Today's News: Star Wars and superheroes galore

Good start of the week, though maybe lacking in diversity.

Nieuwe foto's Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I still hate to admit it, but I'm getting more and more optimistic about this new Star Wars film. Though I'll never forgive J.J. Abrams for what he did to Star Trek, it does seem increasingly more evident that his mentality in just right for the competition. Or maybe he just knows how to utilize the classic trilogy's well remembered and much beloved aesthetics to get the fans hoping he's doing the right thing. After all, in terms of plot and characters we still know next to nothing. It just looks grand. But since Star Wars was always better known for its fabulous looks rather than its complex storytelling, all things considered he seems to be doing more right than wrong thus far. And thanks to these wonderful pictures, we know just a little bit more than we did before their release. Adam Driver is playing a baddie on the Imperial side. I doubt anyone would have thought differently, but at least that's now confirmed. It's safe to say less fans would have guessed Lupita Nyong'o is playing a digitally enhanced space pirate, though these pics dont tell us what she looks like just yet. The expected visual effects work aside, the best thing about this photoshoot is how clearly it shows J.J. is also using a lot of practical effects, another thing most will fondly remember from the Old Trilogy and lament the lack of in Lucas' own Prequel Trilogy. The bizarre menagerie of exotic aliens and droids, as well as the elaborate sets for strange new worlds, look nothing if not spectacular. But whether it will all be put to good use...? We won't know until December 18.

Freeman gecast in Captain America 3

I didn't see that coming. Such a British actor in such an American blockbuster, but basically it's a terrific presence in a kick-ass series of films, so it's by no means a bad match. But who will Bilbo Freeman play? I honestly haven't a clue. What I've read from the plot suggests this particular version of Civil War isn't limited to US soil, but is played out on the global level. So Freeman could be portraying some representative from another nation, likely the United Kingdom. But that's just rampant speculation on my part. Though I have a tough time seeing him play a superhero character (which isn't something I would actually have issue with), he may surprise us all again and prove to be doing just that. Captain Britain perhaps? Considering how few different nationalities are found among the current line-up of Marvel Cinematic superheroes, it wouldn't hurt the story to introduce a few that are not from the USA. Even though that might make for an overly crowded film. But hey, so far the only non-Americans on the Avengers rostar are the Russian Black Widow, the Asgardian Thor and (spoilers!) now Scarlet Witch from that fictional Eastern European country. Sure, Civil War introduces the Wakandan Black Panther, but that's still not many characters to make for a worldwide event. Of course, it's the actions of the superheroes on foreign soil that makes things global and politically delicate and therein likely lies the rub which will soon involve Martin Freeman's character.

Beoogde regisseurs voor Spider-Man bekend

Can't say any of these names sound particularly appealing to me for directing Spider-Man. I get that they all directed films involving teenagers and comedy which is an important market and demographic for Hollywood, but to just give them the lead of a very expensive superhero flick? Let's hand the reigns of Spider-Man to the guy who made Pitch Perfect? That doesn't sound like the smartest line of thinking to me. Marc Webb directed a film similar to those on the resumé of these guys, (500) Days of Summer, prior to helming both Amazing Spider-Man films. Look at how well that turned out... rebooting the character (again!) less than five years later. Not that I blame Webb for the lackluster quality of both films, which is mostly to blame on aggressive involvement from a studio without a sense of direction for the future. But this time I would go for someone more snazzy, more experienced with this sort of subject matter, even though teens and comedy are definitely parts of the mix. How about Edgar Wright? He's done teenagers and superheroes before, and he's apparently not doing anything since he left Ant-Man. Sounds like a prime choice!

Nieuwe poster Ant-Man

Speaking of Ant-Man, here's his new poster. Looks good, but the formula for these posters is now a given. Hero(es) on the foreground, faces of supporting cast and a bit of setting in the background. And there you have it. And in this case, it doesn't look as visually striking or intriguing as with, say, Guardians of the Galaxy or Thor: The Dark World. It will do the job, sure, but this poster lacks the inspiration of the teaser poster, which was basically all white with a tiny Ant-Man in the middle. That was daring and fun. This is a routine job. Let's hope the movie is not.

