This time last year, the site was only just up and running with The Grand Opening. My first post was the following day with a particularly short review of the delightful Me and Earl and the Dying Girl which wasn’t quite what I was expecting to review as it was part of ODEON’s ‘Screen Unseen’, but was a great way to kick off the site! I then decided to introduce occasional film news posts, starting with the First look at Michael Fassbender in Assassin’s Creed to receive a good reception. My final section was sparked by the incredible first trailer for The Jungle Book, causing me to do a trailer review for it.
Over the course of 47 posts, the unexpectedly most popular post proved to be Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson join Assassin’s Creed, with 170 external links. The most read review was for No Escape with 55 external links, as arguably one of the best films of 2015. Given that there have not yet been many trailer reviews and breakdowns, there weren’t too many to choose from, however the most popular by a vast distance was for Captain America: Civil War Trailer #1 with 75 external links, later proving to be one of the biggest films of 2016, as well as a huge leap forward for super hero films.
In the last year I have covered all types of films from Sci-fis, dramas, super heroes, thrillers, adventures, etc, and have enjoyed writing about each and everyone of them, irrelevant of how much I enjoyed the film itself, and hope that I will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Over the last year, I have racked up a lot of views and grown to be part of a fantastic blogging community, as well as sparking discussions with a lot of people and creating opportunities for myself. Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed the process and bringing updates to you as an audience. Thanks to everyone who has given the page a chance and for supporting the site, I couldn’t have made it this far without you. Here’s to the last year and plenty more!
After DC released the debut trailers for their next two cinematic events, Marvel took a swing with the second trailer for Doctor Strange, and it is something to behold!
Those who say that every super-hero film looks the same may have had a point, up until now, as Doctor Strange looks like Marvel’s game changing Winter blockbuster.
Watch it now:
Opening through an establishing shot, it introduces Dr Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game, Star Trek: Into Darkness) as he washes his hands, lifts his hygiene mask, plays the piano and crosses his suit in a full suit. As he does this, the sound of his piano is layered underneath a voice-over of The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton – The Chronicles of Narnia, Moonrise Kingdom) saying “Doctor Strange, you think you know how the world works.” The scenery then changes to a shot of him in his Lamborghini, crashing into another car, followed by him laying in a hospital bed with a damaged face, but absolutely crushed and destroyed hands. At this point, his wife Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams – Spotlight, Red Eye) is sat heartbroken next to his hospital bed. The Ancient One continues, “What if I told you, the reality you know is one of many?” At this point, Strange is seen with long hair and a beard, inside a dojo in front of The Ancient One. As she approaches him, with him stepping backwards for every step forward she takes, part of the reality behind him opens, with him backing through it. As he realises what has happened, he states “This doesn’t make any sense” to which The Ancient One immediately replies “Not everything does. Not everything has to”. Just as the camera is about to pass through the reality, it fades to a newly styled ‘Marvel Studios’ title with a kaleidoscope-esque background.
With another establishing shot of the city it returns to the mountain top dojo with another voice-over of The Ancient One, as she stands central in the courtyard “Through the mystic arts, we harness energy an shape reality.” As the sentence closes, a monk in yellow robes stands in the middle of the street waving his hand, causing the buildings begin to change and manipulate their exterior form. An orange portal then forms around him, before cutting to The Ancient One and Strange walking through a similar portal on top of snowy mountains, “We travel great distances in an instant.” Impressed, Strange gazes over the mountain scape. Returning to the dojo, Strange asks “How do I get from here to there?” as the courtyard is seen to be full of monks doing martial arts, with Strange amongst them, learning. The Ancient One responds, “How did you become a doctor?” as she grabs what can only be assumed to be an Encantus, as Strange opens it, he replies “Study and practice. Years of it” With The Ancient One agreeing, it cuts to a shot of Strange’s hand over the Encantus, casting a spell, causing a mystic wall to be placed in front of him. Asking “What the?”, the wall retracts and disappears.
For the first time, Baron Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave, The Martian) enters the screen stating “There’s a strength to him”, to which Wong (Benedict Wong – The Martian, Prometheus) asks “But is he ready?”. As if to suggest that he is, Strange approaches a glass cage holding the characters iconic red cape. Upon Strange looking out of his window, it cuts to Wong warning him “Be careful which path you travel down Strange, stronger men than you have tried.” As he says this, it shows Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen – Hannibal, Casino Royale) with two henchmen, amongst a destroyed street, signifying their power. After announcing its release ‘This Fall’ it shows a birds-eye-view of a city under attack, to which Kaecilius announces “I am death and pain” after which he performs a spell similar to that of the monk in the middle of the street earlier in the trailer. Showing Christine to be vulnerable, it briefly shows a close up the city under attack, followed by her in a hospital attending to a patient as the equipment sparks around her. Returning to Kaecilius, as he walks through a church he states “You will die protecting this world”, before a rotating shot of a city with buildings bending and another orange portal. Strange (now in his red robes) claims “I can’t do this” to which Mordo warns him “There is no other way.” It then displays Strange against one of Kaecilius’ henchmen in a battle of sorcery.
