The STARSTORE Blog...

SUPERHERO MOVIE ROUNDUP

Its time to catch up with the chaos in movieland surrounding various forthcoming superhero feature films. There seems to be a slew of them on the way, despite some saying the genre is dying out. With high profile films like The Dark Knight and Watchmen on the way, as well as all the movies I’ll talk about today, it’s plain to see the superhero genre is going strong and attracting some very varied talent in front of and behind the cameras.

JUSTICE LEAGUE
George Miller’s forthcoming JUSTICE LEAGUE epic is apparently about to get off the starting blocks. Casting is all but complete, and now the WGA strike is over, the script is being polished up by Kieran and Michele Mulroney for shooting. The Warner Bros production, still mooted for a 2009 release (they’re cutting it a bit fine aren’t they?), was recently rumoured to be moving to Canada to be shot, but pre-production is currently taking place in Australia.

I’m getting curious about this movie. It could well turn out to be an utter train wreck. With little in the way of stars in its cast (For example, Batman is to be played by Armie Hammer Jr…who?!), it remains to be seen if the characters themselves have enough pulling power to get the audiences in. AICN have revealed that the Martian Manhunter is to be played by Hugh Keays-Byrne, who played Toecutter in the first MAD MAX movie. The cast gets weirder every day! This is definitely a project to keep an eye on.

WOLVERINE MOVIE UPDATE
Promo photos have started showing up online for the prequel movie X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE. Two have turned up, and they look, erm, pretty much like every other pic we’ve seen of Wolverine since Hugh Jackman was originally cast. With Gambit, Sabretooth, Deadpool and possibly even Electro in the movie, it isn’t sounding very much like an origin movie is it? It is starting to sound very crowded, and we all know what happens when you overcrowd a movie- you get X-Men: The Last Stand. We don’t want another X3 thanks, we want an asskicking WOLVERINE movie in which he spits cigar butts and calls people ‘Bub’ all the time while slashing them to ribbons.  Hugh looks fantastic though, having shaped up for the role again. With the story covering everything from his Weapon X origins to what leads to him being on the road at the start of the first X-men film, this is hopefully going to turn out okay.

Incidentally, the premise of X-MEN ORIGINS: MAGNETO sounds very cool indeed, and is going to be quite a harrowing thing to see onscreen in the context of a ‘superhero’ movie.

IRON MAN AND HULK TOY SITES ONLINE
Hasbro have opened up toy line websites for both the forthcoming IRON MAN movie and THE INCREDIBLE HULK. The figures are looking very nice indeed, in particular the figure of the Iron man MK3 armour, which I’m dying to get hold of myself.

GALACTUS IN SILVER SURFER MOVIE- FOR REAL THIS TIME!
Oh hell yes. Disappointed with the no-show of the proper Galactus in the second Fantastic Four movie? Fear not, the mooted SILVER SURFER prequel film, written by J. Michael Straczynski (Of TV’s Babylon 5 and Spider-Man comics fame, as well as much much more), it is said to feature our beloved planet eater in all of his purple armoured finery. Please excuse me while I let out a WOO HOO. The two Fantastic Four movies are something of a guilty pleasure of mine, but it would have made so much difference to the sequel if we’d seen a great big Jack Kirby-esque vision of Galactus in there.

BABYLON 5: MORE ADVENTURES TO COME (Plus DVD review)

Well, following on from the release of the first ‘Lost Tales DVD’ and promises of more to come, we now have confirmation from Mr Stracbigsurname (kidding sir, kidding) that the WB execs have approved further instalments in the straight-to-DVD series, with the next one set to feature a Garibaldi tale and others. This is cool news to us diehard B5 fans, and I for one think that the straight-to-DVD route is the best thing to do with the series, at least for now. For years there has been talk of a big screen movie, which, while a fun idea, would be difficult to sell to a current mainstream audience. SERENITY managed it because its mother series (Firefly) was still fresh in the general public’s consciousness, but I’m sceptical when it comes to bringing the B5 universe to the big screen. While it certainly has the scope, it doesn’t really have the pulling power, much as I’d like it to.

 

A happy medium needs to be found. TV and home cinema has enjoyed something of a renaissance of late, and as such I think that the Babylon 5 universe would do well to stick to the small screen in this way for now. That way the makers (and indeed B5 mastermind J Michael Straczynski) can concentrate on further developing established characters and storylines without having to go through a tedious recap of what has gone before, or, worse still, a redux and origin story. The series had a damn good run- five full seasons of 45 minute episodes, six TV movies (if you count the pilot movie), a spin-off series (the short-lived CRUSADE) and now a promising first instalment of original DVDs. We really don’t need to start over with it again.

