Dean Devlin, director of the troubled (anytime another director comes in to do $15 million worth of reshoots on your movie, it’s safe to assume there are serious problems, no matter how the studio spins it) movie Geostorm, apparentlylearned more than a little bit about making disaster films from Roland Emmerich, who he worked with (as a producer) on movies like Independence Day, Stargate, The Day After Tomorrow,2012, among others.
And Geostorm certainly looks lIke something Emmerich would do, which is maybe why it feels a bit derivative and a little bit insane.
Take note, Bryan Singer, this is how you do it! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: No body brings the destruction like Roland Emmerich (and I’m not suggesting for a moment that it has anything to do with him being German, though it can’t hurt).
The sequel to 1996’s Independence Day has the Earth apparently not only recovered from the devastating alien attack of the first movie, but we have managed to use the remnants of the alien’s technology to enhance the planet’s defenses.
And apparently we’ll need it because the aliens aren’t done with us yet.
Though while the invaders will be back, Will Smith won’t.
Visually, the trailer reminds me of Stargate, not the movie also directed by Emmerich as well, but the far superior series based on the movie.
The most recent trailer for X-men: Apocalypse dropped yesterday, so I gave it a look.
If you check out my last trailer review–posted below–you’ll see what I think about about X:Men: Apocalypse – Trailer 2 below.
Looking at the third trailer, it feels like director Bryan Singer is playing in Roland Emmerich’s sandbox, and I am not at all sure that’s a good thing because no one can destroy real estate–and national landmarks–with such gleeful abandon like Emmerich.
Singer’s also once again–if the end of the trailer is any indication–leaning on the crutch that is Wolverine. My problem with this is that he must not have read any of the X-Men comics that comprise The Age of Apocalypse because Wolverine isn’t a threat to a being like Apocalypse.
Adamantium claws or not.
Though what I keep forgetting is that more people know Wolverine, so of course we have to throw him into situations where he doesn’t fit (in the comics it was Kitty Pride/Shadowcat who went back into the past in the Days of Future Past storyline).
That made sense because, unlike Wolverine, she possessed the ability to go back in time.
Though worse of all I don’t understand why they do it. Fox has the rights to all the X-characters from Marvel Comics, so why not start using them already! And this may be wishful thinking, but there are so many of them that I’d be willing to be that if you have someone other than Logan a chance, maybe people would be interested in them too.
And you’d broaden the reach of your franchise, and you know, make more money long-term?
I admit that when I first saw Len Wiseman’s Underworld in 2003 I have to admit that I was impressed. Vampires and werewolves battling for domination, what’s not to love?
The trailer for the latest chapter in the Independence Day saga dropped a few hours ago, and to be honest I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. Between Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Captain America: Civil War and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and X-Men: Apocalypse there are some huge movies coming out relatively soon.
There’s potentially millions riding on when these movies drop because–as we have seen with In The Heart Of The Sea, an otherwise decent looking movie except for the fact that it’s expensive (supposedly somewhere in the ballpark of $100 million) and was released a week before Star Wars: The Force Awakens–I get the feeling that one, or even two of these movies aren’t going to do nearly as well as prognosticators like to think.
Which leads to Independence Day: Resurgence. While it’s good to see Roland Emmerich moving away from the whitewashing of gay history in Stonewall, I am not sure that a sequel to Independence Day–sans Will Smith–has the box office muscle to take on Captain America, Batman and BB-8.
Like I implied earlier, if this is released with a few months of breathing room, it will probably do fine. If it goes against any of the movies I’ve listed above–minus In The Heart Of The Sea, which will likely have left theaters–then Independence Day: Resurgence might not be able to stand against the tentpole tsunami soon to hit land.
Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla Isn’t The Same Monster Many Of Us Grew Up Watching, Which Sometimes Isn’t A Good Thing
In The Beginning…
I remember when I was growing that I spent many Saturday afternoons in front of a television, watching monsters like Gamera, Mothra and Godzilla. They tended to have come into being due to the hubris of Man, as well as our tendency to use nuclear weapons, which inevitably got out of hand.
Though Mothra was most interesting because, besides being a giant moth, it was summoned by these two tiny women. And by ‘tiny’ I mean literally small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, which made no sense at all. Then again, Gamera could not only breath fire, but when he retracted his legs, arms and head into his shell he was capable of flight. So really, can I complain about two micro-women all that much?
The first movies that dealt with both Gamera and Godzilla were fairly serious things, seeing that they were analogies about the dangers of nuclear weapons (which makes sense when you take into account Japan was the only nation that was attacked using them).
So if anyone was able to comment upon such things with authority, it’s the Japanese.
But a funny thing happened…as the adventures of Godzilla continued, they got goofier. And when I write ‘goofy’ I mean that when Godzilla wasn’t throwing karate kicks, seemingly held aloft by his massive tail or talking smack at MechaGodzilla (via hand signals and attitude), he was hanging out with a baby Godzilla who instead of breathing fire, breathed smoke rings (unless you stepped on his tail, then look out).
Xavier Gens‘ “The Divide” begins with a mysterious attack on an American city. I think it was New York, but it’s actually not that relevant in that Gens is less interested in making any sort of political statement than he is with putting together eight people from different worlds together, and watching as they combust.
And speaking of which, all you see of the attack are its beginning – with fireballs raining from the sky – and the end. The rest of the time is spent in some desperate and increasingly ugly, circumstances, as the eight – who could be the last people in the country – try to survive.
In fact, it’s reminiscent of a well-done prison film, except that no one has done anything to warrant being there, other than living. And if you weren’t already aware, people do all sorts of mean, ugly things to each other when they feel threatened, afraid or trapped.
William Golding’s “Lord Of The Flies” is also an apt comparison because Gens seems have similar goals, one of which is to see people at their very worst (as well as more rapey).
He’s almost the anti-Emmerich (as in Roland Emmerich, director of “Stargate,” “Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “White House Down,” among others) in that the only explosions that matter to him are those that happen between people, as opposed to The White House.
“The Divide” isn’t an easy movie to watch, but you’ll find yourself doing so anyway because it’s fascinating, well-acted, though very, very dark.
