Avengers Trailer = NIN?

Avengers Clip Gives First Glimpse!

Short but Sweet?

Captain America Review!

Best Marvel movie ever? 

Spider-Man and Knights of Badassdom trailers!

Two trailers for the price of one...

Captain America Theatrical Trailer!

This trailer is hella good; if the early screenings are any indication, the movie should be just as badass. Thor  was better than I ever good have anticipated, but this has had a good word of mouth from the the get-go, so I can reasonably say my expectations are at a different level.

X-men: First Class Review

Consider me pleasantly surprised.

Prior to the release of X-men: First Class , every preview image Fox studios released of this film filled me with nothing but dread. This film had a quick turnaround from production to release, and we as an audience had be burned once before when Fox had tried that same strategy with the much maligned third X-men movie, which proved to be nothing more than an exercise of whoring out the characters for a studio payday.

The saving grace for First Class  in my mind was the hiring of Mathew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) as the director; I was mystified, yet curious, because Vaughn was the first director who was attached to the third X-men movie before he dropped out the film after balking at Fox's demands to churn out that third movie in 9 months (and we all know how that turned out under the appalling direction of Brett Ratner). Even still, I went into the screening of First Class  with low expectations, especially after it became widely known that the film was not a reboot but a true prequel to the existing movie canon that had become muddled and embarrassingly derivative due to the poor quality of Wolverine  and X-men 3.

I present to you the definition of jumping the shark:

After seeing First Class , I can honestly say that I have seen the best X-men movie ever realized. I still find it hard to believe myself, as the ground this film covers and the background this film gives the X-men franchise actually makes the rest of the films better (don't worry X3, you are only fractionally better).

First and foremost, credit has to be given to James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as young Charles Xavier (Prof. X) and Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto), respectively. Their interaction throughout the film grounds the characters, and adds some much needed emotional weight to their conflict. There is a reason a coin plays so vital a role in this film, as Xavier and Lehnsherr are two sides of that same coin; yet, remain in their hearts as brothers, always.

Fassbender plays Magneto as a Jewish avenging angel, a weapon whose powers are activated in his childhood by rage after his parents are taken and killed during the Holocaust, and he is left to experimentation by a Nazi scientist (Kevin Bacon). As an adult, Erik globetrots the world hunting and assassinating former Nazis like a badass James Bond with super-powers (albeit with little blood - thanks PG-13!).  There is a scene that is one of the best in the X-men franchise, and it hearkens back to Fassbender's work in Inglourious Basterds as a covert British agent who tries to pass off as a German soldier in a bar before all hells breaks loose. The arc Erik's character takes in this film is the most important to the series, as it sets up the antagonistic element for the X-men teams to come; simply, they nailed who Magneto is completely.

Das Magneto ich bin kill yo ass!

McAvoy's Xavier is a silver spoon, wise beyond his years erudite who is a catalyst for bringing out the best in every mutant he encounters. His powers allow him to instantly see the sum of a man or woman, and then guide them on a path of accepting themselves and achieving their full potential. Some of his best moments are when he is playing the professor we all know he becomes, as he tries to train each of the young mutants on his team to focus their powers.

The story is extremely tight, as the events of the Cold War as the backdrop rapidly unfold; it seems like every two minutes the film zips back and forth between Russia and the U.S.. Some of the problems I had foreseen about some characters existing anachronistically in the timeline (especially if they are keeping the current canon) are deftly answered, and almost every major question about the X-men's origin is wrapped up; by the end of the film, the characters are in a place where they can really be unleashed if there are to be any sequels,  with the final action scene that pits mutant vs. mutant as a damn good preview of what we can expect.

