Today's News: trailers and voice actors revealed

The latest batch of news reports I penned for MS over the past few days is here:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156748/nieuwe_trailer_the_maze_runner

Another young adult hit novel gets the silver screen treatment with The Maze Runner. I admit the premise is intriguing, though more than a little similar to that of The Hunger Games. Visually there's a lot of opportunity here, though I'm not so sure about story and characters. There's your typical bunch of angsty teenagers thrown into a dangerous situation together, and none of the young actors portraying them stand out. Not even that kid whom I was so glad to see viciously killed off in the most recent episode of Game of Thrones. There's no Jennifer Lawrence to be found here, nor as it would appear  a grand cast of older supporting character actors. So what remains is the hope of a thrilling tale of mystery, suspense and teen violence (likely an average one at that) paired with the usual obnoxious hype surrounding this latest of so many horror/dystopian flick aimed at an audience at young adults. Remember, for every one of those that spawns into a successful franchise, three of them do not. And financial success of the lucky ones notwithstanding, those of singular impressive quality number in even lesser quantities.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156777/eerste_trailer_disneys_into_the_woods

Another trailer for a movie that hopes to captivate audiences without offering anything substantially new, is this one for Disney's live-action fantasy musical Into the Woods. Based on the Sondheim play, which I had never heard of, as is usual for Sondheim plays until someone bothers to make a motion picture adaptation out of them, it seems to be a mash-up of various fairy tales paired with a rather everyday message of parental responsibility, love and cooperation. The look seems identical to most other Hollywood family fantasy flicks of today, taking a note from Tim Burton but sugar coating it quite a bit. There's a definite Snow White and the Huntsmen/Oz the Great and Powerful/Maleficent look to the piece, which isn't a good thing per se. Good cast though; Meryl Streep as a wicked witch and Johnny Depp as a giant, what's not to like? Maybe their singing. Then again, Depp has proven to possess some vocal talents in Sweeney Todd, and Streep for Mamma Mia, so in their cases I worry naught. However, the trailer fails to get me geared up towards seeing this film. Kinda seems like a been-there-done-that type of film. Or maybe it's just the ominous sense of Holiday season dread it instills upon me. That period of the year is no fun if you happen to work in a movie theater and that mood kinda fouls the experience for me, even months prior.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156790/bill_murray_doet_stem_baloo_in_jungle_book

Another feeling of repetition forces itself onto me in the case of this new incarnation of Jungle Book Disney is currently producing. You'd think the truly classic Disney classics withstand the test of time so much Disney could just re-release them in every conceivable medium ad nauseam, instead of creating a very expensive reboot. Maybe the taste of those films has gone sour due to all their unnecessary and unpopular sequels the studio felt like releasing for the home video market. Whether there is a need for it or not, at least Disney seems to get the voice cast just right, featuring some very notable and strong actors in roles that seem right up their alley. Bill Murray as Baloo the Bear seems an open door in that regard. Murray has made a habit of playing characters reminiscent of the bear due to their carefree way of life and irresponsible sense of handling things. Nevertheless, no matter the great ensemble of actors brought together, I'm more intrigued by the other Jungle Book movie currently in production, the one studio Warner is making with Andy Serkis as its director. Could be a lot different since it needs to carefully distinguish itself from the Disney versions. And the question remains whether Serkis is as skilled as a director as he is an actor. You can't mo-cap directing after all.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156789/marvel_onthult_thanos

To round things up, there's a little bit of Marvel news. After all, these days no news update of mine comes without it, so why should this one be any different? Marvel has seen fit to reveal what Thanos looks like for those who couldn't bother to wait to see him for themselves in Guardians of the Galaxy. I could have of course, but my job is to spread the word on tidbits like these, so I did just that and ruined the surprise for myself. What does he look like? Well, Thanos looks like... Thanos. There's hardly any change to his appearance in the comic books. He bears little resemblance to Josh Brolin, who has voiced him in this film and will in the ones to come. Whether Brolin also did some motion capture performance for the character, like Mark Ruffalo did for the Hulk, I don't know, though I doubt he did, considering how brief Thanos' role in this movie supposedly is. Right now, I'm more curious what the actor made him sound like. But for that, I really advice people to go and watch the movie instead of spoiling themselves online.