[For preview night, please click here.
For coverage from previous years, click here]
The best party of the year arrived and it was one that fans
wish would end just a little longer. After so many years of Hall H (which now
arguably stands more for 'hassles'), where major films are featured, I chose a
different route
last
year, alternating between the hall's mass-hysteria with subdued press
conferences (Marvel's “
Captain
America: The Winter Soldier” and “Guardians of the Galaxy”) and relaxed,
artsy panels. Among stars attended include Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson,
Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Harrison Ford, Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Samuel
L. Jackson, and many others.
This year I did a similar approach and it was proven to be
leisurely enjoyable. As always, there are too many panels running concurrently,
public and press events alike, so I had to make a decision to pick some and
declined the rest.
***
Here are some of the most memorable highlights: (please note that TV coverage will be in a separate article later)
“Penguins of Madagascar” (November 26, 2014)
In attendance: co-directors Eric Dornell, Simon J. Smith and
Tom McGrath, voice actors John Malkovich and Benedict Cumberbatch
Dreamworks Animation booked an overlong (for animation) hour
and half slot of its animations, “Home, “Boo" and “Penguins of
Madagascar," with the latter being the most notable panel.
Benedict Cumberbatch made his very first trek ever to
Comic-Con, stomping for, of all things, an animation. While the movie offered
plenty of laughter, it's clear that most of the audience were enthusiastic for
Cumberbatch. Cumberbatch was attracted to the project because he wanted to do
something different and this made him laugh. He joked about working undercover
as a wolf in the Yellowstone National Park to prepare for the role, and then he
realized the other two wolves were Christian Bale and Daniel Day- Lewis. Here
he plays a smooth-talking wolf who recruits the penguins to get information and
are on the run from John Malkovich's geneticist-octopus. This action-packed
animation takes what typically are sidekicks, penguins, make them cool, and
have them involved in spy adventures across the globe.
***
“The Giver” (August 15, 2014)
In attendance: author Lois Lowry, producer Nikki Silver,
actors Jeff Bridges, Brenton Thwaites and Odeya Rush
Fans of YA dystopian movies,"
Divergent”
and “
The
Hunger Games"), may find a welcome addition in “The Giver.” Based on a
book written by Lois Lowry, the story tells a future society without free will
or emotions. A society built after the ruins that is governed with an iron-fist
precision – no inequality, no winner or loser. Every morning people take their
morning injections, which suppresses their emotions. When an intelligent and
courageous teenage boy receives memories of the past and the real world, he
realizes that there's something more to life, and being human. He stands up for
what he believes in and it makes him a target. There's a struggle between the
political leader and spiritual leader about what is right and how to protect
children from suffering.
Lowry was asked about a change in the characters' ages, from
12 in the book to 16 in the movie, but she didn't see a problem with it. She
mentioned the similarity in traits; young, curious and intelligent.
Jeff Bridges wanted to bring in the story to the big screen
for nearly two decades and direct his own father to play the giver, but he's
always stuck in the financing stage due to the controversies surrounding the
story.
The movie promises montages of memories, an emotion-filled
experience of what it means to be alive. There's richness that arises out of
pain as humans, such as art, music, literature.
***
Paramount Studios sneaked in brief presentations: “The
SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” and time-travel flicks, “Project Almanac”
and “Hot Tub Machine 2. It was a rush hour stretched with larger blocks for
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Interstellar.”
Aside from the panels, a fanfare of the day was The Rock.
Dwayne Johnson walked through the aisles, rock star style, amidst blaring rock
music and blazing fire onscreen, promoting “Hercules,” which opened last week.
He bought three theaters and was going to tweet at 5 p.m. that day to invite
fans to watch the movie, first-come first-served, free of charge. With people
cheering and leaping to their feet, whipping out smartphones and cameras, it's
a clever move to generate buzz and boost showing.
***
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (August 8, 2014)
In attendance: creator Kevin Eastman, director Jonathan Liebsman, producers
Andrew Form and Brad Fuller, stars Megan Fox and Will Arnett
No one could have expected the success and staying power of
these 30-year “heroes in a half shell.” The audience saw black-and-white
sketches, photos and clips from its early years before TMNT became mainstream.
An extended reel showed hostage-taking, storming and release
taken place in an underground subway station. Megan Fox' reporter character
gets in over her head when she discovers the identity of these heroes and meets
their rat leader. The final footage showed nonstop action with a truck
careening out of control and sliding down snow mountains. There's a lot more
cheese here than the standard superhero fare.
***
“Interstellar”(November 7, 2014)
In attendance: director Christopher Nolan, star Matthew
McConaughey
The most anticipated sci-fi film of the year got the biggest
applause of the day with surprise appearances from its visionary director,
Christopher Nolan (“
Batman"
trilogy,” “
Inception”)
and newly crowned Academy Award winner, Matthew McConaughey.
