Trailer Tuesdays: Man of Steel (Again)

This trailer. This. Goddamn. Trailer. First of all, I am not a huge fan of 3D movies (I’m apathetic at best) but this trailer is absolutely gorgeous in 3D. The cinematography is pretty either way, but I would pay good money just to sit and watch this over and over.

Next of all, I am not a big Superman fan. It’s not that I hate him; it’s just that I’ve never seen any of the Superman movies or TV shows, and I’ve only ever read the very first New52 Superman comic because it was free on Comixology around Christmas.

But this looks like a Superman movie that I can get behind. It portrays Superman as a complex character, who is struggling with his identity and his alien-ness while simultaneously trying to be a good person and even a hero. Supes is not just a one-dimensional white-bread farmboy; he is a genuinely cool character.  It looks like we’ll finally get to see him being cool this summer.

My only concern is the director. Zack Snyder is really good at making visually stunning films with really terrible plots and rapey, gross, misogynistic content (I’m looking at you, 300, and especially Sucker Punch). Let’s hope that Christopher Nolan, who’s producing the film, provides a guiding hand, and the fact that this directed toward a far more mainstream audience than Snyder’s other films keeps us away from that sort of content.

There are rumors that this will be the flagship movie for a Justice League franchise if it’s successful; right now, I’m just hoping it’s as exciting as the trailer promises it will be.

Holy Movie Reviews Batman It’s The Dark Knight Rises

MadameAce: So this movie is okay. I like it. I certainly like it more than other movies for DC. But I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I thought I would. Maybe that’s because I built it up so much in my head before watching it that it couldn’t possibly live up to my expectations. Or maybe it’s because the conflict is the exact same conflict in the previous films, only with an even drearier tone. Or it might just be the fact that I couldn’t understand Bane’s character at all. Among other things, of course. And that’s Bane, not Bain, dear Rush.

Lady Geek Girl: I was actually fairly pleased, probably because I didn’t build the movie up in my head. So it actually went beyond my expectations. Here’s the thing, if you were expecting the movie to be just as good or better than The Dark Knight then you were probably disappointed. I was so worried about being disappointed that I ended up liking it instead. That’s not to say that this movie isn’t without flaws though, because there are probably more flaws in this movie than in Batman Begins or in The Dark Knight.

Trailer Tuesdays: Man of Steel

I want this to be a good movie. I want it so badly, but the past has taught me that Superman tends to do well in every other medium but the big screen. The last Superman movie flopped, and the ones before that—oh God, they were terrible. The first two were okay, I suppose, but by the fourth one, they got unbearable.

As Lady Geek Girl told me, a lot of people seem to forget that Superman is from another planet and doesn’t fit in with society all that well, and that they view him as really strong and really nice. And yeah, that does tend to be how he comes across, no more depth or personality given. From what I can tell in this trailer, Man of Steel makes it look like he’s going to have to do a lot of soul-searching and coming to terms with who he is before becoming Superman, which I’m all for. Christopher Nolan’s even working on this, so that’s a good sign right there.

I’m not sure why he seems to be a fisherman and not a farm boy. Like seriously, are they setting the film in Maine?

The Avengers

So I just got back from the midnight showing. And it was in 3D too! How awesome is that? Of course, anyone who has been following me will know immediately how I feel about this gimmick and the headache I’m currently experiencing from it. Unfortunately, the 2D showing had sold out by the time I realized tickets were available. Sigh…

So obviously this movie and I are not off to a good start; however, as of late I seem to have a habit of attracting things from the entertainment industry that I loathe in the beginning and love by the end. Just to be clear, what I liked about this movie after the first act was not the 3D. It did not grow on me, and I dare to say it probably never will. I only liked it in the scenes where it conveniently goes away.

So let’s talk about The Avengers! Oh, and, uh, possible spoiler warning.

The Avengers is directed by Joss Whedon, who had received some criticism before the release about whether or not he was capable of working with physically strong male characters well, since he specializes in physically and emotionally strong female characters; however, I would argue that emotional strength is more important than physical in terms of character development, and he has worked with a lot of male characters in the past: Giles, Mal, Angel, to name a few, the last of which being very physically strong. So right away, this was an argument that I brushed aside, and I’m damn glad I did.

He successfully created the means of getting Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America from their single movies into one action-packed film together. This is the movie Marvel’s been building up to for a while now and I personally think it paid off in a way that only Joss Whedon’s sense of humor can. For such a serious movie with so much violence, it had a lot of humor, and none of it seemed misplaced. Tony Stark was as snarky as ever, Steve Rogers didn’t get pop culture references, etc., etc.

So our story begins with Loki and some evil alien overlord plotting together. And from there chaos ensues on Earth. Nick Fury reacts by beginning to assemble everyone onto the Helicarrier, which I’m not going to lie, looked awesome but did little more than that. Well, not entirely true. Half of it got blown up after all.