After an intertitle telling you to ‘Question Reality’, it shows Strange casting a spell, reversing the destruction of an area, fixing buildings, as another title says to ‘Change Your Destiny’. Strange and Mordo are side by side as they run down the street, before we see a bending building with Kaecilius and his henchmen jumping over it towards the camera, landing on another building, causing a ripple down it, followed by an incredible shot of a triad of the same city, each opening up on itself. The Ancient One then delivers the graviy of the situation by telling Strange that “I’ve spent so many years, hearing through time… Looking for you.” As the sentence closes we witness Strange throwing his cape onto himself in an impressive manner, before he runs alongside a building with Mordo, watching it unfold. Literally. Cue the title, ‘Doctor Strange’. Once the music has calmed through the title, it shows Mordo handing Strange a piece of paper reading ‘shamballa’, causing Strange to ask, “What’s this, my mantra?” As he leaves the room, Mordo simply replies, “It’s the wifi password. We’re not savages” before closing the door and briefly cutting to Strange in full power.
That is an incredibly difficult trailer to comprehend as it unfolds and is full of mind-meltingly impressive visuals and concepts.
The first major thing you may notice when watching this is it’s very impressive cast line-up with Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton, as well as Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams and Chiwetel Ejiofor who have been nominated for academy Awards, on top of other cast members such as Benedict Wong and Mads Mikkelson who are likely to bring in audience members on their own.
A thought that came to mind, as well as being the leading thought of others is how similar this seems to be to Nolan’s masterpiece Inception, on the basis that there are bending buildings and manipulated earth-structure, and rightly so as it is incredibly uncanny. On the other hand, it is clear that this film’s likeness to Inception will most likely only be through the previously stated factors, and the certainty that it will force you to make full use of your brain to make sense of it as it plays out. One thing is for sure, and that’s the fact that this is going to be even more mesmerizing in 3D.
An intelligent piece of editing (apart from the entire trailer) is at the very beginning and the emphasis on the use of Strange’s hands, given his occupation as a surgeon, before they are seen to be destroyed. It’s very subtle yet very obvious at the same time, and is clearly shown to be why he can no longer continue as a surgeon, eventually causing him to go on his journey to attempt to fix them, staying true to the comics.
A growing complaint people have had with Marvel films is the level and quantity of humour within their films, and the ability for the humour to retract the intensity of the situation. However, there is only one piece of humour in this trailer, and it is placed right at the very end after the intensity and power of the action packed trailer, as to not ruin the momentum and rhythm of the editing. As for the amount of humour within the film itself is yet to be seen, but by the looks of the first two trailer, Marvel appear to have perfected the balance.
This is also supported by the fact that it is written and directed by Scott Derrickson. Derrickson currently has 7 feature film directorial roles credited on IMDB (including Doctor Strange), 5 of which are horror films with the other two (including Doctor Strange) being sci-fi. Although this does not mean that there won’t be any humour, it means that it is likely to be a lot more serious, as well as the chance of prolonged suspense and edge of your seat moments.
Doctor Strange is set to be released on 28th October in the UK, and 4th November in the US.
Alongside the Justice League trailer, DC decided to overwhelm San Diego Comic Con with the incredible trailer for Wonder Woman.
Here it is:
Compared to the Justice League trailer, this trailer is a lot more in-depth as to its setting and style. Taking a far more serious approach whilst maintaining some humour.
As the trailer begins we can see Wonder Woman on the beach, over-looking an unconscious Steve Trevor (Chris Pine – Star Trek, This Means War). The beach is empty, and Wonder Woman is wearing what appears to be her basic/first costume, as it is different from her normal suit. The fact that it is an empty, peaceful beach suggests that they may have just escaped a fight on the ocean, and Wonder Woman potentially saved his life. As he wakes up, she asks, “You’re a man?”. Even more confused than she is, Steve asks, “Yeah, I mean… Do I not look like one?” It then cuts to her homeland and what appears to be a throne-room, before showing Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielson – Gladiator, The Devil’s Advocate) holding Diana’s face saying, “You have been my greatest love.” The footage then shows Diana and Steve in civilian clothing, as well as a packed railway station, as Hippolyta continues, “Be careful Diana”, which is followed by a sudden drop in tone of the music as Diana enters a party in a dress, clearly looking for a specific person. The camera then focuses on an unidentified general (Danny Huston – X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 21 Grams), before she approaches him, reaching for a sword that’s sheathed in the back of her dress. Hippolyta finishes, “They do not deserve you.” The screen then cuts to the Warner Bros. and DC logos.
