There Will Be Justice

Know what else got previewed at Comic-Con this year...today?

Justice League.

Director Zack Snyder teased this past spring that the Super Friends were going to come together, in the disappointing Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, so, obviously, he took to the Con to tease their assemblage even further, with some sizzle footage that – Spoiler Alert! – doesn’t foreshadow the return of a certain Man of Steel at all.

What folks at the convention did get to see was more of Ezra Miller, who, as we know, will be playing The Flash, as well as lead justice champions Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot). They also got extended first looks at Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Ray Fisher’s Cyborg, and....

Oh, heck.

Thank you, Internet – let’s all get to watch it together, OKRRR. Check it:



Justice League is due out in November 2017 (with Henry Cavill somehow back as Superman).

Clash of the Titans

So now that I’ve had a couple of hours to mull it over, I get what Zack Snyder was going for there....

The polarizing director really wanted Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – the eagerly awaited superhero mash-up that officially sets up the DC Comicsverse, and the immediate follow-up to 2013’s Man of Steel, which he also helmed (to a decidedly mixed reception) – to have that meme feel.

What else can explain that every oh-so-dramatic moment in this bloated film unfolds in like, beyond-moody, 3-D-and-IMAX-friendly slow motion (btw, do not overdo the soda before or during your viewing of the blockbuster, for it goes on and on to clock in at a mostly slooow 2 1/2 hours). I mean, I know that, leading up to this critical weekend, Snyder has said that, aesthetics-wise, he definitely set out to deliver a movie that’s faithful to its comic-book origins.

Know what comic books do, though? They pop.

This darker and predominantly joyless...ahem...er offering does not do that, and memefying its every other key shot and even some of the action sure doesn’t do the trick. This is coming from a guy who liked Man of Steel, which, three years later I can agree, was nothing like Superman Returns, much less the Reeves Supes. As it were, quote-unquote adult to a fault, Man of Steel had and owned its look, and, see, I found something to be intrigued about it, even at its most morose.

Well. What a way to kick things off, huh.

Chagrin de chagrins, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a true disappointment. Truth be told, the film has everything it needs to succeed and so, so much more, but, for whatever reason, it falls short of just about everything it could/should have been (cuts have been made, and I am not sure how to feel about them).

Henry Cavill is back as Clark Kent/Superman; the dual characters are more conflicted than ever about Superman’s role as the ultimate outsider on Earth, and the actor is still hot, but he reads rather detached and essentially catatonic. Cutting to the chase, the question on deck is whether Superman is a savior or a danger?

Cavill is upstaged joined by Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne, who answers by making a strong case for the latter, exceeding expectations as a weariest Batman. Clearly, since Affleck’s part is in the movie’s title (holla!), the Caped Crusader is crucial to the story. In fact, Snyder opens with his childhood trauma, swiftly chronicled by two actors about to come face to face on AMC’s The Walking Dead (the lot of ya will get a kick outta the coincidence, I’m sure).

From the get-go, however, we face big problems. For one, Batman, yes, gets a bit of the short end of the stick, but I get it: Much like Spider-Man, we’ve been shown his origin story a lot. So the guy’s a brooding, walking anti-climax from like, page 1 of the script, which was co-written by Oscar winner Chris Terrio (Argo).

For two, Bruce has a major bone to pick with Superman for leveling his Gotham while fighting Michael Shannon’s General Zod over Metropolis one movie ago – without really bothering to understand Superman. This leads Bruce to rush into Metropolis without rhyme or reason (or with like, his alter ego’s Batsuit, for that matter), while the two Kryptonians duke it out with might, to what? To get proof – a front-row view of the unmissable destruction and assess the collateral damage?

It makes little to zero sense.

From there, Jesse Eisenberg’s shag-topped Lex Luthor, a young heir of industry with manic villainous tendencies, daddy issues, and a Frankenstein complex, makes pawns out of our two hero figures in his own personal game of confronting powers he doesn’t have but kinda sorta totally wishes he did, and almost certainly thinks no one should have if he can’t. The actor goes over the top with his performance, but the result, while interesting, is far from Heath Ledger territory. Eisenberg does serve one heckuva sinister look during a scene he shares with Holly Hunter, who portrays a senator demanding accountability from Superman, that gave me the hibbie jibbies it felt that grounded.

My goodness. This. Sounds. Like non-stop fun, huh.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice only excites when Gal Gadot enters the scene as Diana Prince and, later, as Wonder Woman. Her appearances are brief, but, boy, is she effective.

If this surprisingly hollow spectacle is meant to begin to establish the Justice League and Thanosfy the dark side to come, then I should just say, with polite apologies to the men (and to the clever cameos, in the flesh or on the phone), Gadot is the one who really leaves us wanting more (and more – of her, at first – we will get next summer). Because women are the true heroes of this and any world.