Although I love Loki, as he is my all-time favorite comic character, I was a little worried that his being the main villain would make his and Thor’s stories outshine the others. The reunion between the two brothers and all their interactions were superb. Tom Hiddleston is an amazing actor. Everything he does with that role, from his cheeky little grins to his cool demeanor are the perfect embodiment of Loki’s character.

While in the comics, which have been going on since the ‘sixties, we don’t see much of their sibling relationship anymore due to the length of the series, with the exception of the newer comics that focused entirely on it until Thor’s probably temporary death. We see a lot more of it here. Despite all the bad things Loki is doing, we never forget that they’re brothers and that Thor misses him.

In a way, the two do overshadow the other actors, but not by much. They all had really great chemistry together. There were some things that I’m not too sure about, however. For instance, when did Tony Stark and Pepper Potts become a couple? I know they had building tension, but I can’t remember whether or not they actually got together in Iron Man 2—of course, this is my cue to go rewatch that movie because I obviously missed something. For another thing, the reveal of Natasha’s past as the Black Widow and how she fell in with Shield didn’t make much sense to me. It was very vague. The conversation she and Loki had about it probably would have made more sense had I followed her in the comics more, but as it is, it’s like two people talking about something they expected the audience to know as well.

My other big concern was that there was no explanation for why the Hulk stopped trying to murder the Avengers. The first time he appears, he tries to kill Natasha, falls from the sky while raging, then shows up at the final fight and is BFFs with everyone. Convenient?

As for Captain America, I know that Steve Rogers reactions to waking up in our time are probably being saved for his next movie, but I still expected more out of it. Yes, his inability to understand cultural references were hilarious and showed how out of place he is, but I didn’t feel as though it was enough.

I did have some other fears going into this movie.

Both the Iron Man movies were much more science based, if still implausible, than both the Captain America and Thor movies. I see the same problem with bringing him in together with them as I do when I think of the possibility of a Justice League movie and Christopher Nolan’s Batman; however, whereas something like Poison Ivy strikes me as damn near impossible in the newer Batman-verse, The Avengers and the want to make the movie have been going on for quite a while, so when watching the Iron Man movies, I wouldn’t say that I wouldn’t be willing to accept that he lives in a world with magic, just that it’s not something that easily comes to mind.

Needless to say, I think they did a great job. I’m a little sad that neither Hank Pym nor Janet van Dyne appear. Without Janet or any other female Avenger, Natasha becomes the standard one female member. Yeah, Maria Hill is in this movie, but she’s not an Avenger. And of course, Nick Fury is our token black guy, since Idris Elba apparently didn’t find a way to shoehorn himself into this film. It would have been a much better choice for him than Ghost Rider, at least.

I don’t want to talk about the movie too much more. This is definitely something I recommend. It’s just fun all the way around. Go check it out and get back to me on what you think. Agree, disagree, I’m all ears. I know I’ll be watching it a second time in the near future.

I Guess Whitewashing is Okay Again

There have been many issues around race and comic book movies over the years. Marvel I feel has been the most notable with casting black actors in typically white roles. Alicia in Fantastic Four was black instead of the usual blonde-haired, blue-eyed character she is in the comics. Nick Fury, now played by Samuel L. Jackson is black, and perhaps the most controversial, Idris Elba played the Norse god Heimdall in Thor.

Trailer Tuesdays: The Dark Knight Rises

Unfortunately, this is going to be the last installment in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Universe. It’s a bit of a shame, since his movies are just so good, and The Dark Knight Rises looks to be living up to its predecessors thus far. I’m a little worried that this movie will make me want another, but there won’t be another, as Christopher Nolan has said, as the trailer feels the need to remind us.

And though I’m excited for Bane, I think there was about no more than four collective seconds of Christian Bail in the Batman Suit. Impressive, considering the movie is about Batman and also considering that the trailer is over two minutes long.

On a happy note, this will not be in 3D. I don’t think I’ve mentioned before how much I hate 3D, simply because movie makers are using it as a cheap gimmick they obviously put no effort into in order to get an extra ten bucks out of movie goers. That, and because I already wear glasses and don’t want another pair over them, and because 3D gives me a headache.

Christopher Nolan actually fought with the studio to keep this movie in 2D. And he did that because the first two movies were in 2D. That’s not to say Mr. Nolan is against 3D, because from what I can figure from interviews, he likes the idea. He just doesn’t believe in quickly slapping it onto movies and not caring about what it looks like to make some extra money. That’s why we didn’t get Inception in 3D. He started the conversion process, realized he didn’t have enough time to make it look nice, and gave us the normal version.

It’s really kinda nice that he’s a director who cares so much about the final product. So here’s hoping The Dark Knight Rises will live up to the same standard as his other movies.