Both The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Mummy were good reboots of franchises, one of a 1960s television series, the other intended to bring forward the Universal Studios Monsters for another generation, but the lack of attention by audiences brought the franchises to a standstill. Snake Eyes–G.I. Joe Origins, which premiered in theaters in July after a 16 month pandemic delay, is another good re-start of a franchise, and hopefully nothing stands in the way of Hasbro moving ahead with the planned G.I. Joe–Ever Vigilant, originally slated for a 2020 release. Especially if you’re a fan of the comics and animated series versions of G.I. Joe, you won’t want to miss the home release of Snake Eyes–G.I. Joe Origins. It’s a solid film, faithfully explaining–as the titles states–the origin of G.I. Joe ace operative Snake Eyes.
If you know the helmeted, silent ninja from the comics or animated show, you also know he is inextricably linked to that COBRA ninja in white garb, Storm Shadow; audiences will get the story of why each of these sworn brothers finds his way to opposing sides in the ongoing battle of good guys vs. bad guys. You won’t see any “kung fu grip,” although the Japanese martial arts choreographed fight scenes are well done, if toned down from more serious martial arts films. You also won’t yet learn why Snake Eyes goes silent–much is left for one or more sequels. But everyone does have “life-like hair.” And it may just leave you shouting, “Yo, Joe!” (That’s a good thing).
Well-timed to get G.I. Joe fans psyched for the release next month of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, the big screen sequel to 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, IDW Publishing teams up with Hasbro tomorrow to begin a new G.I. Joe monthly comic book series. And we’ve got a high-res 9-page preview right here for borg.com readers.
Although this isn’t billed as a tie-in comic book series, Issue #1 begins with all the right players: G.I. Joe leader Joe Colton (who we’ll see played by Bruce Willis in the forthcoming movie), team leader Captain Duke Hauser (played in the movie series by Channing Tatum), the no-nonsense Roadblock (played in the movie by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), and a classic favorite surprise villain. Regardless of whether or not there is overlap with the movie, writer Fred Van Lente and artist Steve Kurth give fans just what you’d hope for, a modern, something-for-everyone entry point to the world of Joe, whether or not your initial encounter with G.I. Joe was via the 12-inch Action Men in the 1960s, the Adventure Team in the 1970s, the small-sized action figures in the 1980s, or the various animated series and comic books series over the past 50 years.
With the eve of the opening of The Avengers finally upon us, the movie studios are gearing up for even more summer blockbusters, releasing updated and expanded versions of trailers that have already been playing for months, previewed earlier this year at borg.com in earlier versions. And each new blockbuster will open on in its own weekend in June, only a month away.
Brave
The best must be the new trailer for Brave. The downside is that it tends to show so many apparently good scenes that one worries if there will be anything left to be surprised by with the actual movie. The positive is that Brave looks to be among the best animated films so far, up there with Beauty and the Beast and Up. The visuals of the characters and setting are simply stunning. You might watch this trailer if you haven’t yet convinced yourself to see this film when it is released on June 22, 2012.
Prometheus
Next up is the new trailer for Prometheus, a film whose marketing (with the recent David 8 preview) seems to be just getting better and better. The ships, the future technology, the strange new worlds, all look intriguing. And if there were any doubt this film will pull a lot from the kind of plot seen in past Alien films, including space horror shockers and blood spatters, it’s all pretty much settled in this preview. The downside is that the opening scene conversations play a tad like bad SyFy Channel made-for-TV movies. Will special effects and scenery make up for iffy dialogue? We’ll find out June 8, 2012.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation
The new trailer for G.I. Joe: Retaliation has several bits from past trailers but reveals more about the plot of the organization called COBRA to take over the world. The filming and story looks a bit like the X-Men series, which may be a good thing. Then there is the ninja battle on the side of the mountain–no doubt this new G.I. Joe film will be as much fan as the last. We like Dwayne Johnson movies. We hope Bruce Willis is here for more than just a cameo. This movie will be released June 29, 2012.
The Dark Knight Rises
Finally, there is a new trailer (that makes trailer #3) for The Dark Knight Rises. Emphasis on the word “dark.” We have a bad guy, Bane, whose face we mostly cannot see, and so his dialogue seems muffled in the trailer. We have Anne Hathaway, who we want to love as Catwoman, yet she seems a bit weepy and not very seductive or cat-like. Her role must be bigger (fingers crossed) than what we’re seeing so far. And Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne looks…just like we’ve seen him in the past films, depressed and bedraggled like he looked before he went off to find himself in Batman Begins. Compared to The Avengers (and there will be plenty of comparisons and contrasts this summer with dueling Marvel and DC movies)–which looks all-out exciting–The Dark Knight Rises looks plain dreary. Goodbye Gotham. Goodbye Batman. Dreary. This summer blockbuster hits theaters June 15, 2012.
If you happened to watch this week’s episode of TNT’s hit TV series Leverage, you’ll have seen one of the best constructed episodes of the series so far. The “Brains” Nathan Ford, played by Timothy Hutton, brings his team to track down his father, who broke into the federal patent and trademark office. Soon we learn everyone has been set up, and a small town’s worth of SWAT and local law enforcement surround the building. In strategizing the Leverage team’s way out, “Hitter” Eliot, played by Christian Kane, poses as a police officer to communicate with a cop outside the building–a cop played by Michael Paré (The Philadelphia Experiment, Greatest American Hero, Eddie and the Cruisers) already getting brow beaten by the local head of Homeland Security who has taken over the investigation of the break-in. As with most episodes of Leverage we get an ample dose of great pop culture references (“Hacker” Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge) sports a tie and mimics Doctor Who saying “bow ties are cool”). Here Eliot maintains all his dialogue in the voice and drawl of Die Hard’s John McClane, just as Bruce Willis did, in order to get through his walk of the gauntlet in the original Die Hard movie. Die Hard interest is alive and well, after four movies in the franchise since 1988.