Today's not-so-mini-review: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: ****/*****, or 8/10

The middle part of a trilogy is always said to be the hardest part to finish successfully to everybody's approval and acclaim, since it it cursed with the absence of both beginning and end, while it must feel like a coherent piece on its own. In the case of Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, this adage is once again proven fact. Whereas The Two Towers established itself as a perfect bridge between both other Lord of the Rings movies while remaining equally convincing and enjoyable on its own merits, the same cannot wholly be said of The Desolation of Smaug. Though a thrill ride of a movie, in many ways it feels simply too much like a set-up for a conclusion, ending in a frustratingly grave cliffhanger which leaves every story line unresolved. At the same time, its tone and style are much darker and more serious than its predecessor's, the wonderfully lighter themed An Unexpected Journey. And I'm positive the Tolkien fanatics amongst the audience have a thing or two to comment about the loose manner in which Jackson and his co-writers have adapted both the Hobbit novel proper and material from Tolkiens' various other works for their own narrative advantage, since, especially in the second half of this film, many creative licenses have been permitted, some of them dubious to say the least. The first half of The Desolation of Smaug however follows the novel more closely, admittingly racing through the original source material with more speed than feels appropriate or desirable.

Picking up where the previous movie left us, we find 'the Hobbit' Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and Thorin Oakenshield's (a brooding, increasingly torn Richard Armitage) company of Dwarves still on the run from Azog the Defiler's murderous band of Orcs-on-Wargs. Fortunately, shelter is found at the house of Beorn, an enigmatic, hairy giant of a man, who is said to be a skinchanger specializing in bears. Little is done with both this notion and this persona as he insists the band moves on swiftly, allowing the intriguing character only a mere few minutes of screen time (undoubtedly more to follow in the third installment). Soon after the sickly forest of Mirkwood is crossed, giant spiders (creepy ones too!) are combatted and angry Elves are confronted, the latter scene re-introducing another LotR character not present in the novel but added for the sake of convenience and pleasing the (female) audience, in this case Orlando Bloom's Legolas. Still an angry Elf skilled with a bow and looking gorgeous, Bloom's look and traits remain the same as his lack of notable acting skills when first we met his character. Nevertheless, his personality is fleshed out in regards to his forest home (another impressive design feat) and his fellow Elves, including his stern father Thranduil (Lee Pace overacting a bit) and his socially adventurous female captain-of-guard Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), a character as completely made up for this film as her soon developing romantic interspecies relation with Kili (Aidan Turner), echoing the Arwen/Aragorn affair of the former trilogy, no doubt convincing certain demographics to stay tuned to see where this is going exactly. Not very hospitable, Bilbo is forced to save his friends from the Elves' jail, unleashing a memorable escape scene via barrel and river, with foes on all sides as the Orcs return to plague both Elf and Dwarf, effectively giving Bombur a chance to prove you shouldn't mock comic relief centered around fat people, which also provides us with one of the few grand moments of comedy (Jackson style) this film features, as it is a grittier movie as a whole. Said chase leads to the company meeting Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) of Laketown, a reluctant smuggler and rebel against his city's corrupt regime under the command of the ragged Master (Stephen Fry!). Now also getting mixed up in the politics of Men – and already intertwined in the affairs of several clans of Elves, Orcs, Goblins, Eagles, skinchangers, Wizards and other Dwarves, for those keeping track – matters are complicated even further for Thorin and his companions, making the story both more substantial and increasingly convoluted. Basically it comes down to this: everyone wants dragon gold, but all fear dragon fire. Someone has to start the ball rolling, and of course that sorry job falls to the titular Hobbit. 

 

And where is Gandalf (the great Sir Ian McKellen), you may wonder? He leaves Bilbo and the Dwarves at the start of the movie, setting on his own adventure in search of the identity of the rumoured Necromancer. As was the case with The Two Towers, The Desolation of Smaug incorporates multiple story lines that won't come full circle until the final film. Gandalf and Radagast travel to the ruined fortress of Dol Guldur in search of much needed answers, a quest which feels like getting in the way of the main plot more than is comfortable, but which still follows the novel, except this time also showing Gandalf's voyage, which was only briefly mentioned in the literate version of the story. Gandalf's journey proves a narrative element which will greatly enhance the feeling of cohesion between both Tolkien trilogies, but forms an uncomfortable plot obstacle in this movie, only enlarging the bleakness of the overall film and adding more characters and plot to the piece, which was already bursting in that regard.

