ATTACK OF THE THIRD DIMENSION! Comic-related Movies, TV, Video Games

MastaP · April 2010

This is where we discuss things that we buy on days other than wednesday.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is coming up

So is Iron Man 2

And the Sequel to Batman: AA

plus, the Losers, Kick Ass, and Three Marvel Cartoons, Brave and the Bold, a young justice cartoon, and more direct to DVD animated releases!

Now is a good time for comic fans in other media

Edit: Please Spoiler reviews, or any reveals

TexiKen · April 2010

I'm just gonna repost THR's review of Iron Man 2, just for posterity's sake:

Bottom Line: Now he's the Tin Man.
Well, that didn't take long. Everything fun and terrific about "Iron Man," a mere two years ago, has vanished with its sequel. In its place, "Iron Man 2" has substituted noise, confusion, multiple villains, irrelevant stunts and misguided story lines. A film series that started out with critical and commercial success will have to settle for only the latter with this sequel. Robert Downey Jr.'s return as Tony Stark/Iron Man will assure that.

For a film riding a wave of unbridled achievement from its predecessor, "Iron Man 2" begins with a curious sense of panic. Characters all talk at once. Hesitant story lines launch in all directions. The soundtrack and music clang away, but onscreen little happens until a big set-piece at a Grand Prix race nearly 20 minutes into the movie.

Downey's Stark, the Howard Hughes-like creator of the Iron Man's software and hardware -- and its embodiment when he dons the flying iron suit -- is suffering from both megalomania and a blood toxicity condition. These seem to be leading Stark into severe mental instability.

Other plot lines concern a Congressional hearing and a nasty Senator (Gary Shandling), a crazed Russian inventor (Sam Rockwell), a dishy new assistant (Scarlett Johansson) as a rival to his Girl Friday (Gwyneth Paltrow), a demented Russian inventor (Mickey Rourke with tattoos splayed across his body), psychological issues involving Stark's late father, a sidekick (Don Cheadle) who betrays Stark and the deterioration of Stark's corporation.

And what is at stake here? The fate of the world? The emergence of a new superpower? No, it all seems to pivot around who'll win a new Defense contract. Wow, there's an emotional grabber.

A new writer, actor Justin Theroux, must have "Cut To:" installed as a default in his screenwriting software. When in doubt, his script cuts to a new place -- Moscow, Monte Carlo, Malibu -- character or situation, not all of them credible or logical.

An actor as formidable as Samuel L. Jackson doesn't even show up until the movie feels like it's winding down. He wears an eye patch and an air of uncertainty. Now who is he supposed to be? Oh, he's Scarlet Johansson's real boss, and then she turns out to be Cat Woman only without the feline suit. She struts through the film in various stages of dress and undress, which may be the best thing about "Iron Man 2" for its younger male fans.

What made the original film so, well, original, was the notion of a superhero as a conflicted individual with enough complexes and mental crises that saving the planet became a sort of stress-relief valve. Now he's borderline psychotic. Not that Downey has any qualms about tackling messed-up bad boys, but the film never makes clear whether he's just being Tony or really cracking up.

The CGI fight scenes quickly become tedious, their outcomes never really in doubt and the mechanics rather clunky. The sight of metal men smashing each other about without drawing any real blood is more reminiscent of the sandbox games of a child with his play toys than any movie magic. That actually was true of the first movie as well, but one overlooked it because Tony's prickly personality so dominated the action. Here Tony has to fight too many over-the-top characters for audience attention. He loses that battle.

Visual and CGI effects are the best and worst thing about "Iron Man 2." The film relies far too much on them. They catch you up in the action but, unfortunately, nothing else does.

Opens: May 7 (Paramount Pictures)
Production companies: Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment in association with Fairview Entertainment present a Marvel Studios production
Rated PG-13, 124 minutes

And here is the trailer for MvC3: FTW

Where is Bone Wolverine???!?!?

DarkWarrior · April 2010

So comic films are done now right? I cant think of any off the top of my head after Iron Man 2 for a long while.

Witch_Hunter_84 · April 2010

Well, it turns out that the Invaders will be a big part of the Captain America movie, mainly featured in the second half of the film.

Yesterday I talked with The First Avenger: Captain America director Joe Johnston at the press day for The Wolfman, and he revealed to me that The Invaders were going to be a major presence in the film. 'They'll be in the entire second half,' he said.

