the sound. It just seemed odd, and sometimes difficult to make out certain words. It's almost as if Ren's voice modification was trying to emulate Vader's, but poorly (and intentionally poor?). When Ren takes his mask off, there is nothing surprising about his face (other than that he is very young, and that we know it's not Luke). Why does he need a mask in the first place? Was Ren just a Vader-fanboy?

Ren obviously has some powers--he has mind control, he can throw people and objects, and he stops the laser from a blaster in mid-air. But he's also surprisingly weak: Rey (before she even knows who she is) is able to resist his mind control (maybe this is another sign of his emotional weakness), Finn does an admirable job fighting him with a lightsaber, and he is later wounded. But perhaps oddest of all, no one really seems scared of Ren. In an early scene, Ren confronts the captured resistance pilot Poe Dameron. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Poe makes a joke about who is going to speak first. Poe is obviously a cocky pilot (a parallel to a young Han Solo, perhaps). And perhaps his humor is a false bravado to hide his fear. But he just doesn't fear Ren. Really, no one does. Lastly, Ren has a few incidents of what I can only think of as ragequit-style temper tantrums with his lightsaber. By the second time he does this, the audience is laughing at him. Maybe I'm missing something here (and I assume Episode VIII will add some clarification). And Maybe Ren's apparent weakness is intentional. I do think his character was intentionally made to be emotionally vulnerable. But this plays against his villainous streak. So far, without further character development, Kylo Ren appears to be the least formidable villain in the entire Star Wars universe.

Snoke originally appears a dark, shadowy figure who appears to be gigantic in size. We later see that Snoke is just a hologram. So why does the hologram need to be so large? I wonder if Snoke is, in reality, a small character and the large hologram is made to compensate. Remember the Wizard of Oz? Like Ren, I didn't get the sense that Snoke was really that evil. But only time will tell how he turns out. 

In Episode IV, Han Solo was a skeptic of the rebellion who didn't believe in "hokey religions and ancient weapons." He was the human element. In this movie, he's come full circle: "It's all true." The role of his character has been taken over in parts by Poe and Finn. I didn't like to see him go, but his screen time was his swan song.

Luke Skywalker. Luke's absence from the movie poster and the trailers (except for a voice-over in the second trailer which didn't even appear in the movie) led to some speculation that Luke might be Kylo Ren (or some similar villian). We know now he was not. There was also speculation that Luke might play a minor role. Indeed, we know now this is true. While the plot centered on finding Luke, Mark Hamill only appears briefly in the final scene and does not say a word. Will Luke return to the resistance? Or will he turn his back on them? Could it still be possible that Luke is a villain (perhaps even Snoke)? Plausible, but only future episodes will tell. Luke's story is for another movie.

Humor and Prior Movie References. The plot is littered with humor, often in reference to the previous movies and sometimes using the same or similar quotes from those movies. In some places, these references are clearly appropriate. In other scenes, they seem out of place. Ren's confrontational silence with Poe is broken by a Poe joke; humor just seems odd here. The wookie Chewbacca has more than a few funny "lines" which seem out of place. And the scene where the resistance plans the attack on Starkiller Base seems like one long joke recalling the original Death Star attack plans. As if it wasn't even a serious attempt. I get the humor and the references to the original movies. In many scenes they are well-placed and totally appropriate. In other places, they seem like too much. C-3PO shows up in only a couple of scenes, but his typically fatalistic humor ("We're doomed!") gets lost among all of the other "funny" lines.

Plot Parallels. There are obvious plot parallels which link us back to the original movies. Just a few off the top of my head:

• An idealistic young person left without their parents on a desert planet turns out to be a Jedi.
• An unlikely droid serves as both the comedic element and holds the key to the entire plot.
• The plot centers around a father-son struggle.
• A thousand-year old wise elder provides guidance.
• The bad guys build a planet-size space station as their primary weapon.
• Cocky pilot helps save the day.

I'm sure there are more. But are these too much? Is this just the same story told again with different characters? I wonder if there was a struggle to satisfy the original fans while still bringing some freshness to a younger generation. I just don't know.

