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John Carter: Movie Review

Damon Houx — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:00:03 +0000

It’s hard to parse Andrew Stanton‘s John Carter without acknowledging that the film has become a curiosity, as it’s a very expensive movie that never figured out how to sell itself. But that has nothing to do with the quality of the film itself, which suffers from a number of very familiar problems to the science fiction and blockbuster genres. Though the spectacle is often jaw-dropping in scale, Carter is incredibly clumsy in getting to those moments.

The Players:

Director: Andrew Stanton
Writers: Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews, Michael Chabon
Cast: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Mark Strong, Dominic West, Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton
Music: Michael Giacchino
Cinematography: Daniel Mindel

The Plot:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (Daryl Sabara) is sent an urgent telegram from his uncle John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) telling him to come to his estate. When Edgar shows up, Carter is dead. Edgar is then instructed to read his story, which shows how Carter was a civil war veteran who was transported to Mars (which Martians call “Barsoom”) only to fall in love with a princess there. She’s Dejah Thoris (Collins), who is on the verge of discovering the power of the ninth ray, but the bad guys don’t like that so they’re going to force her to marry Sab Than (West). Sab’s a brute who’s been given a powerful ray gun-like weapon by the god-like Matai Shang (Strong). On Mars, Carter has tremendous powers to leap and punch, which makes him valuable to the Tharks, the four armed martians headed up by Tars Tarkas (Dafoe), but though he’s a reluctant hero, he falls quickly for Dejah.

The Good:

Spectacle: The rumors of how much this film cost run from $250 to more than $350 Million. As such, when there are giant flying boats in the film, and they crash and shoot at each other, it’s pretty cool. There are some good fight scenes and though it never feels all that alien so much as a movie shot in the desert, it looks great and there’s some scale.
Lynn Collins: As Dejah Thoris, Collins makes a great impression as the female lead of the film. She’s smart, sexy and a fierce warrior, but there’s enough going on behind her eyes that it’s not just like watching the standard obligatory pretty girl in an action movie. She’s playing a character, not an object, and that’s a big relief.
Wit: Though this is Andrew Stanton’s first live action feature, the man knows set up and punchlines through his time at Pixar, and so there’s some witty visual gags involving Carter’s first encounter with authority, and Stanton knows how to communicate ideas visually. And he makes perfect use of the space dog in the film.

The Bad:

Did You Really Write This?: There were rumors of numerous re-shoots, and nothing shows post-production tinkering more than the opening of the movie. It starts with the bad guys (played mostly by Mark Strong) giving West’s character a powerful weapon. Then it cuts to John Carter sending a telegram while he’s followed. Then he dies and Edgar must start reading his journal, which then puts him in the old west as a reluctant warrior unwilling to fight the Indians. This is like twenty minutes or so of material before he goes to Mars, and it’s a total jumble of exposition and back story that’s seemingly there to inform the audience what’s going on but only seems to throw information at them. And when you have this sort of protracted prologue it means you have to have an extended epilogue, which is obnoxious because this is an action movie, and the main action is already over when there’s still ten to fifteen minutes of wrap up. When the big action sequences hit, they’re cool enough, but the story is nonsense. And after having to wait for a good chunk of running time for things to get going, by then it’s hard to care.
Kitsch/Carter: Taylor Kitsch’s John Carter is a reluctant hero who eventually finds a reason to unleash his inner warrior, but his motivations are spelled out in capital letters, and he never seems to convincingly turn from one direction to another. On top of that his relationship with Dejah is mostly that of “she’s hot.” Kitsch was wonderful on Friday Night Lights, and his character is one of the high points of that show, but here he’s not a large enough presence to rise above the Martian landscapes. The film does recall the serials of the 1930′s, but the film would have been better served with an actor like Charlton Heston. Perhaps that’s unfair because there aren’t those actors any more, but it still remains a problem for the film.
3-D: The desert look of this film really worked against the dimensionality, as 3-D has a tendency to darken the image. For the majority of the movie, I spent wishing I could watch the 2-D version. There’s nothing truly great about the dimensionality of the film.
White Ape: Much of the marketing has been based around John Carter fighting the big ape in the gladiator arena. This happens nearly two-thirds the way through the movie, and the danger of the apes is only mentioned in passing. If the white apes weren’t the lynchpin of the marketing this reveal might be cool, but…

Overall:

Enough money was spent on this film to make it look and sound great. And there’s some good things about it. But other than Dejah Thoris, the characters are mostly blanks who go through the motions. It’s big empty spectacle, which has its place, but offers little other than passing thrills.