 

I would love to see the B5 universe gain some new fans and continue to please the old ones, and with more ‘Lost Tales’ DVDs on the way, it seems out last, best hope for peace is far from dead.

 

BABYLON 5: THE LOST TALES DVD REVIEW

The last time we had a new Babylon 5 project to watch, it was the ill-fated LEGEND OF THE RANGERS movie/pilot, which didn’t really offer much for its viewers. Back on home ground with familiar characters and settings, the franchise now dips its metaphorical toes into new waters with THE LOST TALES, the first in a proposed series of straight-to-DVD anthology films. Some will apparently contain two stories, others three.

 

This initial DVD features a story concerning Captain Lochley doing battle with a demonic possession on board the B5 station, and a story concerning Captain Sheridan escorting a Centauri prince. As first instalments go, these two stories are incredibly small-scale, which is shown in the blatantly low number of sets built (amounting to two or three rooms and a couple of corridors) and the obvious miniscule budget. Granted, this is pretty much a ‘test’ to see if enough interest in the series remains to warrant more DVDs, but the limitations of the budget and resources at hand are very, very obvious.

 

As for the stories themselves, they are watchable and enjoyable, but not particularly engaging. What is fantastic about this DVD is basically seeing the characters back in uniform and the incredible CG recreations of B5 and various internal sets, that would never have been possible on the original show. The two stories do nothing to move the franchise forward, but they are decent nonetheless. Seeing the brand new 3D renderings of the Starfury ships is something of a WOO-HOO moment for fans such as myself. The addition of Galen to the DVD’s cast is one of the finest parts of the whole project- as a character the Techno-mage is hard to beat, and he is as gloriously cryptic as ever.

 

An odd pair of tales to start off a potential new series of releases, but worth the time of any fan who misses the good old days on the station. I look forward to the next one with excitement, and yeah, a little bit of hope too. 

 

X-FILES II TEASER FOOTAGE LEAKED ONLINE

The exclusive X-Files 2 teaser that was screened at Wondercon in the US has, shock horror, leaked all over the internet thanks to the joy of Youtube and its ilk. How does the footage look? Well from the grainy, tiny, phone-cam-filmed video I saw, it's hard to say. It probably isn’t an actual teaser per se, more a montage of completed shots put together just for the con. I’m guessing this is just a selection of completed scenes, cut together into a teaser trailer. Well, it does exactly what it says on the tin- it teases.

 

From the ominous shots of Billy Connolly (the Big Yin in the X Files? marvellous!!!) flanked by FBI agents as he strides across a snowy wasteland crying out ‘It’s here, it’s here!’, to the tantalising glimpses of action scenes, and of course our first look at new footage of Mulder and Scully in years, it looks, well, like the X-Files. I am very happy about this. It only runs to about 35 seconds, but it looks very cool indeed. Who is the man with the scratches all over his face? Why are Billy Connolly’s eye bleeding? Who (or what) is being dragged across the ice?

 

Where the first X-Files film (Remember that? I loved that movie) may have been close to the series in spirit, it lost a little something by giving the story such a massive scale onscreen. This new X-Files movie is billed a standalone story, and is rumoured to be of a supernatural nature. Chris Carter has gone record at Wondercon to say that while the mythos of the show- i.e. the conspiracy aspect- will be mentioned and dealt with, it isn’t the crux of the story. This is a very good sign. The show got too bogged down with its own continuity and lost a bunch of viewers along the way. The standalone stories were generally the best, and also the most memorable (Tooms!).

 

It is wonderful to know there’s a new one on the way, and great to see Mulder and Scully, two of the most important figures in modern science fiction, on the big screen again. Early word is that the chemistry between the two main characters is as good as ever, remains just the right side of flirtatious, and the interplay is back how it was in the early years of the show.

 

Judging from the reaction at Wondercon in the video (the screams an applause are deafening) it would seem that all the old X-Philes are hungry for more. Just you wait and see come this summer- the X-Files are open again, and by the look of it, all hell is about to break loose.

Cloverfield: The Starstore Review...

The ingenious viral marketing campaign for the Cloverfield film, fascinating as it turned out to be, really doesn’t prepare you for the magnitude of the assault on the senses you get when finally watching the movie. The film itself is an incredibly satisfying reinvention of the monster movie genre, and while its detractors may describe it as little more than ‘The Blair Witch Project meets Godzilla’, it is so much more. It is an excellent piece of modern film terror, and more than aptly fits the ‘Godzilla for the Youtube generation’ moniker its producer, JJ Abrams, gave it (Just keep an eye out for the number of people in the movie filming the attack on their phones).