The powers that be hit on a interesting note in spinning this yarn by asking if someone with seemingly all the power can be all good. Eventually, a conclusion is drawn with what appears to be a surprising and ultimate sacrifice (rendered pointless, given that it was earned fighting a CGI monstrosity, a.k.a. an enemy with more bite than psychological bark, and by implicit nature of its sleight of hand-ness).

That no real entertainment comes from this showdown is a crime that makes me wanna turn on the Batsignal, scream for a man that is all things super, and, absolutely, call for a woman of wonder.

I doubt this was the desired effect.

Time to lighten up. Otherwise, this will always be a Marvelous game par excellence.

My Rating **1/2

Photo: Warner Bros. 

A Buff Cavill Makes for a Happy World

The media blitz for the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has begun, and it is so obvious.

Ergo the gratuitous shots of a shirtless Henry Cavill. You know, the Man of Steel, who has never looked the part more.

Cavill himself did his part by Instagramming the pic at right, as a sort of self-motivational tool to keep working out so all the fans can be happy when he suits up for the 147 other DC Comicsverse movies he still has coming down the pike.

So generous.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is due out on March 25.

Photo: E! Online.

Strange Bedfellows...at First

Who wants to see the latest trailer for Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer.

Good, ’cause here it is, and it basically goes a little something like this: Neither Henry Cavill’s Clark Kent nor his Man of Steel is crazy about Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne or his Batman.

Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor appears to be playing some sort of a game in which he engineers the showdown between our two heroes.

And Gal Gadot will be no damsel in distress as Wonder Woman (because she’s Wonder f---in’ Woman, OKRRR!).

Watch (and get super-excited):



Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is due out on March 25.

And, yeah. I cannot wait. Because, wait, is that General Zod (Michael Shannon) by way of Doomsday?!

Sand Studs

The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Henry Cavill, is ready to become a man of the Sand Castle.

The actor – and his Immortals co-star, Luke Evans (pictured here, too) – has been tapped for a role in an Iraq war drama by that title starring Nicholas Hoult.

The Mad Max: Fury Road actor will play a soldier on a mission circa 2003 to repair a broken water system in the unstable Iraqi village of Baqubah in the project, which is based on screenwriter Chris Roessner’s experience as a machine gunner in the Sunni Triangle.

Cavill will portray the special forces captain running the op, while Evans will take on the role of the sergeant leading Hoult’s character’s unit.

Photo: IMDb.com.

Suave Lethal Weapons

Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer bicker in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the latest from director Guy Ritchie. They bicker a heckuva lot.

In fact, they argue so much (in an early posh-shop scene that they – two stylish men in their own right – share with Alicia Vikander, they discuss her outfits-to-be, enthusiastically, knowingly weighing the pros and cons of a number of frocks) that you wouldn’t be far off in thinking the two are having a lovers’ spat. They’re that obstinate about their feelings about the dresses and, by proxy, about each other. And in a different moment beyond-ripe with plenty o’ double entendres, they mindlessly discuss who’ll take top and who’ll take bottom.

Lest you think the actors are playing a pair of old queens and that Vikander is their long-suffering fruit fly, I should say they are not, and she is not. This is a spy movie, not The (Male) Spy Who Shagged the Other (Male) Spy.

Cavill is Napoleon Solo, a disgraced soldier-turned-thief-turned suave CIA agent, while Hammer portrays Russian discipline and methodology as KGB agent Illya Kuryakin. Needless to say, these handsome, oh-so-well-tailored spies do not see eye to eye (that top-bottom discussion pertains to them cracking a doubly secured door).

Set in the early the Cold War-era against a fashion-forward Swinging Sixties backdrop, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the long-gestating adaptation of the 1960s cult NBC show, sees Solo and Kuryakin put aside their differences to team up in order to stop an international criminal organization led by the slinky, smokey-eyed Victoria Vinciguerra (The Great Gatsby’s Elizabeth Debicki) from getting her well-manicured hands on some nuclear tech and weaponry that would upset the balance of power in the world. The key to stopping this plot is Vikander’s Gaby Teller, a mechanic from East Berlin (aah...that’s what they guys were doing – they were giving Gaby a makeover!), and her will to collaborate is seemingly hanging by a very thin thread.

Exquisitely produced (the movie’s art direction and its production design shall give ya major Tom Ford-meets-W magazine vibes, and Hammer and Cavill, especially, while surprisingly bland, at least, look the part of two super-spies with a penchant for the globetrotting life of an international man of mystery), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was originally conceived as a vehicle for Tom Cruise, who pulled out to go chase a bad guy in a Rogue Nation, and it shows. More than thrice I found myself watching Cavill recite lines clearly meant for the Cruiseter and thinking about it and about how different this movie would have felt and been had Cruise not dropped out.

