SAN DIEGO – Nerds around the world have flocked to San Diego to attend the 2011 Comic-Con. Then there are those of us, me included, who pretend like we aren’t nerds and secretly wish they were there and eat up all the news that comes out of the convention. Yes, the people who often show up to the convention are labeled as, “nerds.” But let’s be honest, they’re really just people who like really cool stuff, and in conjunction with Comic-Con some pretty cool stuff has already popped up online.
What I’m focusing on today are three trailers of highly anticipated big budget films, “The Dark Knight Rises,” “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “John Carter.” Now I know that the “John Carter” trailer was released last week and that “The Dark Knight Rises” teaser was shown along with the new Harry potter flick, but it’s no coincidence that those releases happened to be just a week before Comic-Con. They were released at that time to get people hyped about the films right before the convention. The new Spider-Man trailer was leaked a little early along with some pics and it sounds like Sony wasn’t too happy about it. The production company just bit the bullet and released an HD version of the trailer online.
So let’s break these trailers down, starting with “John Carter.”
Carter is the movie adaption of a series of books known as “John Carter of Mars.” Marvel and Disney have teamed up to bring the sci-fi epic to the big screen and with a massive budget the productions companies are taking a real risk.
The first Edgar Rice Burroughs book in the series, “A Princess of Mars,” was released in 1911. People have loved the books throughout the years, but it was published 100-years ago, not exactly top of mind. But, Disney is hoping that the big budget action adventure will introduce a whole new generation to John Carter, and so far it’s working.
“In fairness, I say all of this as someone who hasn’t read the Edgar Rice Burroughs stories that “Carter” has its roots in,” wrote MTV blogger Josh Wigler. “I can’t tell you if the ‘Carter’ trailer perfectly captures the spirit and tone of the source material, or if the casting measures up to the characters Burroughs put on the page, none of that. What I can say is that this thing positively oozes cool. It’s brimming with a rare epic quality that one doesn’t see as often as they might like in trailers/movies these days.”
The next trailer on the list is the re-boot, “The Amazing Spider-Man.” The Sam Raimi helmed Spider-Man series debuted its last film, “Spider-Man 3” just 4-years ago. Seems pretty quick for a re-boot, but Hollywood seems to be more impatient than usual these days. The new film will have “Social Network” star Andrew Garfield in the title role with “500 Days of Summer” director Marc Webb running the ship. The fact that his last name is Webb was just a fortunate coincidence.
The new Spidey film will concentrate on a high school aged Peter Parker and according to the trailer it looks like it will give us the nerdy super hero’s origin story once again. The new teaser still keeps us in the dark by not showing us who the new villain will be for this new installment, but it does give us a quick peek at the new costume. Hopefully Sony and Webb will reveal more about the web-slinging adventure as Comic-Con continues.
Now onto the trailer I can’t stop watching, “The Dark Knight Rises.” TDKR will be the end of what’s becoming known as the best super hero movie series of all time. Director Christopher Nolan is notorious for keeping tight lipped about his films, and that’s exactly what he’s done in the new trailer.
The teaser inter-cuts shots and audio from the two previous films along with some audio and images from the new film. We get a peek at one of the film’s villains, Bane, played by Tom Hardy. To say the close-up is intimidating is an understatement. But the most intriguing moment has to be the closing shot, a brief moment which Matt McDaniel with Yahoo movies and many other writers commented on at length.
“Batman looks damp, out of breath, and a little unsteady on his feet as Bane comes lumbering at him. Behind him, an out-of-focus figure stands on a catwalk (“Cat”-walk? Could that be a clue?) From that distance, it’s hard to make out if it’s a man or a woman,” wrote McDaniel.
MTV blogger Wigler also commented on the closing shot.
“While we’re all understandably distracted by the awesomeness that is the Bane and Batman fist fight, we (or me, at least) have neglected to observe a third party in that scene. Just past Bruce Wayne’s shoulder, you can make out the image of a third, unidentified person. Who is this guy? Another foe that Bats has to face after going toe-to-toe against Bane, or, worse, while he’s fighting the Man who Broke the Bat? Or is it a friend, someone on the sidelines looking to help the Caped Crusader in his latest showdown?”
McDaniel makes an interesting point. TDKR casting news has flooded the internet over the last few months, but the trailer didn’t show many of the big actors who have been cast in notable roles. Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard are all missing from the trailer.
Hopefully these three trailers can whet our appetite for the time being and we will all keep our fingers crossed that more awesomeness is released from Comic-Con over the next few days.
Let us know on our comment boards and Facebook what you think about these trailer premiers and also what big 2012 movie you’re most looking forward to.
