Sunday, November 17, 2013

Trailers in Short: Superheroic Edition - Doctor Who, Captain America, Justice League, X-Men, Robocop, and...Maleficent? And something curious.

Time for some more trailers, and some more goodies. And let's look at what the heroes are up to.

Let's jump into the old TV time machine, and witness the birth of Doctor Who. See Captain America, the Justice League, and the X-Men strut there stuff. Get ready for Robocop to reboot, let's hope his OS isn't buggy.

But maybe we have room for some baddies as well. Could it be? Has Maleficent risen? And what really happen to Walter White?




Doctor Who - An Adventure in Time and Space



This docudrama will take us back to 1963, and the inception of an interesting new show idea. A science fiction/historical drama meant to draw in the kids. Doctor Who. We get to meet William Hartnell, the original Doctor (actor), Verity Lambert, the young and brilliant producer that helped get the show off the ground and made it shine, and other cast and behind the scenes figures.

It will take us back in time to an early day in Doctor Who history, and TV history. Let's see how it all began...with, no doubt, dramatic twists.

The cast, at a minimum so far, look so good in the images, it makes me wish that they'd make some more short adventures with the actors from the show. Expand the 1st Doctor's adventures...But I know for many that is blasphemy. (Maybe Big Finish will get some ideas to use them.)


And here's clip from next weeks 50th Anniversary Special, to wet the appetite some more.



"I remember this."



Captain America 2: Winter Soldier



The next Captain America movie is here. And I am excited about it. I am an old old Captain America fan. The first has been my favorite of the Marvel movies (And I admit my bias.). But now we get into the modern age adventures of our Star Spangled Hero...Except when he's dressed in black.

The fact we will be addressing Winter Soldier will prove to make it nicely resonate with Captain America/Steve Roger's history. Plus, we get the Falcon, Sam Wilson. And, Sharon Carter.

The gang is getting together. ...I just hope the movie won't feel overcrowded.

From the look of the trailer it seems to borrow a good deal from the Ed Brubaker take. And that will make for some promising movie making, if they do go that way. It means having the screenplay challenge the status quo, question power, and being willing to see uncomfortable answers.

The dark side of espionage. Dark secrets of the spy masters. What is SHIELD up to? Who can you trust? Who is on your side? What is worth sacrificing for the greater good? And, what is the greater good?

And when you are dealing with Captain America in this world, he is working his way along a murky path. But he stands for something, and won't compromise it just because someone gives him an order. (That's when you are doing Steve Roger right.)

From the look of the trailer, it seems that Steve is trying to hold the line on his ideals, while being drawn into that dark world (...Not Thor's.). I am just trusting that they won't take any easy or pat answers, while giving us some good comic book fun.

Also, between the end of the first Captain America movie and The Avengers, we have yet to get into Steve Rogers adjusting to a new century. I hope between fights and threats, we will get some of that. Maybe beside Barnes, Wilson, Carter, and Romanoff, we will see him getting a life. (It's one reason I regret having this version of Nick Fury. I like Steve having someone who understands his issues with the modern world. But, depending on what they do with Barnes, he may fill that role quite nicely.)

And I do like that they have worked in the Captain Steve Rogers costume. It will be interesting to see how it fits into the story.



Justice League: War



Justice League: War...This story follows on the events of the last Direct-to-DVD, Flashpoint Paradox. In that, the Flash causes history to get a bit of a nudge.

It was based on the Flashpoint story in the comics. I didn't care for that story, or the video movie. The characters were mostly not enjoyable, living in a darker and nastier timeline. And if you wanted to see heroes killing each other, you'd get your fill. Then Flash "fixed" things.

In the comic, it radically altered things. Flash's family was blotted out. Superman's family was blotted out...That happen to a lot of heroes. And every one was younger, pissier, and more prone to punch each other. Thankfully the movie ended with Flash coming home and having his wife still there. So, it did deviate from the comic books some, while keeping many of it's flaws. So this new movie could have some hope.

But Justice League:War? They are using many of the new redesigns out of the comics (And some altogether new ones, like with Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman's look threw me at first, it seemed off. But I actually think it works in this trailer.). And they are using the basics, at least, of the first story for the new Justice League comic.

Earth is invaded by Darkseid, and heroes unite to fight his army off. But, first, they have to start fighting with each other.

...I didn't care much for the comic story. It didn't win me over as a reader. But I may yet hear that the story in the movie is actually a fun retelling. But honestly, the Secret Origins story from the 00's show was more enjoyable and engaging original tale of the Justice League forming. I am just leery.



X-Men: Days of Future Past



After all this time, can we take the X-Men movie menagerie and pull it together into one coherent chimera?

Past and Future are drawn together, to do a variation of sorts on the comic story, Days of Future Past. (I remember a storyline that was similar, done in the 90's X-Men show. Xavier is killed in his youth, screwing up the timeline. The future X-Men have to come back in time to save him.) And like that story, the threat of the Sentinels and Trask emerge.

Of course we have Wolverine at the center of the story. It wouldn't be an X-Men movie without that, right? (Okay, X-Men: First Class, only had a cameo from him.) But the team from the past looks to play a big role. It will be interesting to see how they changed over the decade since Fist Class.

The trailer makes it look like it could be quite fun. The 70's setting may prove as exciting as the 60's setting for X-Men: First Class. And you get some Peter Dinklage to boot. But never forget the share of Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen we'll have to.



Robocop



When I first heard about this, a reboot of the gritty 80's Robocop, I balked. When I saw the first images of the Robocop costume, I felt validated in my suspicions.

Then this trailer was released. I don't know now. The socio-political commentary looks really promising. The issues we have with corporate power, how we use technology like drones, how corporations try to manipulate public opinion, and how we do fear what technology will end up doing to us, it makes for interesting storytelling potential. What will people tolerate from powerful business interests? How far are corporations willing to go? Where could it all lead?

And if it wasn't called Robocop, I think people would be giving this movie more of a chance.

Maybe this will be a train wreck of a film. The social commentary could fall flat or be done incompetently. But I am starting to hope that it will prove to be a sound and fun movie.

I guess we'll have to wait and see.



Maleficent



Maleficent finally done in live action (..Outside Once Upon A Time. But she got too little coverage there.)? How can we not get excited for this? I have a love for Sleeping Beauty, and so far, from the teaser it looks like they want to be rather faithful to the animated movie. Jolie looks to slide into the role. And the focus of the teaser is on Maleficent and Aurora (and the fairies). The fact that they aren't yet trying to make this story about a guy makes me hopeful. We don't need another Oz: Great and Powerful.

I am ready for this to really impress.



Breaking Bad - The Alternate Ending

Just enjoy the way it all really ended. No, it won't spoil the final season if you are behind.





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