New MAN OF STEEL Trailer Brings The Awesome

You guys, I am EXCITED!

Superman is my absolute favorite superhero.  The original Richard Donner film made me completely fall in love with the character as a child and I've essentially been waiting my entire life to see another truly great film about Krypton's last son.  Each of the four follow-up films to Donner's classic contain certain elements that work, (well okay, maybe not Superman IV) but we arguably haven't seen the total package in over 30 years.

There are so many things I love about this trailer.  First of all, I'm seriously digging the slow burn here, giving us only mere glimpses of all the film's action and instead focusing on Clark Kent's inner psyche.  I also really appreciate the dramatic shift in visual style from most of Zack Snyder's previous work.  The guy is pretty much the personification of "slick," which is to say that all of his films seem to have a polished sheen spackled over them.  (With good reason: aside from his liberal use of CG-enhanced sets, he also like to digitally paint over every frame to get the look he wants.  Nowadays we'd call it Instagram filmmaking.) With Man Of Steel, Snyder appears to have gone "full Malick," truly reveling in the grain and texture of what he's shooting.  Watchmen and 300 both feel plastic; this feels organic.

Snyder's also got one hell of a cast assembled and everyone looks great so far, even though most are only seen in mere glimpses.  I'm largely unfamiliar with Henry Cavill's work, so he feels like a breath of fresh air here, a commanding presence with equal parts gravitas and simple human decency.  He feels like a real person, not a movie star in a suit.  Michael Shannon's Zod is sporting some appropriately menacing facial hair that would make Abed Nadir proud.  Kevin Costner looks perfectly cast as Kal-El's adoptive father who deeply loves his son but is simultaneously terrified of what he can do.  Plus, Toby Ziegler!

And that moment where he takes off in flight from the frozen tundra...that is undeniably cool.

There was plenty of fear that, with Christopher Nolan producing, this Superman would lean too heavily on the "grim and gritty" tone of the Dark Knight trilogy, but it actually looks like Snyder's been able to strike a remarkable balance here.  Man Of Steel certainly doesn't look dark, but it does sort of feel like it could exist in the same universe as the Batman we've all come to love.  With rumors of a Joseph Gordon-Levitt cameo that would set this as the cornerstone of Warner Brother's upcoming Justice League, I honestly can't say that I'm surprised.

I can say that I'm impressed.

Superman Gets A Double Dose Of Fatherly Wisdom In These MAN OF STEEL Trailers

As excited as I was to see The Dark Knight Rises last week, I was maybe even more excited to see the first teaser for Zack Snyder's upcoming Superman reboot, Man Of Steel.  Warner Brothers showed a a few minutes of footage at Comic Con last week and it went over VERY well.  More than a few critics referred to Snyder's work as Malick-esque, which is not a comparison I would've ever thought to hear used to describe the director of 300.  Turns out it's more than a little appropriate.

Warner's actually released this teaser with two different sets of narration, one by Kevin Costner's Pa Kent and one by Russell Crowe's Jor-El.  Since I saw TDKR twice this weekend, I had the pleasure of seeing both versions on the big screen and they did not disappoint:

That's some gorgeous imagery right there, and I appreciate Warners going for the slow burn in their marketing.  At the same time, when I watch this trailer I can't help thinking, "Next summer, you will believe a man can fish!"

While Henry Cavill still feels like an unknown quantity, I'm over the moon about the supporting cast.  To be honest, I'm still a little astounded that they were able to snag Russell Crowe in the first place.  The Comic Con footage is said to have featured more of the action, giving a better sense of the film's scale and I can't wait to see more.  As great as Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy has been, I've always been a fan of the Big Blue Boy Scout and I'd love to see him recapture the imagination of a new generation of moviegoers.

Next summer can't get here fast enough.

Pa Kent, Slave Boss

Looks like someone woke up Kevin Costner, because all of a sudden he's back in a big way.

Aside from playing adopted-father-and-heart-attack-victim Jonathan Kent in Zack Snyder's upcoming Man Of Steel, Costner will also be appearing in Quentin Tarantino's next, Django Unchained.  Not only that, but he'll be playing a spectacular bastard in the part of Ace Woody, a pit boss who trains slaves (and presumably Jamie Foxx's title character) for the equivalent of human cock fighting.  It's a smaller supporting role to the film's main villain, Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio).

While I would have loved to see Will Smith take a real risk in the role of Django, I'm sure Jamie Foxx will be just fine, especially considering the monster cast that QT is surrounding him with.  Personally I'd love to see Costner do some serious scenery chewing, as I've always enjoyed him more when he was playing a bit more broadly.

Besides, whenever Tarantino decides to revive someone's career, it usually turns out for the best.  At the very least, it's always interesting.