Category Archives: Movies
6 Villains I Want and 6 I Don’t Want in the New Spider-Man Movies
I would not have chosen the Lizard for The Amazing Spider-Man movie reboot. But then I didn’t have the unenviable task of picking a new super-villain to star in the reboot after most of the big names had been used in the three previous films. Who else were the writers supposed to pick? Well I’m glad you asked!
Spider-Man has the second best Rogue’s Gallery in all of comics (behind Batman). He’s got smart villains, bruiser villains, small-time crooks and big-time megalomaniacs! So with this new Spider-Man franchise being launched, who would I choose for the upcoming sequels?
It’s kind of obvious
OK, so I’d pick Venom. And probably even Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. What can I say, they’re some of the best, coolest and most cinematic of Spider-Man’s villains. And I wouldn’t bat an eye if the new franchise wanted to use them. But you and I both know that Spider-Man has many, many more foes to choose from. So being the comic book geek that I am, I’ve put together a list of the 6 villains I want to see in future movies, and 6 that I don’t. Not all of Spidey’s bad guys are made for the big screen.
Review: The Amazing Spider-Man
Bring on the new trilogy! The Amazing Spider-Man reboots the Spidey franchise with new depth, better action and, most importantly, real dramatic subtlety. This new film by director Mark Webb makes the old Sam Raimi trilogy look like a Saturday Morning Cartoon. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at those old movies the same way again. Especially since lead actors Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone (as Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy) make the old couple, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, look like community theater.
I had my reservations about a rebooted, darker Spider-Man film, but this new movie blew me away. The Amazing Spider-Man may be just a redo of the classic origin story, but it does it so much better than the previous film that it more than justifies the new direction.
Movie rating: 5/5: Great!
This is definitely a Spider-Man film. Despite most of the action taking place at night, giving the film a much darker look than its predecessors, The Amazing Spider-Man hits all the right notes to capture Spidey on the big screen. It’s got humor, it’s got costumed action, it’s got the overwhelming sense of responsibility and guilt, and it’s got a wonderful juxtaposition between Peter Parker living an ordinary life with his Aunt May vs. flying through the city in a blue and red costume.
But this is first and foremost Peter Parker’s movie. The focus is on how Peter grows as a man and becomes the hero we all love, and that may be my favorite part of the movie.
Peter doesn’t just become the heroic Spider-Man after Uncle Ben is killed. There are gradual stages that he goes through that change him from an angry, guilt-ridden teenager into the hero who saves New York. That’s the subtlety I mentioned above. Following that path and seeing the growth in Peter’s character made for a wonderful film. By the end, Spidey is a hero, the bad guy is defeated and we have ourselves a new franchise! I can’t wait for more!
Spoilers and more review after the jump!
Edgar Wright Films a Tiny Bit of Ant-Man
My excitement for Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man film is almost as giant as my excitement was for The Avengers. So I am following every little scrap of news that comes out about the film. Hopefully you are too. This week sees some of the biggest little news yet, as apparently Edgar Wright has filmed a test reel showcasing the look and feel of the movie, as well as testing the special effects of Ant-Man’s shrinking. Holy awesome, that’s good news!
If any of us had shrinking powers…
A test real isn’t actual movie footage. I guess it’s just some test scenes, and again, a prototype for how the special effects might look. I’m sure everybody wanted to see how far the special effects for shrinking somebody have come since Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. There’s no word how long the test reel is, or what scenes are in it, or even who is playing Ant-Man. And we’ll probably never know. This is the kind of thing that will stay in the hands of the Marvel movie people.
But hot damn, this is exciting news! We’re one small step closer to the Ant-Man film, and I’m ecstatic. Rumor also has it that Ant-Man will be the focus of the post-credits scene in Iron Man 3. I have zero confirmation on this rumor, but wouldn’t that be brilliant?
Or best of all…San Diego Comic-Con is right around the corner. Could you imagine the excitement of the crowd if Marvel suddenly decided to show off the Ant-Man test reel? California might crack off the side of the country from the sheer magnitude of the geekgasm.
An Odd Slew of Marvel Movie Rumors
A funny thing happened two months ago when The Avengers movie made a BILLION DOLLARS in a matter of weeks! And if there’s one thing that movie studios like, it’s money. So here we are, two months later, and rumors about new Marvel superhero movies are coming out of the woodwork! We already know about the sequels to Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, but did you know that Marvel have several hundred other superheroes to choose from?
I guess movie studios are starting to find that out, because some of these rumors are for some very odd choices indeed!
Though sadly, none of them are on my own list of The Next 6 Movies That Marvel Should Make.
1. Guardians of the Galaxy
Everybody has guns in space!
What is it: This appears to be the next big franchise from the same Marvel Studios that made The Avengers. According to Latino Review, Guardians of the Galaxy is being prepped for a May 16, 2014 release, and will actually become part of The Avengers story. This has even been confirmed by Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, both of whom state that a script has been written by someone named Nicole Perlman. Remember the big purple smiling guy who appeared in The Avengers mid-credits teaser? That was Thanos, one of the biggest, baddest villains in the Marvel Universe. And Thanos is a cosmic space villain, which the Earth-bound Avengers rarely deal with. Enter the Guardians of the Galaxy, who are basically the Avengers in Space. They’re an eccentric band of various do-gooders who spend their time trying to save the galaxy from super-villains.