Chain of Command. What exactly is the chain of command in the First Order? Both Kylo Ren and General Hux speak to Snoke on various occasions, and appear to be more-or-less equals (minus the Force, of course). After Ren's plan to capture BB-8 fails, Snoke seems to rely on Hux's plan and abandons Ren's advice. After Snoke, who was really in charge?

Starkiller Base. What happens after Starkiller Base drains all of the energy from the nearby sun? If the base is truly a planet, it can't exactly move like the Death Star did. So what does it do then? Also: Starkiller, of course, was Luke's last name in George Lucas's early drafts.

Republic, Resistance, and the First Order. The Republic controls the galaxy, but the Resistance fights the First Order. Why isn't the Republic defending themselves? Perhaps because it makes the Resistance look like underdogs, and people root for underdogs.

Best of the Movie. A few things that stood above the rest:

•  I thought Daisy Ridley was fantastic as Rey. She is the new Luke and she has a bright future in the rest of the franchise and beyond. Is she Luke's daughter? I think that's the general consensus belief so far.
• The new cast. There's a lot of potential chemistry between Finn and Rey; and the scenes with Finn and Poe reminded me of Luke and Han.
• For an older fan like me, the best scenes were those with Han and Leia. Totally took me back 30 years. I felt as if I could see their relationship in their eyes.

Summary. Episode VII was the first of a new trilogy. It left a lot of threads untangled, as any good movie would do, wanting to bring us back for the next edition.The movie was obviously not going to answer every question it raised. But it also had some odd elements that don't necessarily lend themselves to later answers. As I said above, it will take some time for me to form a fuller opinion of The Force Awakens. For now: It was not the best movie I've ever seen. But it was a very good movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I suspect my overall opinion of the movie will change as the subsequent episodes are released. I will surely go back again to see the many things I likely missed in this episode. I'm looking forward to see how the story progresses in Episode VIII.

Why can't movies get geography right?

Part of the plot of the Tom Cruise movie Edge of Tomorrow involves trying to get off a Normandy-style beach in northern France to get to a dam somewhere in Germany. On the drive from the Normandy beach to the dam in Germany, Tom Cruise's character tells Emily Blunt's character (who is being quiet) that she eventually starts talking to him near Lyon (he's done this drive before, many times; it's part of the central plot). A drive from the Normandy beach to Germany would almost certainly not go anywhere near Lyon, which is in south-central France. Even being geographically generous and assuming the dam is in the extreme south of Germany (which is a reasonable assumption given it appears to be an alpine environment), it would be over 250 mi/400 km away (by drive) from the nearest border to Germany near Basel, Switzerland.

Cruise's character eventually finds a helicopter to fly to the dam, but that's beside the point. What were they doing anywhere near Lyon in the first place? Why not pick a town in eastern France near the German border? Especially since this had no apparent relation to the plot and doesn't even matter. More importantly, why can't movies get geography right?!

By the way, it was a pretty good movie, notwithstanding its geography-challenged dialogue!

Law in Plain English: Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.

This is one in a series of posts designed to describe court decisions in plain English. For more detail and background on the legal issues, see the link to the case below. For similar posts, click here.

SCOTUSblog: Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.

Why did the Supreme Court take this case? In this case, the Ninth Circuit held that the defense of laches is available in copyright cases. In the Fourth Circuit, there is no laches at all. If a copyright suit is brought within the statute of limitations, it may go forward. In the Eleventh Circuit, "there is a strong presumption that a plaintiff's suit is timely if it is filed before the statute of limitations has run. Only in the most extraordinary circumstances will laches be recognized as a defense." Even if laches is found, "laches serves as a bar only to the recovery of retrospective damages, not to prospective relief."  In the Second Circuit, laches is available as a bar to injunctive relief but not to money damages. In the Sixth Circuit, laches is available in only "the most compelling of cases." So-called "circuit splits" are perhaps the most common way cases make it to the Supreme Court.

Argument: Jan 21 2014 (Aud.)

