We are still two months away from Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation hitting theaters, but Paramount is wasting no time green-lighting a sixth Mission: Impossible film.
The studio seems eager to get these new M:I films to the public. Rogue Nation has already been moved up from its planned Christmas release date to July 31, and getting started on a sixth film before the fifth is even out seems like an extremely confident move. The fourth Mission: Impossible film, Ghost Protocol, was a massive hit for the franchise, and while Rogue Nation has a very cool-looking trailer, changing directors from Brad Bird to Christopher McQuarrie is a decided risk.
While Tom Cruise hasn’t signed to star in a sixth Mission: Impossible entry, he is on board to produce with J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot company. I would imagine Cruise will stay on board as long as his body will allow him to perform the stunts, and he doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. There is also the idea that Jeremy Renner will take over the future of the franchise from Cruise, but for now I fully expect Cruise to be in the sixth film.
Here is the trailer for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, out July 31.
Secret Wars #1 confused a lot of people and understandably so. The entire issue was predicated on the happenings of Hickman’s Avengers run and arguably his Ultimates run too. The short version was the Marvel universe as we knew it ending as the heroes of two worlds fought each other and various villains made power plays in the background. Something is wrong when both the core Marvel universe and the Ultimate line which originally got me into comics can be destroyed and have little impact on me. This issue sets the stage for the rest of the mini-series and if reports are to be believed, the entire Marvel line going forward.
Issue two opens with a young man being tested, as many have before him, to lift Mjolnir; the Hammer of Thor. Having proven himself worthy the boy joins the ranks of the Thor Corp, the enforcers of the will of God Emperor Doom (Marvel’s name not mine). In a clear call-back to the original Secret Wars series, Doctor Doom has become an all-powerful deity and created a world in which Doom’s word is law. This is Battleworld; an Earth created from the remains of universes that had been destroyed throughout Hickman’s run (it had something to do with the Infinity and Age of Ultron events). If you want an explanation of why or how Doom became a god then you’ll have to track down some back issues because other than an implied battle with the Beyonders last issue, it is uncertain as to how he claimed his godhood.
A veteran member of the Thor Corp provides the narration and exposition for most of the issue, using the newly christened Thor as our point of view character to explain the inner-workings of Battleworld. At this point the book becomes Westeros: the Marvel Years. The bulk of the issue revolves around a legal dispute between House Braddock (aka Captain Britain and Friends) and House Sinister (that one X-men villain who always freaks you out) with Doctor Strange acting as judge. It is here that we get glimpses into the political workings of Battleworld under Doom’s regime with Strange acting as his King’s hand and Susan Storm as his queen. There are genuinely poignant moments which demonstrate that Doom, despite his omnipotence, is still human. We get hints at a rebellious movement rising in the Manhattan area of Battleworld which relates to tie-in material that probably won’t pay off until a few issues down the line (see Ultimate End #1 for more information).
Those who violate Doom’s laws are sentenced to the Shield a wall which surrounds the kingdoms of Battleworld. Prisoners are sent out to deliver justice to the hordes that lay beyond the wall and fight them until their last breath. If that sounds familiar, it should because it’s a mix of the Night’s Watch from Game of Thrones and the Cursed Earth from Judge Dredd. It is here we are given even more tie-in fodder as those hordes are revealed to be the Marvel Zombies, the Annihilation Wave army and Ultron drones which all feature in upcoming Secret Wars related mini-series.
The comic ends as Strange sends the Thors to investigate a mysterious object which could sow doubt as to Doom’s godhood. This object turns out to be a life-raft containing Ultimate Reed Richards’ Cabal of Bad Guys. With the villains having entered the scene, Battleworld is about to live up to its name.
Story wise, the issue is head and shoulders above its competitors, with imagery and language which reminds the reader of Game of Thrones. Hickman creates an interesting world with new approaches to characters which would work well as an Elseworlds story independent of the event itself. I’d much rather read a Marvel version of Westeros than the confusing continuity mess that we are sure to get back to next issue.