It returns to the party, focusing on a masked woman, before cutting to Steve walking away from a plane he may have just landed. His voice carries over to a low key shot of him laying down, saying, “Have you never met a man before? But what about your father?”, clearing up the unusual question she asked at the start of the trailer. As it shows her being examined by who can only be assumed is a doctor, followed by a shot of her laying opposite Steve, replying “I had no father, I was brought to life by Zeus.” Confused once again, trying to make sense of it, “Well that’s neat.” The action then begins to kick in as it shows a female horseman riding through a forest at night (potentially Diana), followed by a warrior jumping backwards over a boulder, ready to fire her bow, as she lowers just in front of enemies and fires two arrows. It then shows the entire squad charging a beach of enemies on horseback, as well as fighting on foot. Whilst the same music continues, the setting changes to Diana and Steve in outside of a snowy café, getting close. It then cuts back to the action inside of some trenches as soldiers line up and take position, before Wonder Woman steps in to the trenches ready to take them on. It briefly cuts away to Diana stopping a man as he pulls out a gun, throwing him across the room. As he flies across the room it cuts to a shot of Wonder Woman jumping across a room whilst fighting an entire squad of soldiers. This is then interrupted by an explosion outside of a building.
Standing close to one another, Steve tells Diana, “I can’t let you do this” as it cuts back and forth between shots of them both separately in action, such as Diana fighting soldiers in the street with her glowing Lasso of Truth, and Steve riding a motorbike and flying a fighter jet, ending the montage back at the trenches with Wonder Woman using her shield to block turret fire. It cuts back to them both with Diana responding, “What I do is not up to you”, ultimately underlining not only her independence, but also the level of ‘woman power’ that this film will deliver. For one final awesome montage, it shows more footage of Wonder Woman fighting in the room and on the street, using a mixture of evasive manoeuvres, slow-motion, explosions and focus on her weapons/suit to show why this is going to be one of the most badass films ever made. This montage is backed by a similar song from the first X-Men Apocalypse trailer, In for the kill by Ghostwriter. This is then followed by the Wonder Woman logo, backed by her official character theme song as debuted in Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, Is she with you? by Hans Zimmer & Junkie XL. As per usual, the title is followed by a final clip, which in this case displays Etta Candy (Lucy Davis – Shaun of The Dead, The Office) shaking Diana’s hand, “I’m Etta Candy, I’m Steve Trevor’s secretary.” Confused, Diana asks “What is a secretary?” “I go where he tells me to go and I do what he tells me to do.” Disapprovingly, Diana responds “Well where I’m from we call that slavery.” Immediately, Etta states “I really like here.” Before being moved along by Steve.
The first thing I took away from this was the time setting of the first World War, and how much of a Captain America-esque vibe this suggest (despite Captain America: The First Avenger being set in World War II). The first interesting part of this is the similarities between the two: they both use a shield, they both fight for the right reasons no matter who they’re fighting against, they’re both out of their own time period and own culture, etc. The second and potentially more significant part is the fact that this is the first solo hero film with a female lead, and is set in a time where there was significant gender inequality, posing a huge statement for the modern world.
The interesting part, like most origin films is how Diana’s Amazonian home will be portrayed, as well as how she is shown to leave it. Whilst the only look we are given of it is what appears to be a throne room, we are sure to gain a better look within the next trailer or so.
Once again, we are not distinctively shown who the villain is supposed to be, and it is unlikely that it is Danny Huston’s unnamed general. As with the Amazon, the villain is most likely to be introduced within the next trailer.
To support the underlying style of ‘woman power’, it is directed by Patty Jenkins (Monster, The Killing). Whilst she has not delivered many films so far in her career, her debut film Monster, based on the life of the convicted serial killer Aileen Wuornos was a huge success, followed by directing the pilot for AMC’s hit The Killing, she has immediately established her capability, and is sure to deliver Wonder Woman to her full potential.
Even without this trailer, the Wonder Woman film already had enormous fan-base when Gal Gadot basically stole the show as Wonder Woman in Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, not only because she was the coolest, most stylish character, but also had the best character theme tune. And now, this trailer shows how action-packed and effective it is set to be, showing that women can be just as good heroes as men, if not better. With her also starring in Justice League later the same year, 2017 is set to be the year of Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman is set to be released on 2nd June 2017 in the UK and US.
It’s finally here. With DC finally forcing themselves back into cinemas, and after the very mixed reception of Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (BVS), the long awaited trailer for Justice League is here, debuting from straight from San Diego Comic Con.
Without any further ado, here it is:
There’s a lot of material in there, and certainly teases as a teaser trailer should. So where do I begin?
