Comics UK

^It looks like next week's Doctor Who might be using that same technique. It's blink and you miss it, but the Third Doctor's car Bessie is in the trailer!

MAN OF STEEL *****

official trailer here;



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVu3gS7iJu4

Announced as yet another 'origins' reboot, I was cynical as towards yet another 'backstory' retread from Hollywood, but my fears were unfounded, as this is a tremendous piece of celuloid. Yes, we get a re-run of the events on Supermans' home planet of Krypton [ably handled way back in the 1978 Christopher Reeve version] but here the imagery and action is intense and 'hard' sci-fi, unlike the more overtly comic-strip tone of past incarnations.

The previous Superman film had an excellent sequence where he saves a plummeting aircraft, but other than that I remember very little of that outing: this new megabuck flick [and every dollar is clearly seen on screen] is a very more full-blooded affair, and feels like the first 'proper' Superman motion Picture. I'll try not to give too much away, but I'm glad to report that there are action sequences a-plenty, at almost every turn, and the flashbacks to Smallville are compact and comic-book like. Everything is explained 'on the hoof' as it should be, with no uneccessarry turgid scenes of actors speaking in lofty terms, which so often pollutes the likes of STAR WARS or LORD of the RINGS.Here, its' all spectacular action, with gripping continuity in the 'slow' bits.


Epic action and devastating destruction is evident a-plenty, as General Zod and his cohorts attempt to terraform Earth as a replacement for the stricken Krypton. The design of the alien craft and technology looks somewhere between ALIEN and PROMOTHEUS....which is a good template I reckon.


There is much speeded-up action battling, mega-carnage to satisfy even the most jaded cinemagoing palette, and the sequences of fantasy look almost hand-held in their authenticity.

My only gripe: Superman still looks pretty unimpressive compared to the 1960s/70s comic book version I grew up with, but this is not enough to diffuse the endless thrills and spills.


MUST SEE [5/5]

Westerns being my favourite film genre I was disappointed to hear that the new Lone Ranger film had flopped in the USA but I have read quite a few reviews in the British press and many of them are favourable. The trailer is very good and I look forward to the dvd release as I don't go to the pictures any more.

I plan seeing it tomorrow if possible, Steve.

I don't see TV anymore

I rarely watch tv but highly recommend NCIS - the most popular show in America. Dad's Army repeats are unmissable.

KICK ASS 2

Mark Millar's latest story to be converted to the big screen does not disappoint. The extreme violence is there, but there are poignant moments as you have coming of age scenes for Dave Lizewski (Kick Ass) and Mindy Macready (Hit Girl). There are also some extremely funny bits in the first half of the movie.

The cinematography is lush and slick, the acting is again up to the mark with Chloë Grace Moretz probably the best in the movie showing a surprising range. I think that she will be an actress to watch out for in the next few years. But Jim Carrey was surprisingly good as the born-again Christian ex-mob hitter.

The soundtrack is awesome with a punk version of When The Saints Go Marching In being the cream of the crop.

I give it 4/5 as the humour disappeared as it moved to a climax. Polished, well done but just missing that something extra that made the original so watchable.

Watch at the cinema? I can recommend it as being worthy of watching if you enjoyed the first one. If not, then wait until it's out on DVD or on whatever channel you watch.

I thought Kick Ass 2 was fairly dire, Col: the superhero pastiche theme has been overdone for eons, and the film-makers have no-where to go other than to up-the- ante, which means post-modern 'satire' like bodily-fluid gags and a very risque name for the lead villian.

Just too much straining foe effect for me I'm afraid, although schoolkids up and down the land will doubtless enjoy quoting the stylized quips to their peers in the playground.

Glad you liked it, for all that!

[1/5]

And to be honest Rab, I can see why you have made those points, but every review is personal and I have tried to be honest. Which is why I would not recommend anyone forking out a tenner to see it at the cinema if you are not a fan of the first.

However, your words straining for effect seem rather effective considering how Mindy got her revenge on those WASP-ish cheerleaders! The scene where they left her in the woods seems rather evocative of her next big role as Carrie.

I appreciate your absolute honesty, Col, and I don't grudge you or anyone else enjoying this film-----it takes all kinds to make a worlde!

Just back from seeing it. Absolutely loved it. Hit Girl is brilliant as usual but Battle Guy is a close second. Parents killed at the opera indeed!

starscape wrote:Just back from seeing it. Absolutely loved it. Hit Girl is brilliant as usual but Battle Guy is a close second. Parents killed at the opera indeed!

Agreed. Interesting that in this movie it's Hit Girl who is really the star, with Kick Ass almost being a supporting character.

Didn't like the gross stuff in the canteen though. (Yeah, I know I've written/drawn fart gags myself but cartoon linework isn't the same as seeing the sfx of actual human beings graphically going a stage further on screen.)

I disagree. Even after a long time, I still remember people who acted in the same way that Brooke and her ilk did. And I know that while they have carried on with their lives, I would have been happy to see them receive such a salutary lesson.

colcool007 wrote:I disagree. Even after a long time, I still remember people who acted in the same way that Brooke and her ilk did. And I know that while they have carried on with their lives, I would have been happy to see them receive such a salutary lesson.

I wasn't suggesting they didn't deserve that punishment, just that I didn't want to see it portrayed so graphically. Sound effects and a reaction to others watching it happen off screen would have sufficed. I didn't need to see a teenage girl throw up and soil herself. (Yes, I know it was only sfx, but it was very realistic.)

Lew Stringer wrote:

colcool007 wrote:I disagree. Even after a long time, I still remember people who acted in the same way that Brooke and her ilk did. And I know that while they have carried on with their lives, I would have been happy to see them receive such a salutary lesson.

I wasn't suggesting they didn't deserve that punishment, just that I didn't want to see it portrayed so graphically. Sound effects and a reaction to others watching it happen off screen would have sufficed. I didn't need to see a teenage girl throw up and soil herself. (Yes, I know it was only sfx, but it was very realistic.)

Ah OK, I missed your meaning on that one. But as we are all different, I am sure that we all take something different away from the movies that we watch. For example two people on here loved it, one lukewarm and one thinks that it is dire.

While I know that, statistically, this is a small group to draw conclusions from, it suffices to show that while we are all UK comic fans, we approach our fandom from all points of the compass.

Re: the girl in the canteen/'laxative' shot: somebody in the audience I was with audibly groaned in disgust at that sight---I thought it was pretty tasteless, but sort of humorous in it's naked vulgarity.