The Rise of the "Cinematic Universe"

Hulk meets with an exec from Disney

In 2008, Marvel brought fan-favorite superhero Iron Man to the big screen in a very well done, seemingly stand-alone movie. The credits rolled, and fans were shocked and awed as the "Avengers" were mentioned in the post-credits scene. With this, Marvel broke into a whole new world of film-making: the cinematic universe.

That's not to say that there haven't been movies that don't have links, but this took the concept of "linking" movies to a whole new level. Later that same year, "The Incredible Hulk" was released, offering another glimpse by having Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) appear in Hulk's post-credit scene. This is how Marvel really said they meant business. They didn't wait two years for another movie, they dominated the box office in one summer, and laid the groundwork for something much more than just a movie. Followed up with Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Marvel had effectively buried rival DC Comics into the ground. (Don't get me wrong, DC did a fantastic job with the Dark Knight trilogy, but fell flat on their face in terms of beating Marvel to a Justice League movie)

Then, in 2012 (as we all know), Marvel laid the killing blow with The Avengers, which they had been building up to for the past 5 years. But now that the movie has come and gone, why keep going?

As a comic book fan, it's always really fun to see heroes cross over into each other's worlds. I always give a little squeal if I buy a new issue of Spider-Man and see that Iron Man makes an appearance, and so on. But when done in a big-budget, big-screen appearance, it becomes even more fun. Almost everybody who now goes to see a Marvel movie always stays behind after the credits for that little nugget of their next movie project.

Why is Cap's shield all segmented?? 

This is a very fun and ground-breaking style of cinema magic, but it's also a two edged sword. The dangers of the cinematic universe are many, and can really cripple the continuity of the series, as well as the future. The first hurdle is having different directors/writers, etc. for each movie. This can result in complete changes or left out material from movie to movie. For example: In both Iron Man (2008) and Incredible Hulk (2008) there were mentions of Captain America's existence/fate that had absolutely nothing to do with what actually happens in the Captain America movie. For those of us who really do care about things like that, it looks sloppy and disorganized.

The second danger is what is currently happening ever since Disney bought out Marvel: over-franchising. The idea of a TV show spinning off from The Avengers sounds like a great idea, truly. It takes place in the exact same universe, and covers a lot of topics from the movie. But the danger is that it almost ruins how special the movies are. The reason the movies are so fun is because they don't come out every week, but instead we slobber and drool over images and trailers for several years before they're released. I've also noticed with this particular example that they keep name-dropping people like Cap and Thor, but you will never see them in the show. Its just a constant tease. This strategy obviously isn't working with Marvel, as ratings for the show revealed that 2/3 of the viewership stopped after the first episode. That's terrible.

DC Comics on the other hand, seems to be having great luck with TV shows. "Smallville" was a very successful show, chronicling the beginnings of Superman/Clark Kent, and spanning ten years on television. More recently, "Arrow", the origins and universe of superhero The Green Arrow/Oliver Queen has been very successful, and just began its second season. The Flash, along with several other large-name super heroes will be appearing on "Arrow" this season, and The Flash is even confirmed already for a spin-off TV show as well. They're also getting gutsier in the realm of movies, with the upcoming "Superman vs Batman" movie planned for 2015, and rumored to include Wonder Woman as well.

I could see this guy easily moving from TV to movie.

So what's the difference, and who knows when/where to draw the line?

It's no secret that I'm an Avengers/Marvel Comics junkie, but I've more recently been trying to expand my horizons into the realm of DC Comics as well.

On that note, I have this to say: Marvel, cancel "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and halt all plans for your future TV shows including the (very poor idea for an) Agent Carter spin-off show. Its not what fans want, clearly. You're dangling a steak in front of the viewer, but slipping them a slice of olive loaf. Its not working. And to DC Comics: You're kicking Marvel's ass in television, and building a solid universe with the potential for believable crossover and continuity. But you're too late on the "Origin story movie" train. We all know you're using "Superman Vs Batman" as a test to see if a Justice League movie would be any good. My advice is that you don't make any other movies between the release of "SvB" and "Justice League." Until then, stick with TV shows, you're doing those right.

