Caddickisms

Warner will follow Marvel model to develop new superhero films : Slice of SciFi

Superman Returns darker

Ever since Superman Returns was released, rumors were flying about the sequel. Would it happen? Would Bryan Singer return to helm it? Would anybody watch it?

Not long ago (May 7th, in fact), we were hearing that Bryan Singer would be getting Superman: The Man of Steel to theaters in 2009 with wall-to-wall action in a sequel to Returns. Personally, I was pretty happy with that news. I really think Singer knows how to pull off a movie that’s both intelligent and action-packed, and respects the source material.

But now we hear that in the wake of the success of The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. will be putting a darker focus on all its superhero properties.

For fans, this means that the sequel to “Superman Returns” won’t be happening. Instead, the studio will look to take a page from this year’s “Incredible Hulk” and reboot the franchise. Part of this is a need to freshen the franchise, but part of this can also be attributed to the fact that “Returns” struggled to make back the investment Warner Brothers put into the movie.

[...]

Mr. Robinov wants his next pack of superhero movies to be bathed in the same brooding tone as “The Dark Knight.” Creatively, he sees exploring the evil side to characters as the key to unlocking some of Warner Bros.’ DC properties. “We’re going to try to go dark to the extent that the characters allow it,” he says. That goes for the company’s Superman franchise as well.

That’s disappointing. While I get treating superhero movies as real world and serious is important in creating believability, forcing a dark tone on everything is, I think, a mistake. It’s completely appropriate for Batman, but Superman’s main character traits are hope and optimism, and a bit of naiveté (at least on the surface). It is possible to go darker with him temporarily - and I think it could be done really well - but I really think it has to be in a sequel to be good. The character has to be developed as an incorruptible, “thank God he’s here” kind of character.

Plus, I gotta imagine this new direction means a significant delay before the Boy Scout graces the screen again. So that annoys me, too.

On a side note, the linked article also mentions the other properties under development: Green Lantern, Flash, Green Arrow, and Wonder Woman. I’m excited about each of them. All could translate very well to the big screen.

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I don’t have it in me to write everything I think about this movie right now, but I wanted to get something down.

Just like Spider-man 2, this sequel takes an amazingly good predecessor and improves on it.

And just like in the Spider-man franchise, the key is focusing on the character’s development. Bruce/Batman learns a lot about himself and his chosen line of work - the limits, the responsibilities, and the consequences.

Heath Ledger, for anyone wondering, actually deserves the praise he’s getting for this role. It’s not a posthumous sympathy vote. I wouldn’t call myself a Heath Ledger fan, generally, but I simply can’t imagine anyone else playing this role this well.

In my last post I counted Wall-E out of Best Picture contention, despite rumors to the contrary. The Dark Knight, however, is a serious contender - if the Academy can get past the whole blind spot it has for Sci-Fi/Fantasy films.

I may come back to this later for a more thorough review.

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I’ve fallen really behind on posting lately. Given the upcoming holiday there probably won’t be much for the next few days either. But I wanted to quickly throw a few things out there in Sci-Fi and Entertainment news.

Hobbit films (report stolen from Slice of Sci-Fi):

Director Guillermo del Toro told reporters during a Hellboy press junket that his first “The Hobbit” movie will stick strictly to J.R.R. Tolkien’s original “The Hobbit” material, however, the second film will take in a wide range of materials from the Tolkien universe inlcluding many of Tolkien’s own notes.

It will be interesting to see what happens with that second movie. Do we have a screenwriter who can take those notes and other materials and make a script that feels Tolkien-ish?

Doctor Who: Parts 1 and 2 of the season finale were extremely good. Like everyone else, I’m waiting with very little patience for the final installment (I hope the Sci-Fi channel runs it in its entirety when it’s their turn - it’s a super-sized episode at 65 commercial-free minutes). Then I intend to be very annoyed next year when we only get a few specials. I’ll do another review of the season after it’s over.

Batman Begins: Heath Ledger continues to get rave reviews on his Joker portrayal. I hope the movie lives up to the buzz.

Starship Troopers 3: Three? Really? Do we need three of these things? Wasn’t one painful enough? If you really want to see the trailer, it’s out there.

Hancock: Apparently this has a pretty short running time. And it’s getting middling reviews. Apparently the first half is pretty good, but then it falls apart. This is really driving me nuts. The more I see of clips and trailers for this, the more I want to see it, but then I find out it’s short and may not live up to expectations? I don’t know if I can throw my money and time at that. I really want to see it, though… blah.

Star Wars: Clone Wars - The new trailer is out there! It’s a bit moodier than the others. I think I liked Trailer #1 better. Still on the must see list, though.

The Prisoner: AMC is remaking 60’s TV show “The Prisoner” in a 6-part miniseries with Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellan. Top notch actors, ground-breaking original… I hope it turns out well!

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog: Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, has got himself a nice little humorous project with some familiar faces. Looks intriguing.

