Trailerwatch: New Amazing Spider-Man Trailer

There’s a new trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man, the Spider-Man reboot which stars Andrew Garfield, due to be released on 3^rd July in the US, and the 4^th July in the UK.

In it, we see Garfield’s Peter Parker as a moodier, more contemplative prospect than Tobey Maguire’s version. There’s a little more of the mystery over Parker’s parents. It also contains plenty of Rhys Ifans, which is marvellous.

Oh, and we see more of the Lizard, more of the all-swinging Spidey, a good gag, and what looks like the most astonishing set-piece prospect of the summer.

Trailerwatch: New Dark Knight Rises Trailer

Almost as if in response to the release of Avengers Assemble, a new trailer for The Dark Knight Rises has been released.

Whilst the Reel 6 verdict was that Avengers Assemble was a blockbuster masterpiece, it has to be noted that Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight remains the high watermark of recent superhero movies.

Expectations for the conclusion of the trilogy are high, and the first trailer was predictably impressive visually, but it seemed a little cluttered. Was it perhaps going to be a slightly overblown finale which might crumple under its own weight?

Review: Avengers Assemble

Joss Whedon kicks off blockbuster season with an awesome salvo of a movie

It is all about superheroes this summer. Well, more so than usual. We have the Spider-Man reboot coming up, and the climax to Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy on the way, but now, at the start of blockbuster season, the ante has been almost pre-emptively raised very high by the release of Marvel’s Avengers Assemble.

Your Avengers Assemble Crash Course

The long-awaited release of Marvel’s Avengers Assemble has come around, and it is already setting the box office alight, and getting fantastic reviews as well. For those who are none the wiser, here is your quick guide to the Avengers


Warning: this contains backstory (i.e. what happens in the other films)

The New Dilemma of 12A

After ten years of the 12A certificate, it is clear that it has solved one problem but created another

There has been no more regular discussion in British film over the last decade than the one over the 12A certificate. Created in 2002 after a furore over the rating for Spider-Man, the 12A has been described by the British Board of Film Classification as a recognition that parents know their children best, but it has courted a fair amount of controversy.

To Cut or Not to Cut?

So far this year, there have been two major hits at the UK Box Office. The Woman in Black and The Hunger Games have been huge commercial successes, cashing in on the wide audience allowed by the 12A certificate, which has now been with us for 10 years.

However, both films were originally rated at 15, and the distributors accepted minor cuts to the films in order to get the 15 certificate. These instances have highlighted a few issues surrounding our classifications system, the artistic integrity of filmmakers and alleged “censorship”.

The Secret of Success

The relative fortunes of John Carter and The Hunger Games mark a blow for cynical Hollywood campaigns and a triumph for story-telling

Two sci-fi epics. Two opposing box office trajectories. The comparative fortunes of The Hunger Games and John Carter have been notable.

The former has just smashed records at the US box office, taking $155mn on its opening weekend, the biggest ever opening for a film which was not a sequel. The latter is going to be a mega-flop, having returned the sort of figures which make Cleopatra look like a commercial success. It will lose Disney around $200mn.

The funny thing is that, as commercial prospects, the two are not dissimilar. True, The Hunger Games has a dedicated teen fan base, but the books, written by Suzanne Collins, have 2.9 million copies in print worldwide. This is no Twilight or Harry Potter, despite its phenomenal success on e-book formats.

Teen fanaticism aside, both are sci-fi adaptations of popular novels and both are aimed at family/teenager audiences. Yet one has been a horrific disaster, and the other has led to the popping of champagne corks in certain Hollywood offices.