What do you think? Is the cinematic universe the wave of the future, or is it already dying? Sound off in the comments below!

2013 Holiday Movie Guide

It's almost the most wonderful time of the year...again! And after we successfully wade through a pile of shitty "horror" movies in mid-late October (along with the one they seemingly always do right around Christmastime for some reason), it'll be time for AWESOME HOLIDAY MOVIES!

Here's a quick guide of my holiday picks for this year:
CLICK ON THE NAMES OF THE MOVIES BELOW TO WATCH THE TRAILERS

NOVEMBER:
About Time - The love story of a twenty-something man who finds out he can go back in time and re-live moments of his life, deciding to use this gift only to serve his own "happily ever after."
Ender's Game - The movie adaptation of the famous Orson Scott Card book about a young boy bred to stop an unstoppable war.
Thor: The Dark World - Continuing Thor's journey after The Avengers, a war is brewing on both Earth and in Asgard, and Thor has to stop it.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Second in the Hunger Games series, Katniss and Peta are called back into the perilous Hunger Games, but civil unrest is brewing behind the scenes.
Oldboy - The American rendition of the cult classic Korean film of the same name, a man is inexplicably held captive for two decades, then suddenly let loose to find out who did it, and why.
Frozen - From Disney comes the story about two princesses, and the quest of one to stop the other from creating an eternal winter.

DECEMBER:
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Second in the trilogy of The Hobbit movies. Spiders, dragons, orcs, and more stand between the heroes and their goal.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues - The story of Ron Burgandy and the evening news team continues into the 1980's, adding a host of new characters, as they start work for a 24 hour news channel.
47 Ronin - Keannu Reeves directs and stars in a visually stunning retelling of the story of a group of masterless samurai seeking revenge on an evil dictator in ancient Japan.

World War Z

It has been a while since I've just straight-up reviewed a movie, and luckily I got the chance to check out a recent DVD release, so let's check out World War Z!




















World War Z
2013 (PG-13)
Starring: Brad Pitt, and other clearly less important not-Brad Pitt people

Premise: Based on the book (by title only), Brad Pitt plays Gerry, a former United Nations investigator who is tasked with finding the cause of a zombie epidemic.

I like to joke around that if there were a real zombie apocalypse, it'd be over in minutes, because all the college students and rednecks would be out on the streets, guns blazing. If it were anything like the apocalypse in World War Z, we'd be screwed.

This to me is a fresh twist to the zombie genre. The shuffling hordes are fun to watch in the old black and white "Night of the Living Dead" but in real life, they'd stand no chance except maybe against a very slow-paced elderly population. The zombies in this movie honestly scared the crap outta me. When first seen in the beginning, I nearly jumped out of my skin at how hard these things fight for their food. Don't expect any shuffling goons in this movie!

That said, the movie is far from perfect. Any sci-fi/fantasy movie needs a very healthy does of willing suspension of disbelief. However, I still like to keep a tally of "well THAT was convenient" moments within movies as well. In recent memory, "Man of Steel" (2013) stuck out to me, as Lois Lane seemed unkillable, even unwoundable. Pitt's character suffers a similar flaw in this movie. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say that, zombies aside, there are only so many times that you can survive such horrid accidents with no medical or advanced military training.

The cast is strong, I honestly didn't see a weak link in the whole bunch, which helped add to the realism. And the non-zombie scenes did very well to staple the movie in reality.

Verdict: 9 brains out of 10
Very believable. If a zombie apocalypse really breaks out, I'd expect it to go something like this movie. Well, for the most part.

Movie Adaptations: The Good, The Bad, and Eragon

Let's start out with this: I'M SORRY ABOUT THE HIATUS!! For those of you who still read, I love you all, you're awesome. Long story short, in the past two weeks I got a new job, and moved to a different state. I'm still settling in, but I can't let my wonderful readers down!