McConaughey took center stage first (and yes, he
delightfully quipped, “Alright, alright, alright,” after some cajoling from
fans), starting off with the story on how he became involved with the film. He
flew in to meet with Christopher Nolan for three hours and talked about
everything except the movie. He was eventually offered the role.
McConaughey divulged further details. In the story, he's a
former pilot and engineer, and a widow with two kids, living in a society in a
sustainable mode. The society is functioning with food and clean water, but
finds no need for bright ideas. There's no place for a pilot or engineer. Then
something happens and he finds himself taking part in the greatest mission
mankind has ever taken and has to leave his children behind. He professed that
Nolan was an original director and this was one of the most absorbing films and
Nolan's most ambitious project. Yet things moved really fast, takes, for
instance, often took 2-3, as opposed to 30-40.
Asked what else he could share about the movie, McConaughey
refused, but proceeded to introduce someone else who could do it better, and in
walked Nolan himself. He had heard so much about Comic-Con and wanted to see
what the fuss was all about. He thanked fans for supporting all his previous
movies. He humbly remarked that a movie wasn't finished until it's dissected by
fans. The crowd lapped it up.
Nolan said that the highest ambition of children of his
generation was to become astronauts and he gained inspiration from it. Even
with incredible technological changes, he's known as a practical filmmaker,
eschewing 3-D for his films. In this space movie, he put in innovative
techniques, making things as realistic as possible for the actors, while taking
the audience for a ride, a journey through the stars.
Starred by Oscar winners, the film has been shrouded in
mystery from the get-go. Even after an extended trailer was played, which
includes a narrative on love through time and space, it remains cryptic. Nolan
added that the film touched on what makes us human and why we explore space in
the first place. One thing is for sure, whatever's mystery is left, it would be
a stellar surprise.
***
From 20
th Century Fox press conferences: (each
press conference was short, so I also attended Hall H partially afterwards)
“The Maze Runner” (September 19, 2014)
In attendance: author James Dashner, director Wes Ball,
actors Dylan O'Brien, Will Poulter, Kaya Scodelario
Another YA adaptation, I first became aware of “The Maze
Runner” at
WonderCon
this spring. A teenage boy wakes up without memories of his past or outside
world. Along with other boys, he's doesn't know who and where he is, and why
they're trapped in a menacing maze. He must piece together clues in order to
discover his true purpose, survive and escape. The trailer showed a glimpse of
the terrifying Grievers, whose look was inspired by “Jurassic Park” and “Alien.”
With the popularity of YA movies these days, the filmmakers
weren't afraid that this would get lost in the maze (no pun intended). James
Dashner gave thumbs up for the finished product and said that it's true to the
vision of his novel. The concept would stand on its own; kids working together
to survive in a new society, brotherhood, along with ballsy, wall-to-wall
action. The panel was proud of how unique and original the movie was. Assuming
the movie does well, they're hoping to move forward with the sequel, “The
Scorch Trials" (seen with a concept art at the end of the presentation).
***
“Hitman: Agent 47” (February 27, 2015)
In attendance: stars Zachary Quinto and Hannah Ware
Rupert Friend, who plays Agent 47, was not present due to a
conflicting filming schedule, but Zachary Quinto and Hannah Ware actively
addressed questions. Although since the filmmakers would like to keep things
under wrap, they had to stop themselves in occasions from revealing too much.
Among things they were able to say, Ware's character is
searching for someone and Quinto's character presents himself as someone who
could help her. There's certainly more than meets the eye, such as there's a
femme fatale quality and heightened awareness of survival to Ware's character.
This was her first action movie and the physicality was a good challenge, in
which Quinto taught her the ropes. Stunts include being tied up and suspended
by a rope and close-range gun shootings. Quinto said that there's a scale,
style and scope to the movie, but it also tried to be rooted in characters and
the dynamic of those relationships. Both commented that shooting on locations
(Berlin, South Africa, Singapore) was a plus and helped bringing a real sense
of place to the story, as opposed as pretending to be in other cities.
The exclusive footage featured a cool interrogating scene,
where agent 47, stronger and faster than normal human beings, swiftly flips a
table, turns around a sniper rifle aimed at him and has the bullet breaking the
glass wall, releases himself from the handcuff and disarms the interrogator.
Based on a video game, the movie is visually sleek and looks thrilling.
***
“Kingsman: The Secret Service” (October 24, 2014)
In attendance: co-creators Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons,
stars Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Taron Egerton, Sophie Cookson and Sophie
Boutella
Based on a comic-book series by Mark Millar, “Kingsman: The
Secret Service” is a love letter to spy movies, stepping into an era we grew up
in, stuff we love when we were kids, with manifestations of all things spy,
including James Bond and the Avengers. It tells a story about a secret super
spy agency that recruits street kids into its competitive training program.