Simply said, a lot is going on in The Desolation of Smaug, as many characters and their various motivations are introduced into the story, while those of others from An Unexpected Journey are pushed to the back a little (no White Council politics in this one, but undoubtedly more to follow in the third installment). Naturally, not everything is given equal opportunity to shine and we would liked to have seen more of many elements, getting to know these characters a little better, which we will next year. Until that time we have to make do with the set-up for said scenes to follow, while an extended cut of this second part is indubitably also to be expected (and definitely called for!), considering we are treated to the bare necessities of all these characters without delving too deeply in their motivations and aspirations, often making us wonder whether additional material was cut to keep up with the fast pace of this film, which still runs a whopping 161 minutes. However, desolation is far from our mind when we finally encounter the big lizard himself, the dragon mentioned on countless occasions so far, even in Jackson's previous trilogy. It cannot be denied Smaug is an astonishing creation, an erudite, intelligent and charming, but naturally ruthless and temperamental dragon of fabulous size and strength, everything we expected him to be if not more so. Credit has to be given to both Benedict Cumberbatch's vocal and mo-cap performance and the Weta design team reponsible for bringing the mighty beast to life so utterly compellingly, resulting in one of the most fantastic and impressive computer generated characters in the history of film. A good thing too, since the reliance on computers over more traditional FX methods is overtly evident in this film's case, giving many scenes a bit too much of a green-screen vibe. Like his golden hoard similarly is the focal point of the entire story, the dragon is the big pay-off for the audience, and Jackson and co. triumph in this department, also succeeding in forging a cliffhanger that is sure to vex spectators to such extent they will return next year in even more record-breaking numbers. In the dragon's case, this may give cause to disappointment though, as those who have read the book will soon come to realize as they remember Smaug's ultimate fate. Fortunately that portion of the audience still has the conclusion of the Kili/Tauriel relationship to look forward to and guess over all year long. Yes, that is a bit of sarcasm there.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a flawed middle part of what may still end up to be another masterpiece trilogy. While there's many a plot element that leaves much to be desired, in terms of good fun, spectacular vistas, grandiose action scenes and fabulous dragons it still proves a great blockbuster movie which leaves us craving more. Unfortunately not holding up on its own so solidly as An Unexpected Journey, it may prove to be a fine piece of work when the trilogy is completed as a whole and everything that is set up in this film is resolved to our satisfaction in the upcoming There and Back Again. One cannot help but keep wondering whether splitting up The Hobbit in three pieces as opposed to two was a good idea. Forging the last two films into one may have resulted in a more agreeable second movie, albeit a very, very long one.

Today's Mini-Review: The World's End

The World's End: ****/*****, or 8/10

The triumvirate of Wright, Pegg and Frost deliver their final aria (for now) with this conclusion of their 'Three Flavours Cornetto' trilogy, a threesome of films connected only by their own presence in front and behind the camera, the cameo appearance of the famous ice cream brand and the great fun and delightful British humor throughout. Whereas the previous installments (Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Hot Fuzz (2007)) addressed the horror and cop drama genres respectively, The World's End tackles science fiction, the creepy secretive alien invasion sort to be precise (think Invasion of the Body Snatchers, It Came from Outer Space and Day of the Triffids). Thankfully, it does so to the same hilarious effect their predecessors did. While he played a police sergeant in Hot Fuzz, a token of societal responsibility and virtue, Simon Pegg this time gets to play a character the complete opposite named Gary King, devoid of responsibility and virtue, who prefers to focus his life on drinking, doing drugs and other assorted hedonistic endeavors. Once the centre of a close group of childhood friends that largely revolved around him, he never left childhood, while his friends (Nick Frost, Martin 'Bilbo' Freeman, Paddy Considine and Eddie Marsan) grew up and embarked on an ordinary, mundane lifestyle with all the perks (family life, decent jobs) and downsides (boredom) that came with the territory. When Gary reemerges in their life after an absence of a decade, they soon find themselves drawn to revisiting their high school town, against all of their better judgment, in a second attempt to complete the epic pub crawl once left unfinished, all the way from the First Post to the World's End. Twelve pubs, sixty pints total (at the least!), five former comrades who have grown apart mostly because of Gary's never ending irresponsibility, one long night in store for all of them... Especially when they discover – in an epic, instant classic gents' bathroom brawl – their old town has become the center of an alien invasion that has slowly but surely replaced the village denizens with robots. Can these “five musketeers” halt this impending Apocalypse, armed only with beer, mutual dislike and an old car with the silly moniker 'the Beast'?

