Just back from the second day at San Diego's Comic-Con, with a bunch of really cool stuff to share with you guys.
Before I get into anything, I'd like to address something. I feel like before I came here, all I kept hearing was how movie studios were largely ignoring the convention this year, for fear of backlash against their project. After today, I can confirm that this is entirely false, as Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. brought in the big guns this year with flicks like The Amazing Spider-Man, Total Recall, Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance, The Adventures Of Tin-Tin, Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn and Fright Night 3D, etc. Basically, there's still a lot of cool shit to share with you guys. And I'd encourage anyone thinking about visiting the convention in the future to absolutely make the journey. It's a beautiful city and the atmosphere is crazy. A movie geek's heaven, if you will.
So anyway, the panels. I must be honest, although I'm covering the fest, being such a fucking crazy huge The Walking Dead fan, I queued for that for the morning, eventually getting in and witnessing the superb trailer for the second season. If you enjoyed the first season of that show, trust me, you're going to eat this up.
After The Walking Dead, I quickly moved to Hall H. The first panel of the day was Haywire, the Steven Soderbergh action thriller (the one that filmed in Dublin). Present at the panel was Steven Soderbergh, Channing Tatum and leading lady Gina Carano. The best news to come out of this was the cast itself; Channing Tatum, Gina Carano, Michael Douglas, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Bill Paxton and Antonio Banderas. Initially, the trio spoke about choreographing the fight scenes and how it was essential to cast a female lead that could plausibly beat the shit out of (and kill) any of the male characters in the film. Soderbergh then touched on how Haywire's fight scenes will be a little different from those in other action movies. He said he felt that in real life, two individual's with a special skillset like this would only last 2 or 3 minutes in a fight, before one defeated, or killed, the other. We were shown an example of this in a quick clip that showed a fight sequence between Michael Fassbender and Gina Carano. It was quite spoilery, so I won't delve into it, but I will say it was incredibly brutal, tense and realistic. Gina Carano is as tough as she is beautiful. Haywire will more than please those looking for a realistic actioner next year.
Next up was James McTeigue's The Raven. Based in the last five days of Edgar Allen Poe's life, The Raven tells the story of the author's time in Baltimore, where a serial killer is using his books as grizzly motifs for his victims. Poe (played by John Cusack, who was present at the panel) teams up with a local detective to track down the killer and finish him once and for all, before he can kill the love of Poe's life. McTeigue introduced the trailer (which I think will be released in the coming weeks) before Cusack and co-stars Luke Evans and Alice Eve took the stage. The trailer is decent, and Cusack looks to be fitting in the role of the tortured author. It also has a very gothic feel to it. Think Sleepy Hollow meets Se7en and you're half way there. A quick Q&A followed where the cast talked each other up, not divulging too much else.
Following this was Underworld 4. Presenting the exclusive trailer for the panel was Len Wiseman (director of the first two films), star Kate Beckinsale and their producer. We were given 3D glasses and the trailer began. About 45% of it was Selene (the vampire hero), waking up from a cryogenic sleep and slicing her way through a hallway of security guys. The 3D effects were decent, but not very immersive. I enjoyed the spectacle of it all, but I'm not certain this entry will break the mould of the one's before. Also, rather annoyingly, part 4 seems to have amped up the blue-ish hue of the film, which doesn't help the audience understand what's going on. It's just a hinderence, not to mention it makes the film look like The Matrix's lonely sister. After the trailer, Len Wiseman explained the film is being aimed at a wider-audience and he recognizes that the series has a small, but loyal fanbase. But they're hoping to open it up to more people.
Having seen Attack The Block, I skipped it's panel in favour of a much needed break. This is where I was informed by fellow geeks that Hugh Jackman confirmed earlier that The Wolverine's villain would be Silver Samurai. The role has yet to be cast. Still, it makes me excited to know that Fox is sticking to the original Japanese-set story arc.
Next up was the eagerly anticipated first footage and discussion of the Marvel sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance. Nicolas Cage, Idris Elba and director's Neveldine & Taylor were at hand to introduce the exclusive trailer, as well as a behind the scenes sizzle-reel that showcases the director's affinity for danger.
The trailer was a pretty standard trailer format, but it had some nice money shots, including;
A soldier spraying an Uzi into Ghost Rider's mouth, only to have him return fire with...fire, pretty much.
Ghost Rider throwing a guy into the air, catching him with his signature chain, then whipping him into the desert ground so hard he explodes.
Yet another ridiculous Nic Cage wig.
And probably the highlight of it all was when a kid asks Cage's character if fire comes out when he urinates, cutting to Ghost Rider unzipping and unleashing a torrent of hellish flames. It may come across as a little juvenile, but this seems to be the tone that the directing duo are going for; a violent, punkish super-hero movie. Mark Neveldine also mentioned towards the end that they approached the character with the understanding that he's a demon, not your conventional leather clad badass.
Oh, and before I go, I should mention that the film's tagline is, "FUCKING YOUR SHIT UP IN 3D".
And that's it for day two at Comic-Con. Apologies for not getting to The Amazing Spider-Man, but I'd tried to get passes for a screening of Fright Night 3D, which unfortunately filled up before I made it in. And I'll have that Drive review up tomorrow night.