Rating:6.5/10

John Carter opens March 9.

Photos:

Trailer:

Green Lantern: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:00:54 +0000

After all the hype and build up, it’s finally time for Green Lantern to take a swing at the box office this weekend and show us what it’s got! This has been a film long time coming, one we’ve seen bits of since last year’s Comic-Con. Now it’s finally time for Ryan Reynolds to appear in his skin tight CGI spandex, spewing witty lines. The film is not perfect, and at times it feels extremely over-worked, but there are a number of good performances and enough entertaining moments that make it worth a journey to the theater. Though I would recommend saving yourself a couple of bucks and seeing it in 2D instead of 3D, you won’t miss out on anything. Find out more below…

The Players:

Director: Martin Campbell
Screenplay: Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim, Michael Goldenberg
Screen Story: Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim
Actors: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Temuera Morrison, Tim Robbins, Geoffrey Rush, Angela Bassett, Michael Clarke Duncan
Original Music by: James Newton Howard
Cinematography by: Dion Beebe

The Plot:

Hal Jordan is a bad-ass test pilot with a whole lot of issues when one day a mystical green ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers. Soon he is given all the powers he can imagine, and is asked to help keep the peace within the universe and save planet earth.

The Good:

Peter Sarsgaard: Sarsgaard steals almost every scene he’s in during the film (and not just because his skull takes up most of the screen) and most of the laughs. He brought a real sense of depth to the character and wasn’t afraid to play with it. He’s really the highlight of the film.
The Final Act: Though the film gets off to a slow start (see “The Bad”), the final act really picks up and finally we see the potential that we all knew Ryan Reynolds had, paying off. In the last 35 minutes they’re somehow able to recapture the tension and drama that’s needed for us to be invested in the film. Once they’re able to finally get to the actual film, they sore and it’s really a fun ride.
The Special Effects on Earth: For me, the special effects on earth were much more convincing than the ones on Mogo and in outer-space. The suit and the action sequences were much more grounded than they were in outer space (pun intended). Though the visual effects on Mogo and in space were impressive at times, it still felt like lots of green splashes of goo everywhere and like we were looking at a CGI world. I always prefer the realistic type of effects and I was far more impressed by the creativity they were able to bring to earth.

The So-So:

Ryan Reynolds: He shows such potential in this film at times that I hate to call him “so-s0″ but because of some poor editing choices or problems in the script, his innate humor was never given the chance to breathe nor strike a cord with the audience. He’s able to tackle the more challenging dramatic scenes quite well, it’s the humorous ones that just didn’t quite hit home — since we know he’s better than that, I’m going to assume it was a story or post-production issue, and not him. And if they’re able to keep up the pace of the last act, I’d happily go to see him in another Green Lantern film.
The Editing: As I spoke about with the timing of Ryan Reynolds humor, it felt like there was something off with the editing. In attempting to speed up the first act, they didn’t allow for the natural comedy that Reynolds is capable of and sped past all the entertaining bits to get to more exposition. THOUGH, one of the big things that brought the film back for me in the second act was the interesting cuts between Hal and Hector both changing. It’s hard to say is that was the editing, the writing or a combination of the two, but it was extremely well done.

The Bad:

The First Act: From bad editing, to music that sounded unfinished, to a plethora of plot-lines not properly being tied together, the first act of this film is slow and uninteresting. They needed to either slow down and explain the origins of the story or skip past some of the explanation. They begin the film somewhere in the middle and you get both too much and not enough at the same time.
The Music: I hate saying this, but it felt like an unfinished score. Howard is a great composer, one who has blown us away time and time again. I’m not sure if we heard pieces of the temp score because we screened the film early, or if they cut the film after they scored it and did not allow Howard to adjust the music to the new cuts, but something was definitely off. There are scenes where they just allow the music to drop out and others where the timing is off. Something tells me Howard is not happy right now because he’s better than this.

