Today's News: lots o' trailers mostly

The latest crop of news of the past few days consists of mostly trailer material:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156970/nieuwe_trailer_serie_gotham

Seems somebody was inspired by Nolan's seminal Dark Knight trilogy. The whole look of this show, based on the trailers so far, screams Nolan in its display of realistic psychopaths and criminals and dark steel and glass canyons. No trace of the more outlandish, fantastic elements of Batman lore. Considering it's an origin show that can still come of course. You've got to show the everyday people behind these heroes and demons before going overboard with any otherwordly shenanigans they might offer. So for the time being, the villains to be set up will dabble in the more commonplace criminal enterprises instead of revealing their odd personality quirks out loud. I doubt we'll be seeing Poison Ivy controlling plant life with pheromones anytime soon, which is probably for the better. It seems that at the heart of the story remains young Bruce Wayne's loss of his parents and honest cop Inspector Gordon's subsequent quest to apprehend their killer, which forms a personal bond between the two of them based around their need for justice. That's as Batman as they come without introducing the alter ego of the Caped Crusader. It's also a basic element of the Batman make-up that the Dark Knight movies kinda raced through, which does make the show stand out more on its own. Question is, will Gordon catch the murderer, or will he fail at that, which makes the urgency for young Bruce feel all the more pressing? And how do all these token Batman villains, like Catwoman, Penguin and Riddler fit into the grand scheme of things? Despite the copycat style, still a lot to look forward to.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156979/eerste_trailer_outcast

Another medieval Sword & Sorcery flick starring Nicolas Cage as a wethered ex-crusader? Been there, done that, didn't work out so great before. It seems Outcast's plot just trades in the creepy witches and demons from Season of the Witch for angry Chinese overlords and royal family squabbles. And instead of Ron 'Hellboy' Perlman for a sidekick, we get Hayden 'whiny Anakin' Christensen. Also not much of an improvement. Cage's fondness of silly wigs remains, so at least there's some consistency to his career. The entire thing seems like a B-movie with a minute plot based around a string of action scenes, which is to be expected from a movie directed by a first-time director who usually deals with coordinating stunts only; though he has an impressive resumé in that department, no doubt there. Chances are that means the action scenes will be executed rather adequately, which seems like the least we should hope for in this film's case.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156980/eerste_teaser_woman_in_black_2_

The popular trend of giving succesful horror films a sequel of sorts that doesn't feature any of the characters from the previous installment continues, whether we like it or not. The Woman in Black was a very effective chiller, but its ending seemed fairly definitive, even though it was established that exorcising the vengeful spirit from the title didn't work. That's enough for any studio hungry to cash in on decent box office results (can't imagine they were stellar or anything), so the murderous ghost will soon be at it again. Hammer Studios has a history of fondly remembered horror movies and their many follow-ups, and in a way it's reassuring to know the recently revamped horror specialist studio isn't afraid to use its tactics of old. Do we want a second Woman in Black? Not particularly, but I'm all for period movies with Gothic looks. Hammer has always had a knack for those and the 21st Century seems no different for them in that regard. The premise isn't so bad either. Snotty kids evacuated from WW II London are relocated to a creepy countryside mansion, and instead of finding a delightful fantasy world in the cupboard they encounter a sinister spirit hellbent on enticing them to suicide there. Basically sounds like an evil Narnia, so what's not to like?

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156982/weaver_niet_in_expendabelles