That said, let's talk movie adaptations. Comic book, video game, book, and others.Settle in, because we're gonna be taking a look at some great ones, and some just truly horrific abominations.

Let's start with BOOK-TO-MOVIE ADAPTATIONS!
The Good: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia #1, Pride & Prejudice (the long one)
The Bad: A Series of Unfortunate Events, Chronicles of Narnia 2 and on
The Hideous: Eragon. Just....Eragon.
Coming Soon: Hunger Games 2, The Hobbit pt.s 2 and 3, Enders Game, 50 Shades of Gay...er...Grey, and a never-ending stream of Twilight clones (The Host, Beautiful Creatures, The Mortal Instruments, etc.)
So what makes them so good? Actors are a large part of why (Lord of the Rings), but they don't always need to be big name stars (Harry Potter) so long as they fit the role. To me it all boils down to the character's mannerisms. Since books by their very nature are a visual medium, the best ones are made great through fantastic character description. Actors who can portray that well or horribly basically make or break the movie.

Then you have the not-so-great adaptations. The ones that, quite frankly, the world would keep spinning if they weren't made (Series of Unfortunate Events, Narnia sequels). But what really makes them bad? Take Narnia for example. The first one was a good adaptation of a famous book. But with the sequels, while they may have followed the books, they were unnecessary. With Harry Potter, the whole point was that the plot had a set timeline, and had to continue. It had a solid base, which was great to build off of. With movies like Narnia, they were good, but not great. They were well received, but didn't have a strong enough take-off to stay in the air.

Then we have Eragon. Now personally I've never seen this movie. The reason I haven't, and most likely never EVER will, is due to the wicked backlash that I've heard from fans of the book. I absolutely adored Eragon, it is my very favorite book, and I don't want that ruined. They tried way too hard, and fell flat on their face as soon as they left the gates. I have a strong feeling this will happen to 50 Shades of Grey.

Now that we've hit literary world, let's continue with COMIC BOOK MOVIES.
The Good: The Avengers, The Dark Knight trilogy, Superman (70's series)
The Bad: Watchmen, Green Lantern, Daredevil, Elektra
The Hideous: Superman Returns, Batman Returns
Coming Soon:Superman/Batman, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Thor 2, Captain America 2, Wonder Woman (rumored), Nick Fury, Ant-Man, Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange......need I continue?

They. Are. Everywhere. You can't avoid them, and they're not stopping any time soon. Most people think they're a recent thing, but honestly there have been comic book movies since the early 70's. Heck there were (horrific) movies made in the early 90's of Captain America, Thor, and the Fantastic Four.

These ones are honestly a little easier to see what makes them good, and quite honestly it has almost nothing to do with the actor. (I say "almost" because there are rare exceptions) It's all about 1. the director, and 2. the writing. I'll start with a movie I'm a bit biased towards: The Avengers. Sure you have a star-studded cast built up over the course of several years, but if you ask me the power-house performance came from director Joss Whedon. Without a solid script and plot, the movie could have, and most likely would have been utter garbage. Most other directors would have had a much harder time sustaining so much star power. But Joss clearly didn't worry about the stars, he cared about the characters they portrayed. Some are decent, but suffer from gigantic plot changes that end up severely pissing off fanboys everywhere (Watchmen). Taking creative liberties like that is a very risky move, and needs to be done so extremely well, that if it gets mucked up, you're screwed.

And then we have the shining examples of absolute CRAP. The king of these is Daredevil. Pop quiz: what happens when you take a pathetic script, match it with an absolute shit director, and package it all with a lead actor who tries WAY too hard? Answer: you get Daredevil. What happens when you decide to make a spin-off of a shit movie? You get Elektra. Same shit, different wrapper. You ask me why I don't have faith in Ben Affleck as Batman? I'll aways site Daredevil. Maybe it'll be good, but it won't be because of him, it'll be because of the director/writers.

