Movie News, Reviews, & Reactions 2012

[RusVal]

Yeah - my tutor's first comment was "You think you're clever, don't you?"

Oh thank goodness.  For a second there, when no one reacted, I thought that I might have accidentally slipped into an alternate reality or something.


No, I'm not completely crazy.


I'm only partially crazy.   

[Crafty_Pat]

Prometheus International Launch Trailer: I think we've hit that part of the promotional cycle where evocative and entertaining will shift to revealing and revelatory. This trailer very nearly borders on spoiler territory. You have been warned.

[foproy]

new batman trailer, looks like they did something about banes voice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=g8evyE9TuYk

[Sletchman]

new batman trailer, looks like they did something about banes voice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=g8evyE9TuYk

It's a pretty big improvement over the last version, IMO (I was concerned about watching the film and being able to follow him at all before).  The film looks pretty damn good, but needs to be about 8 hours long...

They did a good job with Bane's visual too - Tom Hardy looks like he looms over Bale (despite being fractionally shorter) while still not looking comically sized or unrealistic.  Excellent execution of a really hard character (visually that is).  That trailer did tip toe a little to close to spoiler territory for my tastes though, so I'm officially on a Batman embargo til the film drops.

[foproy]

the trail off of the batwing thingy was off, i am sure they will fix that in post

[Crafty_Pat]

Prometheus: Creations Featurette: This one's also very close to spoiler territory.

[Desertpuma]

Yeah, agreed. There is very close to spoiler territory. It is interesting how often everyone keeps saying it is not a prequel but exists within that universe. They really are stating this could have any number of endings to it with one possibility being the Alien franchise.

[Crafty_Pat]

Yeah, agreed. There is very close to spoiler territory. It is interesting how often everyone keeps saying it is not a prequel but exists within that universe. They really are stating this could have any number of endings to it with one possibility being the Alien franchise.

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It's been publicly stated that the last 20 minutes or so of Prometheus is the lead-in to Alien. Granted, that could go a few different ways, but unless they're openly lying - always a possibility - I doubt we'll see an ambiguous ending.

[Sletchman]

I got to see The Avengers last night, and I really enjoyed it.  My only complaint (more accurately - the only complaint that I didn't fully expect long before release) was the way some sequences were shot.  "Intense Shaking Action Cam! ^TM" is pretty standard these days, but not only was there huge quantities of it in The Avengers, it also included sequences where the camera was rotated upside down / diagonally during dialogue or reveals of setpieces.  It wasn't enough to stop me enjoying the film by any means, but it did piss me off (and a friend I went with said it made them feel dizzy and a little sick).

Everything else was great - plot, dialogue and character interaction were all fantastic.  Stay for the credits (obviously - this is a Marvel film...) - you Americans (and possibly others) get an entire extra scene that wasn't shown when I saw it (lucky buggers).

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Thanos! Hell yeah!

So, clearly Thanos was the one behind fishing Loki out of wherever he ended up stranded, as well as giving him his spear and brokering the deal between Loki and the Chitauri.  Should make Avengers 2 quite interesting (and I was hoping he'd show up - especially with the little hints of him in Thor).  Also very clever of Marvel to find a way to use the Skrull without actually using the Skrull (given it's licensed to Fox).  I thought it a little strange that they never utilised their shapeshifting abilities - though perhaps Avengers 2 will be more "secret invasion" then the overt invasion of Avengers 1?

Weird thing - the trailers before the film included Haywire  - with it's claimed Jan 2012 release... Which is weird because it's not actually getting theatrical release down here.  Also the normal stuff - Dark Shadows, MIB3, and Brave (which, as a pixar fan, I am really looking forward to).  Nothing notable, but quirky that there would be an ad for a film that's not being released here (far as I am aware) and is so outdated (as far as theatrical releases go).

[Sletchman]

Oh, double post and all that, but I am interested in seeing what this means for the cinema industry.  There's been films with big and high profile casts before (Oceans 11/12/13 remakes for example), but never anything that has taken the leads from 6 (or more) different films and put them together.  It's legitimately ground breaking, and for something like this to be successful (which it already has been - still pre-US release, another landmark point) it really could mean big changes.  Especially considering it wasn't that long ago that people considered films like The Avengers or The Justice Leage as pretty much impossible to pull off.

So, what are we expecting?  Marvel gonna put Hugh Jackman into indentured servitude (because Wolverine appears bloody well everywhere in comics)?  There's some really cool crossovers and team ups I'd love to see that The Avengers may very well make possible (plus it even makes interesting things possible in non-comic book adaptation films).

EDIT: Just to put it out there: Zach Snyder is doing Man of Steel and has previously expressed interest in doing a Dark Knight Returns adaptation (which Frank Miller said he was totally behind Synder doing).  The Avengers makes that a real possibility.

[Desertpuma]

I fully expect that Warner Bros is watching this all very closely since fans are still clamoring for a JLA picture. Avengers has proven it can happen. The big questions will be who would direct, will Bale return as Batman, and who Superman will be played by. These big questions because they've been portrayed before recently. Lynda Carter is not appearing as Wonder Woman again soon certainly.

[Mister Andersen]

Bale isn't goign anywhere near Batman again; the question is entirely who gets cast in the role. I strongly suspect that the current Superman has a clause in hs contract dealing with a JL film. An equally big question is who plays Lantern -- yes, the movie had Hal Jordan in it, but it kinda stank and the version of the League that I'd argue most people are familiar with has John Stewart wearing the green ring.

[Sletchman]

I'd be really surprised if Cavill didn't have a whole bunch of extra Supreman appearances built into his contract (even as a "just in case" measure by WB).  I think John Steward would make a good choice for the Lantern in a JLA film - The Green Lantern (film) was average at best, and it would reduce the severly monochromatic palette that the JLA would otherwise have.

I am curious who the next Batman will be though.  I can't imagine that WB would want to leave such a profitable and recognisable character alone for too long.

EDIT: I'm also wondering who they will leave out.  The Avengers was lacking Ant Man, Wasp and Black Panther.  Will JLA leave out Martian Manhunter?  Green Arrow?  Others?

[ThunderMonkey]

I'd be really surprised if Cavill didn't have a whole bunch of extra Supreman appearances built into his contract (even as a "just in case" measure by WB).  I think John Steward would make a good choice for the Lantern in a JLA film - The Green Lantern (film) was average at best, and it would reduce the severly monochromatic palette that the JLA would otherwise have.

I am curious who the next Batman will be though.  I can't imagine that WB would want to leave such a profitable and recognisable character alone for too long.

EDIT: I'm also wondering who they will leave out.  The Avengers was lacking Ant Man, Wasp and Black Panther.  Will JLA leave out Martian Manhunter?  Green Arrow?  Others?

Ant Man will show up eventually. Edgar Wright is supposed to be doing an Ant Man solo pic which will probably lead into the next Avengers feature.

[Sletchman]

Ant Man will show up eventually. Edgar Wright is supposed to be doing an Ant Man solo pic which will probably lead into the next Avengers feature.

Yeah, I'd heard about that being in development 2-3 years ago (surprising it's still not coming out til 2014, given how long ago it was announced).  No word which Ant Man it's based on though.  Still, with Edgar Wright at the helm I'm happy to see it no matter what.

I also totally get why those characters were left out - enough goes on with a film like The Avengers that you don't want your audience going "Wait, who's that guy?" or to have to spend 30 minutes explaining who that guy is.  You can get away with people like Maria Hill, but adding a full bird Avenger that the cinema audience (as distinct from the comic audience) hasn't seen would be crazy.