Here is an old guy’s Take on some upcoming films.
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, I know little about the storyline, but it is billed as #VII, so this one should be at least interesting. The original took us all by surprise, it was everything that a Sci-Fi geek wanted in a space movie, action, weird creatures, a real Bad guy, and a Hero worthy of the name. The next two films fleshed out the tale quite beautifully. Then we got Episodes I, II, & III—all the splash and grandeur that success would allow, and then some! I found them over-done and bloated, you walked away dazzled and empty. Number VII, looks poised to pull us back into strong characters and plot, let us pray to the Force that they succeed.
The ‘Superman V. Batman“ movie; now there is one that excites me! This is the best Superman character ever! By a long shot! He is played with the exactly correct sense of gravitas and humility one would want in the son of Krypton. Ben Affleck, has gone from being an acting joke to an actor’s actor in the last 10 years, his version of the ‘Bat” may be the one we have been waiting for! And, with the new cowl, he will be able to turn his head! The intensity of the trailer was thrilling. Playing with the idea of this Übermensch appearing on Earth as our savior and this human hero, protecting the Earth from the sidelines, and wary of the super man, is a powerful plot line. It looks to be DC Comics response to Marvel’s amazing ‘Avengers’ movie. I hope they can find a way to interject some humor, they still lag in that department!
The new ‘Fantastic Four” movie looks questionable. I was a fan of the first two filmed versions of FF, but not a huge one. I enjoyed ‘Silver Surfer’ more than the first one, but come on, it was Silver Surfer, with a hint of Galactus, one of the most interesting duos of Marveldom!
A new origin story, young nerds, no family, and one of the four is black, okay sometimes shaking it up is good. Interdimensional travel—cool. And so as an adversary, to this new configuration of FF let us have……………….Dr Doom????? Really? With all of the astonishing battles the Fantastic Four has fought over 50 years in comics, including alien races, and cosmic monsters, we end up with wimpy Dr Doom, this does not look to be earth-shattering entertainment. Just another flashy super-CG extravaganza with little plot, thready characterization and no heart!
So what does Marvel have in store for us that satisfies the Proto-Nerd’s soul? Well ‘Ant-Man” looks fantastic! A string of great actors, a sense of irony, cutting edge special effects, a complex story and humor make this one to look out for! The Marvel bullpen has set the bar high with ‘Captain America”, ‘The Avengers”. and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy”, it looks like ‘Ant-Man” may just meet that bar. The Ultron/Avengers movie?—we will have to wait and see, is it just a segue to the next real ‘Avengers’ movie?
One last comment. It is rare that a movie scares me, crap like ‘Saw” and the ilk of ultra-mean-spirited movies, with no real fright or sense of fear don’t do it. Oddly, the upcoming movie, ‘Digging Up the Marrow” may be that rare film. I am not a fan of the found film/or while we film this on shaky cameras school of scary movies. This one promises to be different and offer real thrills and chills. The idea of a very frightening world existing alongside ours, and you are safe as long as they don’t know you see them—works for me. Years ago ‘From Beyond” exploited this concept wonderfully. I think ‘Digging Up the Marrow” may be the next BIG horror film!
Enjoy the movies—remember turn off that cell phone!