With May only a few weeks away and with it, the release of Thor to kick off the summer movie franchise, it has myself and many fans wondering, who will be the one to really steal the summer? Will it be Thor, with Shakespearian actor/director Kenneth Branagh at the helm, or Green Lantern, the first DC film in forever featuring another one of their big name characters besides Batman or Superman? Or perhaps X-Men: First Class which brings to movie goers the story of how Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) meet and eventually have the falling out that leads to them becoming such bitter enemies? But maybe it will be Captain America: The First Avenger to steal the show, with such an amazing cast of actors? Who knows, not us thats for certain. But whatever opinions you may have my friends, I'd love to see them be voiced. But above all, be courteous and no cussing out of other bloggers.
Ok, I have to say, I was always excited for Green Lantern and Captain America, BUT I was NOT excited for Thor OR X-Men: First Class. NOW, after seeing all the Thor trailers and the first X-Men one, I have had a change of heart. Now, I am most pumped for GL, but Thor is my second. I don't know why, but it looks FANTASTIC. Err, sorry I mean MIGHTY!
ReplyDeleteCaptain America looks interesting. The only problem that I seem to have with it, is that they use Hydra OVER the Nazis. That makes me a little mad. BUT, the trailer looked good and Marvel's movies are normally great (with the exceptions of Fantastic 4: Rise of The Silver Surfer and Spider-Man 3) so I'm excited.
Now, I am probably one of the only 8 comic book purists in the world who likes the X-Men movieverse (which I consider part of the Marvel Movieverse). Now, do I have problems with the X-Men movies, certainly (i.e. Deadpool and Cyclop's death), but I am excited for this movie. Why? Well, mainly because I have a feeling it will remind me of Smallville, but with a Marvel/X-Men twist onto it, obviously.
So, these are my thoughts. Who will steal the show? I am inclined to say Thor, but I will NOT make hasty judgements on it yet. ;)
They do have Nazi's in the Captain America film, I believe, because in the actual trailer, Tommy Lee Jones character Colonel Philips is describing what "the new breed of super-soldiers" are going to be and adds that "we will personally escort Adolf Hitler to the gates of hell". This makes me think that HYDRA will in this case be a group of Nazi's who have been picked by the Red Skull as his elite's, his very best men.
ReplyDeleteI am super excited for Thor, because I have constantly been hoping they would try something. GL has me excited too, mostly because he is such a great character getting his shot in the limelight. Well that and Mark Strong playing Sinestro.
Thor looks like such an oddball movie for a superhero movie. It reminds me more of Clash of the Titans meets Hellboy 2 than of Iron Man. I have a hard time imaging the two superheroes inhabiting the same world, let alone throwing the Hulk and Captain America into the mix.
ReplyDeleteThe Green Lantern trailer looked cool, and they have a lot of material to draw on given the recent Blackest Night run.
As for Nazis vs. Captain America, I'm not sure how well WWII ideology plays any more. Even Indiana Jones at least ratcheted forward to the Cold War with its Soviet enemies (not that it did Indy a lot of good). Inglorious Basterds brought back Hitler and the Nazi-era Film industry for a (spoiler alert) literal cinematic roast.
I've always had a problem with Nazis as villains, because they were real-life creeps and monsters and I've not heard of a superhero stopping the marches to the concentration camps. It's too serious for the superhero fare. So the Nazis end up reduced to a military evil instead of a social and ideological evil.
Anyway, I'd almost split my vote between Thor and the Green Lantern. We've seen the gritty realism or hyper-realism of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight and the flawed, yet cool, superhero in Iron Man and Iron Man 2. Captain America seems to be going for grit ala Terminator Salvation or The Incredible Hulk (neither of which was wonderfully successful).
Green Lantern's interplanetary element strikes me as odd, but possibly interesting (as long as the ghost of Avatar isn't haunting the movie as the Matrix did for so many other films). Green Lantern also seems to have a sense of tongue-in-cheek wonder about it as evoked by the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four movies (only hopefully better and less annoying).
Thor should be good. But it seems like it is boldly going where Clash of the Titans went before. If Zeus is replaced with Thor and Hades with Loki, it seems that there is a similar premise, based on the one trailer I've seen. One god is trying to harm people, and the other god is trying to defend them.
This is too long already, so that's probably about it.
I can understand your concern's with Thor, but remember two things sir, this is set in modern day times and takes characters from classic Norse mythology and with the imaginations of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, it made these gods of old into something more believable and visually interesting. But I can see how there are similarities in a sense. But in truth, all Loki has ever wanted in the comics is respect, which he never got because his father is a Frost Giant, and he also wanted revenge against Odin, who did take him in, then spent all his time lavishing his fatherly affections on Thor. So Loki is really just an angry child inside who just wants what anyone naturally wants, and that is to be accepted and loved by those around him.
ReplyDeleteNow with Captain America, you have to remember that he has been around literally since WWII, him, Bucky and the Red Skull are as old as Superman and Lex Luthor, as well as Batman, Robin and the Joker from a real world point of view. And one of the main reasons that Nazi's are portrayed as just military enemies in most comic books is because there are kids reading this stuff, and you don't want to cripple their innocence with images of concentration camps, at least not at this point in their lives. But with the Skull, fictionally, his hatred of the Jews and other "inferior races" was as great as Hitler's which is why he was taken under that megalomaniac's wing and trained by him personally. And I like the idea of HYDRA in the movie, because if not now, then when?
As for Green Lantern, I can understand that because of the whole outerspace and other species thing may have people thinking Avatar, but the average person does have time to read back into the history of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Core, so it is up to us, the fans and ones who know what it's all about, to keep the light burning so that the lines do not blur. I cannot wait for that movie, partly because with Mark Strong as Sinestro (go Kick-Ass, Sherlock Holmes!!!) shown here as still "good", it means that if there is a sequel, we can expect some epic ring slinging from Hal as he battles his former mentor. And the fact that they are bringing in Parallax early also is a very good thing, because it beats trying to eventually do any adaptation of that whole storyline.
So with your mind now spoken, and my response given, I have only this to say. Let the summer of heroes comes forth! Let great deeds be done, let adventures be had and may imagination flow from the brain like spiced wine and mead from barrels!!
I have no doubt that many of the films will be well done and that I will enjoy them even if they aren't. I was just musing on how they will distinguish themselves from their predecessors and how they might deal with potential pitfalls.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I guess that's about it. It should be a good summer for movies.
You do make a excellent point. This summer is going to be one that I will never forget. And you can take that to the bank.
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