This is quite a setback for the ExpendaBelles project. If you consider old grunts like Sly Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose primary decade of fame and fortune was the Eighties, as the prime action movie stars of their day, Sigourney Waver was their definite female counterpart, thanks to the first two Alien movies - groundbreaking pictures in that regard - and Ghostbusters. There's not that many well remembered powerful older action gals around that remain as active as she is. Terminator's Linda Hamilton maybe? What has she been up to since then? For any other similar femme fatales, you'd have to look for more recent fare. Weaver would have been the project's greatest asset in iterms of casting, so who could fill her shoes now? Sure, there's plenty of grand dames of the cinema who could, but not that many with a memorable action movie background that would warrant their presence. It just goes to show how rare such roles were for females back then. Which made this female equivalent of The Expendables a risky venture to begin with, as there was always a realistic chance those few girl power women of old would turn down a part. Considering The Expendables 3 is not doing so well at the boxoffice - to say the least! - maybe it's a clear signal there's no particular public demand for this type of film at present. However, it's the female bits (no pun intended) that would have made the difference here, and I was quite intrigued as to how that would play out. It would have been great to see theatres hosting a Ladies' Night that doesn't feature a typical romantic comedy for a change. Guess that's gonna take a while longer to transpire, if it doesn't fall through at all.

Today's News: women take over, men get left behind

Quite the girl power news all of a sudden:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156794/bridesmaids-regisseur_beoogd_voor_ghostbusters_

Since reuniting the original cast and crew seems ever more unlikely - since one half is dead and the other has lost heart accordingly - starting from scratch might very well be the best bet for the Ghostbusters franchise (other than just let it be, which is not how Hollywood works). The studio now seems intent on adding some flair by making the next generation of exterminators of ghostly apparitions an all-female team, as opposed to the old guard which was entirely male. Shrewd manoeuvring. It makes the new Ghostbusters appear different enough, while thematically and in terms of content, nothing much changes at all. I don't see the zany comedic approach of old traded in for a major new plot direction just because the protagonists have swapped genders. The more things change, the more they stay the same, would be the best way to describe this apparent state of affairs. However, I must call for some consistency by saying the studio had better go all the way now and also hire a female writer and director. But if they insist on Paul Feig for the director's chair, that would constitute a missed opportunity. Feig already seems to be Hollywood's go-to-guy for comedies involving mostly female characters aimed at a predominantly female demographic. Basically the girls are still told what to do by a guy. Why not stray away from this routine for Ghostbusters? Because so far it's making the studio money, obviously. So you bet Feig stays on, and he'll likely bring Melissa McCarthy (and probably Sandra Bullock too) with him, as she's Hollywood's go-to-funny-gal, basically the female equivalent of (a younger) Bill Murray. You might be inclined to believe the new Ghostbusters is heading into new territory by the sex reversal, but so far, it seems you are wrong in that assessment.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156803/sony_wil_vrouwelijke_spider-man_spin-off

On the other hand, the same studio (Sony) does seem hellbent on entering new territory for the Spider-Man franchise. However, it becomes increasingly clear they still don't have a long term strategy as how to handle the character's universe they are so eager to translate to the big screen. Initially, it seemed pretty straightforward with Amazing Spider-Man 2, 3 and 4 in the works and possible spin-off worthy characters introduced in those films along the way before acquiring their solo features. Now, however, the spin-offs seem to overtake the main character's story line. The Sinister Six and Venom movie - the latter of which was revealed to be titled as the woefully uninspired and spoilerific Venom Carnage this week - will now debut well before Spider-Man's third film. Which means half the team of villains as well as the titular symbiote will be introduced to new audiences in their own film, while Spider-Man seems relegated to a side role. Seems like a terribly illogical way to approach things, likely to confuse audiences. To top it all, Marvel's top boss Kevin Feige commented on the lack of superheroine centered flicks thus far and the intention to remedy that, after which Sony swiftly announced they're also planning to make just such a film, dealing with a character from the pages of Spider-Man's history. They wouldn't say her name. You know why? Because they don't know who they're gonna pick. It's become apparent Sony desperately wants to make the big bucks by following Marvel's Avengers example, but they have no clue as how to carefully construct such a universe as they are in such a hurry to catch up with Marvel proper. As a result, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 already turned out to be a mess, more concerned with introducing as many characters as possible than with delivering a balanced plot. Considering their current suggestions, Sony seems about to repeat that film's mistakes. I sympathize with the poor superpowered girl on who will be bestowed the honour of starring in the first superheroine film in this studio's current chaotic affairs, as well as the female target audience that needs to be enticed into liking superheroes via the movie of a studio that can't be bothered to get their spidershit together. Better make it a Spider-Woman movie at least, as most of the incarnations of that character don't share as many ties with the webslinger and could prove to stand on their own in greater capacity.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/156813/eerste_trailer_left_behind