The trailer begins with Bruce Wayne in what appears to be a ‘city hall’, talking to entire village about a certain individual. He says, “There is a stranger, who comes to this village from the sea. He comes in the winter when people are hungry, and brings fish. He comes on the king tide.” The camera then cuts to an unshaven Bruce Wayne as he states, “That was last night.” before he looks at a specific villager. The villager calmly turns around, telling Bruce to ‘talk’ (this villager being Arthur Curry/Aquaman – the man in question). The screen cuts to black and the soundtrack then turns more rock and distorted as Bruce continues, “I believe that an enemy is coming, from far away. I’m looking for warriors. This stranger. Others like him. I’m building an alliance to defend us. It’s very important that I see this man.” As Bruce explains this, various footage is shown, starting with a group of knights around a hole, burying a mystical looking box. Upon saying warriors it cuts to Wonder Woman, and then to Aquaman downing a beer and calling wave after saying ‘this stranger’, as well as Barry Allen/Flash and Victor Stone/Cyborg.
After this dialogue, it cuts to Barry Allen walking into his secret base full of computers and monitors, followed by Bruce Wayne sat in a chair, “Barry Allen. Bruce Wayne.” to which Barry replies, “You said that like it explains why there’s a total stranger sat in the dark in my second favourite chair.” The trailer then cuts back to Bruce with the villagers as it cuts back forth to Bruce and Diana in the Bat-Cave, with Diana asking “He said he will fight with us?” to which Bruce replies “More or less.” Diana turns around, “More more, or more less?” to which it shows Aquaman grabbing Bruce and pushing him against the wall. Cutting back, “Probably more less.” “He said no?” “He said no.” Once more cutting back to the flash’s lair, glimpsing partially at his suit, Barry states, “Look man, I don’t know who you are, but whoever you’re looking for…” as Bruce turns around and throws a Batarang. At this point, it goes into slow motion (much like the special quicksilver scenes from Avengers: Age of Ultron, X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse) and Barry realises who Bruce is. Grabbing the batarang, it returns to normal motion with Bruce stating “So you’re fast.” Barry replies after a moments thought, “That feels like an over simplification…” Once again, Bruce begins his dialogue “I’m putting together a team. People with special abilities. See I believe enemies are coming…” to which Barry excitedly interrupts, “Stop right there, I’m in.” Confused, Bruce asks, “You are? Just like that?” Becoming slightly more ashamed, Barry explains “Yeah, I… I need friends.” “Great.” Barry lifts up the batarang, “Can I keep this?”
Finally showing each hero fully suited in a short clip, it follows with them all together in a dark confined space with Cyborg turning to Batman, “I heard about you. Didn’t think you were real.” To which he replies, “I’m real when it’s useful.” as he turns to continue. Following the style of the latest DC logo, it shows the Justice League title in a converse style font, and a star between the ‘I’ and ‘C’, as well as an amplified guitar riff. As a final clip, with Arthur still pinning Bruce against the wall, Bruce says, “Arthur Curry. I hear you can talk to fish.”
So that’s the breakdown finished, and whilst there was a lot of material, it was mainly all from similar scenes, refusing to give up much of the film. This means that they have clearly learnt from their mistakes with Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice whereby the final trailer basically gave up the entire story and the fact that Batman and Superman and up teaming up.
The two biggest questions raised from this trailer are:
Where is Superman? Yes, you may still think he’s dead, despite the end shot of BVS, but it’s a case of how long it’s going to take him to revive. The reason Snyder killed him off at the end of BVS was so that Batman could be the one to assemble the Justice League, so the real question is ‘Will Superman arrive after the formation of the Justice League, or at the end of the film?’
Who is the villain? Whilst the villain isn’t even hinted towards in this trailer, it has been announced to be ‘Steppenwolf’, a new-god and uncle of Darkseid (the ultimate villain of the Justice League to which the series is building up to). He has a non vocal appearance in the Ultimate Edition of BVS, but does not play any significant role. He will most likely appear briefly in the next trailer.
The main question asked in reference to what is shown is the mystical cube being buried by the knights. It is what’s known as a ‘Mother Box’. These are boxes that can possess a variety of powers and abilities and attach themselves to their owner and do what is required, self-destructing upon the owners death. In rumour, there are to be three Mother Boxes within Justice League, and are the targets of Steppenwolf, however why he needs them is yet to be revealed. One Mother Box can be seen in BVS as the enigmatic cube that attaches itself to Victor Stone, saving his life and turning him into Cyborg.
The concern that most fans share is the return of director Zack Snyder. After the utter nightmare that was Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, he was the one the most blamed, and rightly so. He has not had the best record for film direction, with Man of Steel and BVS at the top of the list, often making similar mistakes film after film, causing a lot of audiences members to be concerned for the on-screen debut of the Justice League.
Returning to the screen are Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck – Argo, Good Will Hunting) and Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot – Fast and Furious, Triple 9), as well as Clark Kent/Superman (Henry Cavill – The Man from U.N.C.L.E, The Cold Light of Day) once he decides to rejoin. Also returning is Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons – Die Hard: With a Vengeance, The Lion King) and Lex Luthor (Jessie Eisenberg – Now You See Me 2, The Social Network). New to the team, however, are Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller – The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Stanford Prison Experiment), Victor Stone/Cyborg (Ray Fisher – The Astronaut Wives Club, The Good, the bad, and the Confused) and Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Jason Momoa – Conan the Barbarian, Game of Thrones). You can also expect to see JK Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, as well as other familiar faces like Willem Dafoe and Amber Heard.
