For their first year at Comic-Con, Summit Entertainment may have brought three films to present, but the crowd only cared about one: “Twilight,” the much-anticipated adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s novel about a normal teenage girl who falls in love with a centuries-old vampire. That particular panel was so popular, in fact, that 20th Century Fox actually benefited from preceding it, yielding nearly twice the audience they would have attracted had the thousands of teenage girls and middle-aged women not camped out for primo seating. Of course, Comic-Con is all about waiting, so the best was saved for last, while the rest of the audience was subjected to sit through presentations for two of the most unoriginal sci-fi movies ever made.
Push (guests: director Paul McGuigan and stars Chris Evans, Camilla Belle and Djimon Honsou)
Paul McGuigan’s “Push” desperately wants to differentiate itself from the pack as a sci-fi actioneer about psychics living in the real world, but if there’s one thing I learned from watching the opening sequence and listening to the cast talk about the film, it’s that movies like these are rarely good. When you add to that the fact that Djimon Honsou had absolutely no interest in talking about the film (let alone even remembered anything about the character he played), and you have to ask yourself: if the actors themselves aren’t interested, how the hell is the audience supposed to get excited? Thank God for Chris Evans, then, for doing his absolute best to explain everything he possibly could about the movie’s complicated plot, as well as serve as the comic relief. Dakota Fanning was late to the panel, and therefore was unable to offer up her two cents (which might have been helpful, since she is the protagonist of the film), but I don’t think even she could have helped matters. The crazy “Twilight” fans had only one thing on their mind, while the rest of us simply couldn’t wait to get it over with.
Knowing (guest: director Alex Proyas)
Director Alex Proyas is probably best known for making one of the most underrated films of the past decade (“Dark City”), so why does his latest movie look so bad? A sci-fi tale about a mathematical cipher that has correctly predicted every major disaster of the past 50 years (cue obligatory reference to 9/11), there’s something so eerily familiar about the set-up of “Knowing” that it’s hard to imagine it took Proyas so long to work out the specifics of the story. The movie feels like a hybrid of “A Beautiful Mind” and “Déjà Vu,” but with Nicolas Cage hamming it up as a man who is convinced that the cipher really works. Cage appeared in a similar movie just last year (the pre-cog film, “Next”), and it really makes you wonder why he signed up for something so similar so soon. The trailer (which has been available on the web for weeks) is pretty unimpressive, but the movie just feels like a disaster of its own. It would have been nice to learn more about the story, but because Proyas was so hush-hush about the plot, it seemed almost pointless that he came to present anything at all.
Twilight (guests: director Catherine Hardwicke, author Stephanie Meyer, and stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Cam Gigandet and Taylor Lautner)
Sitting in Hall H during the “Twilight” panel was like attending an N ‘Sync concert in Japan during the height of their popularity. (Some fans had been waiting in line since 1:30 PM on Wednesday). Women screamed like Elvis himself had just been resurrected in the room, and as a result, the participating cast and crew had no idea how to react. Apparently, the actors didn’t have a clue as to just how rabid the fanbase was, and between the uncomfortable questions from the crowd (“What’s it like playing a super sexy vampire?”) and the uncomfortable answers from the panelists (“Ummm…”), the following 30-odd minutes were less than productive. Director Catherine Hardwicke introduced some promising footage of a major sequence from the end of the film, but I think fans were expecting much, much more. I mean, the movie is scheduled to open in less than five months, and with very little CG, it’s hard to imagine that more footage wasn’t compiled in time. Of course, the fans couldn’t have cared less. All they came for was to gawk at Robert Pattinson in all his messy-haired glory, and, well, he delivered. I’m not exactly sure how the British-born actor (best known for his role as Cedric Diggory) managed to cull such a large fanbase since his controversial casting as the film’s lead vampire, but whatever he’s doing has clearly worked.
I’m not exactly sure if anyone was hunkering for a remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic, but from the response in the audience, it might just have a chance come this December. Updated with an A-list cast and special effects that obviously weren’t around 50 years ago, director Scott Derrickson seems adamant that his version can bring in new fans without losing any old ones. In order to do this, he had to be careful not to remove any of the essential elements that people loved about the original, and yes, that includes Gort. The director spoke in length about the creation of the infamous robot (including some pre-production sketches that featured him in human form), but from the little footage that we did see, it appears that Gort hasn’t changed much at all. He looks a little bigger in size, but his trademark, Cylon-like visor remains intact.
Everyone knows about Hollywood’s bad reputation of taking good video games and adapting them into bad movies, but for once, “Max Payne” looks like it might actually be good. For starters, it’s got a great lead in Mark Wahlberg, who has a great track record when it comes to choosing scripts. Second, it’s got Mila Kunis – one of the hottest (and more talented) young actresses in the industry. And finally, the movie looks bad ass. From the two clips and sizzle reel that were shown, “Max Payne” looks like a mix between “Wanted” and “Sin City” – a crime drama that isn’t afraid to kick ass and take names, but also has a solid story for a backbone. Director John Moore also spoke about a new camera system that was implemented in an attempt to create a new kind of bullet-time effect for the film, but I was more impressed with his ability to seamlessly integrate a first-person view into some of the fight scenes. This is exactly what “Hitman” should have been, and though it’s not the biggest movie coming out in the second half of the year, “Max Payne” could very well be a hidden pleasure in a season packed with Oscar bait.
Just when we all thought Fox’s time had run out, Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman, made a surprise appearance to chat up his new solo film, unnecessarily titled “X-Men: Origins – Wolverine.” He claimed that shooting had just finished a few weeks ago (a similar claim was made by at least one person on every panel throughout the day), but wanted to show off some rough footage to his legion of fans. As you can imagine, Jackman’s appearance alone brought down the house, but the mention of an exclusive first-look was the cherry on top. Along with featuring a look back at Wolvie’s past (his days in WWII with Victor Creed AKA Sabertooth), his recruitment by a young William Stryker, and his forced participation in the Weapon X program, the sizzle reel also showed why there were so many damn actors cast as mutants in the movie. Among those spotted include Gambit (finally), Deadpool (played by Ryan Reynolds, no less), John Wraith, a terrible-looking Blob, and either Silver Fox or Emma Stone. May 2009 is going to rock.
