Same Law, New Dredd!

When you decide to create a movie from a popular comic series, something that has been done before and not worked so well, you better be good at what you doing, or else simply step aside and let it be. I am thankful that the creators of the new Dredd movie did not do the latter. Dredd 3D is not a remake / sequel of the Judge Dredd movie of 1995 starring Sylvester Stallone that failed to convince many apart from maybe the hardcore Stallone fans (confession: I still love it when Stallone snarls 'I am the law!'). But what Judge Dredd missed out on, Dredd 3D delivers in plenty. It is gritty, tough, uncompromising, puts in the punches in the right proportions, does not sway away from the bloodshed, and does not lose its graphic novel touch. It is probably all that the Max Payne movie could have been, but never was. 

What makes it tick, most of all, is the presence of Kal Urban donning the famous helmet that never comes off throughout the movie. Who Kal Urban, if you ask, then you might remember him as Dr. Leonard McCoy from the latest Star Trek movie. When it was announced that Kal Urban was being cast in the shoes of a character that Stallone had previously played, I had my doubts, probably due to ignorance of his other works. The doubts have truly been squashed. Urban carries the black leather suit with aplomb, a snarl always on his face, and a gruff voice that Eastwood might have been proud of. It's a time where dearth of action heroes seems apparent (as the old ones are still riding high and teaming together, calling themselves Expendables!), and the arrival of Kal Urban provides some food for thought (though he is no teenager himself, at the age of 40). Made on a modest budget of $45 million, Dredd 3D could make enough dough to warrant a sequel. One shall have to wait and watch...

In the meantime, Peter Jackson has revealed the latest trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. And If anyone had any doubts as to the Hobbit trilogy matching up to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the trailer showcases that the scale and size of the adventure that Bilbo Baggins is going to embark upon will be no less than what Frodo did. The landscapes are vast and picturesque, the amount of unheard/unseen creatures has not diminished, the battles have the signs of being edge-of-the-seat stuff once again, and the presence of Gandalf continues to calm the oh-so-frightened hearts. This is one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year (uhmm... wasn't Avengers as well? And The Dark Knight Rises?) and December 14 could not have felt so further away! 

PS: To relive those older memories, Sylvester Stallone as Justice Dredd in 1995! 

Spielberg's Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln is a name that stands out in the passage of time and evokes emotions of patriotism, leadership and a steadfastness to one’s convictions to defy the greatest of odds. Whether you are an American citizen or not, Lincoln and his life no longer only belong there, but have been written and read around the globe, inspiring many as to what heights a human soul can achieve. I sink into this emotive state as Hollywood is once again attempting to recreate the charisma of this famous personality on the big screen. And thankfully, the movie is being crafted by the capable hands of Steven Spielberg. With a slated release in November 2012, Lincoln starring Daniel Day Lewis as the 16^th President of the USA, is likely to feature strongly in the list of Academy Award nominations. The movie is based on a biography of Lincoln titled Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, which covers the last four months of his life. The first full-length trailer for the biopic has been released this week and it has definitely raised my expectations from the feature film. Daniel Day Lewis’ resemblance to the original Abraham Lincoln is what hits you first and subsequently as the trailer flows and the tension builds as to what the President must have had to sacrifice to ensure a slavery-free America, you are bound to forget in those two minutes that this is but just a movie trailer. Appearances from the ever reliable Tommy Lee Jones and the rising star Joseph Gordon Lewitt keep you further glued on.

Abraham Lincoln has been represented in popular culture for ever so long, and not surprisingly so, with the most recent being in this year’s movie Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter which of course added on to the growing legend of the President (Lincoln slashing off vampires in slo-mo was a treat!). The other references that come to my mind from recent times is the great statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial coming to life in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and the hunt for the mystery behind Lincoln’s assassination in National Treasure: Book of Secrets (Nicolas Cage, make another National Treasure movie soon!). But this is where the real deal is... when Spielberg decides to tell the story of the famous politician. Last year, Spielberg came back from a three year hiatus in movie direction to give us the memorable The Adventures of Tintin and the Oscar nominated War Horse. While Spielberg is more popular for his work on large scale adventure flicks like The Indiana Jones series and Jurassic Park series, he has earned rave reviews for war flick Saving Private Ryan and the more recent (2005 can be termed as ‘recent’?) political thriller Munich. All in all, with Spielberg at the helm, Daniel Day Lewis sporting the famous beard, and having already seen a trailer that leaves you asking for more, Lincoln seems to be in safe hands. And fingers crossed, I hope that it turns out to be such a wonderful depiction of this great personality as was Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982) which tells you so much more about the man that every frame still continues to fill my heart with respect and admiration for him and his deeds. And in this age of anxiety and economic depression coupled with civil unrest in states across the globe, going back and learning from these great souls on how to lead and be true to one’s principles, may not be such a bad idea.      