Background: In 2009, Paula Petrella filed an action for copyright infringement, unjust enrichment and accounting against Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., and others. According to Petrella, the defendants infringed her purported interest in a book and two screenplays that together allegedly formed the basis for the 1980 motion picture Raging Bull. Petrella's father Frank, who wrote the 1963 screenplay, died in 1981. In 1991, Petrella successfully renewed the copyright in the 1963 screenplay. Because her father died within 28 years of the original copyright, the renewal rights vest in the author’s heirs (Paula) regardless of whether the author assigned the renewal term of copyright to a third-party prior to his death. Petrella renewed the copyright and knew of her claims in 1991, but did not file a lawsuit until January 2009. Because of the three-year statute of limitations prescribed by Congress in 17 U.S.C. § 507(b), Ms. Petrella claimed damages only for the copyright infringement occurring between 2006 and 2009.

The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants, holding that Petrella's claims are barred by the equitable defense of laches. The Ninth Circuit affirm.

Issue: The question before the Court is whether the nonstatutory defense of laches is available without restriction to bar all remedies for civil copyright claims filed within the three-year statute of limitations prescribed by Congress, 17 U.S.C. § 507(b).

Holding: In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that laches cannot be invoked as a bar to Petrella’s pursuit of a claim for damages brought within §507(b)’s three-year window. By permitting a successful plaintiff to gain retrospective relief only three years back from the time of suit, the copyright statute of
limitations itself takes account of delay.

War, What Is It Good For?

Back to school

If you're starting law school this month (or even if you're not), this is required viewing

Actually, you should watch the whole movie. It's worth it.

"So you're saying there's a chance!"

The Supreme Court's jurisdiction is largely discretionary. This means that it gets to pick and choose which cases it accepts. Over the past ten years, an average of more than 8,000 petitions are filed; yet the Court only accepts about 80 cases per term (or, ~1%). Less likely are in forma pauperis (IFP) petitions, which comprise nearly 80% of all petitions. Yet only about 11 IFP cases are granted of the 80 cases per term , which means that the likelihood of an IFP petition being granted is less than two tenths of one percent. Many of these IFP petitioners are also pro se (advocating on one's own behalf before a court, rather than being represented by a lawyer).

With all that being said, you might be reminded of this scene:

Yes, Lloyd, there's a chance. But it's not a very good one.

But every once in a while, the Supreme Court gives you that chance. And it did just that on Monday as it granted certiorari in the case of Law v. Siegel. The question in the case is whether the Ninth Circuit erred in allowing the bankruptcy trustee to surcharge Law’s constitutionally protected homestead property.

Stephen Law beats the odds. He filed a pro se, in forma pauperis petition that was granted by the Court (by the time Law's reply brief was filed in November, he had counsel).

Lawyers, legal practitioners, and law students used to reading highly polished appellate briefs will not want to take any notes from Law's petition. The errors start on the cover page and keep coming, fast and furious. But this post isn't intended to criticize the petition. It is to highlight that the highly improbable does happen. And sometimes the Court reads past all the errors and says "yes."

I'll have more on this case as we approach oral argument sometime next fall.

Act of Valor - Lisa Morales Extraction

This is my favorite scene from Act of Valor. Having just rescued a hostage and having a member of their platoon shot in the head, the SEALs encounter unexpected resistance. True to form, they rise to the occasion. An amazing portrayal of leadership, flexibility, and teamwork.

For You by Keith Urban (from Act of Valor)

Live Your Life (Tecumseh)

So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.

Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none.

When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.

When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

--Tecumseh (1768-1813)

Act of Valor: box office hero?

Several years ago, I reviewed a number of the anti-war movies that came out. This weekend's Act of Valor is the response.

According to Box Office Mojo, the estimated gross for Friday was $9 million. This opening day haul already places it above the total box office receipts for several of those anti-war movies:

In the Valley of Elah: $6.8 million
Redacted: $65,388 (yes, you read that right)
Grace is Gone: $50,899

Act of Valor is also fast on the heels of Rendition, which grossed $9.7 million, and Stop Loss ($10.9 million).

Based upon usual weekend patterns, Act of Valor can probably expect a minimum of 25% more on Saturday, and probably another $9 million on Sunday. Estimated weekend box office: ~$30 million, which, incidentally, would eclipse all of the other movies above combined.

Hollywood Unoriginality, Redux

If you remember back as far as June of last year, I did a short series of posts on what I perceived to be the lack of originality in new movies: they're mostly remakes, sequels, or something (TV, comic book, video-game) to movie.  Over the course of that period I found that only about 20% of the movies were realistically original.