Overall:

Again, the film started out with both too much and too little, and needed to decide what it was and ground itself. Luckily, they were somehow able to get it back, set the tone and end the film with a bang. It’s not a perfect film and you can easily skip the 3D, but it was easy to watch and Sarsgaard’s performance and Reynolds charisma is enough to make it worth a trip to the theaters,

Rating: 6/10

Green Lantern in theaters June 16th!

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

Green Lantern Wondercon Footage Offers Scale, Other Worlds

Damon Houx — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:04:11 +0000

The Green Lantern - which is due out June 17 – has so far only had one trailer that left the fan-base cold. It featured a more jokey Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, and it seemed to be played for laughs. For this weekend’s WonderCon presentation, Warner Brothers went the exact opposite direction with the Martin Campbell-helmed Superhero adaptation, and sold both the scale and the seriousness of the world of Green Lantern. Check it out…

There are a few moments of levity in the trailer – which play well – but for the most part the footage sells that this is world-building. It’s fun to look in the background, as the aliens go from humanoid (Mark Strong‘s Sinestro) to less so (Geoffrey Rush‘s voiced Tomar-re). And when the footage keeps to its space-based content – with Temuera Morrison’s Abin Sur rushing to earth after a ferocious attack – The Green Lantern looks like something we haven’t seen from a comic-book movie before. If this is the tone of the film, then the scale here will separate this from the comic-book pack.

The ending does concentrate on Earth, and there we see Peter Sarsgaard‘s Hector Hammond, who is obviously going through some transformation into an evil being. We also see very little of Blake Lively‘s character.

There’s a couple ways to look at this footage, but there’s no denying it’s amped up the expectations for The Green Lantern (especially since the first trailer was a dud). The main thing is that its makers knew their target demographic and sold it to them at WonderCon. There’s a lot of ground to cover in the film in terms of turning Hal Jordan into The Green Lantern, and we haven’t seen much of Blake Lively in action, so it’s hard to say that what was shown is representative of the whole, or just cherry-picked money shots.

We’re two and a half months away, so marketing is going to kick into over drive here shortly. But this is their best foot forward.

Can you recite the Green Lantern’s oath?

Comic-Con 2010 Green Lantern Press Conference with Ryan Reynolds

Mali Elfman — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 02:11:41 +0000

One of the most anticipated press conferences that took place at this year’s Comic-Con was Warner Bros’ Green Lantern. Last week the studio unleashed the first photos, this week we got some character posters and now we have an interview with the man himself Ryan Reynolds, along with co-stars Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, and director Martin Campbell.

Here are some of the video highlights from the interview followed by all the details they had to add about the film…

The Story:

MC: It’s not a tough one to explain. I think it’s all very, very clear. I think the story that we are telling which is the Hal Jordon story. The fact that he is taken up to Oa, he’s inducted, he becomes green lantern, the way in which the ring works through will power, the stronger your will power, the stronger your construct, whatever your imagination cares to create. The actual story is very simple. There are many complex characters and all the chars from the origin story go on to the dark side in later comics and things, but I think it’s very straight forward.

RR: There’s a lot of them that are inspiring. Unlike many of the other comic books, it’s such a vast universe to this character and his contemporaries. I read a few different ones. For the most part this is an origin story and I was able to focus a little on secret origins but our script is a much more in depth interpretation of that basic storyline. Geoff Johns described this thing as a version of Star Wars in the DC universe. I think that was a pretty apt description. You have so much you can mine out of this, these comics and this character. Any time you’re dealing with a guy who has something unbelievable and unsurmountable to overcome, it makes for an interesting story. As an actor, it’s an interesting and excellent thing to get an opportunity to play. This guy has a distinct starting point, he’s a bit of a fractured human being, seen his father die. Later in life he’s cocky and aimless. It’s this extraordinary power bestowed on him that sets him on a humbling path.

How tight IS this costume?

RR: Yeah, this costume is a motion capture suit that I’m wearing, so because it’s not seen on camera they’ve managed to find a material that I think most would agree is the most aggravating substance on earth. We’re shooting in Louisiana which is pretty close to the sun. the suit’s been difficult running around in a unitard in the NO summer heat. If I were wearing anything, it’s going to be pretty uncomfortable doing an action movie in the deep south this time.

