Trailers In Short - Heroes Coming Back Edition

Back to the trailers!

And cue the triumphant hero music. For it is time to get back into the hero groove. And it's a time for that. The Empire of old needs some Rebellion. The Machines need to be Terminated. It's time for Max to get Mad again. And...Daredevil, Ant-Man, Fantastic Four, and the Rest.

Plus we should get into DC's Live Action Universe.


Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Suppose it's time to admit something horrible. I found the first teaser that was released for this movie to be a little meh. It was a series of shots that went by quickly with no sense of what anything meant. There were sights I knew, like updated Stormtroopers and X-Wings. And the Millennium Falcon did a quick pass. It was nice, particularly as the Williams music kicked in. But it was blur of "What?" I still didn't know what to expect.

And now we get this one. Let's be honest it is a rush of more images of things we don't really understand. But it's longer shots and more reveals of how this universe looks, is being filmed, and how the characters may actual connect to one another. And that makes me happy. I feel like I'm starting to figure out the movie.

We are shown a collection of ships, new characters, and pieces of the original trilogy. As it is, I am trying to purge my head of any rumors I've heard about the movie. I'd like to go into this movie unbiased. The "Empire" (or whatever it's called now) is as imposing as ever. The trooper upgrades are nice. The armor is a little too smooth and light for my taste, but that is my taste.

Still some of the other forces with the troopers are quite interesting. I can't help but love the design of the black armored trooper with the cape. I hope that is a major villain stalking the heroes. (I really hope we see a 6 Inch Black Series Action Figure of this character by next year.)

And we finally get a good look at someone from the previous trilogy. Ah, Han and Chewie. Looking good.

We also get what looks like a hooded view of Luke. It could be misdirection, but I'll assume they wanted us to know who that is.

I look forward to seeing more, so we can understand the Star Wars universe as it lies. Also, where the classic characters are in the movie. Also, we need to learn a bit about who the baddies are, right?

Well, at least with this last week, we can get a look at the main heroic cast. Thanks to Celebration 2015.

I look forward to seeing more. Being jaded though, I refuse to get too excited until I'm sitting in that theater watching the actual movie...

Really, I want to keep this movie separate from the original as I watch it. It's been many years since the last movies. We have a new creative team. And a new take. Effects, style, camerawork, and pacing will likely vary greatly from either of the previous trilogies. (Not that that is a bad thing to happen.) So I'd hate to be locked too much into what came before that I'd be blind to the new.

But, heck, I am a Star Wars fan. Hard to imagine I won't enjoy it like so much of the output that Star Wars has given me in the last thirty some years.


Star Wars: Rebels

Annoyingly, I haven't written on Rebels since the early talk about the show. I will have to remedy that. But, it is officially part of the main canon of the modern Star Wars. It matters. So if you are a fan or are curious about what is being made of the years leading up to the original Star Wars. Take a look at Season 2.

The intensity at the end of last season is only going to ramp up. The dangers that are on the heels of the crew of the Ghost are only growing now that the Empire sees them for the true threat that they are to their Order.

Among the surprises I find here is that they are going heavy to firmly tie together this series to The Clone Wars and A New Hope. The series acted subtly in Season 1 to tie the series into a post-Clone War universe where affects of the the Clone War were scattered around the place. Then Tarkin appeared and began his efforts to bring the alleged Jedi to heel.

Now that the plan has failed, and a larger united rebellion is emerging, the Emperor isn't amused. Every threat from Season 1 is dwarfed now. More troopers and ships are targeting Kanan's team. Darth Vader has come personally, as have multiple new Inquisitors.

The plus is that our rebels aren't alone now. The burgeoning Rebel Alliance is there to help. Ships and pilots looking to take the heat off. Asohka Tano is eager to connect with the only other Jedi she knows live. And with Vader around, how long until Asohka must finally face her Master and Teacher?

The characters of this series are almost all, annoyingly, unknown in the movies. And that means they have no known shelf life. It's frustrating. You don't want bad things to happen to them. But so much evil is at their backs. So who will still be able to fight the fight by the end of Season 2? We just won't know until we watch the season.