Some of my biggest qualms about the film (which are relatively minor in relation to what it's able to achieve) deal with the handling of some supporting-cast mutants. Beast was cool, but you never get to seem him truly acrobatically nuts. The antagonistic Hell Fire crew is also bland (with the exception of Nightcrawler's progenitor, Azazel, and Emma Frost's boobies), with "Riptide" coming off as a complete joke. Basically, not many of the mutants save Xavier, Magneto, and Mystique are fleshed out, which is not a bad thing for the context of this film, but could be for sequels. Hopefully future films will add more depth to the rest of the characters while keeping to the small-team structure rather than diluting them with a bunch of faceless newbs. Hell, if there are to be new mutants, please don't have an eye-rollingly cheesy scene devoted to how each character gets a "code-name" like they had in this film.

Ritpide is one soul patch away from Apollo Ono...

The best that can be said is that this film has me excited about seeing X-men on screen again. I hated what the films had become, but Mathew Vaughn really got the franchise back on track; X-men: First Class  is a surprisingly great film which also happens to be one of the best super hero films ever. It's the humanity of these mutants the lifts it above it's predecessors.

****1/2

Thor Review

Of all the Marvel characters that needed an introduction to the existing movie canon before the assembling of the legendary Avengers, Thor is by far the easiest to get wrong. I mean, his shoehorning into the comic world was already a stretch, as one has to do a mental leap to accept the conceit that Thor is in an alien from a different plane of existence, and all of the metaphysical flim-flam that goes along with that.

Get your inhalers ready kids, there is some 'splainen to do.

What flim-flam you say? Well imagine that the expanding universe is actually a cosmic tree, with new branches shooting off every billions of light years to form different planes, or "realms" of existence. Thor exists in one of the oldest planes, Asgard, in a time and space far removed from the small and newer plane of existence that Earth resides in. Thor's people, the beings that exist in the Utopian-like Asgard, are so technologically and physically advanced that they can actually cross over into other realms and space using a big worm hole gun that can connect these beings to anything in the universe.

This ability to cross over into other realms beget a whole Norse mythology at one point; some Vikings around 900AD had the misfortune of being caught on an interstellar battleground between the Asgardian  and the Frost Giants,  a different race of beings from another realms called Ylaksaiujsejeim  (or some shit like that), as the Norse homeland was used like a frozen paintball course between these two races. You see, Christianity had it wrong all this time. It was actually Vikings that had the right answer - well, except for all the raping and pillaging. OoooooDin! *uses inhaler*

So scientifically: who are what are gods but beings with technology beyond our mortal comprehension? See Mom and Dad, those philosophy classes at that private institution DID pay off.

I AM the Philosoraptor

OK, so given everything I have told you - try to imagine how insane a movie like that would be, and how difficult it would be to execute. Well, Marvel Studios tried - and knocked it out of the park.

I'm still blown away myself. All of the early snippets from this film hinted at the non-stop goofiness of Thor becoming a mortal after falling to Earth, some of it being eye-rollingly bad. I can now say that those same deflating scenes, taken in context, have the complete opposite effect.

Perhaps only a Shakespearean actor  of Kenneth Branagh's renown could have pulled something like Thor  off as a director. The bulk of the film plays out in Asgard, where beings act like they are in a cheesy Shakespearean time warp themselves, with all the pomp of a Royal Theater production of Macbeth (though I'll take Anthony Hopkins as Odin any day). Hell even some of the character arcs are deliberate and predictable, as its nothing someone didn't have to sit through in high school English studying Greek tragedies about how emotionally crippled some of the gods on Olympus were. There is enough campyness at the beginning ( I am looking at you, young Thor) that it's almost impossible not to roll your eyes at these "people."

Oedipus is the one where he stabs his eye out after watching his own colonoscopy, right?

Once Thor falls to Earth, though, that's where Kenneth Branagh's brilliance really kicks in. As someone who had spent a bulk of their life imitating Shakespearean characters, it probably wasn't hard for him to imagine how ridiculous it would be for any of those characters to exist in our modern world, much less a Princely God of Thunder. The people of "Earthrealm" are played completely straight. Natalie Portman (listen I am not complaining, but is she in every  movie?) and her "team" of scientists, as well as the SHIELD team that was shoehorned in for Avengers purposes, act like any other sensible people would when confronted with a Shakespearean-spewing, Viking-looking dude : like he is insane.