Stunt and Training:

RR: The training’s just different. You’re not training on an aesthetic level, you’re training on a functional ability. You want to stay out of the hospital as long as possible, but it is a MC movie so you’re bound to be there once or twice. He pushes you hard so I think that’s why – - Martin described it as a knife fight in a phone booth. That’s an apt description of how his action feels. … it’s been fun to train in that regard.

BL: I got to be in The Matrix rig. This rig invented for The Matrix. I think it goes about 20 feet high but I like to say 50 so please spread that rumor. I’m on this gyroscopic waist belt. It works towards your weight and makes you nauseous. That was the extent of my stunts but we did some test pilot training too.

Lets talk Villains and the actors behind them:

PS: [Hector Hammond] is a biologist. He teaches the university but in his private time is quite interested in extremophiles, animals that live in extreme environments on earth as a way to understand creatures on other planets. There’s a fine line between science and wishful thinking. I thought about a lot of people who have sort of stretched our ideas. Added a little bit of creativity to science like Carl Sagan or Isaac Asimov. I read more things like that than straight comics when I was young. A sense of wonder about the world where you start filling in gaps which is what most scientists try not to do. I really thought of him as kind of a dreamer in a lot of ways.

And of course Sinestro?

MS: I’m not sure you prepare for villains necessarily. You prepare for a character. The way I look at villains is nobody’s born evil. Usually something happens to their time on the planet or in space that causes them to become that. You have to look at who he is, what he stands for and what he believes in. He is an incredibly organized, fearless, exponent of the GL core who believes who knows best. In this movie as it stands, he becomes mentor to the newly minted human green lantern and guides him through his first steps. We deal with that process so I don’t think of him as a villain. He’s just an incredibly powerful presence who knows what he believes and what he wants to be right. if there’s anything that causes him later on to spill over to the dark side, it’s his unquestioning belief in his rightness.

Despite Ryan’s success, he was never guaranteed the part….

MC: We did test a few actors. We tested a few of the twice. We went to England and tested a few people. Really, and it’s a very serious consideration. This is not just one film but if it’s successful we’ll do a sequel so we hope this goes on for a long time. Everyone was good. Ryan was exceptional.

DD: We found out they always want to see the guy in the mask as part of the test. Ryan looks really good in a mask.

RR: I have one little anecdote I haven’t mentioned yet – - there was a Cinderella element to it because the FX house had this thing called life casts. You can build a prosthetic around that.The FX house that was asked to make the Green Lantern mask had no idea who was auditioning, but they arbitrarily chose my head from their vast catalogs of heads. So when I showed up, my mask fit a little better than maybe Regis P or Richard Chamberlain’s would have fit.

Further Reading:

Four Awesome Green Lantern Character Posters

Krystal Clark — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:32:42 +0000

***Be sure to check out our Comic-Con Green Lantern Photos of Abin Sur from the exhibition floor!

Fresh on the heels of Comic-Con 2010, Warner Bros has released 4 awesome new teaser posters for the film. They’re character banners that feature Ryan Reynolds who plays Hal Jordan, Blake Lively who stars as Carol Ferris, Peter Sarsgaard who takes on the villainess role of Hector Hammond, and Mark Strong as a beet-red Sinestro. Take a look…

We got our first piece of marketing material for Green Lantern when Reynolds graced the cover of last week’s Entertainment Weekly. Now the official promo campaign has begun! You can expect to see more of the actor and his colleagues leading up to the eventual release of the film, which is scheduled for June 17, 2011.

In case you missed out on all of our amazing Comic-Con coverage of Green Lantern, be sure to breeze through our further reading section. We’ve got all the latest updates available for you below…

Further Reading:

There you have it! Green Lantern mania is about to begin. Are you ready for it to go down?

What do you think of the new posters for Green Lantern? Which one is your favorite?

Comic-Con 2010: Green Lantern Footage First Look

Mali Elfman — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:17:49 +0000

We just saw the first footage from The Green Lantern at Comic-Con 2010 with Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, and Mark Strong (who are all here at the panel). The footage is still very raw seeing as the film doesn’t even come out for another year and they’re still shooting – frankly it’s impressive they had so much so soon!

The first thing that will hit you is the serious tone. Reynolds seems to have dropped his sarcastic demeanor entirely and proves that he can be more than just a comedian.