Those gay undertones would not have been there, that’s for sure.

Here’s the thing: The entire proposition also would have been entirely more enjoyable.

Cruise doesn’t really do boring, and while Cavill and Hammer are imposing presences, they also display the charisma of day-old toast. They may be impeccably confectioned in that they look like men, and like men who like, Esquire their lives, you know what I mean. But they are uninteresting, and without the gay they’d be nothing.

My Rating **

Photo: Warner Bros.

It Will Be an Epic Superhero Showdown Alright

Bruce Wayne is pissed.

That would be the takeaway from the amazing new Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer that just premiered at Comic-Con.

As played by Ben Affleck, and as a the preview starts, Bruce Wayne is bearing witness to the collateral damage produced by Superman’s (Henry Cavill) clash-of-the-titans-style confrontation over Metropolis with Michael Shannon’s General Zod at the end of 2013’s Man of Steel.

Bruce Wayne is so mad that he decides to suit up as Batman again – I’m betting that the upcoming blockbuster will spend quite a bit of time cluing us into this particular incarnation’s background and motivation. He will protect the world from the mysterious alien man who has the power to end all of humanity if he so would choose it.

The almost-4-minute clip also gives us an exciting first look at Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman in action and at Jesse Eisenberg as a bratty young Lex Luthor, and tips its hat to Jared Leto’s Joker, who will debut next summer in Suicide Squad.

Without further ado, check it:



Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is due out on March 26.

Poster v Poster

Last week, the DC Comicsverse was rode high for a hot minute after releasing a tease of the first trailer for the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (a preview that, btw, was meant to premiere exclusively at special-screening IMAX events today).

Of course there was a leak (thanks, Internet!), and, kind of worse, the Force came outta nowhere and sort of – go figure – went and stole the superheroes’ thunder.

Ergo why we have gotten more now, and why the blockbuster’s director, Zack Snyder, is going into his formal IMAX Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice event today ready to discuss not only the (leaked) trailer and all its goodness but, also, these two new posters, featuring Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck in character, at right.

Boom.

Photos: EW.com.

Oh, It Is On Between Batman and Superman!

The world just could not wait.

The first teaser trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was meant to premiere in theaters in three days, but the Internet – the glorious Internet – needed to get its fix early, which is why part of the preview leaked yesterday. And why the powers that be, led by director Zack Snyder, decided to just go ahead and post the darn thing online themselves.

Henry Cavill is back as the Man of Steel, and Earth’s new favorite superhero is struggling with his newfound notoriety, and with his fair of critics who accuse him of being a so-called fake god.

The trailer also gives us our first look at Ben Affleck in and out of his Batsuit, and lets us hearing for the first, too. His Caped Crusader voice? Grave as hell, and a bit like, mechanized. Perfect for when he asks Superman if he bleeds...and then tells him he will.

Speaking of hearing people, but in their cases not seeing them, Holly Hunter in her mystery role is also featured, as are Jeremy Irons as Alfred and Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor.

You officially excited now?

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will be out next March.

Batman, Superman to Take 4/20

Talk about a tease.

A preview of the first preview – so silly! – for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice let it be known today that the first trailer for next spring’s eagerly awaited blockbuster starring Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill will debut on April 20 at special-screening IMAX events. And then online, of course.

Check it.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will feature Jesse Eisenberg, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, and many more, is set to come out at the end of next March.

Photo: EW.com.

Update: A little bit of the trailer has leaked online, kids!

The rivalry is real, yo.

Stratton Man

The spy (or spy-esque) genre has taken hold of Henry Cavill.

Not only does the actor have The Man from U.N.C.L.E. coming out this summer, he is also getting ready to star in Stratton, a movie based on the first of eight books by Duncan Falconer that center on a Special Boat Service operative on the hunt for an international terrorist cell through London, Europe, and Central Asia.

Simon West (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) is set to direct.

Photo: HenryCavillLatinFans.tumblr.com.

U.N.C.L.E. Stud

How friggin’ James Bond-esque does Henry Cavill look as The Man from U.N.C.L.E.?

The man o.k.a. Man of Steel is starring in Guy Ritchie’s upcoming adaptation of the 1960s NBC show (instead of Tom Cruise), as Napoleon Solo (what?), a CIA agent who partners up with Armie Hammer’s Illya Kuryakin, a KGBer, in a story that reveals the origin of the crime-fighting United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.

Hugh Grant, Jared Harris (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows), and Alicia Vikander co-star in the Cold War-era-set movie, which is set for an Aug. 14 arrival in theaters.

Photo: EW.com.

Hey There, Superman

Just in time for the Fourth of July...hello buffer-than-ever Henry Cavill in character as the Man of Steel (whatchu you doin’ standing in the rain there, all moody and s--- – need a PUH?)!