The artwork from Esad Ribic is impressive for the most part presenting the tale as if it was a painting which fits the medieval setting. There is the occasional odd facial expression which doesn’t match the tone of the dialogue, but Ribic acquits himself well. He does an excellent job of portraying the composite nature of Battleworld and the mixture of characters from different corners of the Marvel Universe. They all blend together to create a unique fantasy-punk feel.
While Secret Wars #2 is a noted improvement in terms of accessibility when compared to its predecessor, there is still a lot of confusing aspects that only exist to frustrate readers and set-up tie-in issues for Marvel. The over-arching story is still confusing and is likely to turn people off. If Secret Wars is to define the landscape of the Marvel universe in the future, then there is little chance of new readers being able to get invested. If you are two issues in and still wondering what the hell is going on then you are not alone. Marvel will need to up their game if they are to recover from the lackluster start to one of their most important events in recent years.
AMC has released a new trailer/TV spot for their upcoming sci-fi series, Humans. The new series, coming to the network that just lost Mad Men, has an interesting cast and what looks to be a familiar setting.
Here is the Humans trailer:
I like seeing William Hurt in a serialized story for a change. Here is the official synopsis of Humans from AMC:
HUMANS, a bold new eight-part drama series from AMC, Channel 4 and Kudos, is set in a parallel present where the latest must-have gadget for any busy family is a ‘Synth’ – a highly-developed robotic servant eerily similar to its live counterpart. In the hope of transforming the way they live, one strained suburban family purchases a refurbished synth only to discover that sharing life with a machine has far-reaching and chilling consequences.
First of all, let me just start off by saying that I absolutely hate to keep tearing apart this movie that hasn’t even been released yet (okay, maybe I do enjoy it) — but DC and Warner Bros. just keep making it too damn easy for me.
Obviously, we all need to reserve the final judgement until the movie actually releases. I already know it’s going to make a bunch of cash, whether it’s a good movie or not — à la Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) — it’s kind of a given. People love the spectacle. Maybe Simon Pegg is right afterall.
Every time I see news or another look at what’s going on with Suicide Squad, I just get so embarrassed. They put together a talented cast and don’t seem to be capitalizing on it. We might not be talking Batman & Robin levels of embarrassment; as there isn’t a Bat-nipple in sight, but I have to question some of the art direction in this movie. You know what, screw it, let me just break it all down for you and how the art direction is terrible.
Slipknot
I realize Slipknot’s comic book design isn’t exactly the greatest either, but at least he doesn’t look like Call of Duty guy. What’s so special about him? How is his design unique? This guy is supposed to be a supervillain? I’m sorry, but Adam Beach just looks like his character Kicking Wing from Joe Dirt 15 years later after serving a couple of tours in Afghanistan. His design is completely uninspired and unoriginal. He looks like a character from David Ayer’s Sabotage. And please for my own sanity do not let him be the cliche “Native American tracker” member of the team. If he just ends up being Billy from Predator, I’m going to flip out.
Captain Boomerang
I didn’t realize Captain Boomerang was a homeless wiseguy. Seriously, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this guy camping out underneath the bridge near my home. So let me get this straight, he has enough money for gold chains (probably fake, right?), a big ring on his pinky, what looks like a nice gold watch or bracelet, yet he has to duct tape his boot? And not both of his boots for it to serve some sort of practical purpose. Nope. Just one of them because I guess it was falling apart? He is homeless after all. And does the jacket under his jacket say “Captain” on it?
Thankfully, Enchantress doesn’t look half bad compared to her comic book design. But I could have sworn I’d seen her before… Oh right!
The Wendol Mother from 13th Warrior.
