Fans v Conventions: Dawn of Disappointments (A Star Wars Celebration and Comic-Con Review)
Sorry if you’re getting tired of the blog titles that make fun of movie titles, but I just couldn’t resist. In the last couple of weeks the film fan community has had a busy time keeping up with conventions. With both Star Wars Celebration and San Diego Comic-Con giving them news updates on their favorite upcoming properties. However, especially with Star Wars Celebration, there was a sense of disappointment in the lack of footage. You could say “their lack of Vader was disturbing”. This and only one Marvel trailer have begun to spark conversations, and those interested are forced to choose one of two sides: either the studios are letting the fans down or the fans are expecting too much. While I’d like to believe I side with the latter, I can’t say that some fans’ upset natures aren’t unwarranted to one degree or another. So let’s get into what the three big brand names, Disney/Lucasfilm, Warner Bros/D.C., and Disney/Marvel did and did not show at their respective conventions.
Star Wars Celebration
Last April fans of the galaxy far, far away arguably got the best Star Wars exclusive convention there has ever been: from the panels with the cast and crew of both Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and Star Wars: Rogue One rocked the crowd, and of course we got the second trailer of The Force Awakens, arguably one of the best Star Wars trailers we’ve ever seen. We even got a minute-long demo reel, if you will, of Rogue One. Plus all of the announcements with the new canon and the television series, Star Wars Rebels (2014-present). Some even say that San Diego Comic-Con the following July didn’t deliver on the same level, and how many big-level projects were brought last year? Anyways, when the dates of the convention were moved to July of this year to rival Comic-Con, it got the fans even more excited. What mind-blowing announcements and footage could be so big as to rival the biggest film convention of the year? Well, as it turned out, it was a featurette of Rogue One that could have played just as well on TV, and it did the same day statewide, and some cool announcements for the die-hard legends fans of the series. While this is good and all, and I for one really enjoyed watching the behind-the-scenes footage, there were reports going out as early as two weeks beforehand that promised a trailer that was 3 minutes long, and that it would be shown with the TV special that played on Friday night. One thing to keep in mind: the initial report did not come directly from Lucasfilm or Disney. Some have been pointing fingers at Disney anyways, saying they should have countered these reports immediately. Okay, sure, but I personally feel that the overreaction from other fans, claiming now that Rogue One will suck and that the rumors about the re-shoots we got a month and a half ago are all true are completely childish. We can’t base that on the fact that different footage than we were expecting was shown. Now would it have been nice to have seen the trailer? Sure, but we’re still four and a half months out, and there’s lots of time and events that can see the trailer premier. In this case I’d say that for the majority of fans, the disappointment was unwarranted, especially for the over-reactors.
DC Footage
Okay first off, that Justice League trailer? No, that’s not technically a trailer, I’d more call it special footage. If it was a trailer, it was a bad one, because basically got three scenes: Bruce meeting with Arthur, Bruce meeting with Barry, and four members of the League standing around small-talking. Now I’m not calling it bad footage or anything, in fact it was really good, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a trailer. Anyways, with that out of the way, how good was the Wonder Woman trailer? It didn’t just show us an alternate side of the DC Cinematic Universe with a period piece, it showed some of the more impressive action set-pieces we’ve yet to see from DC’s newest iteration of a shared universe. Sure, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had a lot of problems, for me the character of Wonder Woman wasn’t one of them, though I still don’t feel a lot of admiration for Gal Gadot’s performance in this newest trailer. That being said, I am seeing improvement. I felt the same way about the performances of Sebastian Stan in the Captain America movies. While I thought he was a gloried stiff in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and was shaking my head initially at the concept of two men out of time in Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014), by the end of Captain America: Civil War, I cared for what happened to Bucky and Stan’s performances got progressively better and better each time out. In fact, I’d say his dynamic with Cap and the other characters is something I’m looking forward to in future Marvel films. Hopefully I will be saying the same for Gadot in future years as she becomes one of the principal characters for DC. Nothing shown in these two trailer or the extended TV-spot we got for Suicide Squad, and no, that 1 minute spot wasn’t a trailer either, has me sharpening a knife for DC, and I do feel that starting with Suicide Squad, DC can springboard into great filmmaking.
Marvel Footage
While we got one fantastic trailer, a very good look at Justice League, and an exciting TV-Spot from DC, Marvel left a mixed-bag feeling for fans in San Diego, and around the world, for that matter. They only had one trailer, a better look at Doctor Strange, which kicked ass, by the way, and let down some folks by not widely showing trailers for their other upcoming properties due out within the next 12 months: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming. While those in Hall H got to see sneak peaks, everyone else is SOL. Sure it’s fair to say that for Spider-Man they only started shooting a month ago, but with Guardians likely having a portion of special effects finished. And let us not forget back in 2013 James Gunn had footage ready after they had only shot for two weeks with the first film. Hmm, I personally was really looking forward to the first look at the sequel, but it’s most likely we’ll get our first teaser in late October before the release of Doctor Strange. Not all fans are shaking spears at Kevin Feige and his associates yet, but I’m not 100% against the idea. Especially when you have your biggest competition showing footage for a film that’s 16 months out, you’d think they’d like to rival that. I guess not.
So two more things to get out of the way: what was the best trailer/footage out of both conventions and what studio or big property had the most impressive showing this summer? Okay, let’s do the trailers first. For me the winner, actually, is Kong: Skull Island. While I felt prior to seeing the trailer that we’re still in a state of being satisfied with King Kong, I can’t say I’m not impressed by the footage. We’ve only had three solo outing King Kong films that count, one in 1933 which remains a classic and the best Kong film, one in 1976 which is cheesy and a fun look back, and a respectable 2005 version that is still fun to watch, for 2/3’s of it, anyways. If I were in charge, I’d wait maybe a couple more years before re-introducing Kong or just doing a Skull Island adventure film with the promise of Kong later, the trailer completely changed my mind. From the impressive cast of Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman, John C. Reilly, and Samuel L. Jackson to the director to the special effects to the production design to the 70’s setting to the Apocalypse Now (1979) feels, I’m now ecstatic about the film and March 2017 can’t come soon enough. Also worth mentioning is the great third trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I’m very much looking forward to what the Harry Potter distant prequel brings in November. So with all that out of the way, let’s call it how it is: Warner Bros. and DC clearly led the pack with their presentations. Oh, and how freakin’ hilarious was the Lego Batman trailer? Everywhere you look WB is mopping the floor with the competition.
Now to bring everything full circle, should the fans be on the march? For Star Wars, not really. Just watch where you get your news from. For WB/DC, hell no! You cant’ ask for more. For Marvel? Yeah, maybe a little, but the footage from Doctor Strange should keep them at bay for the moment. No Guardians Vol. 2 trailer with Strange in November or with Rogue One in December, then I’d start to worry. For now, I’ll say we’ve had better showings before from Lucasfilm and Marvel, but it’s nothing to break your monitor over. Life is full of small disappointments, but there’s always something else to get your spirits back up. Let’s let that be the case here.
