Godzilla, the latest of the franchise will be released May 16th next year, and recently we have seen an abundance of information on the film. We now know who the cast will be (mostly) and we some short footage of behind the scenes as well as newly released images. The main reason for this article is that we haven’t updated the news on this film since Comic Con, and with some substantial news and updates it felt necessary to share with our wonderful readers.
Godzilla Plot
Official Synopsis:
A giant radioactive monster called Godzilla awakens from eons of sleep and attacks a city.
Well that’s creative and new. Well done Warner Bros. Before we go onto the cast, images and behind the scenes footage we should talk about the prospect of this film being good or bad. On the one side you have Frank Darabont as a screenwriter, the man is brilliant and the master mind to many great films and TV Shows. Mainly The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Mist and The Walking Dead. However I fear that the Director Gareth Edwards is a little inexperienced to be in charge of such a large production, also I didn’t think his debut film Monsters was all that good. Fear and doubt surround this film for fans of the franchise.
The Cast of Godzilla
Aaron Johnson
Aaron Johnson (Kick Ass) will be the lead in this film as a Soldier. That is all we know for now and whilst he was good in Kick Ass lately he has looked more and more like a massive douche.
Ken Watanabe
Ken Watanabe is in this film and that’s pretty much it, again not much has been revealed but he is a well-respected Japanese Actor and a personal favourite so will most likely be the main Japanese character. Actually turns out be the only Japanese actor announced which seems strange for a Godzilla film.
Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche and Bryan Cranston
We know nothing about any of their roles in the film except that Elizabeth Olsen is Aaron’s characters girlfriend and that Bryan Cranston is someone’s stepfather.
Whilst most people will recognise the cast none of them are exactly big star and this could hurt the film’s box office because none of them will be a mass draw for viewers.
Behind the Scenes Footage
We have three videos that have been released which show behind the scenes footage of the filming of Godzilla. First we have a 15 second tease with the director, then a series of “action” takes from the film which show practically nothing as you’d expect this early on.
Set Photos Leaked
Let’s face it we all just want to keep this classic going.
The Wolverine is coming and we have got a bevy of information and pics for you to take a look at. The main reason for all this the first trailer is being released on Wednesday and we wanted a place where you can get all of the content online and get all updates to be ready for Wednesday. We have oh so many images from the film, both leaked and released. We got posters and banners, all the latest news and cast information and we hope you all keep an eye out here Wednesday because we’ll have the trailer on our page ready for consumption. We know we got a while until The Wolverine hits theaters on July 26th (in 3D as well mind you) so let’s drop some knowledge and get you guys situated.
The Wolverine Plot
Official Synopsis:
Based on the celebrated comic book arc, this epic action-adventure takes Wolverine, the most iconic character of the X-Men universe, to modern day Japan. Out of his depth in an unknown world he faces his ultimate nemesis in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before.
Wolverine Comic:
The celebrated comic book arc mentioned is the comic Wolverine released in 1982 and covers a large period of Wolverine’s origins and his Weapon X days. In the comic, Wolverine’s love Mariko Yashida wound up getting an arranged marriage set up by her father Lord Shingen. Logan travels to Japan to rescue her and troubles ensue with Samurai getting gutted by some Adamantium claws. We will not go much further as not to spoil the plot of the film. However, we are not sure how closely the film will follow this story line. For example, the film story is set after the events of the third X-Men film but the comics have no specific timeline with the rest of the X-Men. The comic is great and the story arc only has 4 issues so if you feel like getting ahead of the curve, pick it up and enjoy.
The Cast of The Wolverine
Wolverine
Hugh Jackman plays Logan/Wolverine: A mutant and member of the X-Men. I don’t feel I need to explain this character too much. In the film, Logan leaves the X-Men to find himself and get away from the devastating losses that took place in X-Men: The Last Stand. On his journey, he falls in love with a woman Mariko Yashida, although she is to be married off by her father. Logan feels he must do something and naturally gets into a middle of a gang war where probably chaos ensues.