Okay, so spooky voodoo white girl isn’t exactly original, but it’s not terrible. She could have gone in a lot worse of a direction in terms of design. Let’s just say I don’t hate it. But why cast Cara Delevingne, a fashion model, with no real acting experience under her belt? Remember that time when they cast Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in Transformers: Dark of the Moon? She had the acting capacity of a dead fish. Maybe Delevigne will prove to be a better actress, but why choose her for the role over all the other talented and beautiful actresses working today?
Katana
Probably one of the only designs that stays true to the original, or at least modern, comic book appearance of the character. I really don’t have any qualms with the design, so nice job! My issue is again, like with Enchantress, the casting choice. Forgive me if I’m wrong, as I don’t keep up with Arrow, but why cast Karen Fukuhara — an unknown actress — when Katana was already portrayed by Rila Fukushima in Arrow?
Rila Fukushima as Katana in Arrow.
Fukushima is a great actress with a proven track record. She was fantastic as Yukio in, The Wolverine. In fact, she was probably one of the best parts of that movie. Again, I’m ignorant to what’s happening on Arrow, but if Suicide Squad‘s Katana is the same Tatsu Yamashiro, then why cast someone different in a major motion picture who has no experience other than voice acting?
Rick Flag
I really can’t hate the look, because Flag’s comic book design was also unoriginal. He was just guy in yellow shirt with gun. But this is also why it was important to make Slipknot look unique as well. There are basically three members of the Suicide Squad (Slipknot, Flag, and Deadshot) who just look like soldiers, and they’re being grouped with a juggalette and some homeless looking freakazoids (sans Katana). Part of me wonders if Tom Hardy dropped out of this when he read the script and knew it was going to be complete shit. I imagine with the experience of The Dark Knight Rises and Max Max: Fury Road under his belt, he’s much more keen on what makes for a good blockbuster film.
Harley Quinn
The pieces de resistance of the Suicide Squad besides Joker. Yep… This is it everybody. The big screen debut of Harley Quinn.
It’s clear they were going for more of the New 52 Harley Quinn look, but the mark was completely missed. Harley Quinn looks more like a juggalette, or better yet, one of the Joker thugs from the Batman Arkham games.
Is it the worst Harley Quinn we could have had? Absolutely not. But unlike Joker, Harley Quinn has never appeared in any live-action films. This was Warner Bros. chance to blow everyone away — to say, “you’ve seen Joker before so we’re trying something new with him, but check out Harley!”. Margot Robbie was such a perfect casting choice as well. I don’t know if her acting chops will be enough to overcome the initial impression the character has. Did the costume designers even have to make her costume or did they just find everything they needed at Hot Topic?
Fail.
I think the biggest problem lies in this Harley’s design coupled with the new Joker design (we’ll get to that later). When paired with a more “traditional” design like Heath Ledger’s Joker (I can’t even believe I need to use the term traditional with Ledger’s Joker) it doesn’t look too bad.
Not terrible right? Not great either. In fact, looking at this just makes me hate juggalette Harley even more!
Deadshot
As I said before, Deadshot is one of the three members of Suicide Squad who just looks like they belong in a Call of Duty game. But okay, at least it’s justifiable when it comes to Rick Flag and Deadshot. The movie design doesn’t look nearly as good as the design in the comics, but at the same time I don’t think it needs to be. You know what needed to be right though? The mask.
I would like to know whose idea it was to use a Wilson volleyball for Deadshot’s mask so I can slap them silly. Why does Deadshot in Batman: Arkham Citylook a million times better and, more surprisingly, realistic, than the live-action version we’re getting?! In fact, I’m thinking the powers that be working on Suicide Squad should have just stolen the designs from the Arkham games, because at least they’re inventive and coherent. And then there’s the casting choice of Will Smith. I love the guy and really enjoy his films, but I just don’t think he’s right for the role. Will Smith is one of those actors who all you see is, well, that actor. There are only a few roles that Will Smith ever portrayed where I didn’t just see The Fresh Prince fighting aliens, and I don’t think Deadshot will be one of them either.
