issue 6 // volume 43 arts // no. 7 Sweet Christmas! > ‘Luke Cage’ Netflix series review Adam Tatelman Arts Editor OOOO ae the first phase of superhero films building up to the inevitable Avengers crossover, the quality of each outing has been in steady decline. With the release of Marvel’s latest Netflix series, Luke Cage, I think I have finally cracked the formula. Although these early entries are hamstrung by their obligation to lay the foundations for future crossovers, they are still largely free to tell their own self-contained stories and establish character conflicts that aren’t forced to tie in to an ever-expanding universe of sticky plot threads. In the case of little-known characters like Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, this freedom is more pronounced; liberties can be taken with the source material to help the story work for TV, while still taking inspiration from the comic stories when needed. | was a Marvel kid for my entire childhood, and even I only had a couple Luke Cage comics, so I imagine not too many people are going to complain about whether the show is faithful. In some cases, it’s better off going its own way—case in point, Cage’s old 1970s getup. Luke himself (Mike Colter) is a troubled ex-con living in Harlem, holding down two separate jobs and trying to turn his life around. Of course, Dusting off a classic > How ‘Super Smash Bros. Melee’ has withstood the test of time Chandler Walter Assistant Editor News is more exciting than besting your friends at videogames, so what better way to do it than smashing them in their faces and sending them off into the horizon? Super Smash Bros. Melee is, arguably, the simplest and most addicting way to play with (up to) three of your friends. The staple of the GameCube featured many of your favourite heroes from other Nintendo games, all getting together to beat on each other until someone’s thumb starts to bleed from a worn-in controller, or someone else gets upset and turns off the console in a fit of rage. You could keep it all in the family and have Mario, Princess Peach, and Bowser all fighting for no other reason than that Bienen is what they exist to do. You could have Star Fox pilot Fox McCloud duke it out with his right-hand bird Falco Lombardi in a one-on-one duel that is Clea eae oe he has extraordinary powers, but he keeps them hidden, afraid that using them will only bring him trouble. By night he works as a cook in Cornell Stokes’ (Mahershala Ali) nightclub, turning a blind eye to the ambitious crime lord’s political dealings. Some of Luke’s friends get in over their heads when they steal from Stokes, putting everyone Luke cares about in danger. As with all of Marvel’s Netflix series, the show deals with themes like corruption and the nature of power. Stokes’ sister, Mariah (Alfre Woodard), isa Harlem politician; her influence is what keeps his business afloat, and his underworld clout funds her campaign. Though the plot could have been ripped directly from any 1970s Blaxploitation [ Image via Nintendo ) ele almost too quick to keep up with. Or you could just go with off-the-wall matchups, like Link from The Legend of Zelda squaring off against Pikachu, action film (Shaft, Super Fly), the material is treated with a lot more care, taking time to explore Harlem’s community and develop Stokes beyond a mere crime boss archetype. His dedication to his family makes him as sympathetic as Daredevil’s Wilson Fisk, yet he never comes across as just a black version of the Kingpin. The Marvel Cinematic Universe films all have a similar visual style, having slowly been broiled together into familiar grey eye-gruel over nearly a decade. The Netflix features, on the other hand, have much more distinct visual identities. Where Daredevil featured a smoky neo- noir backdrop and Jessica Jones chose a palette of neon filters, Luke Cage feels comparatively bright and vibrant, especially during the daytime scenes, which Kirby, and Donkey Kong. While it was not the first edition of the Super Smash Bros. franchise, Melee arrived at the time when multiplayer video games were really gaining their legs. The original Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64 had the same excitement at its core, but the limitation on characters and maps lessened its replay value, and led it to being trumped by its successor in 2001, two years later. While there have been additions to the franchise since, with Super Smash Bros. Brawl in 2008 for the Wii, and Super Smash Bros. in 2014 for the Wii U, neither have quite lived up to the hands-down brilliance that is Melee. Melee got it right on changes from the original game. The characters were fresh, but the originals stayed. The new maps offered choice between close combat, or an all-out, Image viaNettlix are shot much like early Spike Lee films such as Do the Right Thing. Even Luke’s introduction in Pop’s Barber Shop is a clear reference to We Cut Heads, Lee’s graduate thesis film project about barbers in Harlem. With its slick script, unique visual style, and strong cast, Luke Cage feels very much like a modern stylistic mashup of everything from Blaxploitation films to street dramas to modern crime thrillers, albeit with a few goofy decisions weighing it down. The cheesy, R&B-flavored sex scenes, for instance, should probably have been left behind in the ’7os. If you can look past its slow start and uneven presentation, Luke Cage is well worth a binge for anyone who enjoys crime thrillers. terrain-spanning war. The new items were fun, though not too overpowered (other than that damn hammer), and thus did not decide the outcome of the matches. The additions after Melee tried to be too much. The map obstacles had too much influence on the fights, and the items were a pain. Where once it was mostly skill that decided each match, the new games added too many variables to determine the true winner. In Melee, it felt like more than a video game. It was a skill that you had honed so perfectly that in a Final Destination, items off, one-versus-one fight, you knew exactly when to strike, and there was no room for error. That type of battle could be imitated on the game’s later additions, but they would never truly match up to the delicate precision of Super Smash Bros. Melee.