Showing posts with label *Random rants: Movie related. Show all posts
Showing posts with label *Random rants: Movie related. Show all posts

Monday, January 2, 2017

Top 10 Movies Of 2016

As 2017 starts, I look back at my top 10 movies of 2016. I admit that i did not watch all the movies released in Singapore and there are some honourable mentions that i decided to miss such as TRAIN TO BUSAN. Even for those i watched, not all of them were given reviews.

Anyway here are my top 10 movies of 2016 and why i hold them in such high regard.





1. DEADPOOL 
9/10
It defies genre, it defies convention, it throws us right into the thick of the action. The perfect comic book movie. Very faithful to the source, witty, funny. We aren't talking the cartoony quips or snide banter of disney's Marvel movies. This is smart, actually humorous, befitting of the film and filled to popping point with pop culture references of all sorts. Yet DEADPOOL is not some laugh-a-minute comedy. Ryan Reynolds completely sells even the more sombre scenes with such earnestness.



2. FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
9/10
The magic carries on in this amazing spinoff of the HARRY POTTER franchise. It had a lot to live up to and delivered the same wondrous sense of fantasy and adventure while weaving a brand new story quite literally from scratch. With compelling new characters juxtaposed against a familiar world of wizardry, a near perfect script and a touch of nostalgia, the world of HARRY POTTER has now broken free of the restraints of the books and opened up a whole new direction of possibilities.



8.5/10
Filled with subtle but powerful emotional moments, equally powerful fight scenes, and strong underlying themes, BATMAN V SUPERMAN is loud, grand and an easily misunderstood creature.
This is a complex movie delving into complex themes that few current day superhero comics, let alone movies, touch on. It deconstructs and explore the nature of trust, power, and question the inherent good or evil in human hearts. These philosophical questions are brought up, lending much needed depth to a genre reduced in recent years to superficial childlike thrills.



8.5/10
As a whole this is a tremendous improvement in every aspect over previous marvel team up movie AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON. Comic book movies will be hard pressed to match up to this standard set by CAPTAIN AMERICA CIVIL WAR. Yes there is ill placed humour, yes they kill a certain amount of the drama with cheap comedy and yes the relatively generic musical score by Henry Jackman seems wasted on such an epic. But the few flaws aside, this is finally the kind of movie that marvel should be making. One that takes its superheroes more seriously, tones down the jokes, and delves into deeper themes both social and political



5. WARCRAFT: THE BEGINNING
8.5/10
Video game movies have never gotten a fair chance to shine. Plagued by either a low budget or too many deviations from the source, they have been constantly ridiculed at the box office. WARCRAFT changed that. In fact it may hew a little too faithful to the source. As an adaptation of the very first Warcraft game, it succeeds in creating a high fantasy world where orcs, gryphons and other magical creatures exist. The characters are earnestly fleshed out, decently developed and extremely likeable. The production designs come right out of game, preserving even the more extreme ones all produced with special effects that would rival James Cameron’s Avatar. The fact that WARCRAFT has gone to become the highest grossing video game movie in the world by 2016 speaks volumes about its quality.



6. SHIN GOJIRA (GODZILLA RESURGENCE) 
8/10
Japan is back in the game with their very own new Godzilla movie SHIN GOJIRA. Where Hollywood revived Godzilla as a tribute to his more heroic role in the showa era “versus” movies, Toho Japan has gone back to the roots of the 1954 original Gojira and crafted a modern thriller about the horrors of mankind’s misdeeds, the inaction of a government and the impotence of a military in the face of this fiercer, meaner, force of nature Gojira. More than just a monster movie with amazing special effects, SHIN GOJIRA is a political thriller that satirises the japanese government, it is also a very human drama, unafraid to show that horrible consequences of a monster’s rampage.



7. 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE
8/10
Monsters come in many forms and on the flip side from the giant monster in GOJIRA comes the most unexpected but most obvious monster of all, us. 10 Cloverfield lane is a thrilling mystery fleshed out perfectly thanks to the performance of its cast led by veteran John Goodman. Every moment is a nail biting tension, every bit of dialogue is a clue to something that would come later, all cleverly woven into tense film about how far desperation would drive someone. With a hinted connection to an overarching shared universe which started with the Cloverfield giant monster movie, 10 Cloverfield Lane shows that you do not need big special effects or big action to tell a compelling story.