Justice League is set to release 17th November 2017 in the UK and US.
It’s here. At long last, the second and final trailer for Captain America: Civil War is here, and it’s beautiful.
It’s been nearly four months since the first trailer was released and this takes a slightly different approach, now focusing on the two teams; Team Cap vs Team Iron Man. Watch the trailer here:
So, where do we begin? Let’s start with the breakdown:
It opens to a snowy landscape and a mountain range in the background, immediately establishing the enigma codes for the audience. As this shot transitions to a shot of two men opening a secure vault door, Steve Rogers’ voice overlays, “In this job, we try to save as many people as we can.” The following shot is what appears to be a style of cryo-chamber opening, revealing The Winter Soldier, with Steve continuing “Sometimes that doesn’t mean everybody.” A cut to black is the followed by a shot of Steve himself as Captain America as he finishes with, “But you don’t give up.” The introduction is then completed with the Marvel Studios titles. The trailer then returns with camera footage of the events that occurred during Avengers Assemble in New York, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier in Washington D.C. and Avengers: Age of Ultron in Sokovia. As the footage is played, it is revealed that General Thaddeus Ross is showing a select amount of heroes (Team Cap) reasons as to why they should be put under legal watch and guidance. As the Sokovia footage is shown, Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch turns away upset. Witnessing her reaction, Steve acts by demanding “Ok, that’s enough,” to which General Ross replies, “Captain, people are afraid.” As he finishes the sentence it shows a building being blown up, as well as a shot of T’Challa on the ground in a suit, amongst the rubble and falling ashes. It the cuts to a shot of Iron Man falling out of a helicopter and flying away, layered with Tony’s voice, “That’s why I’m here.” This shot is followed by a close up of Tony telling Steve that, “We need to be put in check.” It then returns to the setting in the previous shot, no revealing a helicopter flying over a massive wave, before revealing a secret base as Tony continues “And whatever form that takes I’m game.” Steve then replies, “I’m sorry Tony. If I see a situation pointing south I can’t ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could.” To which Tony says, as shown in the previous trailer, “Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth.”
It then cuts to an action sequence of Cap chasing Black Panther, who’s chasing Bucky (who’s riding a motorbike) through a tunnel. Black Panther leaps off of a cars bonnet to swipe at Bucky’s wheel, causing them both off to slide down the road. This is then followed by Tony forming an ‘Iron Glove’ to block a point blank shot by Bucky. Over the top of these is Steve, “I know we’re not perfect, but the safest hands are still our own.” Cap can then be seen running through a building that’s being attacked. After is a shot of Bucky as the Winter Soldier taking a shot at War Machine, scraping his armour and destroying his arc reactor, causing him to fall to the ground, to which Tony screams “Rhodes!” As Tony removes his mask, revealing an unconscious/dead Rhodey, his voice-over to Steve announces, “I was wrong about you. The whole world was wrong about you.”
Next is a shot of a SWAT team exiting a van, before a civvie Natasha Romanoff takes them all on, successfully. After is a conversation between her and Tony at what appears to be the new Avengers facility (as seen at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron), to which he says “They’re coming for you.” “I’m not the one he needs to watch their back,” she replies before walking away. Next is a shot of Cap in an apartment saying “This doesn’t have to end in a fight Tony,” before cutting to an internal location, appearing to be Bucky’s cryo-chamber room, in which Tony slowly turns his head to Cap, revealing a black eye, then knocking Cap down, closing his helmet and saying “You’ve started a war.” Cue the action shots:
Iron Man flying whilst shooting from his shoulders.
Cap runs through a building and gets carried by an explosion.
Black Panther fights Bucky on a roof top, whilst being rained on by a helicopter turret.
Black Widow witnesses a huge explosion on what appears to be an airfield.
Scarlet Witch uses her powers to pin The Vision
Hawkeye fires a cluster arrow towards in-flight Iron Man and War Machine, on an arrow is Ant-Man, who lands on Iron Man’s arm.
Crossbones punches Cap, sending him flying.
After this, in the same location as the fight at the end of the previous trailer, Iron Man holds his hand up to Cap saying, “Stay down. Final Warning.” to which a beaten and bloody Cap squares up and says “I could do this all day.” This is followed by multiple musically timed punches and hooks from Cap to Iron Man. Finally are three shots, the first displaying Cap’s team running to fight, the second being Iron Man’s team running to fight, and the final shot being the two teams about to clash. Cue the Captain America: Civil War title/logo.
Then, as an added treat, and in true Marvel style there is an after scene taking place in the main battlefield, which is introduced by Tony’s voice overlapping from the logo, in which he says “Alright, I’ve run out of patience. UNDEROOS!” From this a web comes down onto Cap’s shield before taking it away, revealing Spiderman landing on a van with it, “Hey everyone.”
