SDCC 2018 – Highlights

Sadly, no, I wasn’t there. But hopefully one day I will be.

However, I’m going to briefly discuss my highlights from SDCC which I witnessed from the misery of my own home. Counting down from 5 – 1 I’ll discuss the posters and trailers released at Comic Con…starting with…

5. Aquaman

This poster is awful, too much going on, I’m bored just looking at it.

I’d be as bold to say I am about 10% excited for this film. I’m going to be a bit uncouth when I say it’s because I enjoy the way Jason Mamoa looks, and that’s the only reason. No matter how hard I try, and how many chances I give DC they never seem to impress me and there’s no chance this will change my opinion. Anyone who knows anything about my opinions on films knows I start with the cast, the story comes next and then after that the execution of the story. If the cast is wrong, I won’t be interested. With Aquaman, and the whole DC Universe, the casting for the lead roles (Ben Affleck is exempt from this statement) has always been on point for physicality. Henry Cavill looks like Superman, Gal Gadot looks like Wonder Woman and to continue the trend Jason Mamoa looks like Aquaman which is great. But the supporting cast is always so incredibly weak and just stems from weird casting choices. Amber Heard is not a good actress (I know it’s brutal but it’s my blog so if you don’t like it then don’t read it.) I don’t like her as an actress, there’s absolutely no doubt that she is beautiful, but she can’t act. As we have seen in Magic Mike XXL and from the trailer of her upcoming film London Fields. I also have conflicted views of Nicole Kidman, she’s a fantastic performer no doubt but there’s something I find very hard to watch about her. I did love her in Big Little Lies and I think it gave her a chance to really act, but having her in Aquaman just seems bizarre?! Maybe it’s just me.

You might now be thinking, after I’ve just ripped the film to pieces, why it is featured in my SDCC 2018 Highlights post? well, because although I am not by any stretch of the imagination a DC fan, I enjoy being entertained. DC films are bad comic book films that don’t hold a patch on Marvel, but when me and my friend Neel (@_NeelsReelDeel) go and watch them, we have fun, mostly because we rip them apart, but we still have fun. So yeah, I probably will see Aquaman but no, I probably won’t enjoy it.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/387HZ-Wpgew

4. Shazam!

The poster doesn’t really give anything away except the title, but I like it, it’s simple and to the point. The trailer tells us everything we need to know at this point.

Yep, from one DC film to another. But this one actually looks like it might be quite fun, I like the idea of DC finally not taking itself too seriously. Comedy meets comic book is slowly becoming a hybrid genre of it’s own thanks to the likes of Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy and Shazam! looks like it’ll fall perfectly into that category.

Featuring all the generic conventions of an origin story Shazam! looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun and a classic coming of age film. Zachary Levi will be portraying the title role of Shazam! who is the adult super hero that the lead character, Freddy Freeman, can turn into at the use of one magical word.

It looks funny, charming, light hearted and above all else, entertaining

Trailer: https://youtu.be/-oD7B7oiBtw

3. Godzilla: King of Monsters

The poster is okay, it doesn’t really look like a film poster, I think it looks more like the cover of a video game.

Much like many other people I am completely sick of re-makes, re-runs, sequels, prequels etc. However, this one really did spark my fancy. I really enjoyed the 2014 Gareth Edwards Godzilla and because of that I am feeling the hype for King of Monsters. The first teaser trailer released features only Millie Bobby Brown trying to communicate with (as it seems) anyone who will listen. I thought the build up to the release of the trailer was perfect and the suspense was perfect. It seems to be taking a completely new direction compared to the Godzilla films we already know and I’m honestly really looking forward to it.
The official trailer was then dropped a couple of days later (I lost track of time this weekend, it was just film news after film news). I find teasers are a brilliant way to get me interested in a film, their short, to the point and leave you wanting more. More often than not I am then let down by the official trailer because they tell you too much (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom springs to mind), that was not at all the case for King of Monsters, we are introduced to the characters and shown some of the promising visuals but other than that, it’s all we’ve been given. And I loved it. It’s making me intrigued and excited to see the film.
Coming May 2019, Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farminga, Sally Hawkins and Kyle Chandler will be heading into cinemas to protect the world from the infamous Godzilla.

Teaser: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3741700/videoplayer/vi1254406937

Trailer: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3741700/videoplayer/vi2143795993

2. Glass

I absolutely love this poster, I found myself staring at it for ages after it was dropped. It’s so clever and I love the use of colours.

I’m guilty of not having done my research for this film as I have actually only seen Split, I’m yet to watch Unbreakable. I definitely will have seen it before January when we get the final installment of M. Night Shyamalan’s trilogy Glass. Does this trilogy even have a name? I’ll call it the “James-McAvoy-is-a-fantastic-actor-and-was-robbed-of-a-nomination” trilogy for now. Honestly, why didn’t any one in any awards academy pick up on him, I think it’s possibly some of the best acting I’ve ever seen (big claim, I know, I’m an enthusiast).