Bloody Claws! Rated R
Lord Shingen
Hiroyuki Sanada stars as Shingen Yashida, a character created by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, who is a Yakuza crime boss and antagonist to Wolverine. Lord Shingen will be one of the main villains in this film as a father to both Silver Samurai and Logan’s love interest that figures into Wolverine’s conflicts. Lord Shingen arranges his daughter Mariko Yashida to marry another crime boss to settle debts.
Shingen
Mariko Yashida
Tao Okamoto plays Mariko Yashida, the daughter of Shingen and one-time fiancee to Wolverine. K.I.S.S.I.N.G. as Logan’s love interest in this film Mariko is the main cause for conflict within the story. Logan falls in love with her but her father arranges a marriage to honor his clans’ debt. Logan goes to rescue her from an abusive husband but the clans obviously don’t like this and violence ensues. This plot could be way off but it is the basic layout of the comic arc the film is based off so I would be surprised if it wasn’t close to this.
Mariko
Yukio
Rila Fukushima stars as Yukio, one of the deadliest assassins in Shingen’s clan. We think she will be an amazing character to watch out for. In the comics, she is a heroine but is described here almost on the other side. Yukio is an occasional thief by profession, as well as a ronin, a masterless samurai. Yukio has been portrayed as a free spirit with an almost careless disregard for personal danger. While she is highly skilled in the martial arts, Yukio is not a mutant and possesses no super powers. Unless being a badass is a mutant power.
Yukio
The Silver Samurai
Will Yun Lee plays Kenuichio Harada, more commonly known as the Silver Samurai, who possesses an electrified suit of samurai armor and is the illegitimate son of the crime lord Shingen. The first Silver Samurai was a mutant with the ability to generate a tachyon field (some kind of heat energy), with which he can surround anything. He commonly used this power on his sword, enabling it to cut through nearly anything, except adamantium, hence the fun with Wolverine. From what we have gathered, the Silver Samurai will be working for the crime boss Shingen Yashida as a bodyguard. In the comics, he has worked for Viper so speaking of…
Silver Samurai
Viper
Svetlana Khodchenkova plays Viper, a one-time peer of Wolverine’s as well as an enemy. Viper, also known as Madame Hydra, should be an interesting character to watch. She was not in the comic arc but she does have affiliations with both the Silver Samurai and Wolverine in other comics. She is certainly a villain but it remains to be seen how she fits into this film. Not sure how I feel about the costume though, it doesn’t really look anything like the original other than the color.
Viper
Teaser
Below is a short GIF released by director James Mangold to give a small teaser to the trailer. It looks very interesting and I am certainly pumped to see the trailer. Are you teased?
Just thought I would devote a part of this round up to point out how to make a good poster and how to make a terrible poster. Below is a great example of a trailer for this film, its got that brilliant hand drawn Japanese style painting which makes Wolverine look cool and strong whilst showing off the claws.
Next however is one of the worst posters I have ever seen for large budget film. It’s just awful! I have seen better Photoshop jobs from my 7 year old cousins (spoiler alert: they’re not good). What is this! Loads of Ninjas with quick cut and paste of an angry Wolverine. To be honest, I am not even sure Ninjas are involved in this story as the main opposition is from Samurai clans. Please look and laugh.
With that, we’ll leave you with a bunch of production stills from the set as well as other photos we have gathered. And how about a 20 second trailer tease too? Hopefully this piques your interest and gets you excited for Wednesday when we finally get to see The Wolverine in action!
The one creature in the universe that could discourage me from being an astronaut is strangely enough one of my favorite horror creatures. The Xenomorph or Alien was first introduced in the 1979 film of the same name, and although the film came out before my time, it stills bring in the scares. The concept of Alien was brought forward by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett, who wrote the script for the 1979 film. However the Xenomorphs design was the brain child of H. R. Giger. The creature is truly alien in the way it looks, sounds and even evolves (I’ll discuss that later on). The Xenomorph has been in a grand total of seven films over its impressive lifetime, and although not all the films were perfect, the majority were some of the best Sci-Fi/Horror films ever made.