8. LEGEND OF TARZAN
8/10
The Lord of the Jungle has reclaims the big screen with this modern day interpretation of the classic character written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Not surprising that this magnificent period piece comes from the same director as FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM. I personally loved that it was not an action blockbuster. There were enough slower scenes that fleshed out the characters and the setting. The performances of the cast is amazing, with the more mythical elements of the Tarzan mythos realised through cutting edge special effects and featuring beautifully stylised cinematography throughout. The themes of the movie, both personal and political, are a constant presence throughout Tarzan’s tale and journey of self-discovery.


9. ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY
8/10
STAR WARS without lightsabers or jedi? Unheard of yet perfectly executed in this movie. ROGUE ONE shows the grittier side of the star wars universe being a war story first and a star wars story second. In a departure from the classic black and white morality of the star wars franchise, ROGUE ONE presents morally grey good guys and bad guys. A cruel empire or the only hope for order amidst galactic chaos? A courageous group of rebels or scheming underground movement that would backstab and betray to achieve their ends? This complexity adds a fresh layer to the stale good vs evil duality and crafts a compelling science fiction movie which relies too heavily on nostalgia.


10. HARDCORE HENRY
7.5/10
A first person shooter movie that is not based on a first person shooter game. The story, the characters, the entire setting is right out of a video game that never was. Filmed entirely from a first person perspective using go-pro cameras, the frantic action may be a little too much for some but for me it is a perfect action movie revealing in violence and intense carnage. Its unique visual style and masterful cinematography makes this look like a big budget film. You’d never know that it was made cheap using off the shelf visual effects software.
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, February 25, 2016

The BATMAN V SUPERMAN movie i hope to see


Trailers have showed us quite a bit and many have tried to piece together the story: batman sees the full destructive power of superman, gets obsessed with taking him down, superman fights batman, genetically enhanced clone of zod appears, trinity unites to stop the clone thus starting the justice league. 

It's a pretty standard narrative and if it turns out to be true falls a little within the realm of "disappointing". 

But what if the trailer is a switch-up from what is really going to happen?
something like this:

WE first see the battle of Metropolis from Man of Steel from the point of view of Bruce Wayne. This incident spurs Wayne to once again don his identity of the masked vigilante known as the Batman, cracking down on crime in Gotham city with a vengeance. A scene with a tattered Robin suit shows that batman gave up his crime fighting days after the death of Robin. His controversial act of allowing the perpetrator to get away with just incarceration caused all his former allies to distrust and leave him.


Scenes of Wayne reclaiming the mantle of the Bat are interspersed with Superman first answering to a committee hearing about the battle of metropolis and the lives lost. 
During that hearing, superman pledges to be a force for good and begins carrying out heroic deeds across the world starting with the rescue of a near fatal space rocket accident.

As time goes by, Superman slowly gains the trust and approval of supporters.



At the same time, Batman steps up his battle on crime to the point where Gotham city has come to fear him and his brutal methods. He initiates what history would come to call "The Long Halloween" in which Batman relentlessly hunts down every single one of his rogues gallery, beating them up to near the point of death then throwing them into prison. This begins his "reign of terror"

A year later, Superman is hailed as a hero of Metropolis and a statue is erected in his honour.

By this time, Clark Kent (possibly fuelled by his success as Superman) starts getting a big head and ambitious (taking on the batman as a reporter), desperate to bring justice to a city that is plagued by a vigilante (Gotham). He has his suspicions on a connection between Wayne and the Batman (suspects Wayne is supplying funds and technology to the vigilante). 

At a elite social event, Clark meets Bruce Wayne and he has ideological disputes with Bruce Wayne, setting up the conflict. We are introduced to Lex Luthor, a business competitor to Bruce Wayne. Desperate to topple Wayne as a business competitor, Lex befriends Clark in hopes to ride on some positive journalism. Remember, even with his powers, clark is still a rather naive farm boy at heart and gets suckered by luthors's sweet talk against Bruce Wayne and the batman and feeding Clark's desire to dig out the truth.


The clone of zod appears at this point. Lex's plan was to destroy superman and with Lex at this event, he would have the perfect alibi for innocence. Bruce goes into action as Batman, single handedly taking on the clone with an array of impressive weapons. But he is no match and lures the clone into the open while fighting a retreating battle.


