While the production of Kick-Ass 2 hasn’t officially begun, a few minor details regarding the cast and plot have a emerged online.

According to MovieHole.net, one big thing that can be confirmed is the return of Chloe Mortez. Who’ll be reprising her role as Hit-Girl, the little bitch assassin.

Of course they would recast her. She fucking nailed it as the pint-sized, foul-mouthed, puberty challenged vigilante. A sequel just wouldn’t be the same with out her.  One slight hiccup, however.  It’s been 2+ years since the first Kick-Ass. Chloe has grown-up a whole lot since then. Literally. She’s got tits and stuff! Can a fully developed teenager be accepted as an 11-year old? I dunno, that’s a tough one. Though, come to think of it, age defining roles didn’t stop the cast of Harry Potter, now did it?

As far as the other core cast members are concerned, Aaron Johnson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse will be back as well. Universal Pictures is also trying to convince Garrett M. Brown to reprieve his role as Dave’s (aka Kick Ass) father. Apparently, his role is much bigger this time around.  Auditions are also about to get underway for Uncle Ralph, the crook guardian of Chris/Red Mist.

OK, so the main cast is back. No fucking surprise there. Now, what of the story?

The story will be similar to Superman 2 where someone finds out about the heroes’ identities — mostly Dave and Mindy. Dave’s identity as “Kick-Ass” is only revealed to one important person and it is said to have repercussions. Hit-Girl’s identity will be known by the general public and it gets her in to the awkward stage of society as it will cause a lot of people to make fun of her behind her back. Her problems cause her to be nicknamed “Captain Muffin-Muncher”. However — the worst of her problems will come from the highest of the anarchy of stuck-up girls — Brooke who is said the be the usual prissy stuck-up bitch who has a gang of followers that she can control (think Mean Girls?) who also manages to gain control of Lois (who will ultimately form a bond with Mindy). Eventually, Hit-Girl will get revenge against the band of girls in a spectacular fashion that will involve gadgetry, projectile vomiting and a lot of begging.

So…same cast, new issues, more vomit. Sounds promising. We’ll keep you posted as news rolls out in the coming weeks and months.

Source:  MovieHole

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I’ve spent the last several weeks following and writing about the negative buzz surrounding John Carter with a kind of fascinated dismay. The things that make or break a film – especially when they seem to have very little to do with what’s actually on the screen – fascinate me, but because it was this film that seemed to be breaking before it was even released, I found myself once again overwhelmed with cynical passive-aggression toward Hollywood. See, I believe in Andrew Stanton, the genius who brought us Finding Nemo  and Wall-E and who has been an integral part of Pixar since it began. I believe in Michael Chabon, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay who champions genre fiction and bashes critical pretensions from inside the literary establishment. I believe in Edgar Rice Burroughs and his timeless, now 100-year-old story of a man who landed on a red world called Barsoom. I believe in all of that, and so I wanted to be vindicated. I tried for weeks to give John Carter the exposure I felt it deserved. I wanted to prove to everyone that the pundits were wrong, that it was worth seeing despite the convoluted and often obnoxiously bland marketing machine. And so I went to see John Carter hoping to be vindicated and worried that I would be both disappointed and embarrassed. What if it wasn’t good? What if it was terrible? Would I leave the theater still believing in John Carter?

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It’s close to that time: the release of Diseny’s John Carter! If your whistle hasn’t yet been made wet for this long awaited adaptation of the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs story, click on the player below to see the clip which involves some running, jumping and a lot of aliens being bossed around by Mark Strong:

Synopsis: From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

Source: Geek Tyrant

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I’ve watched every piece of John Carter footage with a healthy amount of skepticism. I haven’t seen much evidence of a gripping, action adventure story that will hold my interest, even though most of the visual effects look spectacular. Let’s just say no trailer or sneak peak has really wowed me. So of course I’m pleasantly surprised to hear early reviews are giving the movie some positive buzz. I want the movie to be good, I’m just not convinced it will be.

One of the first reviews comes from The John Carter Files. Theirs is a really in depth review so here’s a quick sample,

Movie was really excellent and well worth watching. The audience reacted positively to the entire thing. All around me were pleasantly surprised, as most, like me, hadn’t even heard of the film. Many people took a long time to fill out their surveys and felt a responsibility to accurately convey their opinions. I felt the audience was emotionally engaged. we were rooting for JC all the way. We wanted him to marry the princess. we wanted her to love him. I would definitely recommend it.

Okay, so it’s not the most elegant review but they obviously enjoyed themselves. Which is all one’s really looking for in this kind of flick, right?

Next comes from Ayelet Waldman, though I would like to point out she’s married to one of the screenwriters so her opinion might be biased. These are just a few quotes from Twitter, where she was raving about the film after a screening at Pixar,

Just saw John Carter. It was AWESOME. Seriously. Best action movie I’ve seen … maybe ever? Lush and gorgeous. Great love story. FAB!!!! The thing about #johncarter is that the female lead is smart, & kicks ASS. It’s so female friendly!

Okay, female friendly. Obviously I like how that sounds, but being the jaded, science fiction fan I am, I really hope this female lead doesn’t come off as a token. But still, I want to try and think positively. Maybe if the film had been called Princess of Mars, which is the title of Edgar Rice Burroughs first book in the series, but anyway, I digress. I’m glad to hear the princess kicks ass.

