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:

Friday Clips #10

We're long overdue for a Friday Clips post! Below: a supercut of Wes Anderson's POV-vehicle shots; an Honest Trailer of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is actually one of their more positive efforts but still points out, deservingly, lapses in the movie's narrative logic; a LEGO short film that spoofs Guardian of the Galaxy's mix tape; a video showing Pixar's beautiful colour script at work...

Guardians of the Galaxy: Best Marvel Film Yet?

As Marvel heads into Phase 3 of its Cinematic Universe, there's a sense -- for me at least -- that a little novelty has been lost with their recent, workmanlike sequels. James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy could be the one to change that. Introducing a set of fresh characters -- and pretty left-field ones at that -- this "space opera" is garnering great early reactions, some of which can be found here and here. I'm intrigued just for the involvement of James Gunn, a director whose previous, much smaller films -- the gore-soaked monster flick Slither and brutal, bleakly funny comedy Super -- displayed a irreverent sensibility that could bring a distinctive edge to Marvel's slick, generally cookie-cutter factory. If you've ever wanted to see Vin Diesel play a tree and Bradley Cooper a raccoon, have a peek at the eye-popping trailer now:
Next week we will be giving away 10 Guardians of the Galaxy prize packs, containing an in-season double pass to the film, a sticker roll and a key chain. Look out for the email in your inbox!

A few words: The Raid 2; Captain America: The Winter Solider

The next two weeks are gonna be pretty good to action fans: this Friday sees the release of the highly anticipated Indonesian martial arts actioner The Raid 2, and a week later, Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier is unleashed. Both films could not be more different, but I'd wager that they will each deliver enough to satisfy their respective fans.

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The Raid 2 picks up soon after the first one ends, and throughout the film, writer/director Gareth Evans finds ways to expand on its criminal underworld, introducing a bevy of new characters and subplots that make it more of a sprawling gangster saga than a straight all-out fight-fest. That said, once the action kicks in, you ain't seen nothing like this... The brutality is amplified, but better still, there's more variety in fight choreography, with ballsy usage of weaponry like baseball bats and hammers that's guaranteed to make you squirm in your seats. Plus there's one hell of a car chase that makes anything coming out of Hollywood pale immensely in comparison. The Raid 2 is one vicious, unrelenting movie, but if you can stomach it, I swear you'll be coming back for more. Don't miss it on the big screen!

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I'm far from a Marvel fanboy, and I generally tend to find all their films samey and disposable, but the first Captain America flick I really dug and find to be a somewhat underrated entry in their universe. As far as sequels go, The Winter Soldier ain't bad at all, and definitely contains the grittiest action set-pieces yet for Marvel. With a background largely fixed in comedy (Community, You, Me and Dupree), directors Anthony and Joe Russo seem like an odd choice to be handling this kind of fare, but they've done a fine job here; even though they succumb to all-too-frenetic staging at times, the grounded, punchy, battering-ram feel of the action is a nice change from Iron Man et al. Of course, the finale consists of mucho numbing gargantuan destructo-vision that's the norm for superhero films now, but otherwise it's a solid, entertaining sequel, and Steve Rogers continues to be one of Marvel's more likeable characters.

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We'll be giving away double passes to Captain America: The Winter Soldier later this week so keep your eyes out for that. Also, if you're feeling retro and want to catch the old '70s Captain America TV movies, we do have them, here and here.

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.