Tag: Analysis

Thoughts on Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Second Trailer

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Starwarsviitheforceawakens

The second trailer to Star Wars: The Force Awakens is certainly signalling the passing of the lightsaber. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) narrates this second piece by saying, “The Force is strong in my family. My father has it, I have it, my sister has it (whereupon Luke gives his original lightsaber away to who may be Leia) … you have that power too.” Just who is it? There’s no direct image to indicate exactly who, but it may well be with the Poe (Oscar Isaac), the X-wing pilot or Rey (Daisy Ridley), the lady running in the foreground. Usually, when constructing a trailer, it’s best to have the images flow with the text. When the trailer is meant to tease, it should not reveal exactly what’s going on, but instead suggest one of a few possibilities to have watchers guessing.

If the editors and J.J. Abrams are clever, it’ll be neither of the above, and just who is in the family bloodline has not been revealed yet. In the Expanded Universe created by Dark Horse Comics and various authors, Han and Leia are married, and they have children: Jaina, Jacen and Anakin. When the Walt Disney company acquired the franchise, they declared all of that as “Legends,” or rather an alternate universe that’s no longer considered canon. To be fair, to work the new film based on what’s created with no consortium would have led to a less than stellar screenplay, and to wonder what’s new, or if Poe or Rey are related to the Skywalker family is more exciting.

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Tying the Strings Back in Avengers: Age of Ultron’s Three Trailers

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

avengers-age-of-ultron

Just what can fans of Marvel Entertainment’s Avengers: Age of Ultron learn about this movie, due in theatres May 1st, now that all three trailers are out? One fact is certain: someone is pulling the strings that will see a new dawn (of enslavement) for all of humanity. Mutants will be revealed and a global watch dog system built by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) shows that Ultron will keep an eye at all the problems plaguing society.

However, there’s a secret figure who will emerge and it’s face looks like a red faced vision of hope — perhaps. This android was created by Ultron (voiced by James Spader) in the original 60’s comics to use against his creator, Dr. Hank Pym (Ant-Man). When considering that there is an Ant-Man movie being developed, just how much crossover potential will happen depends on how much retconning writer/director Joss Whedon has done to the Marvel Universe.

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The Minions, One Trailer, Two Trailers … An Analysis — Will There Be a Third?

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

despicable_me_2_minions-wideThe Minions has an all-new trailer and the happy banana-loving trio of Stuart, Kevin, and Bob are headed to Villain Con! Unless they have a leader soon, they are going to wilt into less than the single-celled organisms that they are.

In what fans will see is them discovering that the human world needs bad guys in their lives. As strange as that sounds, it will have some viewers wondering just what kind of crazy mixed up world is this? Are there any saviours?

Whatever the reason, the Minions are no doubt going to be the unlikely heroes of this film and series. Their innocence will turn the tables on Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock), who takes the three on as her aides. In this trailer’s case, perhaps to adopt them and to teach them the ways of how to be evil. Shades of what made the Despicable Me films wonderful are noticeable, and the relationship dynamics are amped up. Some may wonder if Overkill is the mother of Gru. They both have a tell-tale long and pointy nose.

The humour is fantastic, and hopefully this two and a half-minute short does not give the best scene away. The first two trailers pretty much establish what the first two acts are going to be like. Minions is due in theatres July 10th, 2015.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9-FCC6I7u0%5D
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcRAnhcEYLY%5D

What’s Next for The Flash? Nearly 9 Episodes in Retrospect

The FlashCW Network’s The Flash is perhaps the best adaptation of a comic book hero for television. The series has a heart because it delves into a narrative style more reminiscent of a Marvel Comics character. That is, audiences are witnessing a hero in the making; Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) takes after Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man) more so than any other character, brooding or not. Oliver Queen and Bruce Wayne sometimes come from the same mold, and fortunately one is far more optimistic about how to save his city from corruption. Angst has yet to plague the young Wayne in Fox TV’s Gotham. There’s hope for one man, and it’s shared when The Flash goes to meet Arrow in the pilot episode. Oliver (Green Arrow) simply states to Barry that, “you can inspire people in a way that I never could … watching your city like a guardian angel, making a difference, saving people.”

The series is just as invigorating in how the writers define Allen’s coming of age tale. Viewers will find that this kid has a heart of gold. He already has a strength created not by a super serum but with the feelings of hope he has for people in need. For his superheroic origin moment, he did crash into a rack of chemicals after being struck by lightning formed from a particle accelerator explosion. This scene is wonderfully constructed because it brings a bit of Frankenstein’s mad science into Allen’s metamorphosis. His rebirth is not without issues, especially when part of his character development involves rediscovering himself.

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Some Genisys ideas should get Terminated

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

terminator-5

Sometimes it’s hard not to groan at news of some beloved part of my young geekhood getting remade. I’m not entirely sold on Terminator Genisys just yet. Is it supposed to be a continuation, sequel, reboot or what? The producers are saying this movie is going to reinvent the wheel and I can see it in the latest trailer — this film is going to revisit the first two films from a different perspective. Just what Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) experiences is not what original fans are going to see. He will be meeting Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) under very different circumstances.

Although this full on trailer looks good with its hints of story to come ala X-Men: Days of Future Past, a sequence borrowed from The Dark Knight (flipped bus) and a ninja that’s evolved from the T-1000 mold (from Terminator 2), I find that the issue of jumping around time as a plot device problematical. Just the thought alone is enough to make the Doctor Who fan in me cringe. Matt Smith has an important role in this trilogy and no one is talking about what it is. I suspect that he may be a tech prodigy who created this new version of Skynet and he will be pivotal to how this artificial intelligence will finally go down by the end of these new three films.

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One Otaku’s Take on Stars Wars VII Teaser Trailer

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Starwarsviitheforceawakens

J.J. Abrams teaser trailer for Star Wars Episode VII “The Force Unleashed” is here, and what can fans discern from it? There’s an opening line of dialogue, “There’s been an awakening. Have you felt it?”

In this trailer’s case. everyone has and they are showing it! There’s a cut to what is presumably Tatooine, with John Boyega looking rather scared, if not worried, that someone is going to be looking for him. He turns, and instead of storming off into the distance, looks far over yonder to see where he’s ended up almost like how C3P0 and R2D2 left the Rebel Blockade Runner and landed on the same planet from long ago.

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