 

The premise of a monster invading New York, told from the viewpoint of a handheld camcorder, is a great way of keeping the story at a very human and character-based level, as opposed to the usual predictable spectacle of the monster movie genre. Cloverfield is a film that takes hold of the standard elements of the genre and rips them to pieces, both figuratively and literally. The giant creature, when you see it, is absolutely horrific, and is thankfully far from the usual ‘Big Dinosaur’ cliches these kind of films tend to lean towards. I won’t describe it in detail here, you really should see it for yourself. I will say this though; It is not very happy at all. No, really it isn't.

 

I really liked the fact that the main characters don’t just get the odd cut and bruise on their well-tended skin- these people really do suffer in their fight for survival, and what a fight it is. The military are terrified (which is great to see in a big budget film- seeing the muscular military types absolutely petrified while doing their duty was awesome), the public even more so. What the monster does to the city itself is chilling and has you on the edge of your seat for its entire duration. The initial set up of the characters and their motivations does go on a bit too long, but it is justified, and the inclusion of what was originally on the tape between the attack footage is a stroke of genius, playing out a plot point to a perfect and surprisingly subtle conclusion. Watch it and see what I mean. The editing, while intended to look like it hasn’t been edited at all, is also incredibly effective.

 

The fact that you don’t actually see the monster that much adds so much by way of drama and intensity. The glimpses are tantalizing, and its trail of destruction is insane, instantly bringing memories of 9/11 back (there are some blatant-and not so blatant- nods to the 9/11 media coverage in the film- keep an eye on the various TV screens you see in particular scenes). One scene in particular, once the monster attacks, is a frame for frame recreation of a certain piece of 9/11 footage. It may sound a little crass, but it fits with the film. The tension is through the roof.

 

While there is the odd ‘Hollywood’ style moment in there, it comes across as mostly gritty, frightening and utterly compelling. It isn’t a film for the faint of heart, and the shaky camera work may make your eyes ache a little, but I implore you to see this on the big screen. The sound design is inspired, the script mostly comes across as natural, and the use of editing and background to fill in the plot is a great thing to see. Far from being another dumb big monster movie, this is an incredibly intelligent and, scarily, believable film.

 

10/10

 

 

Incidentally, there is a large scale action figure of the monster on the way, and it looks incredible. The promo photos looks superb, and give you a great look at the monster that you never really see all of in the movie itself.

The Wolverine movie- GAMBIT HAS BEEN CAST!

My colleagues Sam and Rich have already shouted their opinions across the counter regarding the just broken news of Taylor Kitsch being cast as Gambit in the X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE movie (hey FOX people, can't you think of an even clumsier title please? jeez...), but I can't comment yet- mainly because I have no idea who the guy is. Maybe he'll be perfect in the role. He's got past the casting agents and director, so he must be doing at least something right. Now, he was in the teen warlock B Movie THE COVENANT, so at least he's kind of familiar with making genre films involving CG and practical FX, but I'm yet to see if he can bring anything to the part other than a sculpted chin.

Here's his IMDB page.

Gambit has been a fan favourite character ever since he first arrived in the X-Men comics and the subsequent 1990s cartoons. With his sarcasm and constant flirting, it was the character more than his mutant abilities that made him such a star, even if his charged-up playing cards gimmick was cool. This Wolverine movie is a strange thing though- it is being billed as an origin film, and features a young Sabretooth, the Blob, Gambit and apparently Deadpool as well. There's a distinct risk that the thing could become too overcrowded, but I'm hoping for the best. What I would really like is for the title to be changed, as it just sounds like a TV movie with the current monicker, which, of course, will be repeated with X-Men Origins: Magneto.

Once we have some pics and maybe a scene or two to chew over, I might get excited. For now I'm sceptical.

DOCTOR WHO: Series Four looms!