And now for something completely different: the Rapture. Works on men and women both and does not discriminate in terms of race, religion and ideology either, or so Left Behind seems to suggest. Admittedly, the premise is intriguing: what would the effect, both emotional and existential, of the Rapture be on those who turned out not to be eligible to join their Creator? The result in Left Behind seems to be a fairly average break-down of society, after which the film feels the need to focus on the microcosmic tale of a father and a daughter coping with their loss and just trying to survive. Not the most original or effective way to deal with such a world shattering event. Casting Nicolas Cage as the protagonist also doesn't seem to be the safest bet considering the number of lousy movies he has made over the last few years, many of them also dealing with Heaven, Hell and the human condition (e.g. both Ghost Rider movies, Season of the Witch and Drive Angry). Cage of late seems to be the go-to-guy for religious B-fare. From the looks of this trailer, Left Behind seems to risk being the stuff to be added under said category in the not too distant future.

Kick-Ass

Rating: ****/*****, or 8/10

Deze superheld doet zijn naam eer aan

Aangezien de filmstudio's in het afgelopen decennium alle blikken bekende superhelden wel hebben opengetrokken, is het nu de beurt aan minder bekende comics om tot film bewerkt te worden. Immers, de interesse voor superhelden raast al een aantal jaren flink door en lijkt nog lang niet voorbij, dus is het niet merkwaardig dat het meer obscure werk nu ook de volle aandacht van Hollywood krijgt. En terecht, want hiertussen zitten ware juweeltjes die met de juiste mensen en een liefdevolle aanpak voortreffelijke films opleveren. Guillermo del Toro bewees dit ruim vijf jaar geleden al met Hellboy, en nu mag Matthew Vaughn hetzelfde laten zien met Kick-Ass. En daarin slaagt hij met vlag en wimpel.

Dankzij de uitstekende strip van Mark Millar en John Romita Jr. (geen onbekende namen in de stripwereld) waarop de film gebaseerd is heeft Vaughn de wind mee met een even simpel als briljant uitgangspunt: de liefhebber van superhelden die zijn idolen imiteert, ondanks een gebrek aan superkrachten. Dave Lizewski (een perfect gecaste Aaron Johnson, recentelijk nog gezien in Nowhere Boy) is een alledaagse scholier en typische stuntelige nerd; hij heeft geen succes bij de meisjes, uitsluitend andere nerds als vrienden en brengt zijn tijd het liefst door met het lezen van superheldenstrips. Als hij voor de zoveelste keer beroofd wordt door hangjongeren neemt hij het besluit om een superheld te worden: gekleed in een surfpak en gewapend met twee knuppels en een overdosis naïveteit volgt hij zijn voorbeelden en gaat hij 's nachts op pad om mensen te helpen en de misdaad te bestrijden onder de naam Kick-Ass. Uiteraard zijn hier de nodige risico's aan verbonden, zoals hij al snel letterlijk aan den lijve ondervindt. Maar zodra zijn eerste acties op Youtube te zien zijn wordt hij een gevierde held, waarop al snel enkele andere vigilantes opduiken en zijn voorbeeld volgen, ieder met zijn eigen, soms minder loffelijke, redenen.