Edit: This news came out in Feb. but I'm still pretty excited that Namor could be in the movie(Fox owns the film rights to all the FF characters).

cshadow42 · April 2010

There's "Scott Pilgrim", which looks like epic suck.

cshadow42 · April 2010

Witch_Hunter_84 wrote: »

Well, it turns out that the Invaders will be a big part of the Captain America movie, mainly featured in the second half of the film.

Yesterday I talked with The First Avenger: Captain America director Joe Johnston at the press day for The Wolfman, and he revealed to me that The Invaders were going to be a major presence in the film. 'They'll be in the entire second half,' he said.

This news came out in Feb. but I'm still pretty excited that Namor is going to be in the movie.

No...no.... too many characters dilutes things...
I can hear the suckness already.

TexiKen · April 2010

Green Hornet now is to be released in January in 3-D.

No one cares for the Green Hornet though, especially Seth Rogen Green Hornet.

MastaP · April 2010

DarkWarrior wrote: »

So comic films are done now right? I cant think of any off the top of my head after Iron Man 2 for a long while.

Marvel's next film is Thor which is slated for 2011, as is Green Lantern.

Scott Pilgrim is still coming though.

Has Jonah Hex come out yet?

cshadow42 · April 2010

MastaP wrote: »

DarkWarrior wrote: »

So comic films are done now right? I cant think of any off the top of my head after Iron Man 2 for a long while.

Marvel's next film is Thor which is slated for 2011, as is Green Lantern.

Scott Pilgrim is still coming though.

Has Jonah Hex come out yet?

Jonah Hex is coming out this summer, though so far its been rather low-key.

cshadow42 · April 2010

TexiKen wrote: »

Green Hornet now is to be released in January in 3-D.

No one cares for the Green Hornet though, especially Seth Rogen Green Hornet.

Yeah...I've heard the only way Green Hornet could suck more was if it were in post-production 3-D. The January release date is a tell-tale sign its a real stinker.

Munch · April 2010

TexiKen wrote: »

Green Hornet now is to be released in January in 3-D.

No one cares for the Green Hornet though, especially Seth Rogen Green Hornet.

Apparently Sony execs think it's going to be a disaster.

I'm curious to see what Michel Gondry does with it though. Even if I don't like all his movies, they're always visually interesting.

cshadow42 · April 2010

Munch wrote: »

TexiKen wrote: »

Green Hornet now is to be released in January in 3-D.

No one cares for the Green Hornet though, especially Seth Rogen Green Hornet.

Apparently Sony execs think it's going to be a disaster.

I'm curious to see what Michel Gondry does with it though. Even if I don't like all his movies, they're always visually interesting.

If the studio is saying it sucks, then you know its bad. However, it may be so bad that it turns out unintentionally funny/good.

cshadow42 · April 2010

Ugh, the new Batman direct-to-dvd, "Under the Hood", has a bad Batman voice actor.

Witch_Hunter_84 · April 2010

cshadow42 wrote: »

Witch_Hunter_84 wrote: »

Well, it turns out that the Invaders will be a big part of the Captain America movie, mainly featured in the second half of the film.

Yesterday I talked with The First Avenger: Captain America director Joe Johnston at the press day for The Wolfman, and he revealed to me that The Invaders were going to be a major presence in the film. 'They'll be in the entire second half,' he said.

This news came out in Feb. but I'm still pretty excited that Namor is going to be in the movie.

No...no.... too many characters dilutes things...
I can hear the suckness already.

Meh, X-Men did well enough with it. At least, until the abortion that was the third movie.

DarkWarrior · April 2010

Witch_Hunter_84 wrote: »

cshadow42 wrote: »

Witch_Hunter_84 wrote: »

Well, it turns out that the Invaders will be a big part of the Captain America movie, mainly featured in the second half of the film.

Yesterday I talked with The First Avenger: Captain America director Joe Johnston at the press day for The Wolfman, and he revealed to me that The Invaders were going to be a major presence in the film. 'They'll be in the entire second half,' he said.

This news came out in Feb. but I'm still pretty excited that Namor is going to be in the movie.

No...no.... too many characters dilutes things...
I can hear the suckness already.

Meh, X-Men did well enough with it. At least, until the abortion that was the third movie.

