Batman Vs. Superman Talk

I've been wanting to do this for a few days already. Let's talk some Superman. The release date for DC's Batman Vs. Superman (what a horrible name) has been pushed back to May 6, 2016. This is the exact same day that Marvel Studios has reserved to release their next yet-to-be-named film. Direct competition I would say. Marvel Studios reacted to this move by boldly bringing forward its Ant-Man release date two weeks forward to Batman Vs. Superman's original July 17, 2015 release date. 

I am still very sceptical about the entire Batman Vs. Superman movie. I do believe that it is going to be a huge commercial success for how often do you see Batman and Superman going head to head on the big screen. But, whether it will be as much of a critical success as compared to Christopher Nolan's Batman series, I am not too optimistic. Man Of Steel did not reach the level of acclaim it desired when it came out. I am still undecided on whether I liked the film or not. Zack Snyder has a unique way of envisioning his films. Look at 300, Watchmen and Man of Steel. They all have pretty much the same heavy, serious, humour-lacking tone which may seem a little too dreary for some. That being said, I am not sure how the film series would be able to hold itself together with such a shaky start. I also wonder how the directors of the future films based on this universe would deal with their films when Zack Snyder has started the series with his unique style of film-making.

My opinion on Batman and Wonder Woman joining Superman in the next instalment? I'm not convinced it will work out well. When Man Of Steel came out I thought that Warner Bro. would create a series that revolves only around Superman and the film does really show that it is supposed to be that way. To add Batman and Wonder Woman out of the blue would make us wonder whether they are jumping the gun with this one. You see, when it comes to Marvel Studios, president Kevin Feige has a vision or a direction with his Cinematic Universe as early as 2005 and had in mind the different phases the studio is going into when the studio released its first film, Iron Man. For Warner Bro. and DC, they seem as if they don't know where the future films will be headed. The fact that they pushed back the release for the film a whopping 10 months may be a sign that they are not yet ready to produce a quality film worthy to upkeep their reputation. 2015 would be a challenging year for them at the box office with highly anticipated films such as The Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars: Episode VII coming out in the summer season. With such tough competition I could see why they prefer to push back the release date and allow more time for production.

However, their choice of the new release date has gotten me puzzled. Their new release date May 6, 2016 is the date Marvel plans to reveal their new untitled film. There are many less crowded timeslots in the year, why settle for a date that would entail so much competition? I do not know what film Marvel is planning to release and I have to admit that it is a little selfish of them to reserve a timeslot without even telling the public what movie it is going to be. If I were to be asked which film where to be more successful in the box office, I would have to say Batman Vs. Superman. The whole idea of Batman going against Superman is going to be extremely appealing to audiences and the only Marvel movies that can outwit this will either be another sequel to Iron Man or The Avengers, which simply would not happen that year. Marvel should be concerned about the move made by Warner Bros. but since Marvel's release date remains unchanged, I assume they are quite confident with their movie.

It's no doubt Batman Vs. Superman will be a huge commercial success but whether or not it is going to be a great superhero movie, I still have my reservations. It's still a long way to 2016 and I won't jump to conclusions. We'll just have to wait and see.

Maleficent Trailer

The trailer for Maleficent just came out and it really looks amazing! I love it when a darker version of "Once Upon A Dream" was played in the background, which was sung by Lana Del Rey for your information. I'm keeping my hopes up for this film. 

Disney has really been trying to stir up nostalgia within us by creating films related to the classic Disney films in the 1940s and 1950s. Their first attempt was, I presume, Alice in Wonderland in 2010 which was enjoyable but not worthy of acclaim. It did incredibly and unexpectedly well in the box office too which actually shows how much people do enjoy watching such 're-imagining' films. But at this point in time it is difficult to predict whether Disney will be successful with Maleficent for Disney has been known for its success with The Pirates of the Caribbean and Alice In Wonderland but at the same time been humiliated by the flops of John Carter and The Lone Ranger. 

How will Maleficent fare? I don't know but judging from the fact that it is based on a character that many people have come to know, I guess it will be quite a success. On top of that, I personally think that Angelina Jolie portrayed Maleficent really well in a way that is true to the original Sleeping Beauty film, for which I am glad. Here's the trailer! 

Let's Talk Marvel - Ep.1

A new year and a whole new and exciting line up of movies!! In this post I'm going to talk mostly about the line-up of Marvel Comic based films this coming summer season. We'll get a huge serving of four films including two sequels, one original film and one that can be considered both a prequel and a sequel. Here's the line up...

Captain America joins S.H.I.E.L.D after the events of The Avengers and struggles to cope with his new life. He is also faced with a new villain, The Winter Soldier. I won't give anything away for the character Winter Soldier because any information on him is one spoiler too many. What I am more eager to see is what S.H.I.E.L.D really is and, just like every large organisation, what its dirty little secrets are. It would also be interesting to see how Captain America would cope with this for he stands for integrity and righteousness but in this complex modern era there is not a clear distinction between what's righteous and what's not.

I am excited that Black Widow is set to return in this instalment and I am also excited for the introduction of a new superhero, Falcon, played by Anthony Mackie. I really hope that this film would turn out to be enjoyable and hope that it would play an important role in the overall storyline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Spider-Man faces his greatest battle yet with 3 villains coming his way - Electro, Rhino and The Green Goblin. I am very excited for this but at the same time fearful that 3 villains may be a little too overwhelming. Remember Spider-Man 3? Although Spider-Man 3 is an enjoyable film, the presence of multiple villains makes it difficult for the the film to develop each of them well enough, making the story-line (especially that of Venom) too shallow. I am hoping for a change in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and that writers would really develop the characters individually and how they would come to despise Spider-Man. 

Little is known about the plot of the film right now. But I am glad that the film is going to explore more of Peter Parker's past which was entirely forgotten in the second half of the first Amazing Spider-Man film. The trailer for the film looks amazing and I cannot wait to see this. 

Bryan Singer is back to (hopefully) save the franchise!!! Singer directed the first 2 X-Men films which were a huge critical success. However, he departed afterwards and the franchise took a turn for the worse, with the exception of X-Men: First Class. In this film, the mutants have to fight a war against Sentinels set to destroy them across two time-periods. The characters from the Original X-Men Trilogy have to travel back in time to team up with their younger selves from X-Men: First Class to change the past so as to save the future. 

I am not sure whether X-Men: Days of Future Past will be a critical success but is definitely going to be an interesting movie for it is something that a franchise has never been done before. It will also be a challenging film as time travel would be involved but I am optimistic about what will eventually become. I trust that Bryan Singer would live up to his accomplishments in the first two X-Men films and hopefully steer the franchise onto the right track. I am also glad that this will not be the last film of the X-Men Franchise as Bryan Singer recently alluded to us that X-Men: Apocalypse would be released in 2016. 

Guardians of the Galaxy would send the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the Cosmos. It is going to be a huge risk for Marvel as these characters are not well known outside the comics. But then again, Iron Man and Thor were equally unheard of outside the comic book world before their movies came out, so I am sure that Guardians of the Galaxy would do well in the box office. Directed by James Gunn, little is known what the story-line of the film will be like, or what the film would look and feel like, but judging from the post credits scene in Thor: The Dark World, directed by James Gunn himself, it is going to be a lot different and eccentric as compared to the rest of the Marvel films. It has an amazing set of cast including Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora as well as the voices of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel as Rocket Racoon and Groot respectively. 

I am still waiting anxiously to see the trailer for the film and I hope that it will be a great instalment to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.