I didn't think it was possible, but I enjoyed the "fish out of water" Earth-realm story way more than I thought I would, with most of the kudos going to the casting of Chris Hemsworth as Thor; Hemsworth is pretty damn note perfect, and the range he gives Thor really has me anticipating his future interactions with other superheroes.  The humor of Thor's exile to Earth and his growth as a mortal is really what grounds this movie in the same physical and emotional "reality" as other Avengers, which had to be this film's ultimate goal for the sake of both the Thor  franchise, and the Avengers .

Yet, the scientific and metaphysical ideas presented in this film also serves to expand the scope of the Marvel film universe to the point at which we can accept the forthcoming Avengers  vs. alien invasion story.  Once again, credit has to go to Branagh for effectively and seamlessly laying so much interstellar groundwork, not just for Thor, but for the Marvel film universe as whole.

Thor is by no means perfect. There is so much going on, so many different tracks running through this film, that some aspects suffer. The love story between Natalie Portman's "Jane" and Thor feels about as rushed as Padme and Anakin Skywalker, but at least with 1000% more chemistry. Thor is on Earth for what amounts to an extended weekend, but I guess those rock hard abs could seal the deal with Natalie Portman in that amount of time.

Fact: Natalie Portman is no bigger than Thor's left bicep

Also, the action was a little up and down and times. I didn't see it in 3D, but some scenes in Asgard and in other realms that aren't Earth came off as super cartoonish, Clash of the Titans-like in its diminishing quality; the film was not natively shot in 3D, so I would not shell out the extra money to see it - it won't change anything but your pocket book. Also, the characters and performances more than make up for a weak and predictable story.

All in all, these are pretty minor quibbles. I had absolutely no expectations going in, so I was pleasantly surprised at all Thor  managed to accomplish in its two hours. The fact that Marvel studios pulled off Thor  is minor miracle; I am now 100% confident that the forthcoming Joss Whedon directed Avengers movie could be the superhero opus - the biggest film of all time.

****

 

Decent X-Men: First Class Trailer?

You know what - I didn't think it was possible either. Perhaps all that this movie needed was a trailer that had more refined FX and a better presentation of the story - which actually comes across as more serious and relevant than I thought a movie like this would or could be. Perhaps this will be the 1960's origin story we have all been dreaming of.

Retro X-Men: First Class Fan-made opening

One can dream.

The trailer for X-men: First Class was OK, but nothing else that I have seen from this movie has been inspiring. Honestly, when you have talented fans out there that can do better than a loaded studio at a moments notice, that tells you how much Fox gives a shit passed their "bottom line."

I secretly hold out hope, and it's nice that these things come along to bolster that hope.

X-men: Anime Trailer

Yeah, the character design looks a bit "Fem" to me, but anime is the perfect medium for mutant-on-mutant action.

Thor: Trailer 2!

Marvel just released a the second trailer for Thor; I must say, the Asgard stuff is looking really good, and from what I hear, only about 30% of the movie takes place on Earth.

Good, because I have a fever - and the only prescription is more cylcopean Anthony Hopkins' Odin.

X-men: First Class pics!

Some official X-men: First Class shots have been released - personally, I am not that impressed. It's cool that they are trying to go for those retro, first-run comics from the 60's, but a prequel seems pretty unecessary for a series that ended with a dud; why not just go straight reboot without trying to shoehorn a mythology that was, frankly, very forgettable. 

Matthew Vaughn, the director of one my favorite movies of 2010, Kick-Ass, has even stated that Fox Studios time-crunching pace to get the movie released this summer has been stressful (they are still filming). 

Really, I would rather seen an X-Men movie done right - and I know people weren't clamoring for this movie to be made. I guess in this economy, the studio is more interesting in turning a buck.

Meh, you guys be the judge. 