But it did that by picking two characters to be important, the rest are supporting. Logan is the main character in all 3 films and generally responsible for saving everyone else, he destroys the machine in the first one, ganks Deathstrike and most of the villains and ganks Jean. Everyone else is background. Its also a different film where EVERYONE is meant to be important, in this only Iron man is meant to be.

It'll suffer and any sequels will suffer because he genuinely has a terrible rogues list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Iron_Man_enemies

Reading through that I only recognise the names Crimson Dynamo, Ghost, MODOK, Mandarin, and Madam Masque. Of them, Mandarin is his only main villain who isn't even sustainable in the comics anymore, Ghost is cool though if he can draw people into a film I don't know, MODOK might be ok in combination with someone else like Ghost or teh Mandarin.

But, for the most part he has terrible villains and villains are what bring you to the film. You might have gone to see TDK but you went to see the Joker. Fair enough Batman has probably the best rogues gallery going followed by Spider-Man.

Any Iron Man film is going to suffer because his adversaries just aren't good.

HOWEVER, I did notice on that list that Doctor Doom is on there...

Now can we bring Doom into an Iron Man film? Because it is significantly darker than the silly Fantastic Four films, I could get into something like that.

Wildcat · April 2010

Radio 4's reviewer liked Iron Man 2 a lot, apparently (that's our highbrow radio and arts channel, for you non-Ukers).

DarkWarrior · April 2010

TexiKen · April 2010

If revenge is to get ugly, show the bra's face.

Tomanta · April 2010

Out of the 11 reviews for IM2 on Rotten Tomatoes, only 3 are negative. It's still too early to say what the consensus is going to be.

Solar · April 2010

DarkWarrior wrote: »

That looks cool, and to respond to your question from the last thread yeah I am British, high five recieved and returned!

Caveman Paws · April 2010

TexiKen wrote: »

If revenge is to get ugly, show the bra's face.

But then you lose your female audience Texi! Megan Fox+horrible movie poster = I might rent it.

Is that a hand crossbow? (o.0)

TexiKen · April 2010

I want IM2 to do well, and when Gwenyth Paltrow gets too uppity for the third movie kill her off Roadhouse-style.

Roadhouse

And then Don Cheadle can play Pepper as well.

Bloods End · April 2010

Tomanta wrote: »

Out of the 11 reviews for IM2 on Rotten Tomatoes, only 3 are negative. It's still too early to say what the consensus is going to be.

But even the positive ones are "not as good as the first"

Look! A preview of a preview for Jonah Hex!

http://www.pajiba.com/trade_news/a-preview-of-a-preview-of-jonah-hex-machine-guns-disfigurement-and-megan-foxs-cleavage.php

Hensler · April 2010

The Solomon Kane movie is in limited release now and it rocks. But nobody reads the Solomon Kane comics, and the movie has had no marketing. I seriously had no idea it had even come out until I happened to be driving by the theater.

TexiKen · April 2010

what the hell is a Solomon Kane.

DarkWarrior · April 2010

World War Z movie update

There's several zombie films in the works right now but none of them have anything close to the potential promise of "World War Z" based on Max Brooks’s best-seller. However there was fear that the project had become stalled in development in recent months and may not make it into production after all. Not so says the author.

“Paramount just renewed the option for World War Z, for half the time and twice the money, so that might signal interest” said Brooks in a recent interview with Fear.Net (via Sci-Fi TV). So where does it stand right now? "We still got our director, Marc Forster, who's raring to go. Were all waiting on Matt Carnahan's new draft, which should come in a month or so.” Brooks says part of the hesitancy is the expense in portraying a global apocalypse - “You can't do a cheap and dirty World War Z. It's a world war, and I think that makes studio executives nervous. I think it limits its options, so that's running against it.”

DarkWarrior · April 2010

TexiKen wrote: »

what the hell is a Solomon Kane.

Takes place in teh same universe as Conan I think.

Hensler · April 2010

TexiKen wrote: »

what the hell is a Solomon Kane.

Witch hunter Conan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lalm_kkczVM

Witch_Hunter_84 · April 2010

DarkWarrior wrote: »

Witch_Hunter_84 wrote: »

cshadow42 wrote: »

Witch_Hunter_84 wrote: »

Well, it turns out that the Invaders will be a big part of the Captain America movie, mainly featured in the second half of the film.