The footage begins with us the audience being told to focus on a green light and that we could control it. Once it explodes it jumps to Reynolds who is trying to learn how to control this power and then we quickly jump to seeing him get his ass kicked in a number of different ways.

This is very much an origin story. It begins with us seeing Reynolds as a test pilot being given a mystical green ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers that he doesn’t quite know what to do with.

We very briefly get to see some of the supporting cast including Temuera Morrison as Abin Sur in his glass case (which is the exact same case we posted photos of and Saragard as Hector Hammond for a brief moment choking Senator Hammond played by Tim Robbins. There are a number of other great Green Lantern characters that the director assures us will make appearances, the footage just wasn’t quite ready yet.

The trailer also showed the landscape of planet Oa. We’re talking mountains and volcanoes galore covered by green energy. The entire system was represented and it looked glorious.

At the end, the screen breaks into thousands of little green pieces and the music hits home. Quite hard not to get a bit carried away with something that involves you so strongly.

Further Reading:

Like what you read? For more fun, check out our top stories from Comic-Con…

Robin Hood: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 14 May 2010 01:00:22 +0000

I begin this review with a sigh… Ridley Scott’s latest action-adventure ride Robin Hood starring Russel Crowe and Cate Blanchett has a number of amazing aspects to it, but as a whole it’s just not enjoyable. These are the reviews I hate because I can see the craftsmanship that went into the film and I want to love it, but I don’t. Technically all the pieces are there, it was well made, well put together, but with a run-time of 140 minutes and too many details, it felt like sitting through a partially real history lesson with some amazing action sequences.

Lets take a deeper look inside…

The Players:

Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: Screenplay by Brian Helgeland and story by Brian Helgeland, Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris
Producer: Ridley Scott, Russell Crowe and Brian Grazer
Actors: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow, William Hurt, Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac, Danny Huston, Kevin Durand, Matthew Macfadyen, Mark Addy and Scott Grimes
Music by: Marc Streitenfeld
Cinematography by: John Mathieson

The Good:

The Shots: The wide shots of the cavalry riding their horses along the edges of the mountains and going into battle are stunning. Overall the film had a beautiful Renaissance tone to it and the texture of the visuals were so rich that you felt immersed in the world and heavily in need of a shower when it was over.
The Details: If you’re a fan of history, you’re in luck! You’ll get a free (slight inaccurate) history lesson! If there’s one thing this film isn’t missing it’s lots of historical references and good ol’ fashioned lore for you to follow! Sadly all the details do lead to some problems (See “Too Many Facts”).
The Action: As much as I HATE watching horses flip over, there were some impressive fight sequences and the grand finale was quite enjoyable.
Set-Up: I don’t know if this is a good thing, but they did set it up for a solid sequel despite the fact that all the set up itself was rather dull.

The Bad:

Run-time: The film was 2 hours and 20 minutes and I felt every single one of them… especially at the midway point. There’s just no need for a film to be this long. Yes there were a lot of details, but find a more clever way of adding them all or leave them out!
Too Many Facts… That were not always 100% accurate. Example A: King Richard only ever spoke French because he was too lazy and conceited to learn English. In fact he even publicly called it a “lesser language.” In the film, many people speak French but not the King. Overall there were a LOT of facts (some of which were accurate) and references that you knew were important but couldn’t keep completely straight unless you attend the Renaissance Fair yearly and are obsessed with this time.
The Relationship: I hate saying this because I think Crowe is an amazing actor and I’d gladly bow down to Blanchett, but I didn’t buy the build between Marion and Robin. It felt like one minute things were one way and the next thing we know they’re in love! For all the details added, it seemed like we missed out on something between the two of them.
Bland: This movie is just that and sadly for an “action-adventure” film, this is one of the worst things for it to be.

Overall:

The hard part about critiquing this movie is that it is by no means a bad movie, it has all the right elements, but it’s just boring. It’s basically just one long set up for a sequel I would like to see, but an experience I could have done without.

Rating: 6.5/10

Robin Hood will be in theaters May 14th!

