Teaser Trailer Review: MAN OF STEEL

Hello fellow movie-goers, long time no post! This weekend THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, but another character from the DC universe makes his presence known: Superman. If you went to see TDKR this weekend in theaters then you were lucky enough to catch the teaser trailer to Man of Steel; the newest Superman movie to come out next year 2013.

This movie is Directed by Zach Synder whose filmography includes the graphic novel adaptions of 300 and Watchmen.  However, his third film Sucker Punch, while visually striking and filled with very attractive females who lived an insane asylum and fantasied their escape through highly stylized actions sequences, really didn't have enough weight or story to warrant a liking.

Christopher Nolan is producing this re imagining of Superman and has chosen director Zach Synder to helm it and while it was odd choice, I have full faith in Nolan's decision. I mean his track record in choosing talent, i.e. Heath Ledger as Joker and Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, hasn't failed him yet, why should it now.

Synder is a great director, his eye for action, the choreography of a scene and his pacing most notably in 300, is beautiful and poetic. Much like Nolan's Batman's films. So after all this let's breakdown this amazing looking and exciting 1:34.

This is a very moody teaser. The color tone is what really hits me first, very gray, dark, hopeless, and grounded. We see a bearded Clark Kent on a fishing dock, then on a boat, then finally hitchhiking. Images of a small child playing with a red cape on his back with Jonathan Kent's foreshadowing voice over; "You have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be, who ever that man is, good character or bad, is gonna change the world.", truly show us the weight this man will carry. Being the son of a destroyed world and being the adopted son of another. Never really fitting in, but eventually having the character and soul of a man who we all strive to be here on Earth.

Clark's father Jonathan Kent is played the great Kevin Costner, awesome right?!! I think his voice over is fantastic and will be tested when the villain General Zod appears and perhaps tries to get at the heart of what is right and wrong with the power they both possess. Being that Zod is from Kypton, Superman's home planet and while on Earth Zod posses the same powers that Superman does. What's great about analyzing this simplistic trailer is that there is so much subtext. Also the similarities between Bruce Wayne and Ra's Al Ghul in Batman Begins, played by Christian Bale and Liam Neeson could potentially mirror Superman and Zod. Both men are essentially the same however have taken different paths. It will be interesting to see how Zod is used more as a potential doppleganger in Man of Steel as opposed to a straight on villain from Superman's home world.

Who knew so much could be said about a minute and a half right? Well I hope I haven't talked your ear off or maybe this will inspire you to read some more Superman comics and get a feel for the true character out there.

I will leave with Batman Begins teaser trailer so that you can see how closely similar both are in the way they are edited and their voice overs. While director Zach Synder is at the helm of this movie, you can feel the hand of Christopher Nolan.

I cannot wait for a full trailer. Superman flies into theaters June 14, 2013 and bodes an all star cast that includes; Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, and Michael Shannon.

Deuces,
StuntmanBob

p.s. Feels good to be back.


Batman Begins Teaser Trailer.

7 Minutes in Heaven: My The Dark Knight Rises Prologue review

DISCLAIMER: I'm gonna spoil the shit out of this.

I had the pleasure of checking out a screening tonight of the Prologue to The Dark Knight Rises and boy was 7min, worth the 2hrs I waited.

The prologue begins as mysterious as the opening of The Dark Knight does, we don't know what is quite going on, but we are hoping that is all comes together in the end. The Dark Knight prologue was meant to introduce one of the iconic characters in the DC and Batman universe: The Joker. This prologue introduces and resurrects a character from the DC and Batman Universe: BANE.

Here is a brief description of the prologue, If you don't want to read it skip the italicized portion.

A car ride through a field leads to a plane on a private airstrip with a CIA agent standing at the front. The men who exit the vehicle are a Dr. and three men wearing black hoods over their heads. The hooded men apparently have information about the "masked man"; Bane. Once in the air the CIA agent begins the to hold hooded men out the plane asking for information about Bane and his wear a bouts. Bane reveals himself as one of the hooded men. Bane explains to the agent that the reason for allowing him to be captured was to apprehend the Dr. they now have in custody and make sure he did not spill any beans about him or his plans. The agent believes that Bane is trapped but all the while there has been a second plane hovering over the one Bane is in and men have zip lined down to the plane, sabotaged it, and recovered Bane in a way that definitely one ups the bank heist.

Afterwards there is a about a 15 to 20 sec sizzle reel that literally made me JIZZ IN MY PANTS! Which included, a Bat-plane, big fights, the tumbler, the bat-pod and also an iconic shot of Bane holding a broken Batman cowl in the rain and just throwing it away like it was garbage.

Then I JIZZED AGAIN.

The Dark Knight bank heist prologue echoed so skillfully of Michael Mann's HEAT. The precision of the position all the masked players played, the timing and betrayal, had the Joker not revealed himself at the end it could have been any other movie. When Inception came out there were many great similarities the movie had for example, The Matrix or Dark City, but none rang so true than Nolan had made his version of a James Bond movie, he continues it here with this prologue. Had Bane not revealed I would have half expected for a version of James Bond to zip down from the opposite plane.

Now most of the criticism around the interwebs is that Bane is really difficult to understand, which I must say is my only criticism but on the other end, Nolan is still editing, thank God for ADR.

While watching you can really feel like every shot and scene is their for a purpose and not just because it will "look cool". There is a method to the way Bane operates and this prologue definitely was a fantastic preview of his grand, ruthless, and brilliant villainous mind. The sizzle reel at the end really makes me want to say that Nolan will out do The Dark Knight, but even with this I want to keep my hopes at bay.

Then again if anyone can out do Nolan, its Nolan. I will be there Bat cowl on and all on July 20, 2012 when The Dark Knight Rises opens in IMAX and regular theaters.

Dueces!
StuntmanBob