“Shall we stop this bleeding?” – last line from the trailer of Lincoln. 

Before Midnight...

To start off with, Jim Carrey has been officially cast in Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall and that gives an added reason for watching this one-of-a-kind superhero flick releasing in June 2013. Also It’s been a week where Marvel Studios has not come out with another The Avengers’ goodies, thankfully, making it a week where attention can be diverted to other movies in the queue. 

And one that has caught the attention is the already-completed sequel to Before Sunset which was a sequel to Before Sunrise, titled for now Before Midnight. The film is going to be floated around for potential buyers in the coming week. Set in Greece, Before Midnight brings back the lovely couple, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, and follows the story after Hawke was on the verge of missing his flight in Before Sunset. There is a cult following that the first two movies enjoy and for easy-to-guess reasons, not only for the clever witty intertwined dialogues of the leading cast (for both the movies are largely about the couple sharing their ideas and philosophies on a range of topics), but also for the boldness of making such different movies without the melodramatic drama and the gun-blazing action that usually hit the big screens. A refreshing change indeed! While the audience may or may not subscribe to the ideologies of any of the characters, the openness with which the thoughts are shared as the couple walk around the streets of Vienna in Before Sunrise and in Paris in Before Sunset, the playful banter mixed with the meaningful discussions, and the bond which two strangers end up sharing, has for some reason a very calming effect, that one can appreciate only when one has been a part of this journey. Hoping that Before Midnight lives up the standards set by the previous two! Before you step in for this one, grab onto the other two, if you still haven’t seen them.

While emergence of Before Midnight has brought in exciting news, the recently released trailer of Hansen and Gretel: Witch Hunters has left a bad taste in the mouth. This was one of the movies I was looking forward to (and would probably still end up at the theatres cringing my way though it with the help of a tub of popcorn), not only for the appealing idea of the fairy tale brother and sister growing up to become hard-hitting ass-kicking witch hunters, but also to catch Jeremy Renner in action once again who seems to be doing nothing wrong. While roles in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and The Avengers left a strong impression about him, his lead role in The Bourne Legacy has done nothing but enhance his reputation further, as he has managed to leave his own mark on the famous series. But somewhere something has to go wrong, right? With the rather sleazy dialogues and the appearances of laughable than scary witches in the first trailer, I would be betting that Hansen and Gretel: Witch Hunters, releasing in January 2013, might turn out to be the movie that Renner would want to smudge from his resume. Maybe I might be proved wrong, and if that turns out to be the case I would happily add a coke as well to the tub of popcorn! Till next time...

Justice League??

Sigh... no matter how much we loved this movie aka The Avengers, I for one want to move on from it for now. But Marvel Studios will not let me. The latest tidbit thrown for The Avengers by Marvel is an alternate opening sequence that probably would be part of the special features section in the DVD/Blu-Ray versions. Then there are talks of a separate TV series spin-off for the S.H.I.E.L.D. While all this would no doubt please the comic fans (and stalkers) and make them gush-gush and blush-blush, I would prefer to simply keep the special memories of The Avengers intact and wait patiently for the next set of superhero movies to hit the screens from 2013 onwards. Till then, there are other movies to watch too, remember?

But what do we end up with!? Now Warner Bros wants to cash in further on the superhero craze and on the lines of The Avengers, it has been planning a Justice League film. For the ones totally unaware (and if you are, do not admit it in public), Justice League is the DC Comics' equivalent of Marvel Comics' Avengers and features the likes of childhood favourites Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman along with the lesser famous heroes Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash etc. forming a mighty tough group to take on the bigger evils of the world. The reasons that Warner Bros is adamant on making this feature film is obvious. It can cash in on the frenzy around the superhero flicks being seen in the recent times; it needs a new franchise to work on ever since Christopher Nolan wrapped up his Batman trilogy and the reboot of the Superman series still remains untested; and it needs to do something with its oh-so-famous Batman series given that the last one has grossed more than a $1 billion around the globe and no studio is content to simply live with the riches, A Justice League feature film could provide a beginning for a new Batman series, and possibly even a Green Lantern series after the last one went so terribly astray. The trick would however be to get the tone and the script of the film perfectly right after the seemingly new heights of awe and excellence created by the likes of The Avengers and The Dark Knight trilogy, Nolan has distanced himself from the Justice League movie; Ben Affleck was another one that Warner Bros negotiated with to direct the movie but he has also stepped away. There are a few other established names that could be roped in once the right script is in-place. For now, we can simply wait and watch as to how this movie shapes up! Rest assured, we will keep hearing about it and the voices would grow only louder, if the production work finally materialises. But what I want, I really really want for now, is simply a day's rest when no superhero comes to save my day! Sigh...