Category: Film

  • “Predators” Produced by Robert Rodriguez

    Usually I’m not a fan of remakes or reboots, but 20th Century Fox’s Predators (produced by Robert Rodriguez) is showing incredible promise. Instead of focusing on the predators themselves like in AVP, Rodriguez insisted on building strong characters to be the focal point of the film. He wanted a cast that would be comparable to the memorable characters of the original movie.

    Playing a combination of mercenaries and convicts are; Adrien Brody, Danny Trejo, Alice Braga, Topher Grace, and Walter Goggins — who are transported to another planet to be hunted by the predators. On the planet they meet a scavenger played by Laurence Fishburne, completing the main cast.

    This alone is a great step towards rejuvenating the Predator franchise. The problem with the AVP movies was that the cast weren’t built up; they weren’t likable; they just weren’t memorable. The audience only wanted to see the aliens and predators kill off the cast in a brutal fashion. There was no story with substance or a character arc to captivate the audience; to get them emotionally invested in the film.

    Howard Berger, who worked with Stan Winston on the original Predator states that they’re going back to the original designs for the new movie; they want to remain faithful to it. New alien designs have also been done to compliment Winston’s on the world where the group are dropped off on. There’s going to be a more focus on building suits rather than a reliance on CG, which I’m glad to hear.

    The film is due for release on July 9, 2010. 

  • Matthew Vaughn for X-Men: First Class

    According to Deadline, Matthew Vaughn and 20th Century Fox are negotiating a deal for Vaughn to direct X-Men: First Class, a prequel to the X-Men films. The former director, Bryan Singer is set to be one of the producers.

    It’ll be interesting how this turns out, since this film is essentially a reboot of the franchise. The prior films did help pave the way for movie adaptions of comic books, but they took a few liberties with the characters that left comic fans unhappy — most notably downplaying Cyclops’ leadership to bump up Wolverine in the films. This could be Fox’s opportunity to fix their mistakes, and get characterizations correct. It’d be a smart move since Marvel’s own movie adaptions are making a huge impact on the market.

  • Third Batman Movie

    Recently Warner Bros. set the official date for the third Batman movie to be July 20, 2012. It’s the only concrete detail on the movie while it’s under the presumption that Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan will be involved in the film.

    The Riddler is a fan favorite for the next villain, though I’m hoping for the Riddler to be an intellectual rival to Batman as a detective. The third movie can easily suffer the fate of most trilogies if it follows the same formula of “bigger is better” — having the Riddler as a rival on top of an actual villain would help keep the film grounded, and further display the detective aspect of Batman that was only touched upon in the prior movies.

    As for actual villains: I’d like to see Bane and Black Mask being used. If Bane’s characterization is the intelligent version like in the comics — coupled with Black Mask who hates Bruce Wayne and eventually controls much of the underworld of Gotham — they would make a formidable team against Batman while he’s in his rivalry and occasional help from the Riddler.

  • Thor

    Actor/director Kenneth Branagh is set to direct Marvel’s movie Thor, which should excite any fans of the superhero. Mr. Branagh is most notable for his adaptions of Shakespeare plays; something that fits perfectly with the Thor franchise.

    Playing the part of Thor will be Chris Hemsworth, who portrayed George Kirk in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek.

    The question on my mind now is if this will be the Ultimate’s version of Thor. I’d imagine that version would make a seamless transition onto film.