Not to mention...hey, hey, hey, nice little preview of the forthcoming sequel Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice courtesy of director Zack Snyder.

Those who wait for this kind of thing, we got rewarded this week when Snyder shared with USA Today some goodies from his sequel’s set. Bits like just what is up with that contentious-sounding title and just what kind of Caped Crusader we should expect to see Ben Affleck playing.

The cup doesn’t runneth over with details (or things we didn’t already know, for that matter), but it’s nice that we got something now considering that the follow-up isn’t due until May 2016.  

Ah, but, time goes by...so slowly.

Photo: EW.com.

Sexy Steel

America may have Adam Levine, but the Brits have Henry Cavill.

And according to Glamour UK, the Man of Steel is the Sexiest Man.

Oh yeah – absolutely I totally see it and concur.

Cavill not only is sitting sexy at the top of the magazine’s list, he dethroned sexy-four-years-running Robert Pattinson for the honor.

And the R. Patz Nation weeps.

But then I’m sure they see Cavill and all is understood. (I mean…right?)

Photo: AManCanFly.tumblr.com.

U.N.C.L.E.-in’ Around

Well – this certainly lends itself to a bit of wanderlust of the mind.

It’s Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer, keeping super-close company on set in Rome as they shot Guy Ritchie’s Man from U.N.C.L.E. adaptation last week.

They so pretty together like that!

Photo: People.com.

Pullin’ a Jon Hamm, Too, Henry Cavill?

Just like Justin Theroux did last week, I think Henry Cavill has pulled a Jon Hamm.

There the Man of Steel was, hiking in L.A. with his new girlfriend, Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco (lucky gal!), when, going by the photographic evidence, his Mr. Cavill inched out for his own close-up.

Oh, the thoughts in my head right now....

Photo: People.com.

Just Because, Pt. 92

A hot video of hella H-O-T Henry Cavill has surfaced, and it shows him doing something hot: working out.

You minds of gutter – you probably thought I meant a sex tape.

Pause to picture that....

And we’re back.

C’mon – we all know Cavill’s be-all-you-can-be-style routine helped Man of Steel soar to smashing success at the box office this past weekend.

Now let’s break the Internet watching that over and over.

Update: Click here if you wanna get a deconstruction of this news à la BuzzFeed.

Will the Man of Steel Lighten Up In the Sequel? Should He?

So...now that Man of Steel is out and doing its thing, and you’ve read the reviews that accuse Zack Snyder’s film of being a “joyless,” sad bore, I have a question.

Should the in-the-works follow-up lighten things up?

I think it has to, and now that it can, it will.

As we see at the end of the just-out blockbuster – stop reading if you haven’t gone to the theater yet and f---in’ get! – Henry Cavill, finally wearing Clark Kent’s stylish Warby Parker glasses, joins Amy Adams’ Lois Lane in Metropolis, where he will work alongside her at the Daily Planet, hiding in plain sight so that he can keep his ear to the ground.

He has pledged allegiance to the American flag – he’s a Kansas boy, after all, he says. And neither he nor Earth faces threats from Krypton or anything or anyone related to it (right?).

Clark is finally free (but not without unexamined cost).

Danger will always lurk at every corner, but now he knows who he is...what he is, and what he can and wants to do with life. But he’s arrived at this knowledge at great, shocking expense, as he – Spoiler Alert! – quite literally has had to sever his last connection to his planet by snapping General Zod’s (Michael Shannon) neck – in order to save innocents who cannot help themselves.

And for the sake of, well...running time, I guess, he’s had to mourn the loss of his extraterrestrial roots, and his boyish innocence and anger, become the man both his fathers hoped he would, and move on. Quickly.

Again I will say, that is not supposed to be a joyful experience.

By teasing us with Clark’s move to the big city and eradicating the alien threat, the filmmakers are also free to inject the sequel with some of that levity that some thought is missing in Man of Steel (and/or set in motion events that will lead to a long-hoped-for Avengers-style Justice League movie, for which David S. Goyer is already contracted, given that he did not do that with Man of Steel, after all).

The powers that be now can flirt with a little workplace humor, and, better yet, explore the blossoming relationship between Clark and his friend Lois...as well as the effect of taking a life, however monstrous, has had on the hero’s psyche.

And since it’s safe to presume Superman will be facing a more grounded foe (y’all did catch all those Lex Luthor Easter eggs in the third act of the film, right?), those who had a problem with the over-the-top-ness of it will be pleased to find some (temporary) solace in thinking that maybe, just maybe, the next time Superman packs a super-punch, it won’t result in the oh-so-“loud” near-obliteration of the world.

And in a little bit of camp. Seems to me people want his man in tights to stand for truth, justice, and the American right to camp.

Photo: Warner Bros.