Right, so that’s the breakdown complete, now to look into more detail.
A few characters have appeared in this trailer that either didn’t appear at all, or get much screen time in the first trailer.
The first of which was Scarlet Witch. Her reaction to the footage being shown by General Ross was short, but was hugely effective. Despite the fact that she changed direction and sides in Avengers: Age of Ultron, it shows how she has developed as a human being and that even though she assisted in saving the people of Sokovia/the world, she still dreads even thinking about the event. She can then be seen again when she is maintaining Vision. The fact that she is simply holding Vision in place instead of crushing him may hint towards the concept of their feelings towards eachother, and their relationship that was within the comics. This was hinted towards at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron when Vision saves her from being disintegrated on Sokovia. She will undoubtedly play a significantly bigger part this time round.
Next is Black Panther who made a couple of brief encounters last time, but can be seen to be making a bigger disruption this time when he is fighting Bucky and knocking him off of his motorbike. As it stands, it is likely that he will be the rival of Bucky, causing him quite the problem.
Vision only makes a quick appearance as stated earlier when he is being held down by Scarlet Witch. Whilst it is unclear how big a role he will play, he is rumoured to be a significant piece.
Crossbones finally gets to show his input into the beatings bank of Captain America, and although it’s only a brief shot, it is seen to be in the middle of a town, surrounded by a lot of civilians. This could suggest that either Crossbones or Cap will be in the town (most likely Cap) when the other appears out of nowhere causing a fight to begin before the crowd can escape safely.
Ant-Man is yet another who was suspiciously absent from the previous trailer, but has made his mark with the awesome moment where he rides an arrow that Hawkeye fires, as also seen within the comics. From this he seems to have settled into his team to the point that he’s discussed tactics. His new helmet style shows that he not only means business, but is preparing himself for some Avenger grade duty.
Back to the other team with War Machine. Not having much part in the trailer, his dilemma from the first is explained, whilst maintaining enigma codes for the film, especially whether or not it will be his last appearance.
Finally and by no means least is Spiderman. With his MCU debut long over due, his cameo trailer appearance confirms his allegiance with Iron Man, which means that there is going to be an origin of their alliance, so prepare for a lot of Spiderman!
With the character posters released, the simple direction of which they are looking tells of their team, as shown in the montages below:
vs
(left – Team Cap: from top left to bottom right – Ant-Man, Falcon, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Captain America, Winter Soldier)
(right – Team Iron Man: from top left to bottom right – War Machine, Iron Man, Vision, Black Widow, Black Panther (Spiderman’s poster was not created as his first appearance was in this trailer))
Overall, Captain America: Civil War is looking to be an enormous hit and incredible addition to the MCU. Directed by the Russo brothers who brought us Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it is sure to have you on the edge of your seat.
Starring: Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Sebastian Stan as James “Bucky” Barnes/The Winter Soldier, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Scarlett Johannson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Don Cheadle as Col. James Rhodes/War Machine, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa/Black Panther, Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Paul Bettany as the Vision, William Hurt as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross/?, Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spiderman, Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow/Crossbones and many more characters to be revealed on release.
Captain America: Civil War releases on May 6th 2016 in the US, and April 29th 2016 in the UK.
Marvel takes a new turn and faces off it’s heroes against eachother.
Team Captain America vs Team Iron Man
Superhero films are known (whether correctly or not) for being simple and unintelligent with their narratives. And now Marvel are packing this narrative with two triggers and an entire nation against the protagonist, Captain America.
The following paragraphs are a breakdown of the entire trailer, including descriptions of most of the shots:
The trailer opens with Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Sam Wilson (The Falcon) approaching a weak and spiritless Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier) in what appears to be an abandoned garage or sorry looking apartment. As Rogers and Wilson stop and stare at him, Steve says, “Buck do you remember me?” With only his head moving to look up at Rogers, Barnes feebly replies “Your mum’s name was Sarah. You used to wear newspapers in your shoes.” Whilst Rogers sympathetically watches him, confirming each detail he recalls. Steve then follows up by saying, “You’re a wanted man” as it cuts to a shot of a building being blown up. As it follows up showing Wilson surrounded by public panic, Barnes defensively replies with “I don’t do that anymore”. As the shot returns to the room, Rogers explains, “Well the people who think you did are coming right now” and the shots change to a SWAT team gearing up and storming a building. Rogers continues, “And they don’t plan on taking you alive.” From this the music speeds up as the two scenes combine with Bucky, Steve and Sam fighting their way through the building, followed by Barnes jumping off of the building as it cuts to the Marvel Studios title banner.