This last bit of positive early buzz is from Ain’t It Cool News‘ Nick Soapdish. He hasn’t seen the whole film but he was given the chance to see quite a few scenes, and you can read his descriptions of each at their site. Here’s his overall opinion,

So all in all, the Film looks great. Much better then I was expecting. I have two reservations. The first is Disney’s track record with live action films of late, especially Sci-fi. Admittedly, John Carter is just as much a Fantasy film as it is Sci-Fi. But I am worried it will end up like Tron Legacy. A great film that doesn’t do as well at the box office as it deserves. The fact there has been no merchandise and poor promotion thus far means I am worried it to will not do so well.

The second is the claims of copying other films. The book is about 100 years old and nearly every sci-fi film has drawn inspiration from (or stolen) themes and ideas from these stories and like I mentioned in my review of the last clip that when people see that scene they will think Star Wars. I hope that audiences are able to realise that John Carter was the original, and is not trying to copy other famous sci-fi films.

John Carter, under the Direction of Pixar’s Andrew Stanton, could be a big Disney franchise, something that it could really do with. The planned John Carter to be a trilogy and the success of this first film will determine the future of the series. I hope it finds its audience and I for one will definitely be there opening weekend to see the final film.

Are you excited for John Carter? Was it something you saw or read recently that got you interested?

John Carter hits theatres on March 9th.

Source: /Film

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I’m not thrilled about Andrew Stanton‘s 3D mega-budget fantasy John Carter.  When I think of John Carter, I think of Frank Frazetta paintings, fuzzy dramatic oil illustrations depicting muscular warriors and scantily-clad woman often locked in combat with deadly beasts. The dark Sword & Sorcery tone/style is lost in this Disney-fied adaptation. In fact, every photo and snippet of footage I see gives me Attack of the Clones flashbacks *shivers*. I’m sure it will be fun and filled with adventure, but it bares little resemblance to the world created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Anyway, two new TV spots have hit featuring some new battle/actions scenes. Maybe you’ll dig it? If you’re like me, however,  you’ll be saying “That’s not moody and dirty at all. It’s so fucking Disney! Fuck this shit!”. Woola -dog-like creature-  is pretty cute though….

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To help generate hype, Walt Disney Pictures is purposely leaking images from it’s production of John Carter, the live action film based on Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ 11-volume Barsoom series. Their terrified this is gonna be their Waterworld,  so they think a few nifty shots will spark interest. Well, I think they’re doing it right.  6 new images have been released – featuring John Carter (played by Taylor Kitsch), a new creature called Woola, and the first look at Willem Dafoe‘s motion captured character Tars Tarkas. CGI looks a bit shifty, but I’m intrigued.

Check out more of the shots below.
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I’m going to jump right out and say it, Green Lantern is pretty, damn good. I’m actually kind of lost as to why it’s been hammered with such negative reviews leading up to its opening. Why the 22% percent, Rotten Tomatoes? Green Lantern is far better than Fantastic Four (27%) or Catwoman (10%), so why is it labeled rotten? Are we fans now, too hard to please? Have we been made as tough and cruel as the streets of Gotham since The Dark Knight proved how gritty a comic book movie could be?

To enjoy Green Lantern you need to lighten up and embrace the zaniness of Silver Age comics. Yes, there are millions of aliens, an inter-stellar police force Earth had no knowledge of and magic rings could pop out of the sky at any moment and turn you into the universe’s next super hero. If you can accept these premises and not take yourself or the movie too seriously, you’ll have a blast with Green Lantern. If you go in looking for a deep, soul-searching experience dealing with heavy themes of what it means to become a hero, you’re gonna be disappointed.

Some spoilerific comments can be expected below the cut.

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We’re only three days away from the big screen release of Martin Campbell‘s Green Lantern film and everything should be shaping up to be a fantastic release. Unfortunately reviews have been coming in from early screenings and let’s just say even in brightest day Hal Jordan isn’t fairing too well with the fans. The third in a line of DC heroes to actually have their project reach their viewing audience (sorry Wonder Woman) and it looks like they might have struck out on this one.

We picked a few of the best  worst reviews and are posting them hear for you to judge for yourself. Click on the site name for the entire review.
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With little more then 3 months until the Martin Campbell directed Green Lantern film hits theaters, there’s still a looming question in the air on what Parallax -yellow fear based entity-  will look like. Other then a production shot, no one has seen much else of the yellow monster/villain. If you’ve been reading the Green Lantern series you know what Parallax is, a creature of fear imprisoned inside the central power battery of Oa. Known simply as “the yellow impurity”, a reason for a lantern’s weakness, we now have a better look at this villain thanks to an upcoming toy.

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Kick-Ass rocks! It’s a fast paced, funny, ultra violent love letter to comic books and superheroes. It reinvents the genre with new levels of visual style, edginess and nerd wish fufilment. High octane, electric, and relentlessly fun! Kick-Ass lives up to it’s name.

Based of the highly acclaimed comic from Mark Miller, Kick-Ass asks the question ” Why hasn’t anyone ever tried to be a superhero?” and answers it.

The story is of a typical suburban nerdy, unnoticed teenager Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) who dons a costume and sets out to become a crime fighter. The venture gets him stabbed, beaten, broken and nearly killed. Unable to resist the temptation to make a difference he persists. After a faulty start he eventually meets some success by saving a victim from a thug beat down. This event is recorded by a cell-phone ready gawking crowd and uploaded to the internet. Becoming an overnight internet sensation he attracts the attention of more serious vilgilantes at work in town. An uber violent superhero father & daughter team Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) who are waging a blood war on mafia kingpin Frank D’Amico(Mark Strong), the man responsible for Damon Macreadys (Big Daddy) downfall. Meanwhile D’Amico’s son sets out to assist in the capture of the vigilantes plaguing the family by creating his own secret identity, Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).

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