The lengthy trailer currently playing in cinemas nationwide for the latest series of Doctor Who is a beautiful thing indeed. Edited as if it were a movie trailer (just like the trailer to the 'Voyage of the Damned' Christmas special last December) , it teases, tantalises and raises all manner of juicy questions. The biggest thing in the ad by far is the single shot of Billie Piper, back as Rose Tyler, the character that made her acting career really take off. This may well only be for one episode (rumoured to be an episode that doesn't feature the Doctor at all, but does feature Rose, Martha, Donna -and possibly Jack- working together), but it is something the fans are going to lap up. Also, whats that Martha is covered in at the end of the trailer? The slime makes her looks like she's just come out of the Matrix! A clone maybe? Even Donna (Catherine Tate) seems okay- she doesn't seem anywhere near as annoying as she did in The Runaway Bride (*twitch* oh dear god I wanted someone to gaffa tape her mouth shut in that), which can only be a good thing.

I'm yet to be completely sold on season four as a whole really... The three big villains have already made their spectacular returns in previous finales, Daleks, Cybermen and The Master have all come and gone, which just leaves... Davros. Dalek Caan escaped at the End of S3's Evolution of the Daleks. He is the last surviving Dalek in existence (allegedly), and where else would he go but back to the creator himself? I do hope this happens, as a new-era version of Davros would be an awesome thing to see on the screen. Davros was always one of the more convincing villains of the classic era, and also a good old fashioned bad guy in that he was absolutely and totaly evil in every way. Newer fans may not be familiar with stories such as 'Revelation of the Daleks', but that stands as a great example of the nastiness he is capable of. In one of the most unnerving scenes of 80s Doctor Who, we are privy to a severed human head, trapped inside a clear Dalek casing, begging to be killed by its own daughter. Davros was harvesting humans and building Daleks from the parts. This was supposedly kids TV! I do feel a new incarnation of him would go down a treat.

Hmm... something that would be quite interesting to see would be an army of modified Kaleds (the human incarnation of the Daleks, from the time before their war with the Thaals caused their hideous mutations) alongside Davros instead of the traditional pepperpots. Just a thought. Don't flame me ;P

Then there are the new Sontarans, which do pop up a couple of times in the new series. I'm not convinced yet that the new audience won't think of them as a knock-off Judoon, and their short stature and modified (almost cute) makeup doesn't help much either.

Something that did strike me when watching this new trailer (check out the sneakily filmed version of it on Youtube while it is still up!) is the overwhelmingly dark atmosphere. The dramatic music and Donna's monologue (stood next to Bernard Cribbins! BERNARD CRIBBINS!) are rather downbeat, and the way it is edited suggests that this series is going to be quite harrowing. Could this be the tenth Doctor's swansong? Will the lanky, wisecracking Time Lord finally be bettered by an enemy and be forced into regenerating into an eleventh incarnation (Oh please let it be Dylan Moran... that would be amazing)? personally I'm looking forward to finding out. Bring on series four, and lets hope the BBC continue to trounce everyone else in the originality stakes.

USS ENTERPRISE... BY NASA!

I love this story. I absolutely love this little bit of news. The new Star Trek movie, namely the redux of the mythos by JJ Abrams, is getting advice from none other than NASA. For a show that has bent the truth with the science it uses for so long, this is a great thing to do, and will hopefully add a bit of scientific weight to the action when the film hits the big screen this Christmas.

Carolyn Porco, a NASA planetary scientist, has been invited onto the Star Trek crew as their very own real-life Mr Spock, to ensure the accuracy of the film’s astronomical scenes. Carolyn was the leader of the Imaging Science Team on none other than the Cassini mission, and is proving invaluable to the
Paramount pictures production. She isn’t new to the moviemaking business, having been scientific advisor on the Jodie Foster film ‘Contact’ and the US TV special ‘Cosmic Journey’.

This latest Star Trek movie is getting really interesting now. A sterling cast, a reliable guy at the helm, and a great attention to detail. That raw teaser may well be the herald of great things to come. I’m looking forward to getting a shot of the cast in costume, not to mention the new version of the

Enterprise in all its glory. When are we gonna get our hands on a model of that? As soon as I know, I’ll post the info here. Hopefully, as the movie is out at the end of the year, these things should turn up before too long. Keep an eye on this blog, or keep on visiting our website for updates on available Star Trek merchandise.

While the plot of the new movie has left many fans scratching their heads, I do have the feeling that Abrams and Co are going to pull of something spectacular, and while it might not sit well with the diehards, I think (and hope) there’s a chance the franchise will be reinvigorated by the new direction. Lets face it, it couldn’t be much worse than Enterprise, could it?

THE 2008 MCFARLANE TOYS RANGE...