On the trailers return it fades into an upward panning shot of a helicopter flying over the ocean before cutting to General “Thunderbolt” Ross (back from The Incredible Hulk) addressing Rogers, “Captain, while a great many people see you as a hero, there are some who’d prefer the word vigilante” whilst it shows Rogers, Wilson and Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) sitting at a table in front of him, “You’ve operated with unlimited power and no supervision, that’s something the world can no longer tolerate” as it shows Barnes’ attempts to blend in, before returning to the table as Ross hands them a file entitled ‘Sokovia Accords’ (in reference to the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron), and a shot of Rogers staring at the file. The next shot is Bucky speeding a bike down the ride, followed by a high angle shot of a secluded Rogers, as Romanoff’s voice then enters, directed towards Rogers, “I know how much Bucky means to you, stay out of this one. Please! You’ll only make things worse!” The last line then layers over Romanoff on the phone to an undercover Rogers in a cap, aviators and leather jacket, asking “Are you saying you’ll arrest me?” It then cuts to black, before fading into Captain America surrounded by multiple blacked out police trucks and a dozen men holding him at gun point as Ross’ voice re-enters, “There will be consequences” The next shot then opens with Iron Man (in a new suit known as the Bleeding Edge suit) forcing open a door, approaching Cap (with Bucky standing sentry behind him), “Captain, You seem a little defensive.” “It’s been a long day.”
The conversation then transfers to a facility, “If we can’t accept limitations, then we’re no better than the bad guys”, says Stark. It cuts to Cap and Bucky gearing up as he replies, “That’s not the way I see it.” The shot returns to the facility with Stark standing next to Rogers, “Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth”, with barely even a reaction from Rogers. the action the begins to build as Falcon jumps off of a building, engaging his wings before hitting the floor. A shot of Falcon combating two enemies is preceded by Wilson and Rogers in a bar, as Wilson says “I just want to make sure we consider all of our potions, as people who shoot at you usually wind up shooting at me too”. The trailer then begins to start filling up with action shots as Black Widow asks Cap, “You know what’s about to happen. Do you really want to punch your way out of this one?” as he infiltrates a building via smashing through a window. The shot is then followed up with Iron Man and War Machine standing side-by-side, as well as a shot of ‘Team Cap’ (Captain America, Falcon, Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye). Multiple fast shots are then presented, of Iron Man and War Machine flying upwards, Bucky in civilian clothes running through the streets, and missiles crossing what looks like an airfield. Falcon then asks, “What do we do?” as the trailer reveals one of the new characters, Black Panther, as Cap answers “We fight”, as Team Cap run forwards in synchronisation. It then reveals which side Black Panther is on as it shows him fighting/beating Bucky. The enigma codes then begin to pile up as Cap and Bucky chase Black Panther through a car park, as well as Rogers holding a helicopter to a helipad, Black Widow overlooking the explosions on the airfield and Bucky attempting to remove the arc reactor from the Iron Man suit.
The trailer is then drawn to a close with a slow-motion shot of Cap running through explosions, and Tony in his suit, sitting over a defeated War Machine, as Rogers says to Tony, “I’m sorry Tony, you know I wouldn’t do this if I had any other choice.” It then looks to Bucky as Rogers continues “But he’s my friend”. It then fades into a shot inside of the Iron Man helmet, revealing a scarred and emotional Stark, quietly responding with “So was I.” The music then returns once more as Cap finds strength as he gets up, before it shows Cap and Bucky double-teaming against Iron Man, who is unable to land a hit. The final shot is Cap jabbing his shield at Iron Man. The trailer then cuts to black, fading into the Captain America: Civil War logo.
As shown by the trailer, there is a lot to this film, however only a portion of what’s to come has actually been delivered. The main trigger for the narrative can be seen to be Cap’s loyalty to and determination to defend his friend Bucky, no matter who or what stands in his way, even if it means fighting those who stand alongside him. However, in the comic Marvel’s Civil War, the reason for the civil war was the Superhero Registration Act, a government law whereby all superheroes must register their alter-egos so that they can be traced by the government. In the comic this act was opposed by Captain America and the rest who followed him, whilst it was supported by Iron Man and the rest of the heroes. In the comics however, the civil war involves every single hero, including the X-men, Fantastic Four, etc. however due to studio rights, this was not possible, although an agreement was conveniently made between Fox and Marvel, allowing Spider-Man to make his MCU debut in this feature. Whilst the Superhero Registration Act was not mentioned explicitly in the trailer. The first was the Sokovia Accords, where there is a chance that it will be within this file. It was also hinted towards by Stark when he says to Cap, “If we can’t accept limitations, then we’re no better than the bad guys”. These ‘limitations’ could be in reference to the Act that was likely to be within the ‘Accords’.
Overall, this trailer works really well in establishing the style of superhero film it’s going to be, and how much it’s going to change the future of the MCU. Due to the fandom of superhero blockbusters, it will have a far bigger effect on the hard-core fans of the series, as opposed to the audience who watch every-other super flick. This is also emphasised with the last sequence of the trailer, tapping in to the emotional bond between Steve and Tony, which would’ve had a bigger impact on the heavier fans.