Superman arrives and manages to hold off the clone for a while until Batman returns with more firepower.
Batman rains machine gun fire down on the clone who retaliates with a heat vision blast that crashes the Batplane.
As the clone prepares to finish them off, Wonder Woman appears.


After a prolonged battle and the help of Wonder Woman, superman is forced to use devastating means to take out the creature.

 His brash actions and show of power frightens batman and the world. Wonder Woman leaves and we get a sense that she is planning something after being shocked at the extent of superman's unchecked might.

>Superman turns the corpse of the clone over to to lex Luthor to uncover the origin of the clone, not knowing that it was lex who was the creator.(we see this in flashback either at this point or a later point)

Lois also goes on her own investigation of lexcorp. It is soon revealed that superman has also been confiding in lex.;
Through lex luthors's sweet talk about winning more support from the people, superman is genuinely convinced that batman is crossing the vigilante line and thus sets out to stop him. 

Powerless to stop batman as a reporter, Clark resorts to stopping batman as Superman. Superman finds batman in Gotham where the bat had just finished cracking down on some mob weapons smuggling ring.

Superman warns batman to stop and this just enrages batman who feels his paranoia  had been proven right. He retaliates by threatening Superman with the "do you bleed" quote.


This fuels batman's paranoia that superman may one day become a god-King; the nightmares of a post apocalyptic earth do not help the matter.


The final showdown between batman and superman looms. Batman creates his mechanised batsuit. Lex has caught Lois snooping around and holds her hostage and gloats about how his manipulation had set up the confrontation between batman and superman.

Superman finds out but in an attempt to rescue Lois is threatened by Lex to either go through with taking down batman or Lois dies. With superman at his mercy, lex humiliates the man of steel by asking him to kneel.

The deal is struck: batman dies or Lois does. Unknown to superman, a certain green rock in luthor' room had exposed superman to an unknown type of radiation.

Superman need not hunt Long as the batsignal lights up the night sky. 



The battle between God and man begins with batman in a newly acquired mech suit. 



The battle is one sided initially, it only seems evenly matched because superman makes it clear he is holding back.


Soon the man of steel seems to lose strength when a direct punch is caught by batman.

The dark knight hands superman the beat down of his life at this point.

Luthor lets Lois go but not before threatening to ruin her, her family and everything she holds dear if she ever writes an anti-Luthor article. With no proof of their meeting and no leverage to bargain, Lois is caught in a checkmate; write the truth and be ruined forever or publish Luthor sanctioned lies that glorify lexcorp and her life's status quo remains free of incidents.

We find out that Lex wanted to win either publicity or some weapons contract by creating the clone to destroy superman but he didn't count on batman teaming with superman once the battle starts to involve Gotham. Now that the two are at loggerheads, Luthor still wins.


We cut back to the battle. Batman stands over a defeated and bloodied superman.bbatman reveals he knows superman's alter ego as Clark Kent and refers to him as such.

As he starts on his infamous monologue about wanting Clark to remember batman as the man who beat the superman, superman's strength slowly returns.

The man of steel catches batman mid-sentence, loses his cool and delivers a handy beat down to the batman, ending in a scenario similar to the battle between superman and zod in Man of Steel. Batman makes it clear that he would never stop his vigilante ways and never stop hunting superman, taunting him to resort to fatal means once again to end the battle.

Just as it seems superman is going to end batman's life, he redirects his blow hitting the ground beside a fallen batman. Superman comments that he has to be better than just a man. He repeats Jor-el's monologue from Man of Steel about being a symbol and that he would not resort to killing ever again. He then concludes with a quote which is a homage to the Christopher reeves superman. Something like:
"I am not your enemy. They are not your enemy. There are good people here and people who wish to be. They need a light show them, to show you, a better way"

With those parting words, superman leaves. Batman is left thinking. He flash back to his tragic past and mulls over Superman's words. Perhaps the man of steel is right?  Perhaps there is hope for this uncontrollable godlike alien to be the hero that the world needs.


Elsewhere lex Luthor has the zod clone in stasis undergoing additional mutations that include elongated spikes and denser musculature.

Lois Lane meets with Superman but does not tell him about her debacle with Lex Luthor for fear of Luthor's threats. She does encourage Superman to fight the good fight. 

A voiceover by Wonder Woman is interspersed with the arrival of Super powered beings at an undisclosed location: an atlantean warrior King, a scarlet speedster, an intergalactic enforcer clad in green, a cyborg. 

"You have seen what he can do, what he is capable of.  I count you among the most powerful this world has to offer. And I come to you to ask for your help. His is strong but reckless, dangerous. It will take all of us together to stop the reign of the Superman before it can begin.


The justice league is formed.
Their first Mission: hunt down and apprehend the kryptonian Man of Steel.

Posted by at No comments:

Monday, January 19, 2015

Concept: Red Hill - A plot Summary for a proposed fantasy action blockbuster



They call them the Garfish. But these were more than just sea creatures. They were ruthless pirates preying on defenseless island nations in the East Indies. Their ships were adored with sharp battering rams, their soldiers wielded spears, and for the longest time they were unstoppable. Year after year they came, killing men, raping women, kidnapping children, unless the villagers present a "protection tribute". Every few years during the monsoon, the Pirates would return to the island of Temasek and demand a tribute of gold and resources. Should those be in sufficient, the Garfish would take young men to be sold as slaves, girls to be prostituted. And for as long as one could remember, the chief's had given in to those demands in exchange for peace. 


But enough was enough. The younger son and elder daughter of the chief of Temasek (always having to hide in the northern hills) had grown weary of this endless cycle. The son tries to unite the tribes of temasek to fight back against the invaders but to no avail while the daughter yearns to leave this troubled island for a faraway land of peace. One day the son encounters a boy in the forests. A pale hermit with golden hair and uncanny knowledge about military tactics. He befriends the chief's son and provides him the opportunity to strike back at their pirate oppressors.
Together, they rally the villagers and begin to train the young and able bodied in the art of warfare. All the while, the chief's son and the hermit develop a bond of brotherhood. 

The fair skinned hermit displays uncanny combat skills and strategic planning. Together the two unite the outlying villagers, gathering men of all trades into an army; the hermit providing the training, the chief's son rousing their spirits with passionate speeches. As more young men join the war effort, the son and the hermit earn the nicknames "prince" and "ghost"; one a budding leader, the other an answer to the prayers of an oppressed people. As part of the defense of Temasek, the Prince and the Ghost order the construction of a barrier along the coastline. Consisting of sharpened tree trunks angled out toward the sea, this barrier would have to be positioned just below the tide. 

Construction is not easy. Tempers flare, tension mounts and old rivalries are laid bare. However through his strength and his companion's timely advice, the Prince is able to quell such dissent and strengthen the bonds between villagers. .Into this grueling age, the chief's daughter develops close feelings for the hermit. She believes he is a foreigner who would be able to whisk her away from the life of misery she has known since birth. The chief's daughter tries to win Ghost's affection but it becomes clear that he has no interest in her and only grows closer to the Prince. The Prince and the Ghost grow inseparable, with Ghost becoming highly protective of the Prince. Challenges to his leadership are quickly and violently put down by the skilled hermit.the biggest challenge came from the Prince's father, the chief. He tries to sway the people into believing that the plan to fight back would backfire, resulting in greater loss of lives and a fierce retribution from the Pirates that would leave the island a burnt out, lifeless land. The prince becomes convinced by the Ghost that it was the chief who planted his loyalists among the Prince's army and caused the initial dissension. When a heated argument shakes the Prince's resolve, his friend the hermit assassinates the chief, accusing him of holding back the prince from his full potential. It is here that we see that the Ghost may be something other than human as he exhibits a dark power and uses its influence to convince the guards of treachery perpetrated by Garfish assassins. 

In time, a wall of sharpened branches angled out to sea is constructed, the army of temasek stands ready. Trouble brews on the Homefront though. The chief's daughter continues her attempts to convince Ghost to leave Temasek with her. When Ghost makes it clear he intends to stay after Temasek is freed the chief's daughter becomes increasingly desperate. She resents Ghost for spurning her advances and for becoming the sibling to her brother that she never was. When he violently rejects her attempted at seduction, her resentment turns to hatred. Her brother too ignores her, regarding her as childish unfocused and disloyal. 

At the appointed time, the Garfish return, The prince and his entourage meet with a Garfish envoy just off the coast. But instead of bowing to their demands, the prince kills the envoy and retreats to Temasek through a hidden gap in the spiked wall. In a rage at this treachery, the pirate leader sends most of his fleet to destroy the villages. With only bloodlust on their minds, the Pirates blindly advance only for their ships to crash against the hidden wall of spikes. Ships are smashed, bodies impaled, and while the attackers wallow in confusion, the prince's army reveals itself and charge towards the water's edge slaying without mercy. The pain and anger over Years of suffering are unleashed against the hapless invaders in a bloody carnage that stains the sands red. It is a great battle, one that would be told and retold for generations to come. In the end, only the pirate leader and his ship's crew are left having waded to a secluded swamp to escape the battle. Unknown to them, their escape was spotted by the chief's daughter who was overlooking the battle from a nearby hill.

Night came and the villagers celebrate their victory. Under cover of darkness, the chief's daughter meets up with the pirate captain and promises him the chance for vengeance in exchange for making her a part of his crew. She sees the Pirates as the only way to fulfil her dream of leaving Temasek and to exact revenge on the one who spurned her. They find the Ghost in his secluded hut on a hill but it seems he is ready for them. At that time, the Prince had no interest in the festivities. Shaken by the deaths he had caused, he goes out searching for his companion for advice and comfort. He hears the sound of battle coming from the hill and runs to investigate

There he comes across massacred pirates, the pirate leader disarmed, his terrified sister, and a demonic form that used to be Ghost. Ghost has revealed his true supernatural nature and proceeds to drain the blood of the pirate leader. The Princes sister begs the prince to kill Ghost, claiming innocence. Ghost silences her by decapitaiton before returning to his human form.

Prince and Ghost share a tense moment. Ghost does not try to explain the presence of his sister or how she tried to kill him, he only asks if Prince will accept him after seeing his true nature. Racked with grief and confusion, Prince charges at his former friend fueled by rage. The scuffle is brief but surreal. Ghost lies dead, princes mind snaps under the trauma of losing everyone close to him. As he sits crying, blood issues forth from the dead bodies and soaks the soil of the hill. Camera pulls back to reveal the soil slowly turning blood red. The red fills the screen just before the end credits roll. 

Posted by at No comments:

Friday, January 2, 2015

5 Obvious Singapore stories that no one is making into movies.

Singapore has a rich history of legends and folk tales. Yet no one is doing anything with them. We have seen Greek myths like Hercules and Perseus see multiple big screen adaptations. Outside of hollywood, Britain, Ireland, Europe, they all have movies that reinterpret their local legends and local classic literature for a movie going audience.

Even malaysia had a few on their local legends such as Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat.

The singapore film market could do to move beyond drama and comedy (insipid and uninspired drama and comedy at that).

The realm of science fiction and fantasy awaits. With a competent director, a committed writer and a good crew, these movies are possible.

Now of course adapting the legends and literature word for word would be........boring. Who wants to watch a movie where the climax is a rock throwing competition?
So here are 5 local legends or classic literature that could do with a reinterpretation into movies.

1) Red Hill
Tone: 300 in ancient Singapura.

In a sentence: a vast legion of seafaring marauders looms on the horizon as one young man unites an island nation in a fight for their future.

Synopsis: they call them garfish. Named for their long lances and spear bowed boats, this legion of seafaring pirates have plundered the shores of temasek for generations. A young prince struggles to unite the islands tribes to stand against this onslaught. Seeking the help of a mysterious boy he encountered in the dark forest, the prince devises a cunning plan that would turn the tide against the invaders. Now farmers and fishermen take up arms to defend their homeland in one final fight for glory. But victory has a price; a price that can not go unpaid.


2) Badang
Tone: Hercules in mortal kombat

In a sentence: in a bid to claim the island of temasek, a ruthless king pits his deadliest warriors against the legendary strongman known as Badang.

Synopsis: at a meeting of the island rulers, the chief of temasek is conned by the regional tyrant into a contest with little hope of victory. Seven of the king's best warriors will challenge whoever the chief sees fit to seven feats of strength. Victory would win Temasek peace for another hundred years. Defeat would bring temasek under the rule of the empire. Now temasek's people had grown weak and domesticated, but an outcast veteran of wars long passed rises to serve his chief once again. His name is Badang the strong. This is his legend. Some say he made a deal with a devil for his immense strength. Others say he hunted demons to drain their powers. He had been branded a heathen, a heretic, a mad wild hermit. Yet he is the kingdom's last hope.


