BLOCKBUSTER SEASON

A time of crisis...

A world in peril...

A hero will rise... 

Thaaaaaaat's right! Blockbuster season is a-coming! (Some may say it's already here with the release of such explosive fare as Sucker Punch and the brain-dead Battle: LA) Another year, another slew of Hollywood bombast and noise! 'Tis the season for big screens, big budgets, big EXPLOSIONS and little cinematic nourishment. But hey, there isn't anything wrong with a decent, well-made Hollywood blockbuster. If you've been reading this blog for that long, you can see I don't mind a fun time at the movies. 

So, in that spirit here's a quick rundown of the big films that I’m looking forward to this year:

Thor 

Hopefully not your average comic-book movie, with the superhero protagonist being the Norse God of Thunder and directed by Kenneth Branagh. Some internet commentators have likened the Asgard set to Flash Gordon. To me, that is not a bad thing. The second trailer really helped sell me on this, and I just hope it's as crazy nutso as it is in my mind. Well, I really hope Anthony Hopkins is as crazy nutso as he was in The Wolfman. This will be showing in post-converted 3D and I will (if I can) see it in 2D.

X-Men: First Class 

Matthew Vaughn finally gets his hands on a Marvel movie (after previous attempts with X-Men 3 and, funnily enough, a previous version of Thor) and this prequel tale... actually looks kinda cool and interesting. The trailers are really going for the 60s setting, tying the comic-book mythology in with the real-life Cuban missile crisis. They also totally kick ass, which cannot really be said of the posters so far (barring the pretty neat first teaser poster to the right). Absolutely zero design going into them. Which is a shame, because I actually have high hopes for the film: great writers, great director and great cast. Also me = huge X-Men geek.

Green Lantern 

Warner Bros. are finally doing something with the rest of their DC comics character library. Ryan Reynolds (in his third comic-book adaptation) dons the green for, what I'm hoping, is a literal out-of-this world adventure. I'm still not entirely sold on the vein-y suit (though the decision to make the suit entirely CG makes sense to me) but I have faith that director Martin Campbell can deliver the cosmic goods, especially having just watched the recent four minute trailer. And that's what I'm really wanting with this film: a cosmic superhero. Not only do I want a comic-book superhero flick, I want a sci-fi space adventure.

Captain America

The final stepping stone in Marvel's planned Avengers super-team plan, Joe Johnston's Captain America looks like it could be a good old fashioned rock 'em sock 'em adventure flick. Much like his previous The Rocketeer I hope. And again, the trailer is a cracker. Sure, some people are going to get uppity about a super-hero named Captain America. Screw 'em. In his first comic-book appearance he punched Hitler in the face. Are you gonna argue with that?! Chris Evans looks to be fitting the patriotic boots nicely and it looks like they'll be pushing the Howling Commandos as an international team of hard-nosed Allied fighters.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows vol. 2

And while all these other blockbusters are beginnings of one sort or another, this is an ending. Harry and Voldemort finally face-off against one another. As Connor MacLeod would say "There can be only one" (or as Optimus Prime: "One shall stand. One shall fall" Dum-dum-dum TSSH! You got the touch! You got the powwwwwwwerrrr... YEAH!). The last few Potter films have got better and better, so hopes are high for this franchise closer. This film will be tying a bow on a film phenomenon that will have seen the original cast members (barring Richard Harris sadly) across 8 films, 5 directors and 10 years. It cannot be anything but epic.

And yes, I have noticed that all five of these are franchise films, with four of them being based on comic-books and three of those being Marvel. I make no apologies. I am a huge-ass geek. Also, this is blockbuster season we're talking about here. And these are the movies, the big loud and entertaining movies, that I am most looking forward to over the next few months; the ones that may offer something a little different, or a little bit more interesting. Heck, even the ones that just look downright entertaining.

But what if blockbusters aren't your thing? Or what if you just want a palate cleanser for your cinematic tastebuds? Next up I'll be bringing you some of my picks of alternative viewing for the upcoming season.

03.04: PAUL

I’m just gonna say it: it’s a little strange seeing Pegg and Frost together without the direction of Edgar Wright. Don’t get me wrong; it’s great that the three of them have grown and don’t need to rely so heavily on any one of the other of the three to produce a great film... it’s just this is the first time the two best buds are under different direction (from Greg Mottola - Superbad and Adventureland ). Mottola has his own, more laid-back, approach to story-telling than the fantastic, often dizzying wham-bam-bam approach of Wright. It seems... gentler somehow. Perhaps it's also that they're actually in an American film actually set in America this time - they're out of England now. 

Pegg and Frost are two geeks (Graeme and Clive) who, after attending Comic Con, jump in an RV and head off on a UFO pilgrimage across the States. This is where things are roughest, I found, as the film settles in to itself and possibly offers up a bit too much exposition a bit too readily.But, at this point, these two guys have to be acknowledged as one of the finest duos in cinema and their natural, easy chemistry carries us through.