There are actually two versions of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Back in the 1960s, they were a band of time-traveling heroes from the future who fought aliens…and it’s best you just ignore that. I’m pretty confident that Marvel is going to use the more recent Guardians of the Galaxy, considering they guest-starred in the comic Avengers Assemble, which was launched in connection with the movie. Back a few years ago, Marvel was publishing a lot of space comics, and they were really popular. From those various stories eventually emerged the new Guardians of the Galaxy, which like I said, was basically a ragtag team of space heroes who banded together to fight evil. You had their leader Starlord, Drax the Destroyer, the insectoid Bug, the galaxy’s most dangerous warrior Gamora, and then you had Rocket Raccoon and Groot, the talking tree.
Cooler than humanly possible, and they ain’t human!
Hells yeah!
Marvel Studios producer Kevin Feige has gone on record as saying that Guardians of the Galaxy is in pre-production, and Marvel recently started buying up a lot of copyrights for Guardians of the Galaxy. So this is a pretty solid bet.
What do I think: Guardians of the Galaxy is a very, very weird choice for a movie franchise. That’s not to say it can’t be done, I’m just in the camp that Marvel (and DC for that matter) should stick with characters that people know. Absolutely nobody outside of comic book fans who read Marvel’s space comics has any idea who the Guardians of the Galaxy are. Sure they can be described as ‘Avengers in Space’, but can that be portrayed on the big screen in an easily digestible format? Will people get it? Do they even want to get it? Personally, I have no desire to see the Avengers on some outer space mission, let alone teaming up with wild and wacky outer space superheroes. The recent popularity of superhero movies has stuck by the realism angle pretty well, and it has definitely paid off. Thor dealt with some pretty wild topics, such as gods and Asgard, but the movie was mostly focused on Thor hanging out in New Mexico. The moment you start throwing weird, alien concepts at people, they’re going to start losing focus and interest.
It’s not like the Guardians of the Galaxy have any famous characters to bank on. It’s a big, bloated concept, and I think Marvel is making a mistake by hitching this wagon to The Avengers franchise. If Marvel wants to use The Avengers to launch some new characters/concepts, there are a lot better, simpler choices. Like Ant-Man, which is also heading towards production. But maybe they want to be risk-takers.
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Big Hero 6
The freakiness of Japan in superhero form
What is it: Rumors just started coming out that Big Hero 6 is going to be the Disney/Marvel animated movie that’s in the works, directed by Don Hall and scheduled for 2014 as well. Rumors of such a collaboration started a few months ago, and only now do we know the property. Who are Big Hero 6, you ask? They’re an obscure team of Japanese superheroes that have only been around since 1998. Originally pitched as a spin-off of obscure X-Man Sunfire, the Big Hero 6 are basically a bunch of wacky, fun Japanese-flavored superheroes doing the team thing in the Land of the Rising Sun. You’ve got characters like Baymax the giant robot, Hiro the boy genius, Honey Lemon the babe and Fred the giant lizard man, not to mention samurais and other sword-wielding dudes. Basically nobody you’ve ever heard of, but wacky and Japanese.
What do I think: Read my list of the 6 movies I think Marvel should make next. Big Hero 6 is not on that list for a reason. Nobody has any idea who they are. Much like Guardians of the Galaxy, this team of superheroes is just too obscure. But then maybe that’s the point. Maybe the movie makers don’t want to play up the Marvel superheroes angle. Maybe this guy Don Hall just has an idea for an animated superhero movie, and the Big Hero 6 fit his mold. It’s not like anybody really cares about the Big Hero 6, so he can reshape them however he wants.
If Marvel and Disney really want to collaborate on an animated superhero movie, there are many better choices than Big Hero 6. But if they just want to make an animated superhero movie, there are worse places to find inspiration than the extensive character catalog offered by Marvel.
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The Human Fly
He has nothing to do with actual flies
What is it: Damned if I know. I had to Wikipedia this one. Apparently Marvel published a comic book from 1977 to 1979 based on the life of real-life stuntman Rick Rojatt, though I guess the film will be based on real-life stuntman Joe Ramacieri. The comic ran for 19 issues and was about who knows what. A stuntman being a superhero, I guess. Well apparently Hollywood types Alan Brewer and Steven Goldmann were fans, because they have picked up the rights for Eisenberg-Fisher Productions, which is part of Paramount. They’re going to make Human Fly into an indie film.
What do I think: Some how, some way, these people went and found the worst, most obscure Marvel character of all time, and are going to turn him into a movie. Wow. I don’t know whether to be impressed with their gumption of laugh out loud at the silly insanity. But I guess more power to’em…the weirdos.
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But we’re not done talking about upcoming Marvel superhero movies! Check back later for an update in the ongoing Edgar Wright/Ant-Man saga!
Frank Langella’s Pet Robot
I’m a huge fan of quirky movies, and the upcoming film Robot and Frank looks to be about the quirkiest I’ve seen in awhile. It’s basically about aging actor Frank Langella (who might as well be playing himself) getting a robot pet/sidekick. Watch this trailer, because it just jumps from plot to plot, each more awesome than the last. The film comes out in August, hopefully in a theater near me.
Henchman-4-Hire 