Yesterday I talked with The First Avenger: Captain America director Joe Johnston at the press day for The Wolfman, and he revealed to me that The Invaders were going to be a major presence in the film. 'They'll be in the entire second half,' he said.

This news came out in Feb. but I'm still pretty excited that Namor is going to be in the movie.

No...no.... too many characters dilutes things...
I can hear the suckness already.

Meh, X-Men did well enough with it. At least, until the abortion that was the third movie.

But it did that by picking two characters to be important, the rest are supporting. Logan is the main character in all 3 films and generally responsible for saving everyone else, he destroys the machine in the first one, ganks Deathstrike and most of the villains and ganks Jean. Everyone else is background. Its also a different film where EVERYONE is meant to be important, in this only Iron man is meant to be.

It'll suffer and any sequels will suffer because he genuinely has a terrible rogues list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Iron_Man_enemies

Reading through that I only recognise the names Crimson Dynamo, Ghost, MODOK, Mandarin, and Madam Masque. Of them, Mandarin is his only main villain who isn't even sustainable in the comics anymore, Ghost is cool though if he can draw people into a film I don't know, MODOK might be ok in combination with someone else like Ghost or teh Mandarin.

But, for the most part he has terrible villains and villains are what bring you to the film. You might have gone to see TDK but you went to see the Joker. Fair enough Batman has probably the best rogues gallery going followed by Spider-Man.

Any Iron Man film is going to suffer because his adversaries just aren't good.

HOWEVER, I did notice on that list that Doctor Doom is on there...

Now can we bring Doom into an Iron Man film? Because it is significantly darker than the silly Fantastic Four films, I could get into something like that.

I was talking about the Captain America movie dude. I agree though that Iron Man is somewhat lacking an inspiring rouges list, therefore they need to get his ass into the Avengers movie before they make any more Iron Man movies.

On the Doctor Doom front, I doubt he'll be available to use again until after the FF get their reboot done (which it seems likely, but I'd prefer them just to recast Johnny Storm and . . . tell the cast to act better).

Hensler · April 2010

DarkWarrior wrote: »

World War Z movie update

Great book... but I can't see them filming it in the same style, with all the perspectives and such. If it becomes just a standard big budget military vs zombies movie, it won't be nearly as cool as the oral history aspects of the novel.

DarkWarrior · April 2010

Witch_Hunter_84 wrote: »

I was talking about the Captain America movie dude. I agree though that Iron Man is somewhat lacking an inspiring rouges list, therefore they need to get his ass into the Avengers movie before they make any more Iron Man movies.

On the Doctor Doom front, I doubt he'll be available to use again until after the FF get their reboot done (which it seems likely, but I'd prefer them just to recast Johnny Storm and . . . tell the cast to act better).

Oh, I saw the stuff about ensemble casts and thought it was still part of the Iron Man talk.

But see, if they bring in Doom to IM then theycan have Doom as a villain in Avengers! Once they've made him credible again.

Hensler wrote: »

DarkWarrior wrote: »

World War Z movie update

Great book... but I can't see them filming it in the same style, with all the perspectives and such. If it becomes just a standard big budget military vs zombies movie, it won't be nearly as cool as the oral history aspects of the novel.

I post the news for others, any zombie film where humanity wins is not fun/

DarkWarrior · April 2010

Hooooooooooooooo

WARNING: CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS

Iron Man 2 Review
The first Iron Man arrived at cinemas an oddball underdog — it was, lest we forget, a minor-property superhero movie from the director of Zathura, starring Zodiac’s third lead — and blasted out a gold-and-red-plated megahit. Now, two years on, things have changed. Robert Downey Jr. is, for the first time in his 40-year career, a giant star, while Ol’ Shellhead’s steely visage is famous from Peru to Timbuktu. And here comes the sequel, hotly awaited as one of the year’s biggest releases, the second instalment of a metallurgy-based action franchise that’s sure to roll on and on. The Wrath Of Can, if you will.

Like the sequels to Stars Trek and Wars, Iron Man 2 is a tale of revenge. But, unlike those films, this is one of the breeziest blockbusters you’re likely to see. There’s potential for darkness here: when we meet Tony, he’s hiding from everyone the fact he’s being gradually poisoned by his suit; villain Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) is hellbent on avenging perceived injustices done to his father; and Jim Rhodes (Don Cheadle) is considering betraying his pal by teaming with rival arms dealer Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell). But Jon Favreau, it seems, didn’t want to make his Part Two a downer. He’s out to have fun, not only in front of the camera (his chauffeur character, Happy Hogan, has been bumped up from cameo to supporting role, helping out Tony in two action scenes and getting pinned between Scarlett Johansson’s legs) but behind it too, focusing on gyrating cheerleaders and gleaming tech over inner turmoil.