Things really kick-off, of course, when they come across the eponymous hero: a little grey alien freshly escaped from 50 years in the Government's hands. He's kinda rude and smart-ass but also very charming. Seth Rogen is perfectly cast as Paul, his delivery of insults being never too insulting and bringing that easy-going stoner vibe he does so will and contrasting it with the two more uptight Brits. Frost is also, for once, not the clueless and coarse (but lovable) idiot. He still has the sweetness he brought to Danny Butterman in Hot Fuzz, but he never overplays it and Clive is an obviously intelligent (albeit Klingon speaking) man.

It is great to see that the Pegg/Frost writing team is different to the Wright/Pegg writing team. There's slightly different sensibilities in play here: yes, they're all interested in the same geek-centric stuff but Paul seems to be... more low-key than Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz. This is, of course, also down to the less frenetic direction of Mottola. The laughs are never full belly guffawing ones, but they're plentiful. As you would expect there are a few geek references made throughout, and on more than one occasion I was the only one in the theatre laughing... These various references never feel like box-checking and they're always affectionate and tend to look towards the films of Spielberg and Lucas; two filmmakers who have had an obvious influence on the boys.

And I cannot forget Kristen Wiig as a one-eyed bible thumping Christian RV park attendant mistakenly abducted by the three fugitives. She's healed by the little grey guy (in more ways then one) and, through her character, you get a sense of the frustration these two English blokes feel about the American Christian Right. Her switch to continually extreme profanity may happen all too quickly, but she embraces it with such naive gusto, it's hard not to be charmed by her. The secondary characters are an embarrassment of comedy riches. The always great Jason Bateman is the lead agent chasing Paul, with Bill Hader and Joe Lo Truglio giving him some great foolish back-up. I love the work that Hader does and Lo Truglio has been such an interesting presence in so many recent films, I wonder if he'll get his own vehicle sometime soon. Jane Lynch, David Koechner, Jeffrey Tambor and John Carrol Lynch all offer up something interesting in their appearances.

The character’s journey mirrors that of the actor’s: they go from being fanboys and geeks to the object of affection for fanboys and geeks. Paul largely works as a strange, largely fruitful marriage of the Brit-geek humour of Pegg & Frost with the coarseness and improvisational feel of the Apatow school & SNL. This is a sci-fi road trip flick of America through the eyes of two Englishmen, filtered through an American director. It's intelligent, original, funny and offering up affectionate winks to many aspects of geek film culture. Affectionate being the operative word there.

02.04: RANGO

This is such a wonderfully odd "children's" film. There's nothing particularly revelatory or strange about the story or central themes (protagonist searching for identity, builds one with strangers only to have to redeem himself and save new-found friends come the end), but rather more in the telling of it.

Things start a little rough, as they try to set Rango up straight away as "weird" and "kooky". It just didn't flow right to me - yes they needed this character set-up for the rest of his decisions to make sense but I just feel it could have been handled somewhat more delicately. But once the weird chameleon is thrown from his glassed in world, and tumbles along the highway, things really kick off. He winds up in the wild west town of Dirt and convinces the townsfolk that he is one mean hombre. 'Fore too long he's made the Sheriff or this here town that is slowly dying of thirst.

Director Gore Verbinski gave us one of the most entertaining films of the last decade in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl and followed it up with two of the murkiest sequels. And so, at first glance, his decision to give us an off-beat animated kid's Western with plenty of darkness and oddity is perhaps not the most logical next step. But he also gave us the delightfully knock-about Mousehunt so, combined with the Disney juggernauts, this is hardly virgin territory for the man. This is suitable for kids - the darkness found throughout is similar to that of early Disney - but it never talks down to them. There only two blatant pop culture shout-outs made - and they're both for adults (and film fans) more than anyone else.

Depp feels like he's in something of a safety area here as the voice of Rango - he's played the kooky outsider for so long and so often, it can barely be a stretch for him anymore. Thankfully, his voice-work here is definitely not a case of him phoning it in. The rest of the voice-cast is similarly impressive. And while I may lament the modern day demise of the dedicated voice-actor, with the majority of studio based animated films casting name actors, when films like Rango cast as well and appropriately as this, it becomes easier to bear. Isla Fisher, in addition to being a gifted comedienne, is vocally unrecognisable as the love interest, Beans. She brings such fire and commitment to the character, you cannot help but love her. And when the rest of your cast includes people like Ned Beatty, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, Harry Dean Stanton, Ray Winstone and the wonderful Stephen Root you can't go far wrong.

Verbinski certainly hasn't skimped on the visuals either - the film looks stunning. The animation is so good you don't even come to think of it as animation. It's just there, looking gorgeous and real and crisp. Again, when you bring someone like the legendary Roger Deakins on as a "cinematography consultant" there's not a lot you can do wrong. I seem to see a pattern emerging here... Verbinski has done excellent work in just picking the right people for the job and then getting on with it. Everything looks artistically beautiful and each frame is crammed full of wondrous detail.

Rango will be quite unlike any other animated film this year. Again, there's nothing too original going on with the story or characters, but it's more in the way it is told. It pulls inspiration and reference points from a number of places, but usually finds a fun and interesting way of interpreting them. It doesn't talk down or become too winky-winky and you'll find yourself wanting to spend a little more time with the fantastic characters of a town called Dirt.

This is not even the weirdest thing in the film