Welcome back to the Hero Express, your one-stop sometimes SPOILER filled shop through the top five stories in comic based Film & TV news!
Armie Hammer Likely to play New Justice League’s Batman
This interestingly enough isn’t the first time he has been in the running for the role. The last time there was a Justice League film project Hammer was again preferred for the part. Even though that project fell through WB’s still feel he would be the best to play the part of DC’s JL Batman. I believe with this choice that WB’s wants a different style of batman than has been displayed recently in Bales performances. What I mean is that with Batman needing to fight side by side with other superheroes that this time around the character will have to be more of a team player.
I haven’t seen a great deal of Hammers work except for his role in The Social Network so I can’t say how well he would take on the legendary role. However he will be starring in the upcoming Lone Ranger remake coming out next year, and so we should be able to find a good understanding of his acting abilities under a mask of sorts.
Silver Samurai, Viper and More Wolverine Images Revealed on Set
First off is a sneaky image of Silver Samurai where to get a good look you have to zoom in a bit, still it looks interesting and the design seems to be based strongly off the comics but we will have to see the front before full judgement. Next we have an image of Svetlana Khodchenkova (That’s a mouth full) playing Viper a rather complicated character from the comics and should be interesting to see how they use her in this film. Lastly we have some stunt photos of Wolverine with claws out and on stunt wires; he is however a stunt double as you can tell it’s not Hugh Jackman.
The cast of RED returning to set for the upcoming sequel and we have some new cast members as well. So who can we see new from these pictures. First off Catherine Zeta-Jones getting into a car with Bruce Willis with Willis not looking happy (wouldn’t be my reaction). We also have David Thewlis playing The Frog (not sure what that means yet) who is doing plenty of stunts on a motor bike. We also get a good look at the returning cast with Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and Mary-Louise Parker.
The Latest synopsis for RED 2:
“The sequel to the action-comedy hit RED, which reunites our team of retired CIA operatives as they use their old-school style to take on a new set of enemies all across Europe.” The film is being directed by Dean Parisot (“Galaxy Quest”) and will star: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Hellen Mirren, Catherine Zeta-Jones, David Thewlis, and Mary-Louise Parker.”
The Oldboy remake staring Josh Brolin has recently had some set photos leaked of Brolin on set with and without a shirt on, granted there’s nothing shocking about that but it does prove that it’s on track to be released next year. We also have the latest synopsis for the remake and it does shed some light on how this American remake of a popular South Korean film will play out. There has been some concerns over how this remake will be made, however I haven’t seen the original and plan to this weekend.
The latest synopsis for Oldboy remake:
“Spike Lee helms this remake of Park Chan-wook’s grim tale of a man who seeks revenge against his mysterious captors, who held him imprisoned for 15 years. Josh Brolin stars, with Thor’s Mark Protosevich adapting the script.”
Shailene Woodley Likely to play MJ Watson in the Amazing Spider-Man 2
Shailene Woodley Playing Spiderman’s new love interest Mary Jane is a little shocking. I really wouldn’t have picked her from other options for May Jane but Webb probably knows what he is doing in the cast roles, what with casting Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield. Shailene Woodley maybe an unusual choice for the role of the feisty Mary Jane but will most likely display a greater acting ability than the previous Jane played by Kristen Dunst (her see through tops where pretty good though). This isn’t all the news though in terms of new characters for The Amazing Spider-Man sequel.
We have also got confirmation from the studio that the sequel will have Harry Osborn involved and Electro set to be the main villain. The studios have started looking for cast members to fill the roles of both the villains to Spider-Man’s world. Electro is an interesting choice for the main villain since he has never been on the big screen before and is a weird character to base a film around if he is indeed the main villain. One last thing I would like to say is that my prediction for the way this series is going is looking more and more likely. Osborn will be introduced in this film and will then be the Green Goblin in the third film killing Gwen in the last scene (totally called this!).