De film is een feest van herkenbaarheid. Immers, wie heeft er niet eens van gedroomd om in de nachtelijke uren de straat op te gaan in een overdadig kleurrijk kostuum en het onrecht te bestrijden? Vaughn toont ons een normale jongen, met wie iedereen zich moeiteloos kan identificeren, die deze droom volgt en er al snel achter komt waarom zo weinig mensen de daad bij het woord voegen. Ook de reden dat niemand superheld als beroep kiest wordt pijnlijk herkenbaar gemaakt als Dave de ene na de andere keiharde klap te verduren krijgt in zijn strijd met het tuig, waarbij het bloed rijkelijk vloeit, net zoals in de comic. Want Vaughn heeft het wijselijk gelaten om te rommelen met de stijl van de strip, maar vertaalt deze juist liefdevol en glansrijk naar het witte doek. De humor gaat zo niet verloren, evenals het geweld en de hoeveelheid grove taal die gebezigd wordt, die het Vaughn zo moeilijk maakten de financiering van de film rond te krijgen.

Het meest specifieke object van onvrede waar potentiële producenten zich mee geconfronteerd zagen luistert naar de naam Hit Girl. Gespeeld door de engelachtige Chloe Moretz (amper 12 jaar oud ten tijde van het filmen) mag zij, getooid in een koket paars pakje met schattig rokje en voorzien van het meest uiteenlopende wapentuig, hele legers boeven afrossen en genadeloos over de kling jagen, onder het uiten van een keur aan scheldwoorden waar Amerikanen hun kinderen zich normaal liever niet van horen bedienen. Tezamen met haar vader (Nicolas Cage, die hier laat zien dat hij toch echt wel kan acteren als hij er zin in heeft), die de schuilnaam Big Daddy gebruikt en zich kleedt in een zwart pak dat een vette knipoog naar onze favoriete vleermuisman levert, vormt het tweetal een team dat op een veel efficiëntere (en brutere) wijze dan hun voorbeeld Kick-Ass de misdaad te lijf gaat.

En waar Kick-Ass zelf al een zeer geslaagd personage is, vormen zijn nieuwe collegae de overtreffende trap: Hit Girl en Big Daddy stelen de show, zonder tot karikaturen te vervallen. De maffia verwoestte hun normale gezinsleven wat de dood van Hit Girls moeder veroorzaakte, waarop het duo zichzelf tot moordmachines heeft getraind om wraak te nemen op maffiabaas Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong, die evenals in het recente Sherlock Holmes alweer een uitstekende schurk neerzet). Tegelijkertijd moet D'Amico zelf zijn zoon Chris (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Superbad) in bedwang houden, die om zichzelf te bewijzen tegenover zijn vader als Red Mist de vierde gekostumeerde boevenvanger vormt, maar zijn eigen agenda hanteert. De relaties tussen beide vaders en hun kroost geven Kick-Ass de nodige diepgang en succesvolle karakterontwikkeling mee zonder overdadig moralistisch te worden, en met deze geslaagde opzet geeft de film aan het hart op de juiste plaats te hebben en meer te zijn dan de zoveelste standaard actiefilm vol superhelden. Bovendien gaat het niet ten koste van het hoge tempo aan humor: de geslaagde grappen vliegen de toeschouwer nog vaker om de oren dan de kogels.

Kick-Ass is een aanstekelijk onderhoudende toevoeging aan de lange rij superheldenfilms en een prima voorbeeld van het in ere houden van het bronmateriaal zonder het de kijker die hier onbekend mee is ontoegankelijk maken. De film geeft ons een meer geloofwaardige en realistische kijk op de superheld, maar minder duister dan The Dark Knight en niet zo bombastisch als Watchmen: tegelijkertijd vormt het een komischer geheel dan Fantastic Four en heeft het meer vaart dan Spider-Man. Vaughn laat zien een begaafd regisseur te zijn die bijzonder goed uit de voeten kan met het juiste bronmateriaal, ondanks zijn nog beperkte ervaring (hiervoor regisseerde hij slechts twee films, Layer Cake en Stardust), maar hard op weg naar de top. Kick-Ass 2 is al aangekondigd, en zonder twijfel levert Vaughn daarmee opnieuw puik werk af. Tot die tijd is het superheldengenre nog niet uitgeraasd: volgende maand volgt het langverwachte Iron Man 2, maar de kans is groot dat deze film toch echt meer 'kick ass' zal blijken...