More to come tomorrow! Stay tuned!
Before I get into anything, I'd like to address something. I feel like before I came here, all I kept hearing was how movie studios were largely ignoring the convention this year, for fear of backlash against their project. After today, I can confirm that this is entirely false, as Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. brought in the big guns this year with flicks like The Amazing Spider-Man, Total Recall, Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance, The Adventures Of Tin-Tin, Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn and Fright Night 3D, etc. Basically, there's still a lot of cool shit to share with you guys. And I'd encourage anyone thinking about visiting the convention in the future to absolutely make the journey. It's a beautiful city and the atmosphere is crazy. A movie geek's heaven, if you will.
So anyway, the panels. I must be honest, although I'm covering the fest, being such a fucking crazy huge The Walking Dead fan, I queued for that for the morning, eventually getting in and witnessing the superb trailer for the second season. If you enjoyed the first season of that show, trust me, you're going to eat this up.
After The Walking Dead, I quickly moved to Hall H. The first panel of the day was Haywire, the Steven Soderbergh action thriller (the one that filmed in Dublin). Present at the panel was Steven Soderbergh, Channing Tatum and leading lady Gina Carano. The best news to come out of this was the cast itself; Channing Tatum, Gina Carano, Michael Douglas, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Bill Paxton and Antonio Banderas. Initially, the trio spoke about choreographing the fight scenes and how it was essential to cast a female lead that could plausibly beat the shit out of (and kill) any of the male characters in the film. Soderbergh then touched on how Haywire's fight scenes will be a little different from those in other action movies. He said he felt that in real life, two individual's with a special skillset like this would only last 2 or 3 minutes in a fight, before one defeated, or killed, the other. We were shown an example of this in a quick clip that showed a fight sequence between Michael Fassbender and Gina Carano. It was quite spoilery, so I won't delve into it, but I will say it was incredibly brutal, tense and realistic. Gina Carano is as tough as she is beautiful. Haywire will more than please those looking for a realistic actioner next year.
Next up was James McTeigue's The Raven. Based in the last five days of Edgar Allen Poe's life, The Raven tells the story of the author's time in Baltimore, where a serial killer is using his books as grizzly motifs for his victims. Poe (played by John Cusack, who was present at the panel) teams up with a local detective to track down the killer and finish him once and for all, before he can kill the love of Poe's life. McTeigue introduced the trailer (which I think will be released in the coming weeks) before Cusack and co-stars Luke Evans and Alice Eve took the stage. The trailer is decent, and Cusack looks to be fitting in the role of the tortured author. It also has a very gothic feel to it. Think Sleepy Hollow meets Se7en and you're half way there. A quick Q&A followed where the cast talked each other up, not divulging too much else.
Following this was Underworld 4. Presenting the exclusive trailer for the panel was Len Wiseman (director of the first two films), star Kate Beckinsale and their producer. We were given 3D glasses and the trailer began. About 45% of it was Selene (the vampire hero), waking up from a cryogenic sleep and slicing her way through a hallway of security guys. The 3D effects were decent, but not very immersive. I enjoyed the spectacle of it all, but I'm not certain this entry will break the mould of the one's before. Also, rather annoyingly, part 4 seems to have amped up the blue-ish hue of the film, which doesn't help the audience understand what's going on. It's just a hinderence, not to mention it makes the film look like The Matrix's lonely sister. After the trailer, Len Wiseman explained the film is being aimed at a wider-audience and he recognizes that the series has a small, but loyal fanbase. But they're hoping to open it up to more people.
Having seen Attack The Block, I skipped it's panel in favour of a much needed break. This is where I was informed by fellow geeks that Hugh Jackman confirmed earlier that The Wolverine's villain would be Silver Samurai. The role has yet to be cast. Still, it makes me excited to know that Fox is sticking to the original Japanese-set story arc.
Next up was the eagerly anticipated first footage and discussion of the Marvel sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance. Nicolas Cage, Idris Elba and director's Neveldine & Taylor were at hand to introduce the exclusive trailer, as well as a behind the scenes sizzle-reel that showcases the director's affinity for danger.
The trailer was a pretty standard trailer format, but it had some nice money shots, including;
A soldier spraying an Uzi into Ghost Rider's mouth, only to have him return fire with...fire, pretty much.
Ghost Rider throwing a guy into the air, catching him with his signature chain, then whipping him into the desert ground so hard he explodes.
Yet another ridiculous Nic Cage wig.
And probably the highlight of it all was when a kid asks Cage's character if fire comes out when he urinates, cutting to Ghost Rider unzipping and unleashing a torrent of hellish flames. It may come across as a little juvenile, but this seems to be the tone that the directing duo are going for; a violent, punkish super-hero movie. Mark Neveldine also mentioned towards the end that they approached the character with the understanding that he's a demon, not your conventional leather clad badass.
Oh, and before I go, I should mention that the film's tagline is, "FUCKING YOUR SHIT UP IN 3D".
And that's it for day two at Comic-Con. Apologies for not getting to The Amazing Spider-Man, but I'd tried to get passes for a screening of Fright Night 3D, which unfortunately filled up before I made it in. And I'll have that Drive review up tomorrow night.
More to come tomorrow! Stay tuned!