Welcome back to the Hero Express, your one-stop sometimes SPOILER filled shop through the top five stories in comic based Film & TV news!
Iron Man 3 Shows Mark VIII On Set In Miami
Robert Downey Jr. may have injured his ankle during shooting, but Shane Blacks Iron Man 3 is still pushing ahead. Not sure if Robert is back at shooting but his new suit certainly is. The new Mark VIII suit made its debut at this year’s Comic-Con and was met with mixed opinions. I wasn’t a fan originally but it has grown on me a bit since then and I would like to see this suit in action. Where’s the trailer at already, Marvel?
The blue suit to right is apparently not the Iron Patriot like we originally thought but instead is allegedly going to be Rhodey’s new War Machine armor. We mainly think this because of the clear US Air Force insignia stamped on the side of the new armor. I do not like the fact that the War Machine armor is almost exactly the same in appearance to the Iron Man suit! I think it will get confusing in a fast fight scene with them flying through the skies with explosions left, right, and center.
Mark Millar To Take Control Over Fox’s Marvel Films
What a prestigious role to play with such a well-respected film company. Congratulations Mark. Oh by the way I am clapping slowly. Not shocking that Fox decided to do this since Marvel made billions on The Avengers and then got director Joss Whedon to helm their Marvel Cinematic Universe for Phase Two. So Fox wants their remaining Marvel properties to work a little more coherently under the watchful eye of Mr Millar. Nothing wrong with that, though I’d prefer if they would just give them back to Marvel. That’s clearly not going to happen so they might as well try and make them good.
Mark Millar has a rich history with comics and to be honest he is a smart choice to oversee Fox’s comic films. His most noticeable works are The Authority, The Ultimates, Marvel Knights Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Civil War, Wanted, and Kick-Ass. In August 2007, he also won the Stan Lee award at Wizardworld in Chicago. He has the right background and so we will have to just wait and see what impact his involvement in the next Fox films will be. Fingers crossed its good.
These are Mark Millar’s words on taking the job:
“I really like the Fox team, love this bold new direction they have for their franchises and am proud to be working alongside some of modern cinema’s biggest talents. James Mangold is incredible, Matthew Vaughn’s one of my closest pals, and Josh Trank gave us, in my opinion, one of the greatest superhero movies of the last decade with Chronicle. The invitation to join this crew was maybe the coolest phone call I’ve ever had,” Millar said with characteristic understatement in a statement accompanying the announcement. Describing his new role as a “dream gig,” he continued, “I spent 10 years working at Marvel and am really happy with the work I did on the comic side of things, so the idea of working with these characters now in a brand new medium is enormously exciting for me.”
Ben Affleck Still Says No To Directing A Justice League Film
Talking to MTV, Ben Affleck has explained that he doesn’t want to direct any Justice League movie and he doesn’t understand where the rumors started. He never suggested to anyone he wanted the part or that he was approached for the directing role by Warner Bros. So in his defense the theory kind of came out of nowhere and I find it funny that he has to explain that point from now on.
These are his words about the suggested directing role:
“What happens is that there’s a lot of bloggers and Internet interest around superhero movies, so there’s regularly a rumor that comes up, obviously [with regard to] ‘Justice League’ once ‘Avengers’ happened they think, ‘Well it would be crazy not to make “Justice League,”‘ and I’m sure they will. I guess I should be flattered, and I’m sure it will be cool. I’ve seen some of the stuff from the new Superman movie and that stuff is awesome. I think they took a really cool, real approach to Superman, which no one has done before, so if that trend continues I’m sure ‘Justice League’ will be great.”
The reason that he won’t be involved, he says, is that he finds that he doesn’t really care to work on superhero movies at the moment, thanks to his experience with Fox’s Daredevil in 2003. But that he may work on a superheroes film in the future:
“I had a negative experience with the one comic book I liked, it was just a movie that didn’t work… It’s such a shame because first of all ‘Daredevil’ [is] a great book, great idea and then right after that they figured out that it was better to make the movies good and then they started making them cool and investing in them. I felt like I was in the 1930s with that outfit, the trousers: ‘Hey chum, hold up there! This fella’s trying to rob a bank!’ It was a drag but I did love it as a kid and they’re rebooting it.”
Captain America is going into production early next year, but they still haven’t picked a female lead. The new lead is going to be a romantic interest to Steve Rogers, and although fans may know that Sharon Carter would be a safe bet as she is the niece of Steve Rogers Wartime love Peggy Carter. The real question though is who will play the role of the Captain’s new love interest.
The short list so far appears to include Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey), Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), Teresa Palmer (I Am Number Four), Imogen Poots (Fright Night) and Alison Brie (Community). They do appear to have got a mixed group of women for the role which makes for endless speculation. I think with Alison Brie having already worked with the directors of this film that she has a strong chance of getting the role, not to mention the draw she would bring from the loyal fans of Community (Yeah, she’s HOT!). But that’s just my theory as the casting could go to any of these ladies, to be honest they have all done some very interesting work and I am sure they would do a great job.
Rumors of a fourth X-Men film have been floating around the nerd vine for a while after X-Men: The Last Stand nearly destroyed the franchise. What a terrible film. The separate X-Men films First Class and Wolverine put us more at doubt that a fourth film would get made, but that they would continue the other independent X-Men stories. Well it might be more likely to happen now that Patrick Stewart teased us with a reply to a fan at the Montreal Comic Con this year.
At the 2012 Montreal Comic Convention, he was asked by a fan about returning to the series and he replied “I think there is every possibility” and then began to say the names of his female co-stars “Halle Berry! Famke Janssen! Rebecca Stamos! Anna Paquin!” Stewart then said, “yes, I’ll be reprising…”
Yes, he could just be messing with us. Yes, he might just be saying that he’d like to be in an X-Men film again. But with the sequel to First Class titled X-Men: Days of Future Past there might be a chance for him to reprise his role as present Professor and play along side his younger counterpart, which I would love to see and is perfectly possible in the time travel story line of Days of Future Past.
Welcome back to the Hero Express, your one-stop sometimes SPOILER filled shop through the top five stories in comic based Film & TV news!
Chris Hemsworth & Jaimie Alexander on set of Thor 2: The Dark World!
When I first heard that Alan Taylor (Game Of Thrones, Rome) was going to direct Thor: The Dark World I like many others were hoping that he would add some of the realism of his previous work to the project. The images below do not disappoint, and coincides with Alan Taylor’s previous thoughts on a “more tangible” and “more organic feel” for Asgard. These set pics certainly show a part of the grand scale he is going for.
There are a lot more images in the slideshow at the bottom of the page.. We also have the official plot description for Thor: The Dark World:
Exploring Thor’s relationship with the Asgardian all-father Odin, as well earthbound companion Jane Foster, “Thor: The Dark World” follows the God of Thunder to The Nine Realms beyond Asgard and earth. And as his evil half-brother, Loki, returns for Asgardian justice, a new threat rises. Also rejoining Thor are his fellow Asgardians, Lady Sif, gatekeeper Heimdall and Warriors Three, as they encounter mythical Norse creatures among evildoers.
“Thor: The Dark World” stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Jaimie Alexander, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Stellan Skarsgard, Ray Stevenson, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Rene Russo, with Alice Krige & Kat Dennings. And Alan Taylor (“Game of Thrones”) takes over directorial duties from Kenneth Branagh, who helmed the first “Thor” film. From a screenplay by Don Payne and Robert Rodat, “Thor: The Dark World” is set for release on November 8, 2013.
Drew Goddard Wants a Marvel Movie… But Who Doesn’t?
The Cabin in the Woods director has recently shown interest in directing a Marvel film if the opportunity arises. This isn’t necessarily the most shocking news because I and every other nerd around would kill for that opportunity. But considering some of his powerful friends (Damon Lindelof, J.J. Abrams, Spielberg, Joss Whedon) and the success of this years The Cabin in the Woods, his interest in a Marvel film could very easily turn into something serious.
“What Marvel character would I not love to get on? That’s an easier question to answer. I would love any of it and I love Marvel, Joss and what they’re doing. It’s all about finding the right fit. Directing…in order to do your job right, you have to find ways to make it personal, and if we can find the right fit, then I would love to do it.”
Thanos Confirmed For Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers 2
Filming on Iron Man 3 is underway and coming out next year, production on Thor: The Dark World has started filming in England as we just told you, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier is set to start production next March. That will mean Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers 2 will be the final two films of the Phase Two line-up. Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man should be able to come to production next year …hopefully.
This ugly mug above from what we can gather will be in both The Avengers 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy. Whether that is a small cameo or the main villain is yet to be revealed. My theory at this point is that Thanos will be a small cameo in GotG where we get a first taste of Marvel’s space opera which has been talked about in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before, but I think the main villain will be someone else. The Avengers 2 will probably have the big scary Thanos as a threat to be dealt with by Earths Mightiest Heroes. Just my theory as to what direction they will be taking the Phase Two and where Thanos will play into that.
Feige has all but said Thanos is in the movie.
Now we learn that not only will the Mad Titan Thanos be featured in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie — but The Avengers 2 as well.
We previously reported that Thanos creator Jim Starlin was in talks with Marvel about “something,” with it theorized that it was over the rights to Thanos.
Now, a Cosmic Book News regular, Armand Rock, has confirmed through Jim Starlin that Thanos will be in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie and The Avengers 2.
You know Max Landis, the Chronicle writer and son of the great John Landis (The guy who has done pretty much everything). It looks like he will be getting a new TV Show on Fox. Vigilant will also be produced by Howard Gordon (24, Homeland), and is a police drama featuring a crime fighting vigilante. On Monday, it was revealed that Fox has officially picked up the show.
The basic premise of Vigilant is this: a 20-year old, female “social outcast” becomes a vigilante in order to take down criminals and corrupt police officers. Before bringing up the failure that was The Cape, know that Landis doesn’t think of Vigilant as a superhero show. “Vigilant comes at the whole equation of what a “vigilante” in a very different way, the writer recently tweeted. “It has more in common with The Wire than Smallville.” Several tweets like the one quoted were posted by Landis in the wake of the Fox announcement hoping to convince everyone that his show won’t simply be a superhero tale.
I really liked Chronicle and the way Landis represented the human side of the character. I hope he brings this skill of character development to the small screen with him. The show has great potential but also comes with some competition this year from a couple of potential superhero based shows like Joss Whedon’s S.H.I.E.L.D. and FX’s long in production Powers. Then there is the fact that it is being produced by Fox, which I don’t have a problem with but I do worry that they may just cancel if it doesn’t instantly become a hit.
Kick Ass 2 Set Photos: Jim Carrey, Donald Faison, and Bad Touching?
Well, we have yet another anticipated super hero film with a butt load of Kick-Ass 2 set photos (Butt, ass…Okay, not my best work). But still we get to see the main cast and finally get to see what all the new additions look like. Noticeably we have Doctor Gravity, Mother Russia and Colonel Stars.
Why is Hit-Girl kissing Kick-Ass?Donald Faison as Doctor GravityOlga Kurkulina as Mother Russia
This maybe the entire collection of Dredd videos around, but I think most of you will really enjoy this information before you go out this weekend. Got Features on the gear used in Dredd, Slo mo filming, interviews with the cast and crew. Got the best trailers and clips I could find which will really get you hooked on Dredd. They also made a Prequel Motion comic which really helps to understand what happens in the film. So watch the videos down below and check out Dredd this weekend.