Samuel Jackson signed on because he always wanted to be in a
Bond movie. Colin Firth was drawn into the film because it's something he'd
like to do for a long time, like stepping into the shoes of the people who were
your heroes growing up. He said it's his chance to be in a movie he spent all
day watching as a kid. He further said that he had never done something as
physical as this before and that the training was extraordinary. It's intense
and unfamiliar, but incredibly gratifying. Firth was an unexpected choice
because he's the last person people would expect to kick anyone's ass. There's
an elegance to a British spy gentleman, which Firth would play believably.
Firth gave high marks for his young co-star, Taron Egerton. As a mentor in the
movie, he actually learned a lot from Egerton.
“Kingsman: The Secret Service” has a unique style, sharp and
stylized. The first footage showed a massacre taken place in a snowy mountain
cabin, surrounding a man tied up in a chair. A man cleanly cut in half and a
killer with blade feet were standout scenes. The second depicted Firth's character's
expert skill, nonchalantly taking down a group of bullies in a bar, using his
umbrella, beer mug and dart, and then sitting back to sip the rest of his drink
and converse with the young prospect recruit in front of him.
***
20
thCentury Fox also came out with a
Latin-inspired animation, “The Book of Life,”a panel attended by director Jorge
Gutierrez, producer Guillermo Del Toro, voice actors Christina Applegate, Ron
Perlman, Samuel L. Jackson and Channing Tatum. The
relatively calm press conference was in contrast with the lively fan experience
in Hall H. In Hall H, rapper Biz Markie showed up, took the mic and sang “Just
a Friend.” Each member of the panel rose from the seats and danced along.
***
Other buzzes coming out of Comic-Con this year are DC's
“Batman vs.
Superman:
Dawn of Justice” and Marvel's “
The Avengers:
Age of Ultron.”
The former showed a teaser trailer with Batman in a battle
armor with eyes glowing white and red-eyed Superman hovering over a lit-up Bat
signal. DC also offered a first-look of Wonder Woman in a sleek costume,
standing against a fiery landscape, bronzed and ready for battle.
The latter served up a startling footage, which begins with
a lighthearted scene with the Avengers gathering to see who's able to lift
Thor's hammer and then fights with Ultron minions, and ends on an alarming
note, a cracked shield of Captain America and Iron Man standing over strewn
bodies of his cohorts. There's also an unveiling of the most talked-about
poster, an eight-parter, each is a part of the larger poster of the Avengers'
war against Ultron.
***
In addition to feature films, I caught a couple of TV pilots
premiering this fall,“The Flash” and “Gotham,” and attended the biggest panel
in history, with Stephen Amell, star of “
Arrow”
as MC. DC Entertainment pulled all the stop as the last hoorah, as the
convention was winding down on Saturday evening. It's an unprecedented night of
entertainment attended by 33 panelists from shows "Arrow," “The Flash,”
“Gotham” and “Constantine.” More on “The Flash” and “Gotham,” coming up in another article.
As I was about to leave the press section, Amell and Emily
Bett Rickards (“Arrow”) were also leaving the stage. The journalist standing
next to me called out Amell's name; Amell extended his hand,
reached down and gave us 'high-five' as he was exiting.
***
The exhibit halls displayed a plethora of exhibits. Visitors
saw Batman's capes and cowls, and costumes from different eras, masks of
villains the Joker, Scarecrow and Bane. Marvel showcased agent Phil Coulson's
flying red car from “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” and the space pod from “Guardians
of the Galaxy.”
Oculus Rift, a virtual reality experience, debuted this
year. “X-Men” came in with the premise of Professor X looking for mutants at
Comic-Con. “Pacific Rim” offered a simulation of piloting a Jaeger. “Into the
Storm” promised an immersive experience of being closed in by an approaching
storm, which includes wind blowing inside the booth. I tried both “X-Men” and
“Into the Storm.” While it isn't anywhere close to rival any 3-D rides at amusement
parks, I'd imagine it offers a different level of experience than playing video
games at home.
With family in town from overseas, I ended up spending more
time outside, viewing outer exhibits, which was a whole experience on its own.
A variety of activities were available this year, both interactive and for
promotional purposes. “The Assassin's Creed” laid out a parkour obstacle course.
Pizza Hut partnered up with “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and brought in
12-foot tall pizza thrower. Fans of “24” were treated to a drones-flying
experience. And for the more daring ones, one could zip line across the
Godzilla cityscape. “Sin City: A Dame to Kill for” showcased rows of cars used in
the movie against the backdrop of the fantasy city skyline. Across town Playboy
teamed up with “Bates Motel” and hosted one of the hottest parties in town.
As always, Comic-Con was an unparalled experience. No other
city went all out for pop culture like San Diego does. Looking forward to an
epic 2015!