Hobo-gloved Xavier stares into your soul...

Crap, Crap, Boobs, Crap

 

If he's going to become Sir Ian McKellen, that wrist better hang limp!

Blue Tiger? Asshole-Face? Goth? Acne? Pedophile?

Chris Evans as Cpt. America!

Straight out of Entertainment Weekly comes this semi-official shot of Chris Evans as Captain America: The First Avenger.

You might remember Evans as the Human Torch in  what can only be described as cinematic abortions - The Fantastic Four movies. He easily was the best fit for that role as the charismatic-but-reckless Torch, it's just too bad the film surrounding that character were so awful.

Thankfully, those movies have been swept under the rug and dubbed "non-canon"  since Marvel studios started to acquire the assets and licenses to do their own characters justice. The suit looks pretty amazing for the WWII-era superhero film, but I could do without the tiny cherub wings over the ear - they look a bit tramp-stampy.

  

Look forward to seeing how America and the suit will evolve over his movie and into the Avengers-era.

For a bonus, here is some studio concept art of what Hugo Weaving will look like as the Capt. America bad guy and Nazi, the Red Skull.

The movie is released on July 22nd, 2011.

First official shot from the new Spider-man!

Looks like they are going for a younger, anti-bulk, more streamlined for agility approach to both the character and the suit - which makes more sense:

Are those flaming gloves?

Relative newcomer, Andrew Garfield (The Social Network), plays Peter Parker in the film that is scheduled to be released Summer of 2012.

Thor trailer!

They trailer seems to imply that we'll get some sort of explanation for the obvious problems of "magic" in the Marvel Universe - this notion that there are indeed god-like realms parallel or just floating above. Really, Thor is one of the more fantastical heroes in Marvel canon, so I was pretty skeptical when they announced that they were going to ground him in the same reality as the Iron Man movies so that they can eventually pump out an Avengers movie.






If you stayed after the credits in Iron Man 2, you were treated to this scene already:



Sorry, that is actually the best quality out there (you get the idea though).


Real trailer - ahoy!

Wolverine 2 NOT a sequel?

Hit Fix has a few intriguing details as to why Wolverine gets a sequel - and why the hell Darren Aronofsky would even WANT to direct it.

Well it appears that Wolverine 2 is not actually Wolverine 2, but The Wolverine - a "one-shot" standalone flick based on Wolverine's attempts to claw-shiv ninjas. It's based on a esoteric story-arc that had Wolverine basically assume the roll of a wandering Samurai at the turn of the 20th century and "bone-clawing" things up as a pre-Weapon-X badass.

Aronofsky, though, seems to have modernized the tail a bit (ala Iron Man), to make up for Hugh Jackman's aging Wolverine.

I really wasn't a fan of Jackman's last solo-Wolverine flick (which he got producer's credits for), due to the lameness of the action and anachronistic placement of mutants just for the sake of a few extra box-office bucks. If you are going to do a solo-wolverine movie, you have to just let him go into feral badass mode and bring the "slice n' dice."

Obviously, the best X-Men movie, X-men 2: Wolverine Stabs the Fridge, had a couple of scenes that encompassed what any normal human would want and expect out of a "good" Wolverine movie.

Exhibit A:



Exhibit B:



Is more of that TOO much to ask? The new movie will probably confuse people since they are using the same actor but placing him outside the established movie-canon; that might not be a bad choice since the last 2 movies have pretty much destroyed the entire mythos. With the "X-men: First Class" looming as a "reboot/prequel" with Hugh Jackman also making a cameo as Wolverine, the whole franchise may be on its last legs (with Marvel Studios hopefully getting back the movie rights from Fox) unless both new movies deliver on some level. It's hard for me to trust a studio like Fox which has bungled things before.

Captain America Suit Revealed

Bummer that there are no Red Skull shots, but so far it looks far less cheesy than I thought a real-life adaptation could be. Also - it takes place during WW2.

Fuck yes.

Click the dude with the shield for more: