Trailer: Big Hero 6

Walt Disney Animation's latest animated feature Big Hero 6 is coming to NZ theatres on Boxing Day and it looks freakin' awesome! Based on a lesser-known Marvel comic character, this superhero flick, about a young tech-geek prodigy and his cuddly inflatable robot buddy, looks to combine all the slam-bang blockbuster action we've come to expect from the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Pixar's gorgeous state-of-the-art CG animation and smart, all-ages humour (the city design looks stunning). Fatso will be hosting previews in Auckland and Wellington on December 21 -- stay tuned to find out how to win tickets. In the meantime, check out this fantastic trailer below:

Trailer: The Avengers

There's this shot in modern action blockbusters that I'm becoming increasingly weary of: a crowded New York street, a massive explosion or three, cars being flung into the air and peeps making a dash for it. It's like a Roland Emmerich signature that seems to be poppin' up with frequency in superhero films too. And it's definitely in The Avengers. Okay so it's an attention-grabbing way of conveying destruction of an enormous size, but it's not surprising anymore guys. It looks too easy. It was quite a thing back when Twister air-lifted an oil tanker in 1996. But today it's just another multi-million dollar CGI set-piece you can gawk at with jaded indifference.

But I digress. Let's talk The Avengers. Casting aside my usual hang-ups with the genre (enough already!), this looks fun, if only for the geeky satisfaction of having characters from different franchises coming together for a men-on-a-mission-type deal. There's always a danger of character-overcrowding with this kind of project though, especially with a star cast that could be awkwardly vying for equal screen time. But I think fans can rest easy knowing that fellow fanboy Joss Whedon (Firefly) is at the helm, it looks like he knows what he's doing. The Avengers is scheduled for a May release next year.

Trailers: X-Men: First Class, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Sorry about the lack of blogging lately, as you know the new site's just launched and it's been a madhouse around here trying to stay on top of things! BUT two brand new exciting and biggish trailers hit the web today and it's definitely worth taking the time out to share them with you. These are so fresh I can't seem to locate any proper YouTube clips to embed here yet (click on the title link to see the trailer)...

First up, X-Men: First Class - there was an earlier trailer which didn't show that much but this one gives us a better idea of the razzle-dazzle FX that we'll be getting. I'm sure comic book geeks out there will be pretty pleased with how this Matthew Vaughn-directed origins story is shaping up.

Harry Potter and the Death Hallows Part 2 - possibly the most anticipated sequel of them all this year? Part 1 ended with a heart-stopping cliffhanger that left fans everywhere dying for the next installment, but it looks like it will be worth the long wait (imagine otherwise!). Everything in this trailer hints that the series will be going out with a huge, emotionally, viscerally satisfying bang, and then some.