This winter Twentieth Century Fox announced that Bruce Willis will be returning as John McClane in 2013 with the fifth film in the franchise, A Good Day to Die Hard. Fox indicated Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Captain Picard) as a possible villain, to play a disgraced Russian general plotting to assassinate the visiting president. John Moore is scheduled to direct a script by Skip Woods (X-Men Legends: Wolverine, The A-Team). Bruce Willis has stated he wants to bring back Bonnie Bedelia as his wife from the first two films. Shooting is scheduled to begin this month in Budapest, Hungary.
A Good Day to Die Hard is to follow John McClane as he goes to Moscow to convince the government of Russia to let his son John McClane, Jr. out of prison. Somehow his son gets caught up in a global terrorist plot, and the inevitable McClane getting-in-over-his-head story will emerge. It sounds like the story is in initial stages, but since the first and third movies were pretty good, maybe the curse of the even-numbered movie sequels here will get us back to the Willis we love to watch. Casting for McClane Junior has included auditions by D.J. Cotrona, who will play Flint opposite Willis in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and Liam Hemsworth (Hunger Games).
But while we’re waiting until the scheduled release date of Valentine’s Day 2013, you can get a good dose of John McClane in comic legend Howard Chaykin’s graphic novel Die Hard: Year One. Here was BOOM! Comics’s blurb for the comic series spanning eight issues through April 2010:
BOOM! Studios is proud to present America’s greatest action hero translated into the sequential art form for the first time! Every great action hero got started somewhere: Batman Began. Bond had his Casino Royale. And for John McClane, more than a decade before the first DIE HARD movie, he’s just another rookie cop, an East Coast guy working on earning his badge in New York City during 1976′s Bicentennial celebration. Too bad for John McClane, nothing’s ever that easy. Join legendary industry creator Howard Chaykin on a thrill ride that’s rung up over $1 billion in box office worldwide and become the gold standard for classic action! Yippee Ki Yay!
Hype aside, as with nearly everything Howard Chaykin touches, Die Hard: Year One is pure gold. Twelve years before the Nakatomi building siege in Die Hard, Willis is a beat cop in Manhattan. He is working with a loud-mouthed training officer that might as well be played by Dennis Franz. The art by Stephen Thompson is well done, and McClane is drawn to resemble a young Bruce Willis, enough that you never doubt it with McClane’s trademark dialogue style.
In Volume 1, it is the Fourth of July, 1976. Writer Chaykin describes New York of 1976 almost as if he is there right now. But he does not sugar coat NYC of 1976. He describes an ugly place with ugly people, locals trying to rip off every tourist–locals trying to one up each other every chance they get. Here, a new immigrant to the Big Apple from Indiana witnesses two cops killing another man, they spot her and chase her down. McClane happens to get a detail as security on one of the tall boats in the bay, readying for the fireworks celebration, babysitting the wife of the third richest man in the world. All hell breaks loose as an odd jumble of locals, including the two bad cops, led by a local hippy terrorist, try to blow up the rich man’s yacht and escape in a mini-sub with all the money onboard. Plain clothes McClane hides below decks with the girl from Indiana, and McClane’s first big problem as police officer is underway.
Chaykin clearly knows the people of the 1970s and the streets of New York. His descriptions feel real and his storytelling is superb. We quickly get to know McClane, someone we already think we know, and the setting helps illustrate the put-upon cop we will later see on the big screen. I remember the look and feel of July 4, 1976, vividly, and Thompson here captures the sites, fashions, and images incredibly well.
With the holidays here and several other big budget films showing trailers with holiday films, the trailer for G.I. Joe: Retaliation came in under the radar. C’mon, marketing folks for Hasbro! This trailer is great! You should be promoting this movie more!
From the cool techno-funk thumping theme to the lead role with Dwayne Johnson, who we’ve loved in every film we’ve seen since he exited the wrestling gig years ago (like Walking Tall with Johnny Knoxville (Dukes of Hazzard, Men in Black II) and Ashley Scott (Birds of Prey, Dark Angel) to Scorpion King to Get Smart with Anne Hathaway)…
…to the elimination of and rounding up of G.I. Joes by the government, to Cobra taking over the White House…
…to Bruce Willis showing up as the original G.I. Joe Joe Colton…
…to a face off between Snake Eyes and, is that the return of Storm Shadow, who seemed to have been killed off in G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra?
If you had the small sized action figures or watched the animated series you’ll know those guys.
Who didn’t play with their G.I. Joes on a big G.I. Joe tank?
What more could you want?
We can’t wait for this one (as you’ll know if you read yesterday’s rundown of 2012 flicks).
G.I. Joe: Retaliation is scheduled to hit theaters on June 29, 2012.
is pure gold. Twelve years before the Nakatomi building siege in Die Hard, Willis is a beat cop in Manhattan. He is working with a loud-mouthed training officer that might as well be played by Dennis Franz. The art by Stephen Thompson is well done, and McClane is drawn to resemble a young Bruce Willis, enough that you never doubt it with McClane’s trademark dialogue style.
comprises Issues #4-8.