And finally…

Bruce Campbell, who “starred” in all three Spider-man movies and my favorite western-sci-fi TV show (The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.) - and a few well known cult classics - is coming out with a new film in which he plays himself. Sort of. Looks really good to me…

In case I’m too lazy to blog again before the weekend, have a great Independence Day (unless you happen to live in a non-US location, in which case, have a nice normal weekend.)

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Lots of news and some rumors hitting the net lately… here are the best of the bunch for Sci-Fi and comics lovers:

The next Stargate SG-1 film titled Stargate: Continuum now has a July 29 DVD release date.

Marvel has announced that Iron Man 2 has been confirmed for release in 2010, in addition to a movie about Thor. Also reported: the Avengers and Captain America (with Matthew McConaughey as the lead?) in 2011.

Also announced by Marvel: an Ant Man movie, though the timeline for the film is unknown. (This is where they start to lose me… Ant Man? Seriously? I think they’re stretching to reach a mainstream audience with that one. My guess is his popularity in the Avengers movie will determine if this one really gets made.)

Iron Man, Tony Stark, will make a cameo in The Incredible Hulk.

Superman: Man of Steel will now not be delayed due to the “Justice League of America” film but is geared up for a 2009 release with Brandon Routh back as Superman.

Both Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and The Dark Knight will run over 140 minutes. In fact, The Dark Knight may run close to three hours.

Speaking of The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan has signed on for a third Batman feature, and Christian Bale has expressed interest as well. Details of plot are even starting to circulate - apparently the film will focus on Two-Face and may introduce Robin, following the plot of the graphic novels “The Long Halloween” and “Dark Victory” for a rough outline.

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Robert Downey Jr. has been touted as the perfect choice to play Tony Stark. When I first saw the trailer I was doubtful about that choice. I always pictured Stark as taller, and with a deeper voice. Now that I’ve seen the movie, I’m over that. He did a great job, and I really can’t think of any better choice. Excellent casting.

I’ve heard a lot of people saying this was the best superhero movie ever. Before I saw the movie, I doubted that would be true, though I figured it would make a good shot at the title. Turns out I was right on that one. This took a heck of a shot, but it doesn’t, in my opinion, take down the reigning king, Spiderman. Here’s why: I left both of the first two Spiderman films elated and breathless; Iron Man had me happy and pumped. Great reactions to both franchises, but it’s a matter of degrees — Spidey gave me the extra effort.

To be fair, going in to it I prefer Spidey over Iron Man. I’ve always been intrigued by Iron Man, but never captivated. So I guess I’m not impartial. I do think it’s possible to make an argument that the Spidey films are objectively superior, primarily on the strength of the story coming through on a more personal, rather than global level. But let’s get back to concentrating on the current movie for itself.

First of all, the eye-candy level is impressive. Lots and lots of nice shots. The suit looks and works great. But that’s not the focus of the movie. As with all the best special effects movies, the effects are there merely to support the story. It’s a very good story, too. The uncaring head of the world’s leading weapons manufacturer comes face-to-face with the reality of his own inventions and realizes that he has to undo the damage he has done. It’s a big task, on a global level. The movie keeps it manageable and the bad guys are terrorists, not governments, which ensures we’re rooting for the hero without damaging the movie’s marketability.

There are a lot of nods in there for comic fans, too, which is nice. Supporting character Rhodey gets to telegraph his eventual role as Iron Man’s partner, War Machine. S.H.I.E.L.D gets a huge nod (though I won’t comment on the rumored presence or absence of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury). There is a definite setup for an Avengers flick, and an obvious potential for a whole series of Iron Man movies.

My vote for best moment in the entire movie - the moment that made me actually loudly exclaim “Oh, Yeah!!” before the rest of the audience reacted, was actually a moment that was partially played for subtle comic effect, as well as dramatic. The way he took out the terrorists holding hostages in the town was just too cool, and I didn’t see it coming. Absolutely perfect.

But now I have to come back to something that didn’t work as well for me. And the problem I have is that I don’t know who to pin it on. This could be the way the character is in the comics (I really haven’t read much Iron Man), or it could be the way he is written for the movie, or it could be the director’s choices, or it could be on Downey Jr.’s shoulders: aside from early on, about midway through the cave sequence in the beginning, I don’t ever get much in the way of emotion or conflict - there were opportunities for that to come through, I think, but it didn’t - unless you count innuendo. Very little in the way of vulnerability. I do recognize that that was a conscious choice, I just think it could have been loosened up a bit - at least for a scene or two. It kept me from being as emotionally invested in the character as I could have been.

Maybe that’s always been present in the character. That could explain why I never got fully caught up in the series. I just don’t relate to him as well as to some other superhero characters (specifically, Spiderman, Superman, and Batman come to mind).

Anyway… despite the flaws I’ve seen, I still think this is easily in the top five best superhero/comic movies ever. It should prove to be a strong franchise, and is probably positioned better than any other comic book movie to spawn spin-offs and cross-overs. In the comics, Tony’s worked with just about everybody in the Marvel Universe at one time or another. I anticipate at least one sequel, probably more, and an Avengers spin-off, and I eagerly look forward to them.