As stated in my previous post, Captain America: Civil War is the first film in Marvel’s MCU Phase 3, and there is a lot left to be revealed from the film, including multiple superheroes and a few villains.
Starring: Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Sebastian Stan as James “Bucky” Barnes/The Winter Soldier, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Scarlett Johannson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Don Cheadle as Col. James Rhodes/War Machine, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa/Black Panther, William Hurt as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross/?, and many more characters to be revealed with the next trailer…
Captain America: Civil War releases on May 6th 2016 in the US, and reportedly April 27th 2016 in the UK.
Reboots – the bare necessities of life (apparently).
The new, live-action Jungle Book trailer dropped earlier today and did not fail to impress. Whilst audiences weren’t sure what to expect from the fresh take on the forty-nine year old animated classic, live-action remakes have been rather broad on their approaches. With the flood of fairy tale attempts a few years ago (which were met with a wide range of reviews), including the ‘comedic’ and light hearted Mirror Mirror take on Snow White in 2012, nearly two months before the slightly darker Snow White and the Huntsman. Making classic children’s stories dark appeared to be the style with other films such as Red Riding Hood, Oz the Great and Powerful, Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, etc. Apparently this tradition will be continued by Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Chef), but unlike its predecessors, looks extremely promising by staying true to the original text.
The trailer opens to the famous Walt Disney castle title and a sinister drone that transforms into the beautiful sight and sound of the jungle and its inhabitants. However, this does not last long as it immediately cuts to black and silenced cued by a gong. It then fades back into the drone and the image of a tranquil river. Before fading out once more, it is met with the hypnotic voice of Scarlett Johansson enquiring, “Are you alone out here?”. Immediately forcing us to realise that she will be voicing one of the many animals that Mowgli encounters, but who? It then returns to spontaneously panning of trees and vines before we are first shown Mowgli (Neel Sethi), dead in the centre of the screen. Once more, Johansson’s voice questions, “What are you doing so deep in the jungle?” After an inter-title stating ‘next spring’, it cuts to a long shot displaying some the of population of the animal kingdom and who is presumably Shere Khan standing above the rest on top of a rock edge. This is followed by a shot of Shere Khan walking, narrated again by Johansson, “Don’t you know what you are?”, which is interrupted by Khan’s roar. Adding on to this she says, “I know what you are. I know where you came from.” In this time we see a man running through the jungle with a torch and Mowgli meeting Bagheera for the first time, as well as an army of apes climbing a cliff face and Mowgli on Baloo’s back. Johansson continues, “Poor sweet little cub”, as he is surrounded by elephants (Akela and his herd). In the next shot a rather fearful, beaten Mowgli is frozen before King Louie’s arm stretches out from behind him and his less than pleased face appears. “I’ll keep you close” (with the S held in the form of the hiss of a snake *wink wink nudge nudge*) precedes an almost free running, tree top Mowgli. The increasingly dramatic music halts, “Let go of your fear now…” as Shere Khan leaps from cover towards Mowgli, only to be intercepted by Bagheera. In a head to head, Khan slaps Bagheera down and as Mowgli runs, Shere Khan pursues, only to see the infant jump off of a cliff edge. For the final time, Johansson’s definitive voice over is not only self-explanatory of the character, but is accompanied by Mowgli in front of Kaa, “and trussssst in me.” The all star animalistic line up is revealed before the perfectly loyal-to-the-original action montage is displayed, including the King Louie’s castle showdown, Shere Khan’s fight with fire, and much more before the official logo is surrendered. The final shot returns to the previously shown tranquil river, however the camera pans down to show Mowgli sitting on top of Baloo as they float downstream with the iconic whistling of ‘The Bare Necessities’.
The trailer shows many nods to the original classic from the Bare Necessities, to the King Louie castle showdown. The reason why this should make you feel better instead of making you feel like they’ve been lazy with the script, is that it confirms that Disney are comfortable with the popularity and success of the original that they simply want to re-release it with better graphics, near-revolutionary CGI and a few twists, but with the same basic plot.
The fact that the trailer is narrated by Johansson as Kaa could have been done for two reasons. The first is that Disney may have wanted to make audiences aware that despite looking like the same plot, there are a few changes that will keep you intrigued. The second, and slightly more ambitious, being too suggest that Kaa will have more of a role in the live-action reboot, as opposed to the comedic cameos where he is foolishly outsmarted by the young man cub.
With Andy Serkis’ Jungle Book: Origins released the following year, The Jungle Book is sure to not only attract vast audiences, but will almost certainly deliver.
Scarlett Johansson – Kaa, Idris Elba – Shere Khan, Bill Murray – Baloo, Ben Kingsley – Bagheera, Christopher Walken – King Louie, Giancarlo Esposito – Akela, Lupita nyong’o – Raksha, Emjay Anthony – Gray, and with Neel Sethi as Mowgli, The Jungle Book is released in the UK and US on the 15th April 2016.
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