Finally, let's wrap up with...ugh...VIDEO GAME MOVIES.
The Good: Resident Evil (the first one)
The Bad: Max Payne, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, all other Resident Evils, 
The Hideous:Super Mario Brothers
Coming Soon: Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Call of Duty, Ghost Recon, Metal Gear Solid, World of Warcraft, Mortal Kombat reboot (rumored)

This...this is a hard subject. I love video games, and I love movies. So together they'd always be awesome, right? ooooooh NO. In the mid 90's there were some decent ones such as Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, which is why I hesitate to put them in the "Bad" column. They were campy, but they knew they were, which makes them fun to watch and occasionally laugh at.

Then you have Super Mario Bro.s and the like. Mario is an icon, so why was his movie so bad? The same reason the 80's Mario TV show was so bad: the character was just NOT made for live action. Horrid acting, a batshit crazy story that had absolutely JACK to do with the games (except for the fact that he was a plumber), they just plain shot for the wrong audience. If they found an audience, it's stoners/bored college kids. The movie has a place in my heart because of how bad it is, but not everyone feels that kind towards movies like this.

Quite frankly, I think video game movies need to be avoided. If one has ever been truly astounding, I haven't seen it, or they haven't made it yet. Video games in their own right are basically movies with some interactive parts, so why bother taking out the interactivity and throwing in bad writing? Just don't.

Casting Rumor Breakdown

First off, apologies to my (few but awesome) readers for my lengthy hiatus from the blog. Life is moving quickly as I'll be starting a new job soon. Packing isn't fun, and it's made even harder when I just plain stop, and end up watching the original Star Wars trilogy with my wife instead. (I never noticed in the late 90's re-edited versions, they completely changed how the Sarlaac pit looks. Totally unnecessary, but I digress...)

I'd like to take some time to address some of the confirmed and rumored casting calls for some upcoming movies, mainly super hero related. Read on, because I have a lot to say about this whole Ben Affleck thing, but I'll save that for last.

RUMOR: Miles Teller as Mr. Fantastic in the upcoming reboot of "Fantastic Four"
Ever heard of this guy? Yeah, me neither. But I like to keep an open mind, so I did some research. This kid's film history is pretty bland. From "Project X" to the remake of "Footloose", I'm pretty unimpressed by that track record. That said, he's pretty young, so things could change, but for the moment, pretty meh.

As far as matching the character, I call folly. Just from the picture below, and if you're a comic book fan you'll know, Mr. Fantastic is older. The reboot is looking more and more like a younger version of the Fantastic Four, which I'm not a huge fan of. Give this guy 10 or 15 years and he may be able to pull off the look, but right now....eeeeeh.


RUMOR: Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm in the same "Fantastic Four" reboot

HOLD UP. I apologize in advance, because I am not in any way shape or form trying to make this a racist thing, but Johnny Storm is WHITE! It's a huge part of the comics that his sister is Sue Storm. So in order for this casting choice to make sense, they'd have to make Sue Storm black as well. AGAIN, NOT BEING RACIST HERE, it just annoys me because then you're completely changing the characters to something totally different. Then don't title it Fantastic Four, because that's not who it'd be about! Jordan was in the recent super hero movie "Chronicle" which did pretty well with it's gritty super hero style, and if they cast it based on that alone, then just make "Chronicle 2" and pick someone actually suited for the role.

Let's flip this around for a moment. What if they made a movie about Luke Cage, but made him a white guy? The dynamic of the character, and even their back story, is forever changed, and fanboys likely will not be happy. I disapprove of this choice.



RUMOR: Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon in "Guardians of the Galaxy"For those of you who may be unaware of the Guardians of the Galaxy, (first off, see my Comic-Con news round-up) long story short: they're the Space-Avengers. Rocket Raccoon is pretty much the smart-mouthed, machine gun wielding mascot. Choice of voice actor may not be critical, but the director has stressed that for the success of this movie, Rocket Raccoon has to be done right.

Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, All About Steve) is one of Hollywood's most recent prettyboy actors. So for him to take an off-camera role is an interesting turn that quite honestly would boost my respect for him as an actor. On that note, let's take a look at his chops as a voice actor. If I heard him talking on TV while I wasn't looking, I may be able to pick out who it is, but that's just because I've watched The Hangover a lot. Short of that, he doesn't have tons of experience with off-camera acting, so the casting here seems like more of a "name-drop" scenario. I'll reserve final judgement until I can hear it, but I think he'll do alright. Not great, just alright.



CONFIRMED: Vin Diesel as Groot in "Guardians of the Galaxy"
Next to Rocket Raccoon in the Space-Avengers, we have Groot, the living tree. Basically an Ent (from Lord of the Rings) if they were aliens. So as a gigantic living tree, I approve of this choice of voice actor. Using the example that I did with Bradley Cooper, if I were listening but not watching TV, I'd easily be able to pick out Vin's voice. He's got a unique, full-bodied deep voice that will lend itself very well to Groot. Not much else to say about it, I think he'll do well.



CONFIRMED: Ben Affleck as Batman in "Man of Steel 2" (or Batman vs Superman)
Alright, buckle up, because I'm about to go on a roller-coaster rant here. I promise I'll try for a few positive remarks in there, but overall, I'm feeling extremely negative about this casting choice.

Director Zack Snyder did a wonderful job with the recent Superman reboot, "Man of Steel." It took the long-standing boy scout in a new, and awesome darker direction. Because this movie is effectively considered the "Iron Man" of the DC Comics movie universe (it's kind of the kick off of the eventual Justice League movie), I'm already happy that they did not have Christian Bale reprise his role as the Dark Knight. That said, I was much more excited about the previously rumored actors for Batman before they announced Ben Affleck.

A lot of people/fanboys have been saying, "Everyone said the same thing about Heath Ledger, and look how well that was in The Dark Knight!" This is a fair point. There was an equally strong backlash when he was announced as Joker. But on the flip side, Heath Ledger wasn't in Daredevil. I understand that Ben Affleck didn't write or direct "Daredevil", so most people are saying the movie was "not his fault." But I thoroughly believe that a good actor can thrive despite poor writing. Affleck did not do this in Daredevil. People say he's such a good actor, but I feel like whatever he's in, he tries too hard. This is an extreme, but take for example "Good Will Hunting". Matt Damon and Robin Williams were amazing, but both Ben and Casey Affleck were very unbelievable to me. We get it, you're from New York, or Boston, or wherever. If that's your only schtick, move along and make way for better actors.

Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Much Ado About Nothing) had this to say about himself, and I feel it applies well to Ben Affleck as well: "I feel I'd make a great Bruce Wayne, [but a] terrible Batman." Anyone can play the billionaire playboy, but not everyone has the chops to pull off Bruce Wayne's darker half. To quote Star Wars: I have a bad feeling about this.



*UPDATE* 08/27/13
RUMOR: Bryan Cranston cast as Lex Luthor in "Man of Steel 2

"I'm going to begin with a startling confession: I'm one of the few people in America who doesn't religiously watch Breaking Bad. But before you string me up and drag me through the streets, let me say this much: I've seen enough of his character to know that he can move beyond being "Malcolm in the Middle's dad" and be a hard-ass bald guy, which in essence is all that Lex Luthor is. The most recent casting of Luthor, portrayed by Kevin Spacey, did an alright job as a pissed off bald guy. But the real trick to portraying Lex Luthor is not just being angry and having hair issues, he has to be the ultimate bad human being.

The beauty of the Lex Luthor vs Superman rivalry is that Lex is the ultimate normal human being. Just like the Joker vs Batman: Joker is nothing but color and energy, and Batman is dark, gray and black, and brooding. As long as Cranston can pull off the "ultimate normal guy" aspect of it, while throwing in some unbridled rage, he'll do just fine. Hope he loses the goatee though, or it'll just be Superman vs Breaking Bad.