Photos:

Trailer:

New Action Packed Trailer for Robin Hood

Krystal Clark — Mon, 10 May 2010 21:37:10 +0000

Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood will be hitting theaters this weekend and in a blatant attempt to stave off the Iron Man 2 competition Universal has released a new action packed trailer. There’s less emphasis on the classic story and more put on the fight scenes. The film stars Oscar winners Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett as Robin and Maid Marion along with Mark Strong as one of the main villains (he plays the bad guy in everything!). Take a look…

Robin Hood tells the story of an expert archer who was a devout servant of King Richard and his fight against the French. When Richard dies Robin visits Nottingham and sees first hand the corruption of its government and the suffering of its people. He also falls for the spirited Maid Marion, a woman who is very skeptical of his intentions. In an attempt to gain her trust he puts together a rag tag group of mercenaries who help shift the balance of power from the rich to the poor.

Crowe can scream all he wants but there’s no way in hell that this movie is going to knock Iron Man 2 out of the top spot. The cast is great, the director is even better, but you can’t beat Marvel Studios’ current golden goose.

What will you go see this weekend, Iron Man 2 or Robin Hood?

Kick-Ass: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:30:05 +0000

As I said right after seeing this film at ShoWest, this film does what it says it will, it kick’s ass. There are some things that I could pick at if I really wanted to but overall it’s a darkly comedic film about fake superheros fighting crime and it’s some of the most fun I’ve had in theaters all year. The tone, the dialogue and the comedic-violence are brilliantly well executed…I was sold as soon as I saw the adorable Chloe Moretz call a group of mobsters “cunts” and stab the living shit out of them…

The Players:

Director: Matthew Vaughn
Writers: Jane Goldman (Script) and Mark Millar (Comic-Book)
Actors: Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Clark Duke, Evan Peters, Mark Strong, Lyndsy Fonseca

The Plot:

Without giving too much away, the film is about a teenager who decides that he can’t take the violence in his neighborhood anymore so he does what comes naturally to him… puts on some cheap spandex and starts kicking some ass! He begins to gather a group of followers, some who are more professional, others who have more money… all with their own distinct personalities and reasons for joining. Let the ride begin!

The Good:

The Tone: What makes this movie so great is that for however fantastical it is still based on real people AND has a strong sense that it’s based in an insane reality. Yes it goes over the top and crazy, but always in a very organic, believable way (until we get to the end). From the colors on the screen, to the lighting, and the overall tone, they did a great job of never making it feel like an unattainable movie. It’s more like a real life story with extraordinary happenings.
The Acting: Across the board, great performances. Nicholas Cages gives one of his best performances in a LONG time by finally letting his inner nerd come out! There are few 10-year-olds that could be both as sweet and violent as Chloe Moretz who steals every scene she’s in with her amazing performance. Mark Strong, the token bad guy of the year delivers again. Christopher Mintz-Plasse will have you laughing as always. And Aaron Johnson proves that all the recent attention he’s been getting is much deserved.
The Violence: There are some graphic scenes when needed, but for the most part the violence is done with a sense of humor that allows you to have fun and let loose. Yes you may cringe, but odds are you’ll be laughing while you do it.
The Comedy: As I’ve said before, what makes this film so great is it’s ability to mock other films like it and even itself. It has fun and never takes itself too seriously.
The Directing: There were a lot of good choices made in this film, starting with Vaughn believing in the film when no one else did. The fact that no one would fund it so he raised $35 million on his own and made the movie anyway (and ended up selling it for more than he asked for). You can tell that this is a passion project and that he really put everything he had into the film and left no stone unturned.

The Bad:

Meh: Id’ have to get really picky, there were some structure issues towards the end which if I’m honest, really didn’t effect the movie for me at all. It’s a fun ride, this film isn’t about being perfect, it’s about kicking some fucking ass.

Overall:

Go see it now! Find a packed theater (it’s great to hear everyone’s response), buy some popcorn, and have a blast!

Rating: 9/10

Kick-Ass is coming to you in theaters April 16th!

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

Kick-Ass Hollywood Movie Premiere Live Stream

Krystal Clark — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:47:06 +0000

Tonight is the night that Hollywood’s elite comes out to watch a bunch of kids curse and kill criminals. We’re talking about the West Coast premiere of Matthew Vaughn’s new film Kick-Ass that opens nationwide this Friday on April 16th. Below you can watch the movie’s cast including Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mark Strong, and Nicholas Cage walk the red carpet, take a couple of pictures, and wave to their fans. Check it all out live on Ustream…

Kick-Ass is based on the Mark Millar comic that begs the question, what would happen if superheroes really did exist? The film centers on a group of crime fighting vigilantes who don’t have any super powers, but overcompensate with weapons and attitude. It’s a prime example of fantasy meeting reality, with a bit of comedy thrown in.