Killer Croc
As much as I have to commend the Suicide Squad team for using practical makeup effects, I think Killer Croc is one of those characters, like Hulk, that really benefits from the CGI treatment to create a more monstrous creature. There’s just no way to recreate the monstrosity that is Killer Croc using practical makeup. Instead, Killer Croc looks more like the goombas from the Super Mario Bros. movie.
El Diablo
I mean… I get it. El Diablo has kind of become “tattoo guy”, so maybe it will work. Still, I much prefer this look:
We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out. I hate the wardrobe decision though. A letterman jacket that says “Diablo”? A little too on the nose, don’t you think? Instead of the bat symbol on his chest, Batman should just have “Batman” written out instead. Come on, guys. You already have Captain Boomerang with a jacket that says “captain” on it and Joker with “damaged” tattooed on his forehead.
Which reminds me…
Yes, the tattoos and grill are real. I think you can guess how this makes me feel.
I’m going to just go out and say it. I think David Ayer is a yes man. I have to give him a lot of credit, because he has some great movies under his belt — U-571, The Fast and the Furious, Training Day. But those are writing credits. I have a feeling a lot of writers are susceptible to becoming yes men in Hollywood. Take David Koepp for example. He has written the screenplays for movies like, Death Becomes Her, Jurassic Park, Carlito’s Way, Mission: Impossible, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Panic Room, and Spider-Man. But he is also responsible for directing movies like Mortdecai. Remember that film? Apparently, it was released this year and starred Johnny Depp. It also received a beautiful 13% from Rotten Tomatoes.
It’s glamorous to be a director. But it also takes a vision — it’s not enough to just write it all out on paper. The director has to think about every aspect of the movie, from start to finish — the costuming, the acting, the tone, the overall look, the story. That’s what makes a true auteur. A good director also needs to fight the studio big wigs to maintain their creative vision and sometimes that leads to the director dropping the project, like Edgar Wright on Ant-Man.
Yes, there are writers who can make the transition to director such as James Gunn, but you can tell he poured his heart and soul into Guardians of the Galaxy. It was coherent and had that “James Gunn” feel. It’s clear the character designs for Suicide Squad are a design by committee. Here’s how the meeting for the art direction probably went on Suicide Squad:
“Hey, the kids love that Call of Duty, right? We need guys to look like that. And they also like that techno rap music, right? Oh, and tattoos are in, our data shows that tattoos have a 89.3% approval rating amongst audiences, so make sure the characters have lots of those. But make sure they’re ‘street’, they can’t look too clean. We want them to be realistic, that’s why the Nolan Batman movies were so successful. So make sure everything looks dark and edgy.”
How can you possibly defend tattooing “damaged” on the Joker’s forehead? It is probably one of the most ham-fisted things done in terms of character development in cinematic history. People were complaining that the Thing in the Fantastic Four reboot looked too rocky. At least he didn’t have “it’s clobberin’ time!” tattooed on him.
And seriously, get some damn security on your set. We won’t even have to watch the movie in theaters at this rate if the leaks continue to roll out like this. Wouldn’t you rather disappoint audiences AFTER they’ve paid for their tickets?
Leave a comment and let us know what you think! Tweet Jacob @semperfilm
We have the first glimpse of Matt Damon, much like we last saw Matt Damon, in a space suit. The first shot of him in his gear for Ridley Scott’s The Martian has been released via entradanumerada.com:
Damon’s last time on screen was strangely similar to his look here, making a surprise cameo in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. In The Martian, Damon plays astronaut Mark Watney, who is stranded on Mars after an accident with his crew send them back to earth without him on board. Along with Damon, The Martian stars Jessica Chastain, who also appeared in Interstellar.
The Martian is a thrilling, funny, hardcore science-fiction novel from Andy Weir. It should make for a challenging shoot and if things are handled right, it could be a big hit. Along with Damon and Chastain, Ridley Scott’s adaptation features Kate Mara, Michael Peña, Kristen Wiig, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Mackenzie Davis, Sean Bean, Donald Glover and Naomi Scott.