So after a break of six months let's take another look at last weekend's top ten:

1. Little Fockers (sequel/series)
2. True Grit (remake)
3. Tron Legacy (sequel)
4. Yogi Bear (cartoon)
5. The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader (sequel/series)
6. The Fighter
7. Tangled (fairy tale)
8. Gulliver's Travels (book, remake)
9. Black Swan
10. The King's Speech

So, more or less, only three "original" movies.  Again, this doesn't de-value the potential of the "unoriginal" movies; some or many of them are undoubtedly good movies.  They're just not truly original.

Hollywood Unoriginality: Week 3

Part of a series on the lack of originality and creativity in Hollywood. New releases in bold.

1. Toy Story 3 (sequel)
2. The Karate Kid (remake)
3. The A-Team (tv)
4. Get Him to the Greek (spin-off)
5. Shrek Forever After (sequel)
6. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (video game)
7. Killers
8. Jonah Hex (comic)
9. Iron Man 2 (sequel)
10. Marmaduke (comic)
(11. Sex in the City 2)
(12. Robin Hood)

Week 3 originality rating: 10%
Overall rating: 20.0%

EDITED 6/24: Jonah Hex is based on a comic book.

Hollywood Unoriginality: Week 2

Part of a series on the lack of originality and creativity in Hollywood.

1. The Karate Kid (remake)
2. The A-Team (tv)
3. Shrek Forever After (sequel)
4. Get Him to the Greek (spin-off)
5. Killers
6. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (video game)
7. Marmaduke (comic)
8. Sex and the City 2 (sequel)
9. Iron Man 2 (sequel)
10. Splice
(11. Robin Hood)

Week 2 originality rating: 20%
Overall originality rating: 25%

UPDATE: A reader points out that Get Him to the Greek is a spin-off of Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Ratings have been updated to reflect that, and thanks!

Hollywood Unoriginality: Introduction and Week 1

It seems to me that most new movies are unoriginal: remakes, sequels, or something (TV, comic book, video-game) to movie. In that last category, TV-to-movie is the least original; while at least books and comic books are taking the plot to a new medium. So a little bit of slack there. Anyways, let's take last week's Top 10 and see how it turns out:

1. Shrek Forever After (sequel)
2. Get Him to the Greek (spin-off)
3. Killers
4. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (video game)
5. Sex and the City 2 (sequel)
6. Marmaduke (comics)
7. Iron Man 2 (comics, sequel)
8. Splice
9. Robin Hood (remake)
10. Letters to Juliet

So, six of the top ten are, more or less, unoriginal. That's not to say that they can't be any good or successful, because many such remakes are ultimately successful (even more so than their originals); but the originality is ultimately lacking.

My 30% originality rating is incredibly crude, and will continue to be so, since many films will stay in the top ten and be counted multiple times. But I'm not looking for statistical perfection here, rather I just hope to confirm what I already believe to be true, that Hollywood doesn't have many good ideas anymore.

The week's wide releases are The A-Team (TV) and The Karate Kid (remake), so don't expect to see much change in next week's originality ratings. :-)

The Year in Review: My Top Ten Moments

2009 was a crappy year for a lot of people. Despite this, I was very fortunate and blessed to have a pretty good year. Here are my top ten moments, in no particular order except for #1 (which truly is #1 for me). Some of them are specific to me and my family, while others are general in nature and will relate to others.

