Trailer Tuesday: Super

Super is the new "Indie" movie from Slither director, James Gunn, looking for a new take on the superhero genre, starring The Office's Rainn Wilson as the protagonist and Ellen Page (Inception, Juno) as the quirky sidekick. While you could argue that it's an almost direct rip off of Kick-Ass or certain characters within it, it does seem somewhat distant from the smash-hit comic adaptation. The use of shaky, mock-umentary style cameras and the perhaps more realistic violence leads me to believe that this will be a unique film, regardless of the lack of an original plot.

      "After his wife Sarah (Tyler) hooks up with a smooth-talking drug dealer named Jock (Kevin Bacon), Frank (Wilson) transforms himself into superhero "The Crimson Bolt". Then with the help of a trusty wrench, Frank wages a one man war on crime. Libby (Page), a local comic book store employee, transforms herself into a superheroine named "Boltie" and becomes Frank's sidekick. The two then team up to take Jock down." - Wikipedia Plot Summary


Here's the awesome looking trailer: 

Time to break it down, even though it's pretty much self-explanatory:

•  0:06 - Looks like thought monologuing is going to play a big part in understanding Wilson's character, as we hear him losing his wife.
• 0:11 - Here's an example of those shaky cams I mentioned, as Frank (Wilson) confronts Bacon about his wife.
• 0:20 - Frank touches the car in a daring attempt to piss off the Baconater.
• 0:23 - And the subsequent beat down...
• 0:30 - :'(
• 0:32 - Libby (Page) shows Frank the ropes on the superhero career path.
• 0:42 - Frank chooses the illusive "Wrench" to smash some bad guys. A comedic choice, it would seem.
• 0:45 - Obviously an early concept design for Frank's costume as "The Crimson Bolt".
• 0:47 - And the costume itself. Looks very DIY and colourful, yet fits so well into the movie.
• 0:50 - Frank in costume, saying his new catchphrase: "Shut up crime!".
• 0:53 - Though these comic-style fight scenes may look tacky, I feel it helps build character to the movie and gives it a certain "IN YOUR FACE" tone.
• 0:55 - Laugh inducing stuff here, as The Crimson Bolt tackles a criminal into some unsuspecting handicap.
• 0:56-1:02 - More brutal shots of The Crimson Bolt hitting people and waving a patronising finger after.
• 1:03 - That's certainly an interesting statement to advertise...
• 1:06 - Dropping a brick on a ladies head sure is nasty. Looks like this hero's a weency bit psychotic... Loving the "CRACK" effect though.
• 1:13 - Libby's costume now for "Boltie". Not as effective as Franks, but still fits the tone. However, I do find it a bit of a coincidence that it matches the colour scheme of a certain Kick-Ass...
• 1:23 - More comedy now, as the duo "Wait" for crime.
• 1:37 - A look at the cartoon aspect of the film here, with sketchy versions of both Libby and Frank. Whether or not these section will be used in the actual movie, I'm afraid I can't tell you.
• 1:39 - More of the brash, tacky style comic visuals.
• 1:41 - Wolverine claws? Sweet!
• 1:46 - YAY! Explosions!
• !:47-1:55 - Cast call, including Nathan Fillion for some reason. It'll be interesting what his super-hero role entails.
• 2:00 - Epic walk through flames. A must for any revenge seeking protags.
• 2:02 - And the title. Nice and simple with "SUPER" there, and a flashy font to go.
• 2:06 - Guns don't fare well with The Crimson Bolt...

  So that is Super. Do you think it looks super though? I know it's definitely on my "Must" list for the upcoming months, (and so may be gracing your eyes with a succulent RE:View of it) but I can see some sort of division over opinions on it, a marmite situation if you will, because of it's brash and "IN YOUR FACE"-ness, sort of like Kick-Ass and Scott Pilgrim vs The World before it. That's all for today, but keep coming back for more doodles, trailers, RE:Views, news, articles, Supdates and just genuine awesomeness.  

Trailer Tuesday: X-Men: First Class

I know, I know, another Marvel movie... I was going to do something else, but this trailer just blew me away, so I just can't resist. I'll try and do something different next week... Promise.

Anyway, onto the trailer at hand, here's the Wikipedia Plot Summary:


"Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men." 

Click here for the actual link, especially if you want 1080p HD goodness.

And the rundown, including some of my own included facts and speculation:

•  0:00-0:30 - Some dramatically done character intros for Magneto and Prof X (or, should I say, Charles and Erik), featuring some tight snippets from the original X-Men trilogy. Plus, first shots of James McAvoy (Wanted) and Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds) as their respective characters.
• 0:44 -  Here's the whole mutant gang together in Charles' mansion, atop a JFK speech regarding the Cuba Missile Crisis of 1962. That's right, it's set in the 60's.
• 0:48 - Same scene as above, but what's interesting here is that Erik/Magneto is holding a gun in his right hand. ???
• 0:53-1:04 - Now here each individual mutant gets a shot, so I'll detail them each in chronological order, starting with:

1.  Emma Frost - a future villain who posses powers of Telepathy and the ability to shape shift into diamond form (see 1:19) - inside a glass box/prison cell.
2.  Next shown is the mutant known as Angel/Tempest, who has magnificent bug like wings on her back, as demonstrated as she shows Charles and Erik while...topless. Note the tattoos on her left shoulder, which resemble her wings, so maybe that's her way of concealing them. 
3. Then it's Beast, who you may remember form the original films as the big blue monster guy. Here he's in human form, as played by Nicholas Hoult (Skins,  About a Boy), and is holding a needle, presumably holding a serum linked to his powers of beastliness (see 1:12/1:17).
4.  After that, Havok is shown in some sort of boiler room. Havok is Cyclops' younger brother and like him can fire energy beams, but from his chest rather than eyes (see 1:21). 
5. Token black guy, Darwin here; a mutant who has the strange power of radioactive evolution, (hence Darwin) which means he adapts and develops an immunity/resistance to anything he was injured by or exposed to. Cool, right?
6. Now this is Moira MacTaggert, the only human one of the team. She acts as the group's link to the CIA...Interesting.
7. Finally, it's original films classic, Mystique (you know, the weird blue shape shifting lady...), looking like she's ready for some sexy-time.
8. Although not in this section, but seen in the mansion part is Banshee, a mutant who can emit super sonic screams (something I can also do from time to time).

