Hello, everyone! It’s One Of Us’ weekly article series, “The Weekly Wrap-Up.” Covering everything from film announcements to comic books, “The Weekly Wrap-Up” ensures that the biggest stories of the week are analyzed and discussed by our team of writers. This week we talk about the new trailers for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and The Purge: Election Year, and the possibility of Johnny Depp being cast as the Invisible Man in Universal’s remake of the 1933 classic.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Trailer #3
Looking past the really bad song that accompanies the trailer, what’s so funny about this particular teaser is the total lack of focus on Superman. Sure, we get to see the Big Blue Boy Scout looking just as sullen as he does in the past marketing for the film, but this trailer is pretty much told from the perspective of Ben Affleck’s Batman. Speaking of which, Affleck is looking great as the Dark Knight. We’ve never really seen a live-action Batman fight the way he does in the comics, but based on this trailer alone, it appears as if we’ll finally be getting that martial-arts master with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. We’re also given a nice little peak at Batman’s relationship with Alfred Pennyworth. This has been the most footage that we’ve seen of Jeremy Irons’ take on the iconic comic book butler, and it looks like he has some great chemistry with Affleck.
With such a dominant focus on Batman in the marketing for Dawn of Justice, it’s reasonable to call into question how much confidence Warner Bros. actually has in the film. As reported by HitFix’s own Drew McWeeny, a select few people have already seen the film, and their response to the movie has apparently not been to the likening of Warner Bros. McWeeny also expressed his thoughts on the studio’s upcoming slate of superhero films, calling into question if many of them would be delayed or fast tracked into production.
“My guess is what’s going to happen is based on what I’m hearing… I’ve talked to enough people who have seen the film now that I’m starting to sweat a little, is Justice League is going to get moved back and that Ben Affleck Batman movie, that’s what’s going to end up in that spot. My guess is they’re going to throw whatever money it takes at Ben Affleck to make that Batman film happen sooner rather than later. They’re going to need to rebuild again, they’re going to need to win people over, they’re going to need to lay some different groundwork. I don’t think this is going to be the springboard into the Justice League that they wanted it to be.”
Like most people, I’m hoping that Batman v Superman manages to deliver and is able to jump start DC’s cinematic universe. At the same, I still can’t shake my nagging skepticism.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will be released in theatres on March 25, 2016.
See Johnny Depp as The Invisible Man… Or Not?
As part of Universal’s ever expanding attempts to build up their roster for the new Universal Monsters reboot franchise, Deadline announced that Jack Sparrow himself Johnny Depp will lead a remake of The Invisible Man. This comes hot off the heels of Tom Cruise being announced as the big star of The Mummy reboot that would kick off this apparent Avengers style universe when it’s released on June 9th 2017. This universe’s Kevin Feige ringmaster is Alex Kurtsman, writer of the first few Transformers and Star Trek films who is set to direct the previously mentioned Mummy reboot. No word on who will direct The Invisible Man, but Men in Black and Now You See Me writer Ed Solomon is said to be scripting the reboot.
As a fan of the original Universal Monsters, all of the news of this new reboot sounds rather worrying. Obviously, Universal wants a Marvel Cinematic Universe kind of franchise. I get it. It’s tempting to use this property of entities known for crossing over during their prime era for a modern reboot. Hell, I’m not even against the reboot idea, as these horror characters can be reinterpreted in a variety of new ways if done right. Yet, studio head Donna Langley’s initial words calling this incarnation of these characters “action/adventure” films and the casting of both Cruise & Depp just seem to hint at a complete misunderstanding of these iconic characters. Plus, we already did a trilogy of action/adventure Mummy movies.
Honestly, the more intriguing route would be for Universal to make something more in the vain of a lower budget Blumhouse style take on these characters. The older style obviously wouldn’t work for them, but neither would turning them into action adventure romps. Give your money to smaller filmmakers that can give these characters an evocative new take that fits a modern era, one based in the suspense around any corner that can come together for a sense of truly terrifying battle royale or, at the very least, a Abbot and Costello style collaboration starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. Don’t just slap invisible ink on Johnny Depp and have him sneak around like he’s a naked Marvel hero with a silly hat… or, a silli-er hat, anyway. Especially with The Invisible Man, who is a genuinely mad scientist that expressed so much charisma under his wraps with the original 1933 film as played by the phenomenal Claude Rains. Now… we’ll just see Jack Sparrow twiddling his fingers in our face while wrapped in toilet paper. Woopie.
The Purge: Election Year Trailer
The third installment in the commercially successful Purge series, The Purge: Election Year follows Senator Charlene Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell), a presidential nominee running on an anti-Purge platform. Seeing her as a threat to their power, certain politicians plot to have her assassinated on the night of the Purge. Things become more complicated however when it is revealed that Roan is being protected by “The Sergeant” (Frank Grillo), who managed to survive the events of the previous film, The Purge: Anarchy. After a betrayal from within that leave’s Roan’s entire security detail dead, the Sergeant and Roan attempt to survive the chaos that has engulfed Washington D.C.
Though I’m not the biggest fan of the Purge movies, the trailer for Election Year does a great job of showcasing the franchise’s satirical nature. The Purge’s dystopian murder-filled landscape now has a “revolutionary/patriotic” aesthetic, complete with twisted-American iconography and a guillotine or two. Probably the best thing about the trailer is the assurance that Grillo will indeed be in the film, and hopefully be one of the main players as the series continues.
The Purge: Election Year will make its way to theatres on July 1, 2016.