1. Our son Michael was born on January 16th! Despite some early scares and a few more days in the hospital than we would have liked, Michael the Moose is doing great. God has truly blessed us. If this list stopped here, I would still be grateful for an amazing year.
2. 2009 was my first full year out of the military, and it was nice going the entire year without any worries of deployments, individual augmentations or any unplanned travel. So this moment is actually being able to spend the entire year with my amazing wife and kids. We took trips to Gettysburg and Fredericksburg. In 2010, hopefully a family vacation!
3. Over the summer, we traveled up to Pennsylvania and got to see my entire family.
4. I traveled to Norway and Poland to speak at HackCon and CONFidence, two internationally recognized security conferences. I got to spend some quality time with some of my amazing friends.
5. Chesley Sullenberger lands US Airways Flight 1549 safely on the Hudson River without any casualties. A true American hero.
6. Phillies return to the World Series. Losing to the Yankees was bittersweet, but lifetime Phillies fans recognize the greatness of this team. Jimmy Rollins' game-winning hit in Game 4 of the NLDS will go down among my all-time favorite sports moments.
7. The Blind Side becomes the sleeper hit of 2009. I cannot say enough about this phenomenal movie which is my favorite of the entire year. I knew a little bit about the story of Michael Oher, but this movie will bring tears to your eyes. Even recommended for guys. ;-)
8. Lots of friends deployed overseas to Iraq, Afghanistan and other places. Here's a moment for them coming home safely to their families.
9. Mark Martin makes a run for the ages. He comes up just short in his bid for the Cup, but this has to be his most satisfying season ever. For a long time Mark Martin fan, it amazing to witness. He is on my short list of those people you'd like to meet if you had the opportunity. One of the classiest guys in all sports.
10. I got promoted! But in all honesty, this one wasn't about me, it is about the great people that I get to work with everyday. I couldn't ask for a better bunch.

I'm pretty sure I missed something important, so they're probably be an edit or two forthcoming. But, please note: no reality TV stories, no celebrity stories. :-)

The Year in Review: Good and Bad Movies

Simple criteria: either good, bad, or indifferent. Movies I've actually seen this year and were released in 2009 (most if not all of them, I hope). In alphabetical order by category.

Good
The Blind Side
District 9
Gran Torino
The Hangover
Inglourious Basterds
Role Models
Taken
Up
Zombieland

Bleh (neither good nor bad)
Angels and Demons
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Taking of Pelham 123
Star Trek
Wolverine

Bad
2012
Paranormal Activity

Random musings and St. Erasmus of Formiae

Yesterday, for what reason I do not know, I watched St. Elmo's Fire for the first time in forever. A few comments and observations:

1. Yes, the movie was as 1980's cheesy as I remember it.

2. In the same year, Brat Pack-ers Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, and Ally Sheedy played recent college grads (St. Elmo's Fire) and high school students (The Breakfast Club).

3. As many people know, "St. Elmo's Bar" is based upon The Tombs, a popular and iconic bar about a block from Georgetown's campus. When I attended Georgetown, my classes were primarily at night, and I remember stopping in for a few drinks after classes. Maybe I didn't stay late enough, or go often enough on the weekends, but the atmosphere just wasn't the same in the late 90s as it apparently was in 1985 (not necessarily a bad thing, just an observation). In fact, I hadn't seen the movie in so long that during my entire time at Georgetown I had completely forgotten that The Tombs was the inspiration for the movie.

4. While the "inside the bar" scenes were shot on a sound stage, apparently at least some of the exterior scenes were shot in Georgetown, but not at The Tombs. Instead the location was Third Edition, a bar located at 1218 Wisconsin Avenue (a few blocks to the east). Although I can't really tell from the movie. Completely unrelated, except for the reference to Wisconsin Avenue, is Rocklands BBQ, which is also located on Wisconsin Avenue. Although they must have moved further up north, because I could have sworn they were once located at the Georgetown end of Wisconsin.

5. Another part I did not remember was that the campus of Georgetown University was not included in any part of the movie. Instead, the few campus scenes were filmed at the University of Maryland.

6. In one scene, Rob Lowe's character Billy Hicks returns to his old frat house on campus to play football with his college buddies. Georgetown does not recognize any fraternities or sororities, and (unless I am mistaken) there are no such houses on the campus.

7. In the opening scene, Billy gets arrested for drunk driving. He gets released and they apparently go right back to the bar? Really? There is an unnatural obsession with drinking, smoking and drugs. Of course, much of this is a reflection of the times. But still.

8. And finally, completely unrelated except for the title. This reminded me of an instance during an EA-6B flight from Whidbey Island to San Diego (or maybe it was the other way around) when our crew experienced an interesting case of real life St. Elmo's Fire, which appeared near the refueling probe just in front of the cockpit.

"Taken"

I watched the movie Taken last night. I had high hopes for it, but maybe they were too high. The movie was over fast (barely 90 minutes) and it was just, blah. Another 30 minutes could have been spent developing some of the supporting characters. It was OK, but could have been so much better. 2 1/2 stars out of 4.