• 1:09 - Okay, back to the footage now, and here is Erik and Charles on a jet plane over a certain ocean, readying for some sort of battle. Also seen here are the original yellow and blue outfits seen in the classic comics.
• 1:12 - Beast flying a jet in all of his over-sized furby glory.
• 1:13 - ...That's a lot of missiles...
• 1:16 - Aggressive looking Magneto making a Soviet soldier turn his own knife on himself. That's brutal, even if he was a communist....
• 1:17 - Ahh, the transformation of Beast. But the question is, who's the better blue? Avatar or Beast?
• 1:19 - First look at Kevin Bacon (no eggs included) as antagonist, Sebastian Shaw, leader of what's known as the Hellfire Club, a society for wealthy elites looking to "sway" certain world events. Alongside him is the previously mentioned Emma Frost, this time showing us her diamond form.
• 1:20 - Pre-fur Beast in action, followed by him possibly getting it on with Mystique. Ooh la la!
• 1:21 - A peek at Havok's chest beams power. Nice beans/beams.
• 1:22 - Magneto stabbing some guys hand in a bar. Standard UK pub stuff, really.
• 1:24 - An early version of the Cerebro machine, used by Professor X in the original movies to detect fellow Mutants.
• 1:25 - Remember Night Crawler, from X-Men 2 or X2? He was the blue guy who could teleport into smoke and had an awesome tail. Well here is his red-ass Daddio, looking Satan like as he uses similar powers to cut down some government looking guys. His name is Azazel, after an old Jewish demon thingy and is being played by Jason Flemyng (Lock Stock, Clash of The Titans). 
• 1:30 - Magneto in full costume standing in the same room Emma Frost was seen in earlier. Coincidence? I think not!
• 1:32 - The beginning of the fall into darkness... Charles tries to stop Erik from doing bad shit.
• 1:36-1:40 - Magneto picking up an entire submarine with one hand (only one!) over some sort of naval battle scene. Note the Russian flag flailing on one of the boats and the island in the background. Could this be how the Cuban Missile Crisis was really stopped?
• 1:42 - The iconic X-Men logo. June 3rd people, mark your calendars. 

Congratulations to anyone who managed to actually trawl through all that info and I hope you feel more knowledgeable for it. So that's X-Men: First Class, the official prequel to the original films. I love how it's actually set among real world events and how it will all play out in the cold war era. Definitely going to be an interesting one. I'd also like to point out that it's being directed by Matthew Vaughn, director of one of my favourite films ever, Kick-Ass. That's it for this week, but come back next Tuesday when I'll have a non-Marvel trailer to inform you all about.

Phoenix Jones: Inspiration or Fantasist?

From this picture, I'd go with 'International Knob Head'

So you may of heard of this Phoenix Jones guy lately, the so called 'Masked Guardian of Seattle'. He's basically a guy that's trying his hand at vigilante crime fighting, costume included. But is this man a heroic inspiration of humanity or just another comic-obsessed lunatic in PVC?

    Phoenix started out 9 months ago, nightly patrolling the Seattle suburbs to serve justice to any bad-doers. Since then he's claimed to have been stabbed, had a gun pulled on him and (quite recently) had his nose broken, but has come out of it all relatively unharmed, and that's thanks to his costume. Incorporating a bullet proof vest, trauma plating and a a utility belt (containing a taser, mace and tear gas), Phoenix's suit seems like it jumps right out of the pages of a Batman comic. "When I walk into neighbourhood, criminals leave because they see the suit"  he proclaims.

  Sounds awesome right? A real life vigilante dude, prowling the city streets at night and has a bad-ass suit. It's basically a fan-boy's dream come true. There's just one slight issue... He sucks. Seriously, I don't mean to put a downer on things, but he's not exactly turning crime lords black and blue or foiling evil plans to take over the world now, is he. It's just him going out each night onto the quiet streets, occasionally chasing off rowdy drunks or breaking up local punch-ups. Not exactly Superman...

    But let's not be too hasty. I mean, maybe he's just a normal guy; a normal guy simply trying to make a difference in his community. Nothing more, nothing less. And shouldn't something like that be a good thing? That someone's actually decided to try and do something about the things that bug them, instead of whining about it all day. He's stepped up to do something he believes in and I guess that's something in its self, to be honest with you.

     So maybe he has read one too many comic books, and yeah, I'm not going to lie, he does look like a bit of a prick, but he's certainly standing up for something. And that's what we should look up to him for; that he's  had the balls to do something. How many of you have had moments in your life when you just felt like going against the flow and doing something you felt was right, just to have those feelings pushed back down by the way of modern day society? It doesn't matter that he sucks at what he's doing or that he's probably just some geek extremist in a costume. This guy is one of the few people who's acted on those feelings of righteousness and therefore should be an inspiration to us.

 But then again, maybe he just gets off on it, in which case, you should ignore this entire post....

What are your thoughts on Phoenix Jones? Weirdo? Hero? Publicity Stunt? Pervert? None Of The Above? Share them in the comments, folks.