The Best of Dredd Features
This has a great selection of features on the film. The Gear one in particular is fascinating to anyone who is interested in how they made all of Dredd‘s stuff (No CGI) I really want the law master. Great look at how they used some really good camera tech, 4000 FPS Cameras which is amazingly fast. The Prequel Comic is the what happens to MA-MA before the events in the film and help to explain why she does what she does.
Dredd’s Gear
Dredd – From the People Who Made Him
Dredd 3D – How They Make Slo-Mo Scenes
Dredd 3D – Prequel Motion Comic
The Best Trailers
I really liked the first trailer that came out, and we had quite a bit of excitement over its release. The next trailer though is my favorite trailer around, got some great lines from Dredd and the music really works well, plus it is super action packed which demonstrates Dredd really well. And lets face it “Perps were uncooperative” is just really funny…
Dredd 3D Official Trailer #1
Dredd 3D Official Trailer #2
The Best Clips
I promise these are the last videos. We have the clip of Karl Urban saying the famous line “I am the Law” and does it rather well. Got that Red Band scene where people’s faces get shot up (Warning might be graphic). Lastly a scene which I think helps to understand Anderson, plus another deadpan line from Dredd.
Yeah, the banner isn’t what RoboCop will look like, sorry. I actually rather like the banner one.
But we do know what Robocop will look like now and yeah, it’s pretty bad. The original film had a great deal of originality to its look, from the Robocop suit to the ED-209. Granted these needed to be updated for a remake of the film but I still think that what we have seen so far has been done before. ED-209 looks like a small Transformer and the RoboCop suit, well… I will go over what I think of the new suit and do some comparisons after you look at the images below for yourselves.
First off let’s have a quick look at the suit from a non-comparison stand point. The suit looks a little clunky in the second picture which should really be better in 21st century film robots. Then there is the fact that it doesn’t look like he is a cyborg. Granted there is just a man in a suit in filming but I was expecting a half man half machine look at least. The only evidence that might suggest this would be the right hand not being covered by the suit (really! Is that it?).
GI Joe Suits
Now is the comparison part. This suit looks like a combination of at least 5 different suits from film and games in the last 10 years. Why is this a problem? Well, apart from the complete lack of originality this proves it also makes the film start to blend into the fabric of those films rather than stand out as its own. Remember all of those comparisons made between the look of the alien ships in Battleship and the robot aliens of Transformers? People kept saying it’s a total rip off of Transformers, and that’s how it starts. People have seen it before which makes them think they are watching the same film over and over rather than a new film, and can seriously piss ’em off.
Here is a collection of the Grizzly Staff’s reactions to first seeing the new RoboCop suit:
Tim The Film Guy: “haha oh no that’s not right, thought I just saw Batman’s motor bike suit”
Dr. Kronner: “This looks turrible.”
Supascoot: “Motocross mixed with Tron and aspects of the Bat suit do not make a good Robocop.”
CTan: “Did they dig out the GI Joe suit?”
Brucewalken: “I actually laughed when I saw it. It’s hilarious. That film I reviewed, Robowar. The costume the cyborg has in that flick is better than the RoboCop costume! Maybe they have played too much Halo as it looks to me like a biker helmet stuck on a Halo costume painted black. Unimpressed.“
Cheesebadger: “I’m…. Just really gonna keep hope that it’ll work in the movie.”
So basically it’s a collection of all black armored suits in films and games. We’ll have to wait to see more before I, or any of the staff apparently, will be convinced that this is a good look for RoboCop.
Dredd 3D is fantastic and beautifully brutal from the visuals to the sound. This film clearly learned from past failures and started with a very simple plot that is hard to screw up, this being done with people who clearly knew the source material and from that knew that this was the best way to start a film about Judge Dredd. The only problems with this film is that it would need a more complex story out of the comics and an increased budget but apart from that I can’t find faults. So I would love to see a sequel which could easily fix the problems I found with this film and would love to see a Batman begins to the Dark Knight Style turn around. In other words it’s a great start.