3) Merlion
Tone: battleship against the beast from 20,000 fathoms.
In a sentence: Singapore mobilizes the full fury of its armed forces to stop a rampaging mythical beast.
Synopsis: something has surfaced in the straits of Singapore, attacking ships at random around the Riau Islands. Investigative journalist Jack Liu follows rumors of a sea monster to rural Indonesia. Dismissed by his colleagues as a fraud for chasing myths, Jack's persistence pays off when he chances upon the beast coming ashore. A long Crimson body like a serpent's culminating in an inhumanly twisted torso and massive arms. Slick scales like armor, a jet black head and grey fins forming a mane. No one would believe him. But jack sets a plan into motion which would bring him all the witnesses he needs, the scoop of the century, along with all the money and fame he hopes to win. The Merlion would go to Singapore. And may mercy be upon those caught in its wake.


4) Kusu Island
Tone: reboot of Gamera in the tone of 2014 Godzilla
In a sentence: a gargantuan tortoise monster from ancient times is awakened to battle the menacing Merlion.
Synopsis: Ismail's grandfather always loved turtles. In his childhood days among the orang laut, he kept a small sea turtle which he named Kusu. A tragic encounter left Kusu fatally wounded and Ismail's grandfather had to abandon the turtle at an ancient off shore shrine in hopes that the afterlife would be kind to Kusu. In present day, Ismail is a washed up old writer left to take care of his increasingly senile grandfather. His books of children's stories never sold well causing him to become cynical and cold towards what he perceives as useless fairy tales. And now an enormous reading appears on the sonar, making a beeline for the mainland.

5) The Crocodile Dies Twice
Tone: Pirates of the Carribean meets Heart of Darkness, Singapore style.
In a sentence: a young boy is swept up in a swashbuckling adventure across the high seas as pirates, police and secret societies race to possess a long lost treasure.
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, September 1, 2014

I Can Always Dream - Pacific Rim 2: Godzilla Unleashed

Pacific Rim Vs GODZiLLA

pure and simple.
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, August 15, 2014

Movie Tweaks: The Spirit

Movie Tweaks is where we tweak a tiny element of a movie in a way that may make it better,

So lets start things off from the bottom of the barrel with Frank Miller's critically panned 2008 film "The Spirit"

1) THE SPIRIT [2008]
What it is: A satirical dark remake of a classic comic that has almost nothing in common with the original.

What it can be with a simple script addition: Will Eisner's "The Dark Knight Returns".
The Octopus is revealled to be Ebony White and the movie's story is revealled to be 30 years after the end of the original comic.
 Instead of re-telling an altered version of the Spirit's origin in which the Octopus was responsible for Danny Colt's resurrection, the death we see is not of Danny Colt but of The Spirit.

The 50s. The world was good, and everything was grand. Life was great. The Spirit, champion of Central City assists the police to uphold the law. Ebony White, a young african american kid is is biggest fan.He dreams of one day becoming a sidekick to the Spirit and join in his life of crimefighting. He worshiped The Spirit and obsessed over him.

All Ebony White ever wanted was to be just like his hero. Ebony himself, being an african american in a predominantly white city, had to bear with poverty, hardship and racism. The Spirit is Loved by all, fighting crime, getting the girls, everything Ebony ever wanted. Faithfully he served as the Spirit's driver until one day, Ebony decided to tell the Spirit about his dream. Ebony would be his crime fighting sidekick. But the Spirit declined.
"You don't have these enhanced abilities like me, Ebony", he said, "plus you're......you. No one would ever take you seriously".  It was true. Where the Spirit was reanimated by mysterious chemicals which gave him superhuman endurance, Ebony was mere mortal. In a time where coloured folk were looked down upon, no one would ever take a black superhero seriously.

On one fateful day, the two best friends had their final falling out, and then went their seperate ways. Ebony became obsessed with being a better superhero than The Spirit. He left Central city and devoted his life to science, reasearching a way to imbue himself with superhuman powers and eternal life.  The streetsmart young punk funded his obsession through an illegal drug trade, gaining infamy in the criminal underworld. Adopting the name of the Spirit's one time nemesis "The Octopus", Ebony White shed all vestiges of his former life and embraced evil as the perfect counterbalance to the Siprit's good, as the perfect yang to the Spirit's Ying.