*UPDATE* 08/29/13
CONFIRMED: James Spader as Ultron in "Avengers: Age of Ultron"
With voice actors, it can be pretty hit-or-miss when casts are announced. As discussed above, some actors such as Bradley Cooper may not be that distinguishable, whereas others like Vin Diesel may do a more remarkable or memorable job. James Spader (Boston Legal, The Office, Lincoln) to me falls in the latter category. I feel his voice is distinguishable enough that no matter who he voiced, he'll at least give the character more...well, more character. 

My first encounter with Spader was on one of the later seasons of The Office. It took me a while to warm up to his abrasive character type, but his smooth, quietly powerful voice was an interestingly entertaining part of his character. The character he'll be playing (for those of you who may not know), Ultron, is a killer robot with an artificial intelligence that has the ability to evolve itself to overcome his opponents. The character is smart, cold, and calculated. I haven't had an enormous amount of exposure to Spader's acting, but I'm not too worried about this choice. I'm kind of biased since it is a Joss Whedon movie, but either way, not a bad choice.

  

Comic-Con 2013 Special part 2

Apologies for the delay, folks. I've been a wee bit busy lately. But today we'll be finishing up the post-Comic-Con roundup! So let's hop to it.

X-Men: Days of Future Past
Director Bryan Singer (director of the first X-Men movie) returns for this mash-up of both the original 3 X-Men movies, and X-Men: First Class. The time-travel plot matches young and old versions of your favorite X-men, and is being compared in scale to that of The Avengers. This movie boasts a very big name cast, with newcomers to the series including Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) meeting up with series vets including Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart. We'll have to wait until next summer to see if it can live up to the hype, but so far the teasers have definitely pumped up fans.




My take: I'm very excited to see veteran director Bryan Singer's return to the X-Men series. After he left to pursue other films, the original X-Men movies fell to crap. Hopefully he can return them to their former glory!



The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Here we go again, the fifth Spider-Man movie in the past 13 years. Marc Webb returns to direct after the successful reboot of The Amazing Spider-Man, this time bringing multiple villains to the table. As of yet, we've seen glimpses of Electro (Jaime Foxx), and slight teases of Rhino (Paul Giamatti), and we've also heard that Green Goblin will appear as well. Comic-Con was the site of the first finished footage of the movie, with a teaser trailer coming soon. The movie will be releasing next summer, along with at least 3 other Marvel Comics movies.

My take: With so many super hero movies coming out next year, it'll be difficult to separate itself from the pack. I was very skeptical about the choice of Jaime Foxx for the villain, but so far it looks pretty good. I am a huge fan of the first Amazing Spider-Man, and have high, but hesitant, hopes for this sequel.



Oldboy
Based on the 2003 Korean film of the same name, Oldboy tells the story of a man who is kidnapped for 15 years and kept in solitary confinement with no knowledge of who his captors are. After he's suddenly released, he begins a vengance-driven quest to find out who captured him, and why. This American remake stars Josh Brolin in the main role, and follows the same plot.

My take: Its a bit soon to remake this movie if you ask me, and it shows that Hollywood is truly out of any and all original ideas. That said, I'm a big fan of Josh Brolin's acting, and given that the original Korean movie was very grotesque in terms of gratuitous nudity and unnecessarily risque scenes, I'm hoping the American version will be toned down a bit.



Kick Ass 2
After the overly-grotesque Kick-Ass movie, the cast returns in this "what if people roamed the streets as 'super-heroes'" plot. In the sequel, the cast expands exponentially, including Jim Carey (The Mask, Truman Show), and Donald Faison (Scrubs) leading to another gory, over-the-top mess.

My take: I know the series is based off of comic books, but I still feel that they're trying a little too hard. With the main villain in this sequel being a gimp-costumed character calling himself "The Mother-F***er", I feel that the movie is probably going to try way too hard, and result in a sub-par action movie.