Anyway, Glass, it’s due to tell us the story of Samuel L Jackson’s mysterious character Mr. Glass after we’ve already been introduced to James McAvoy and Bruce Willis’ characters in the previous films. Featuring Sarah Paulson as a mental psychiatrist who’s aim is to investigate these particular people and find out more about them and their abilities.

I am excited about it, Split was fantastic. I only had one gripe about the trailer, there’s a line that Paulson’s character says about them “believing they’re superheroes” which I just thought was so out of context. After having seen Split I would never have used the word superhero to describe these films, it just seemed completely out of place. They’re human beings with intense abilities but in no way would they be conceived as super heroes. Maybe it’s just me and I’ve missed something vital in the plot?

If anything I’m excited to see James McAvoy in all his glory again and Shyamalan has a way of making films that shouldn’t work, work.

I also heard a rumor that he may have featured other characters from his past films in Glass? Who knows if that’s true. But wouldn’t it be interesting if “I see dead people” sneaked in there somewhere.

Trailer: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6823368/videoplayer/vi2496051993

1. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald

A beautiful poster, perfect theming, doesn’t give anything away other than the cast and has a real magical feel to it.

Of course this is going to be my number 1 highlight from SDCC 2018. I think I’ve watched the trailer about 5 times already. 

The Fantastic Beasts films will never fill the hole of Harry Potter but they’re close. There’s so much within the new trailer for FB2 that gets me excited for it, starting off with the new Wizarding World logo. I was only thinking it was about time Warner Bros. came up with a name for the Potter-verse and The Wizarding World just seems perfectly appropriate. 

There’s no secrets as to the cast for the second installment of these films but that’s ok because I don’t think the fans would have expected anything other than what we’ve been given. Johnny Depp is obviously back as Gelert Grindlewald, Eddie Redmayne is reprising the role of Newt Scamander and we’re introduced to Jude Law’s rendition of the late great Albus Dumbledore. One thing I am most excited for is the return of Ezra Miller’s character, Credence Clearwater who we were led to believe has either died or disappeared at the end of the first film, he’s an interesting character who has room for a lot of character development. 

We get a scene of a flashback from Newt at Hogwarts in a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson with Dumbledore as his professor, this has caused a few questions from Potter fans around the world because according to the books Dumbledore was a professor of Transfiguration, so what is he doing teaching a Defense Against the Dark Arts class? I personally am not that worried about it, but we’ll see how much it effects the film, if it’s just for one scene then I can get over it. 

After watching the trailer a few times and picking it apart I have been able to see two of the converted Deathly Hallows, there’s a close up of the Elder Wand and there’s a shot of a disembodied hand which implies the cloak of invisibility is somewhat involved. 

My absolute favourite thing about this clever trailer is how little of the plot is revealed, okay so we’ve got all the characters, there’s clear locations of Paris and London but we don’t actually know what is going to happen. And that creates the excitement desired from a film trailer. 

I cannot wait. 

Trailer: https://youtu.be/1y0hRocB9sM

Overall, SDCC 2018 sounds like it was a roaring success and one day I’ll be able to write one of these posts after having actually been there myself. 

I’ve included a few photos of my favourite cosplays from SDCC 2018 just to implement my love for cosplaying without babbling on about it any more. 

Deadpool

I honestly don’t think I can find anything bad to say about this film. As far as super-hero (or, maybe not “hero”) movies go this one is right up there with the best of the best. Its ability to not take anything too seriously, including itself, is just hilarious and works so perfectly.

At many points throughout the film, Wade Wilson makes jabs at the Marvel studio with a direct hit at all the previous X-Men films. The fourth wall is completely broken down and it’s just beautifully done, not too insulting but insulting enough. Oh I do have to add in here that Colossus is featured and for some unknown reason (maybe because of the original comic books, I wouldn’t know, I haven’t read them) he has developed a very thick Russian accent. Not the Colossus we know and love from the original X-Men trilogy.

In film I have never been a fan of the diary format, when the lead character spends most of the film either talking to the character or using a voice over – I usually think it dumbs down the film and is a writers way out of telling a complicated story, however in this film it just works, I’m not sure why or how they’ve managed it, but it works.

As far as I am aware, Ryan Reynolds had a lot to do with the making of this film and it’s taken a few years for the ball to start rolling on production, and I am so glad he pushed and pushed as hard as he did. You could feel his passion in the character, it makes up for the unsuccessful attempt at Deadpool in that one X-Men film we do not speak of.

It was brilliant, I loved it.

But please, it really should be an 18 certificate, I would not want a 15 year old seeing the first 20 minutes.