Then one day, The Spirit died a mysterious death. No one knew why or how. Perhaps the chemicals in Danny Colt's body finally deteriorated. Perhaps Central City no longer needed him. Perhaps it was just his time to go. The Spirit died and Ebony White never got his revenge. In a fit of obsession fueled madness, Ebony White was determined to get his vegence. To that end, he used his experimental formula to resurrect The Spirit, thus leading to the events of the film. 









Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

5 other Light Novels that deserve a hollywood adaptation - And how Hollywood would change them.

Edge Of Tomorrow has earned critics' praise. Little do most people know that it was adapted from a japanese light novel called "All you need is Kill".

Now, here are 5 more light novels i would like to see in live action blockbuster form.

I also reflected on expected changes that we might see if these get adapted into movies.


1) Full Metal Panic

Tone: A-Team and Terminator without cyborgs, in a high school setting, with mechs.

Plot synopsis: Eighteen year old Katherine "Kathy" Connelly is the smart, sporty, and good looking, head of the student council at Dyson College. Her hot headed nature and tomboy demeanour makes her less of the hot prom date than "one of the guys". All is well, all is good, until a foreign transfer student arrives: Souske Sagara. This isreali with a japanese name turns out to be highly trained professional commando on a mission to protect Kathy whom his employers believe to be the last of "The Whispered"; humans with hidden knowledge of a long lost alien technology. He proves only too effective in dispatching anyone who gets too close, including the occasional panty thief, and ruining Kathy's social life. Amid the high school hijinks, a sinister force from Souske's past is plotting to kidnap Kathy. And he might just get the chance with an upcoming field trip.


2) Vampire Hunter D

Tone: Dirty Harry meets Aliens Vs Predator Requiem in the style of gothic horror

The people of the village of Tepes once cowered in fear beneath the shadow of an ancient manor rumoured to be the home of a powerful Vampire.  It became a place whispered of in ghost stories to caution young people to stay away. One day four of the village children vanished. Only three returned, with no memory of what happened or where they went.
That was ten years ago. Now, in the year 12,090 A.D., vampires who can walk in the daylight have appeared. Did the disappearance of the children have something to do with the undead's newfound powers? Into this mystery comes the even more mysterious "D"; a tall pale vampire hunter with a sullen air about him. He is instantly handsome and beautiful at the same time, and his prowess with his longsword is matched only by his inhuman strength. What secrets do the children hold in their memories? What secrets does D hold himself? The answer may lie in house on a haunted hill.

3) The Third

Tone: Elysium in the setting of Resident Evil Extinction.

The world is a ravaged desert land. With the help of an artificially intelligent tank called Bogie, Hannah attempts to make a living as a jack of all trades for hire in a future devastated by war and full of over-sized insects that plauge the sands between towns. One day in her travels she comes across a strange man alone in the desert, but rescuing him has consequences and brings unwanted trouble her way. Through this man, Hannah discovers another society observing the devastated earth from a pristine space colony. The mystery deepens.

4) Trinity Blood
Tone: Priest and Van Helsing
The background is in the distant future after the destruction brought about by Armageddon. The war between the vampires and the humans continue to persist. In order to protect the humans from the vampires, Vatican has to rely on other allies to counter the situation. The protagonist, a priest called Peter Abel Nightroad, travels through the countries as a representative for the Vaticans. However, he is also part of "Ax", a special operations group controlled by the Cardinal Catherina. His encounter with a young girl called Esther will determine the struggle and survival between the human race and the vampires.

5) Baccano!
Tone: Highlander with Sin City set in 1920s prohibition era

In the year 1711, a group of alchemists are granted an elixir of immortality, with the stipulation that they must kill each other until there can be only one. The now-immortal group unanimously decides it wasn't worth it and destroy the elixir; but one of them, Slizard Quates, starts to kill off his fellow immortals. To reduce the risk of Quates tracking them all down, the group separates and goes their separate ways. Neither of them crosses paths again till 1930, Manhattan, when Quates manages to create a new elixir of immortality. However, he loses it and it ends up going around town, taken to be a bottle of alcohol and unknowingly drunk by many residents. The drinkers of this new elixir include Isaac and Miria, an eccentric pair of thieves; the Gandor brothers, a Mafia family; and their associates in the Camorra, the Martillos (who employ some of the original immortals). Now, not only are a new group of immortals created, but the simmering criminal underworld is about to explode.
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)