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the motherlode. McFarlane have unveiled their range for 2008, and there are definitely some treats in store. Let’s cast an eye over some of the stuff to get excited about…

NEW SPAWN FIGURES

Todd’s perennial creator-owned antihero is back once again with a slew of new figure ranges, including SPAWN 33- THE AGE OF PHAROAHS, SPAWN 34- SPAWN CLASSICS (hell yes, these are always cool) and SPAWN 35- ROBOTS. Huh? Robots? Didn’t McF already do these with the Cyber Units and their various repaints? I want to see these things pretty damn soon, as the Spawn figures, even when only tentatively linked to the comic that spawned them (sorry, it just slipped out) are damn good action figures. I doubt Todd will let us down. The ‘Classics’ range is going to offer some old favourites again, including a WINGS OF REDEMPTION figure, which was fantastic in both editions we had in, and I’m looking forward to getting the feathery critter back in.

MCFARLANES MILITARY

There’s new ranges of military goodies on the way, both in 3 inch and 6 inch figure formats. I’m not too sure of the 3 inch figures, as smaller scale items tend not to have the same level of work put into their sculpts, or indeed their planning in the first place. The seventh set of the full size figures is going to be great though. The attention to detail in every previous set has been admirable, and no doubt this new one will replicate the success of the previous ones.

An interesting development for the range is the forthcoming WORLD WAR II figures. That’s more like it. WWII themed merchandise is going to have a much wider audience than the usual US themed military stuff. Sure, the McF WW2 range will probably concentrate on US soldiers, but it will still garner more interest from enthusiasts.

HALO 3

Yeah, you read that right. Listed on their 2008 range is a selection of officially licensed HALO 3 figures, and its about damn time too, as I’m rather sick of not knowing when or where they’ll turn up. The first series are due to hit in MARCH, and will consist of Master Chief (red paint variant), Cortana, Brute Chieftain, Jackal Sniper, Grunt, and Spartan Soldier. There’s a bunch of other HALO goodies on the way too, which I shall cover next time, along with some of the other goodies Mcfarlane Toys have on the way, such as the WARRIORS OF THE ZODIAC, DRAGONS SERIES 8 and more.

It’s certainly going to be a great year of new products from McFarlane, who, aside from the odd dud figure, are consistently fantastic. More on their new stuff very soon.

G.I. JOE from SIDESHOW... and... ELVIRA!

If you go over to the Sideshow website, you can check out the GI Joe video preview of their forthcoming GI JOE range of products, which has literally just been announced. the ad itself is rather misleading, in that it appears to feature no GI JOE characters whatsoever, instead opting for random military characters that bear little to no resemblance to the well known faces. Is it generic merchandise or related to the not-yet-in-production movie? Either way it'll be something to keep an eye on.

I'm not sold on the idea of a Gi JOE movie yet, I must admit. It might be something to do with the fact that I'm very, very English, and the closest we got to Joe was our own Action Man range. Now, finger-controlled eyes and plastic blue Y fronts aren't exactly as cool and gung-ho as ol' Joe are they? Hopefully some images of the products themselves will surface, as I have the sneaking suspicion that the Sideshow stuff is going to be much cooler than the film itself...

What I *am* rather pleased to hear about is the new ELVIRA; MISTRESS OF THE DARK 'Tooned Up' maquette that Sideshow unveiled recently. The iconic horror hostess and her equally iconic, erm, *insert euphemism for copious amounts of cleavage here*, is coming to a display shelf near you in toon-ized form. Check it out on the Sideshow site by clicking below...

IRON MAN FIGURES ON THE WAY!

I've just seen the protoypes and packaging for the action figures from the forthcoming IRON MAN movie, and am eager to get these babies in. Where some movie toy lines seem intent on ignoring the actual content of the movie (remember the ridiculous Batman Begins figures?), Hasbro have gone for the real thing. Depicting the various stages of Iron Man's development throughout the movie, the figures look like they're going to be of a very high standard, and even the packaging looks cool (THANK YOU HASBRO for putting out something that will actually go on a hook properly!). The Iron Man figures themselves are looking pretty sturdy, but the level of detail is high and the likeness to the various suits from the movie is rather excellent.

From the information I can gather, the initial Iron Man action figure assortment is going to contain the following;

Iron Man Mk3 with launching Repulsor blast
Iron Man Mk2 with firing missile
Iron man Mk1 with launching flamethrower blast
Iron Monger with Super Fist Smash
Iron Man prototype with snap-on-armour

With the Iron Man trailers, TV spots and merchandise on the way, excitement is certainly growing and everyone at Starstore HQ is getting sweaty palms. That does happen of its own accord, but this time there's a reason for it. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and check out that Superbowl Tv spot for the movie again. I want an Iron Man costume!