Daredevil

Okay. So this series is out already. But it is worth remarking about how interesting it is. I am glad to see Marvel get to play out this street level hero. Can't wait to see how Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and the others fare.

And you just have to love that opening credit music.

Ant-Man

Ah, Ant-Man. At first I wasn't happy to not have Hank Pym as the lead. But beyond what we see in the trailer, I can't hate further breaks in the old status, and things that deviate this universe more from the Ultimate one.

So instead we follow Scott Lang. I do like Lang, and his daughter. They are very likable comic characters. So having  around is nice. And Rudd makes for a likable down on his luck hero.

Ant-Man is a silly concept to watch in a trailer. Like with The Atom, I do have a love for the shrinking heroes. But it will be interesting to see how well this movie will balance it's action, comedy, and goofy aspects.

It will be worth seeing how it works out. And the fact it so far isn't looking like it will rely on you seeing any other of the movies (or TV show) will make the movie a bit more enjoyable.

Avengers 2

Its Assembling Time!

...Okay. This should be a fun movie, I hope. Sorry, I am just pessimistic. These team up movies (and books) are always iffy to me. It's odd to realize. The characters get jammed together and lose some of the qualities that make them interesting and unique. I am waiting to see how the characters will be faring in the mass of everyone else, and all the new characters getting introduced.

But we don't see this sort of movie for the characters. It's the spectacle. The waves of robots getting punched back, again and again.


Fantastic Four

Then we get the Fantastic Four...Boy do they like being coy with all the trailers for this movie.

It feels so odd. I am struggling to see what they are trying to do. The only angle I can find and like is that maybe they want to take a bent towards scientific endeavor and exploration. Maybe they end up opening a path to the Negative Zone early in the movie. Maybe they'll spend of chunk of the movie as explorers in a new land...Or maybe I have no idea about how to read this movie.

But I do like stories of the FF heading off into the unknown as a family of adventurers. So it'd be nice...maybe.

Now, of course, they've just come out with a NEW TRAILER and...It is an improvement. We see the team's powers. We get a sense of what they are working on. Could be an epic adventure, or just ridiculous. I wait to find out.


Mad Max: Fury Road

Max is back. And he's thankfully not Mel Gibson. Tom Hardy is taking over the role and either playing a younger Max than in Thunderdome, or it's just a reboot. Who care?

It seems like a crazy and insane spectacle of cars, desert, fire, and death. Or, a Mad Max movie. It may be, gasp, fun. (Or so ridiculous to actually be a blast.)


Terminator: 

And speaking of older actors not coming back...Arnie's back! (Heh?)

I know, as a nerd, this movie is supposed to outrage me. Just like the last one is, and the one before that. But, nah. I don't care for the last movie (Salavation), as it is a plain mess of a story. But 3? It's a decent enough action/time travel film. It's not as good as T2, but it's still enjoyable to me. It works.

This trailer suggests that this movie has a chance of being a similarly enjoyable action/time travel romp. (Unless you've see the trailer that they recently released that spoils a major plot point of the movie, and is iffy as a story concept.) Time is a funky thing in Terminatorland. If you watched the series The Sarah Connor Chronicles you really started seeing that play out.

So this time around, the Machines have really screwed up the timeline. But, hey kill Sarah Connor as a child sounds like a good plan. Of course killing her Great Great Great Grandparents could also work. Still timeline reworks and thanks to a T-800, Sarah Connor gets her hard life lessons early.

If messing with the T1 and T2 timeline is a step too far, fair enough. For me, the series has long been about blurred and corrupted histories. It's the bane that is having dueling time machines.

...But this could also end up being a mess of a movie on a scale that surpasses Salvation. I'd suggest you get into a time machine and find out for me, but you'd only end up messing with the timeline.



And now...

DC Comics plans and trailers...In another post. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Still a little taste of what's to come...

Alternate Cover for Batman/Superman #42 by
Dan Hipp.

Also some Flash, and the gang.