Black Mass has a second trailer, mere weeks after the first one chilled to the bone. This time around, Johnny Depp, playing notorious gangster Whitey Bulger, seems to be showing off his dangerously playful side. We also get a few more glimpses of the all-star cast and the first look at Dakota Johnson as Whitey’s girlfriend, Lyndsey Cyr.
Here is the second Black Mass trailer:
This trailer is decidedly lighter, while still showcasing the brutality and violence that is sure to be scattered all throughout Black Mass. Aside from Depp, who looks stellar in the title role, Black Mass has a fantastic cast that includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Joel Edgerton, Juno Temple, Kevin Bacon, and Corey Stoll, just to name a few.
Hannibal seems lost on NBC, as odd as that sounds. The fact that it is on network TV may turn some viewers away from the series (my how times have changed on television). But it is worth watching. Mads Mikkelson is no Anthony Hopkins, but he is more that solid in the titular role.
Despite flying under the radar, which spells doom for just about every quality, unseen series out there, Hannibal has a third season coming. This new trailer may help to get a few new viewers on board.
Here is the season 3 trailer for Hannibal:
What might take Hannibal to the next level for NBC is the inclusion of Francis Dolarhyde, a.k.a. The Red Dragon (Richard Armitage) in the story. Gillian Anderson is also set o have an expanded role, and Laurence Fishburne and Hugh Dancy make their return as Jack Crawford and Will Graham.
Editor in Chief of Dark Horse Comics Scott Allie spoke with Matthew Sardo about how Fight Club 2 by Chuck Palahniuk and Cameron Stewart became a reality. Allie takes us through the whole process and gives you an inside look at an epic sequel.
Side note:
Kelly Sue DeConnick, Matt Fraction and Brian Michael Bendis are sitting at dinner trying to convince Palahniuk to write Fight Club 2 as a graphic novel.
The new adaptation of Macbeth, starring Michael Fassbender in the title role and Marion Cotillard as the all-important Lady Macbeth, is set to premiere at Cannes tomorrow. Ahead of that, two film clips have been released, showcasing a definite grasp of style. While there is almost no dialogue, definitely none of the iconic lines from Shakespeare’s play, this new Macbeth seems to have a good handle on the tone it is going for judging by these two brief glimpses.
Before I see anything else, just the thought of Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard in the lead roles feels absolutely perfect. Fassbender can display internal struggle just about as well as any actor in history, and it will be a thrill to see Cotillard’s dark side as the manipulative Lady Macbeth.
Macbeth, along with King Lear, is my favorite Shakespeare play. The Roman Polanski adaptation of Macbeth is a quality telling of a story steeped in macabre imagery, horror, psychological torture, and plenty of action. It was time for a new remake, however, and director Justin Kurzel, who’s Snowtown Murders is an excellent Australian thriller, looks to have a handle on the story he is trying to tell here.
While their is no U.S. release date for Macbeth yet, expect that to change shortly after it’s Cannes premier this weekend.
A new international trailer has been released for Eli Roth’s new thriller, Knock Knock. In the film, Keanu Reeves plays a loving husband and father who, one dark and stormy night home alone, makes a big mistake by letting two rain-soaked tarts into his house.
While most of Eli Roth’s films aren’t necessarily my cup of tea, I am intrigued by Knock Knock mostly because of Keanu’s involvement. As an actor, he always gets a bad rap, but I think he brings dedication to his roles. While he has hopped across genres gleefully in the past, I can’t remember him being in a straight horror film like Knock Knock. I am interested to see how he does.
Along with Reeves, Knock Knock stars Lorena Izzo and Ana de Armas as the sultry home invaders. The film hits theaters June 26 in the U.K. No Stateside release date has been given yet.