More importantly, can Wright and co. deliver another comedy that is on an equal level with their duo of previous 'blood and ice cream' movies? The answer is an undeniable 'yes, they can'! The World's End is at least as witty, fast paced, catchy and thoroughly funny a film as its forebears, but also appropriately borders on melancholy as its creators make us realize they've grown up as actors/directors themselves, and this film in many ways is an end to their cinematically cohesive world they have caused us to come to love. Though there's bound to be more joined projects on their part somewhere in the future, in terms of subversive, all-English comedy poking fun at specific film genres, this is a definite conclusion and it feels as such throughout. It doesn't stop them, or us, from enjoying themselves as they continue to do what they did best so far once more, as The World's End is loaded with extremely snappy gags, great one-liners and excellent comedic timing from all involved. Wright again concretely illustrates the fact he has a cinematic style all his own, which is marked by fast dialogue, dynamic editing and visual and thematic parallelism, which underscores The World's End status as a part of a trilogy tonally if not narratively. And despite all the hilarity, there's room for a moral message that never gets overly preachy or in-your-face: you can walk a path between growing up and staying young without losing your identity to society's norms, if you stay loyal to your friends and family. But if you opt for downright immaturity, you might just find the world exploding in your face. In the case of The World's End, the latter is all the more enjoyable as the Cornetto trilogy comes to its grand close.

Today's News: Elves, Elves everywhere but not a dragon to see

I'm way behind on posting my latest MS news due to lack of time - yes, really! - but fortunately the last two items both revolved around the same film so I merged them into this one blog update. Call it laziness or call it intelligence and a desire not to feel repetitive. I much prefer the latter.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/151404/nieuwe_posters_the_hobbit_the_desolation_of_smaug

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/151464/nieuwe_poster_en_trailer_voor_the_hobbit_the_desolation_of_smaug

Neat new sneak peek (extended trailer really, but that sounds less appealing) and solid new batch of posters. Only seven new character posters this time instead of the 16 released for An Unexpected Journey. Makes sense, considering most of the Dwarves featured in Bilbo's fellowship aren't of enough import to warrant additional posters of their own, while the new characters, mostly Elves (and the girlbait/boybait actors portraying them, Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lily (*swoon*: it works! And she bugs the Tolkien purists too, what more could you want?), are in need of audience attention. The timing for the increase of material in The Hobbit's marketing campaign is nothing short of impeccable, considering the release of the big budget (and naturally overhyped, but no doubt still thoroughly enjoyable) fall blockbusters Thor: The Dark World (seen it, liked it well enough) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. All those vast legions of cinema-goers will be treated to just the right amount of footage to get them warmed up for another epic fantasy fest during the upcoming Holidays. And it comes as no surprise that we still see little of that overgrown hotheaded lizard that is so eminently part of the title, but only briefly glimpsed and overheard in this new trailer. If we want to see what it looks like, we need to buy ourselves a movie ticket. That's how marketing works, and the people providing such for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug understand this all too well.

Today's News: Hobbit part 2 promotion picking up some speed at last

A MovieScene quickie:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/150483/nieuwe_banner_the_hobbit_desolation_of_smaug

Good though teasery piece of artwork. It shows next to nothing of what we new material can expect and in fact much more we already knew we could expect. There's one Hobbit and at least four Dwarves (one of them less hairy and more hunky than the others) that made if as far as Part 2 for example. And there's a dark forest filled with gargantuan spiders that threaten their health. Anything else from this one? Nope. Except the anticipation of more excitement and superior fantasy epicness this movie promised before and continues to guarantee us now. Of course, a new trailer also helps in that last bit of stirring our 'want-to-see' feelings:

 

It works. I want to see this now.