The future America is an irradiated waste land. On its East Coast, running from Boston to Washington DC, lies Mega City One- a vast, violent metropolis where criminals rule the chaotic streets. The only force of order lies with the urban cops called “Judges” who possess the combined powers of judge, jury and instant executioner. Known and feared throughout the city, Dredd (Karl Urban) is the ultimate Judge, challenged with ridding the city of its latest scourge – a dangerous drug epidemic that has users of “Slo-Mo” experiencing reality at a fraction of its normal speed.
Just as always I will not be giving away any spoilers so you don’t have to worry about reading this review before seeing the film. To start off let’s talk about the acting. The acting was very good for the most part but in saying that there weren’t many situations that required it although the actors played the parts they were playing as the characters so I don’t have any faults in that area, but there would have to be more of the film to really tell. The main character Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) was really top-notch for portraying a comic book character in a real world environment, credit to him a great performance (the chin was particularly impressive).
I would like to see more characters to interact with in a sequel because that’s what is needed to get a better feel of Dredd. Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) was actually much better than I thought she would be and although not quite the same as the comic character she still gives the character justice (she kicks ass basically). Ma-Ma was an interesting character who I would have like to have seen more of but there is a prequel comic to the film which explains her back story which is free here if you would like to read that before seeing the film. Good strong female leads in this though which I like to see and the best is that it didn’t feel forced.
So let’s talk about something more fun like the visuals. The special effects, physical props and visual landscape shots where both excellent viewing and brilliantly immersive to the world that Judge Dredd lives in, very repressive and cramped with too many people in one place. The best thing I thought about this film’s visuals was that even though the budget was relatively low they didn’t use too much CGI but instead went for real props and building which means it didn’t feel cheap and felt more like a big budget film because of the detail put into everything from the judges uniforms to the blending of real world building and futuristic mega blocks.
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the 3D but I am a bit biased because I tend to get used to the 3D effect within the first 10 minutes of films and find that it might as well be in 2D because of the length of a full movie, but if you like 3D there were some good 3D shots. I loved the Lawmaster chase scene and would really like to see more of the city itself in a sequel but I understand with the budget that’s the most they could do (I want a Lawmaster and the Lawgiver, screw it I just want to be a Judge). Oh and I should warn people that it’s really violent but insanely fun with brilliant music, the soundtrack with this film really worked well and it was massively adrenaline pumped from start to finish with no time for boring.
My favourite scene without giving anything away would be anything with Dredd kicking ass or maybe Mini gun bit, this doesn’t make sense really until you see the film but I won’t be ruining it for you so if you have seen the film then comment below and we can discuss. The Slow Mo scenes are good and the Deadpan acting of Urban is perfect.
Finally I would like to say that a sequel would be great to see and I would be sad if one didn’t get made. The possibilities are endless in the Dredd universe and could easily expand. I really liked the relationship between Judge Dredd and Cassandra Anderson because I got the feeling like it was kind of a buddy cop style connection with a rookie but because of her Psychic ability she is probably the only person who Dredd could have that partnership with, no romantic connection at all and there shouldn’t be, I actually think that would be the easiest way to ruin this film (or bring back rob Schneider). So go watch it because the film is a great viewing.
Wow…has it really been 9 years since his last leading role in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines – oh right, yeah that’s why. Seriously I think I speak for all of us when I say he needs to come back and kick ass. This new acting chapter should be fun to see, and we know there is more of him to come in the next few years (please be good). Will he be the same action icon with one liners or something more serious? I would like to see something more serious, but I also don’t want him to lose his personality (Batman and Robin was too far). The picture below shows the main characters in his latest film – Last Stand. This is director Kim Ji-Woon‘s first American film.
Grizzly Bomb 