Movie Mucking: Daring to be Different

Oh, the MARVELous Horror

The upcoming reboot of Daredevil recently got a director, David Slade, who has directed two fine pieces of horror/thriller cinema (30 Days of Night, Hard Candy) and one big pile of crap (Twilight: Eclipse).  Because of his other works, I can ignore his most recent film, and be decently excited about this reboot.  The only indication that this interpretation will be darker than the previous installment is the fact that the first film starring Ben Affleck was as close to a Twilight-esque feel as you are going to get, and they have already said they are heading in a different direction.  I hope they’re running.  The 2003 comic adaptation wasn’t awful, but it definitely left room for improvement.  I’m fine with a reboot, though I feel some strong comic franchises are being ignored with all of these second chances being strewn about.

Where I thought this film was really going to take a sharp drop was when they said Twilight actor Robert Pattinson might be involved.  Then I was deeply horrified that this film might actually become a Twilight-Daredevil merger.  But the actor quickly shot down the rumors, leaving Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy) and Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, Limitless) in the rumor mill by themselves.

Penguin Plot Prediction Repudiated

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s part in Dark Knight Rises was recently released, and it would be that of Alberto Falcone, son of Carmine Falcone.  This would provide an answer to who is going to fill the mob boss shoes in the third installment with all previous leaders biting the proverbial dust.  This would then disclaim my prediction that the Penguin might be the third “classic” villain introduced merely as a cameo character who runs the mob from his club.  The Penguin was one of my 10 predictions from last week’s Top 10, and I found him to be one of the most likely options considering how easy he would be to transition.  With Alberto coming into play, the Penguin’s role is no longer so subtle and so he likely won’t be the third classic villain.
Dark Horizons purported that there likely won’t be any other villains announced after this one.  If Gary Oldman, who originally started the rumor of a third classic villain being involved, considers Alberto Falcone, a character created in 1996, classic, he needs to realize how long comics, let alone Batman, has been around.  1996 is not classic.  Either Oldman misspoke, or we have another cameo villain to expect.  I’m going with the latter, because Alberto doesn’t intrigue me all that much.  Now, interesting note, Alberto Falcone was first introduced as the Holiday Killer in The Long Halloween, and guess who was the primary classic Batman villain from that story arc?  Calendar Man (1958).  Just sayin’.

Good News or Bad News First?

While films like the Wolverine sequel and Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim have hit snags due to the destruction in Japan, The Hobbit appears to be over its endless complications and will be kicking off production soon.  The Wolverine sequel, after losing its director, has also been forced to be delayed due to the problems in Japan.  This film, despite a “great script” and Hugh Jackman already signed on, may fall into limbo if the producers aren’t careful.  Toro’s Pacific Rim, which also featured a lot of events in Japan, is also facing some problems.  But unlike Wolverine, Pacific Rim shows a lot of mass destruction.  So instead of waiting for things to settle, out of respect for the country the script is likely being rewritten for another coastal location.  This could stall the film or speed things up depending on how you look at it, but this movie might also hit limbo if things don’t streamline.  Having said all that, the strikes and fires and curses of the Hobbit set seem to finally be over and the two-film adaptation is on its way through the eyes of Peter Jackson.  This is good news amidst a lot of terrible news.  While I am reporting movie news here, our thoughts and prayers should go out to the people of Japan.  May they recover quickly!

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