SubJeff on 13/12/2012 at 10:14
Director merits alone are the only reason this is getting so much exposure. I agree that he may well pull it off but the combination of the ridiculous premise (remind me again why people hated Battleship?) and the sheer laziness of Glados straight out recycling just comes of as, and there is no other way to say this, complete and utter bollocks.
I get the concept of " It's so over the top it's awesome", I really do, buy 9/10 times its actually awful.
Muzman on 13/12/2012 at 10:28
Yeah, Glados showing up is pretty distracting I must say. Having Ellen Whatsername would be good stunt casting, but using the exact same effect treatment is a bit much. It's really going to put that 'games are the biggest entertainment media in the world' thing to the test. Just how well known is POrtal? Seems pretty well known to me, but it's hard to say.
Thirith on 13/12/2012 at 10:50
@Muzman: Bit of a contradiction there - it's likely to be distracting (in good and bad ways) to gamers... and the rest of the world won't know there's anything to notice there.
@Subjective Effect: Definitely agree with you on that one - but Del Toro is one of the directors who has pulled off "silly but great fun" in the past IMO. Most of his films have personality, which is much more than can be said about most of these dumb blockbuster-type movies. Not my kind of film even then (until it's on Film Four), but I'd put more faith into Del Toro pulling it off than... oh... Peter Berg or Michael Bay.
Muzman on 13/12/2012 at 11:42
..and where's this contradiction?
Angel Dust on 13/12/2012 at 11:52
Quote Posted by Muzman
I'm so disappointed in most of you. Not the greatest trailer in the world, but this is an actual fun idea by an actual fun director.
You all went and saw the nonsensical gibberish of The Dark Knight Rises just fine, I'm sure. Even felt obliged to call it great afterward, rocking back and forth, telling yourself it was filled with things that weren't actually there (like depth and logic).
An ounce of that forgiveness for something original, I implore! (or at least as unoriginal)
I'm with you here, Muz. del Toro has always flip-flopped between big-budget, or at least high-concept stuff and his more intimate Spanish language stuff but, as Thirith says, all of his films have his personal stamp on them. This trailer didn't overly excite me but then again almost no trailers do but I'm willing to give del Toro the benefit of the doubt. There is no shortage of intelligent, engaging cinema but good dumb fun is very hard to come by in this era of obnoxious CGI clusterfucks and po-faced tedium.
Quote Posted by Subjective Effect
(remind me again why people hated Battleship?)
It wasn't the concept but the execution of it (no script, awful actors, a workmanlike director) and the fact that it was shoe-horned into a boardgame property. Likewise, the Transformers films don't suck because they are about giant robots from outer space but because Michael Bay is a hack and cynical fuck with a thinly veiled contempt for his audience. Pretty much the exact opposite of del Toro.
heywood on 13/12/2012 at 12:10
Quote Posted by Angel Dust
There is no shortage of intelligent, engaging cinema but good dumb fun is very hard to come by in this era of obnoxious CGI clusterfucks and po-faced tedium.
Seriously???
I need to stay out of movie threads.
Dia on 13/12/2012 at 13:52
Cloverfield meets the Transformers.
*facepalm*
Angel Dust on 13/12/2012 at 18:24
Quote Posted by heywood
Seriously???
I need to stay out of movie threads.
Yeah, seriously. On the 'intelligent, engaging' side this year has brought: The Hunt, In Darkness, Lore, Beasts of the Southern Wild, I Wish, Argo, Killing Me Softly, Barbara, Mud, The Imposter and there are still many films I would like to see like Zero Dark Thirty, The Master and Armour.
And on the good dumb fun side, 'good' being the operative word, there is Dredd and that's pretty much it despite the plethora of high-concept nonsense being made. So, yeah, someone of del Toro's talent and passion making a robots vs aliens movie has me interested.
heywood on 14/12/2012 at 00:21
In the "good dumb fun" bucket for 2012, I'd put The Avengers, The Hunger Games, Bourne Legacy, Haywire, Ghost Protocol, Men in Black 3, Looper, The Dark Knight Rises, and honourable mention to Prometheus (I personally didn't like it, but how can I not include it). Plus many others that were just dumb and not good fun. From my perspective, it seems like we're completely saturated with "good dumb fun" action/drama, which used to be mostly a seasonal thing (June-Sep) but now it never stops.
In the "intelligent, engaging" bucket: Moonrise Kingdom is engaging. The Master and We Need to Talk About Kevin are intelligent and I recommend you see both, but they are more challenging than engaging. Of the films you mention, In Darkness was good, Lore and The Hunt were OK but short of my expectations, Barbara was meh, and Killing Them Softly was shit (not really my kind of film though). I would still like to see Argo.
And what's with the praise for the guy who gave us Hellboy, Blade 2, and Mimic? Did anybody like these films? Yeah, he might be better than Michael Bay, but who isn't?
Angel Dust on 14/12/2012 at 02:51
Well, he also did Cronos, The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth. Granted this one looks like it's more in line with the films you mentioned but as messy as the Hellboy films are they have a certain spark and levity to them that sets them apart from their peers.
RE the other stuff: I forgot about The Avengers but otherwise your list is unconvincing. It's a mix of failed 'good dumb fun', inadvertently dumb (not the same thing) and 2011 examples of 'good dumb fun' (Ghost Protocol and Haywire). We are absolutely saturated with high-concept junk, comic book movies and remakes, and I'm certainly not saying we need more, but so very little of it is good or fun. My tastes have largely moved on but sometimes that's all I want and the fact is that I find it pretty hard to find new films that fit the bill. Contrast the other side, where I struggle to see all the films I want to and more than a few slip by forgotten until someone else mentions them. (Moonrise Kingdom! We Need To Talk About Kevin!)