The movie has been receiving great reviews since it played at the ShoWest and SXSW film festivals and now it’s time for the rest of the world to see what it’s about. In the film Johnson plays the title character, Moretz stars as Hit Girl (perhaps the most deadly out of the bunch), and her father Big Daddy is played by a “Leave it To Beaver-esque” Cage. There’s also Mintz-Plasse aka McLovin’ who appears as Red Mist, the son of Strong’s villainous character Frank D’Amico.

Check out all the action as it happens at the Kick-Ass premiere. It’s set to start at 6:30 pm PST time so get ready.

Live TV : Ustream

Who are you the most excited to see walk the red carpet?

Mark Strong On Green Lantern’s Sinestro

Krystal Clark — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:07:51 +0000

A couple of weeks ago it was confirmed that perma-villain Mark Strong had been cast in Martin Campbell’s upcoming comic film, Green Lantern. The British actor recently spilled the beans on how close Campbell’s vision for his character Sinestro will stay to the actual comic and it sounds pretty accurate. Fanboys, brace yourselves…

In Green Lantern, Strong’s character starts off as Hal Jordan’s mentor who eventually becomes a permanent thorn in the hero’s side. The character is very strict and is a slight douchebag by intergalactic standards but there’s no doubt in my mind that the actor can pull it off. He’s been submerging himself in the source material and it sounds like he has a decent understanding of where Sinestro comes from and where eventually goes.

“Sinestro starts out as Hal Jordan’s mentor, slightly suspicious and not sure of him because obviously Hal is the first human being who’s made into a Green Lantern. He’s certainly very strict and certainly unsure of the wisdom of Hal becoming a Green Lantern.” “He is a military guy but isn’t immediately bad,” continued Strong. “It’s the kind of person he is that lends himself to becoming bad over the course of the comics being written, but initially he’s quite a heroic figure.”

Strong appears to have a handle on what makes this guy tick. Not only does he have the mental and emotional stuff down but he confirmed that he was recently fitted for special contact lenses that will give him Sinestro’s piercing eyes. Even though several paparazzi photos have already surfaced with Ryan Reynolds‘ on the Green Lantern set, Strong won’t start filming until June. He’s busy wrapping up his stint on Disney’s John Carter of Mars.

Green Lantern is scheduled to hit theaters on June 17, 2011.

What do you think of Strong’s interpretation of Sinestro? Is he right on the money?

Source: USA Weekend

Mark Strong Confirmed as Green Lantern’s Sinestro

Krystal Clark — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:31:59 +0000

Mark Strong will continue his acting streak as a professional villain by starring in Martin Campbell’s adaptation of The Green Lantern. According to a recent Twitter post by Geoff Johns (the famous comic, television and film writer), Strong has been cast as Lantern’s arch nemesis, Sinestro despite rumors that Jackie Earle Haley landed the part.

Last month while out promoting his latest film Edge of Darkness, Campbell put the Jackie Earle Haley rumors to rest when he stated that he had never heard about the actor being up for the part. In his eyes, Strong was always the go to person for this role. Sinestro is one of the major bad guys in not only The Green Lantern, but the entire DC Comics Universe. According to the director if anyone would play the character it would be Strong, because of their noted similarities.

“He’s not only a wonderful actor, but he looks like Sinestro. If you look up old pictures of Sinestro, he’s very like him.

Production is underway on Green Lantern down in New Orleans, and thanks to a recent tweet by Geoff Johns, we know that Strong is on board and ready to go.

Back from an amazing trip to Green Lantern town a.k.a. New Orleans!! Ryan IS Hal. And Mark Strong is going to be a brilliant Sinestro.

I can’t wait until some photos are released from the set because I’m more than interested in seeing how both Ryan Reynolds and Mark Strong look in their respective bodysuits. More Green Lantern news should be on its way so stay tuned for the latest.

What do you think of Mark Strong being cast as Sinestro? Would Jackie Earle Haley have been a better choice?

ScreenCrave.com » mark strong

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