Godzilla
The unkillable gigantic lizard is back with yet another reboot from yet another director. Don't worry though, we'll be steering clear of the Americanized, Matthew Broderick-starred crap fest. This Godzilla remake is an all-out homage to the original, but with the benefit of cutting-edge, modern day special effects. As of the time of this writing, they have yet to reveal the look of the new monster, which has been described as a mix between the classic Godzilla, and the 2000 American version.

My take: I'm very excited to see what modern technology can do for the iconic monster! Movies like Cloverfield have come close, but I think they can do better without the sickeningly shaky camera. If the poster below gives any indication, Godzilla is going to be gigantic, and I can't wait!



Riddick
Vin Diesel returns as the futuristic criminal Riddick. Original director David Twohy is back as writer and director. If you haven't seen "Pitch Black" or "Chronicles of Riddick", you probably aren't aware of this movie, but the stealthy action is nevertheless a fun time for those of you who enjoy futuristic action.

My take: I'm not the biggest Riddick fan, the first movie is a little too "survival-horror"ish for me. But those who like them seem to love them. Vin Diesel has a lot of talent, so I may give it a shot, but for the moment, I'm a bit meh.



Lego: The Movie
Well, it was inevitable. Every childhood toy lately seems to be getting the Hollywood reacharound, and Lego is no exception. (If you don't believe me, keep your eyes out for the incoming Stretch Armstrong and Max Steel movies) The good news is that with a huge cast (Channing Tatum, Cobie Smulders, Jonah Hill, Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Elizabeth Banks), and seemingly endless Lego cameos (including Ninja Turtles, Batman, Wonder Woman, basketball stars, and many more), this movie aims to draw in adults and children alike.

My take: Frankly, I can't wait! The trailer (if you haven't seen it yet, check it out here) looks hilarious, and the star-studded cast of actors who have proven their mettle in voice acting definitely won't disappoint!



Dawn of the Planet of the ApesRounding out the Comic-Con preview-palooza, we have the sequel to 2011's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." The series takes a much more realistic approach than the 70's movies, or even the 2001 Mark Whalberg flop. Gary Oldman leads the cast as humanity deals with the aftermath of the ape plague.

My take: ....zzzzzz....wuh? Oh right. This series again. Personally I say pass, simply because I can't take killer monkeys seriously. I may be wrong, but that's just me.

Comic-Con 2013 Special part 1.5

In recent years, many people have been complaining about Hollywood's lack of originality, and how too many comic book adaptation movies are popping up. For a long time, I've agreed whole-heartedly. But recently, it seems as though a breath of fresh air is filling the lungs of the comic book movie industry.

With Comic-Con 2013 freshly behind us, we have seen the dawn of a large number of new movie ideas, rumors, and news, both for in-production films, and those way off in the distance. (Amazing Spider-Man 4 already? C'mon, we're at 2 right now...) Some made me cringe with uncertainty, while others seemed like a bold risk that could yield great results.

The truth is, with the release of The Avengers, Director Joss Whedon inadvertently opened the floodgates of big-budget collaborations, and character mash-ups. To face facts, some are bound to suck. And with the bar set so high, it'll be hard to break out of the pack and be a truly unique and impressive film in the super hero genre.

Titles like the upcoming Batman/Superman movie, the (forever) rumored Justice League, and the hyped up X-Men: Days of Future Past (the scale/budget of which director Bryan Singer is comparing to that of The Avengers) are taking super hero movies into a realm seldom touched until now. No longer are super hero movies just trying to break onto the big screen, instead they're expanding on now built up back stories. They're past the origins, and even reboots such as the latest Hulk and Superman movies tend to glaze over the origins of the heroes, in favor of driving a stronger plot.

I for one am excited by this new "second renaissance" of super hero movies. In recent years it seems that they'd begun to grow stale and overdone. But with the coming of crossover movies, and hero team-ups, we're heading into a direction with a lot of potential. Whether this is good or bad has yet to be seen.