Not that there’s anything wrong with fun, of course, especially in a film about a millionaire with a magic flying suit. It’s just a shame it rarely feels there’s much to threaten Tony Stark’s perfect world. In the movie’s stand-out sequence, Vanko launches an assault on his nemesis at the Monaco Grand Prix, twirling twin whips that fizz with megavoltage electricity. As he effortlessly slices up oncoming cars and advances, cackling, on a suitless and scared Stark, it actually feels like there’s something at stake, that our hero has met his Waterloo. It’s a feeling that’s sadly absent from the rest of the runtime.

Maybe it’s the fact that two of cinema’s most charismatic, weathered actors perform their most dramatic moments with faces cloaked by metal. The climax is a particular disappointment, a beefed-up re-run of the last film’s final reel, in which featureless metal men thump each other until one falls over.

Little emotional heft, then; fortunately, there’s still plenty of charisma. When he’s out of the suit – and Favreau has the good sense to keep him out of the metal mankini for as long as is superhumanly possible – Downey Jr. continues to be unstoppably likeable (though Tony’s burgeoning romantic relationship with Pepper needed more screentime and snappier patter). Rourke squeezes every drop of weird out of his character, even aside from the copious body-ink and pet cockatoo (though he’s relegated to sitting in a lab for the whole second act). And Sam Rockwell just about steals the show as Hammer, the fast-talking weasel who wants to be Stark but falls short on every level (no complaints here).

As for Johansson, who gets to show off her gymnastic chops in a mêlée sequence with a great punchline, her character is not the villain some predicted, more a walking teaser trailer for The Avengers (due in 2012). That’s a Marvel mindset that dominates the movie, with numerous teasy references and in-jokes setting up Captain America and Thor; the uninitiated will be baffled, especially when a one-eyed Samuel L. Jackson turns up halfway through as Nick Fury and starts banging on about SHIELD, but still appreciate the sight of Johansson in a catsuit.

Verdict
Rourke and Rockwell make satisfying, complementary villains, while Downey Jr. delivers again. Shame this sequel feels inessential, over-busy and a little, well, mechanical. Nothing they can’t put right for Iron Man 3.

TexiKen · April 2010

The comics never made the suit actually harm Tony, from what I remember. That's something new. The big thing was that he needed to wear the suit all the time otherwise his heart would stop (plus, you know, the drinking).

The complaint about robots not having emotion as they beat up each other, what, would you rather have smilies for helmets on all Stark Tech?

DarkWarrior · April 2010

TexiKen wrote: »

The comics never made the suit actually harm Tony, from what I remember. That's something new. The big thing was that he needed to wear the suit all the time otherwise his heart would stop (plus, you know, the drinking).

The complaint about robots not having emotion as they beat up each other, what, would you rather have smilies for helmets on all Stark Tech?

Its the comment about the ending that bothers me.

Virral · April 2010

Jesus christ can we get a chance to see the film before we get shit about the plot posted all over this thread please?

cshadow42 · April 2010

Still sounds better than Transformers 2, and that did well enough for another sequel.

HadjiQuest · April 2010

Yeah, I was cool for reading those reviews, but damn that one is super spoilery.

I'll just hike it out for another week and a half.

Robos A Go Go · April 2010

Resisting urge to read spoilers!

I didn't know much about Solomon Kane before seeing that trailer, but now I'm psyched.

Also, WWZ is going to be done documentary-style. Nothing else makes sense.

TexiKen · April 2010

Solomon Kane does look good, coming from someone who isn't down with the sorcery and stuff. I mean it has a fairly generic story but the trailer made me more interested in seeing that than say The Losers did.

Robos A Go Go · April 2010

It's not too generic, thanks to the setting. The only stories I know of that are set in that era are The Crucible and the forthcoming Batman story.

TexiKen · April 2010

Isn't it some kind of D&D world or is it supposed to be 15th century England? I meant story mainly for stoic hero tries to get away from fighting, meets nice people, people kidnapped, hero become badass again.

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