And DO NOT LEAVE until after the credits. You’ll be glad you stayed.

So… 4 stars.

(1 down, 12 to go.)

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The Dark Knight is coming out on July 18th. Everyone has heard of that. And I can’t wait.

But did you know about Batman Gotham Knight, the animated DVD (also downloadable) coming out on July 8th? Oh, yeah….. Batman gets the “Animatrix” treatment (well, sort of).

Yes, Kevin Conroy will once again put a voice to Gotham’s caped crusader:

Conroy set the standard for modern day Batman voices with his performance in “Batman: The Animated Series,” “The New Adventures of Batman and Robin” and “The New Batman Superman Adventures.” He reprised the role as an aging Bruce Wayne playing mentor to a new Caped Crusader in “Batman Beyond.” Animation legend and “Batman Gotham Knight” producer Bruce Timm said Conroy was the obvious choice for both widespread fan approval and to provide an overriding sense of continuity within a film in which Batman appears in so many new, visual variations.

For more on Conroy and the Gotham Knight project, read this Slice Of Sci-Fi entry.

The six anime-style stories will delve deeply into Bruce Wayne’s transition to becoming Batman. It’s not clear if the Batman Begins storyline will play any role, though I doubt it.

So July 8th, we get ahold of some great Bat-animation, just in time to stoke the flames for The Dark Knight. Until then, here’s the trailer…

Batman = cool.

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How could anyone be stupid enough to let his skin turn blue?

Slice of Sci-Fi has a two lists of movie trailers. Here are my favorites from their lists.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Get Smart

10,000 B.C.

Speed Racer

Cloverfield

Rambo

Batman: The Dark Knight

Technorati Tags: movie trailers, odd people

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Apple - Trailers - The Dark Knight

I can’t believe no one told me this trailer was out.

Okay, visually it’s an extremely boring trailer. Pretty much, it’s the bat-symbol with a light show.

The voice-over, though, is cool. You get to hear the voice of the Joker. Not bad. Just a little Nicholson thrown in there - a slight homage.

This is my “can’t wait” film for 2008.

Technorati Tags: Batman, Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale, The Joker

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“Justice League of America” Moves Forward - Slice of Scifi

I’m sorry. I just can’t picture this movie being made well any time in the next 5 years.

As I said in a previous post, there are just too many big characters to adequately pull something off with enough weight on each character, developmentally. Plus you’ve got the casting problem:

Of course the big question is — Can Warner get Brandon Routh and Christian Bale to play Superman and Batman for this project, or will they settle for other actors? The problem with getting others for the role is credibility. There is no question in any fan’s mind that Routh and Bale now own those roles. And Warner has to be asking themselves how readily fans might accept others in those costumes.

Sounds like Routh and Bale aren’t that interested in the roles in the new film, either. And I can’t say I blame them. They’re spending a lot of energy to get those characters right in their own films, with strong directors and (mostly) strong scripts. It’s a big risk to go into a difficult ensemble piece and risk watering those characters down. What if Batman comes off too light in the Justice League film? Will that hurt the stand-alone series and make it harder to get new viewers? It could.

As much as I’d like to see a Justice League done right, I don’t think it’s going to happen. I hope they prove me wrong, but I doubt it.

Technorati Tags: justice league, movie, comics adaptation, superman, batman, wonder woman

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Christian Bale, Michael Caine, and Christopher Nolan (all of whom worked on Batman Begins) join Hugh Jackman to create one of the best magician movies I’ve ever seen. Actually, this movie crosses a few genres, but I won’t list them because to do so may tip off the secret of the movie. I will say that there is a healthy dose of misdirection, but everything you need to figure it out is there from the outset (or close to it), as it should be with any well written mystery.

I actually suspected at least part of the truth midway through the movie, but wasn’t positive about it until after the secret of the top hat was revealed.

The most confusing part about this movie was the jumping around in timeframes. Much of the movie is told in extended flashbacks from different time periods, and their chronological order is not always evident. Even at the end, I found it difficult to go back and place certain events in their proper sequence. How much time, for example, has passed between the first death in the movie and Bale’s character meeting Sarah?

There is much to think about after the movie is over. Usually in these kinds of movies, you can find a hole in the plot, but I couldn’t come up with one. My wife thought she had one that could have altered the ending, but after talking it through the ending still makes sense.

In case you couldn’t tell, I’m trying hard to keep from loosing any spoilers on you, and it’s a bit difficult to write a review that won’t tip off the astute among you. I may write another, more “spoilerific” post for this one later, but right now I have to go to bed.

The verdict: 4-1/2 stars for The Prestige. Well worth the time and mental effort.

(Oh, and as a side note, I noticed at least 3 actors who had prominent guest roles in Star Trek: The Next Generation, plus “Robin Colcord” from Cheers. Just struck me as interesting.)

Technorati Tags: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Christopher Nolan, Batman Begins, Hugh Jackman, Movies, The Prestige, magic, murder, mystery, misdirection

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