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Dan Owen reviews
I s s u e # 3 52 1 M a r c h 2 0 0 3
THE X-FILES 2Gillian Anderson was on ‘Parkinson’ last weekend in the UK and confirmedplans for another X-Files movie, saying it will hopefully beginpre-production by the end of this year. She said that David Duchovny,Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish should all return from the TV series.
The storyline may be a prequel set before the final TV series, butAnderson stated that “Chris doesn’t tell anyone what he’s writing about,so we have no idea what to expect. But I assure you it will be somethingquite good. It’s taken all this time, it better be. David, Robert,Annabeth, Brian Thompson who played a hunter and Mitch Pileggi, are allin it so it will be a nice reunion for us all.”
ALIEN 5’Cinema Confidential’ spoke with Sigourney Weaver about a possible Alien5. She said: “I know that Ridley Scott and I have talked a couple oftimes because people are always coming up to me and saying ‘What aboutAlien 5?’ In the current atmosphere where there is so much going on onEarth, I can understand people wanting to see an adventure that’s faraway and so I, myself, would love to go and see something happening onanother planet. You know, out by Mars or something. But we don’t haveany definite plans.” THE BOURNE SUPREMACY’Universal Pictures’ has rehired Bourne Identity screenwriter TonyGilroy to adapt Robert Ludlum’s sequel novel The Bourne Supremacy.
In the sequel a Chinese vice-premier has been killed by the legendaryassassin Jason Bourne. Of course, there is no Jason Bourne. The identityis simply a cover for the CIA’s David Webb. But with someone elseassuming the Bourne identity, the US must find a way to avert ainternational diplomatic scandal that imperils Sino-American peace.
CATWOMANIt appears that Halle Berry is inches away from winning the role ofCatwoman in a new Batman spin-off movie, to be directed by Frenchdirector Pitof.
ELEKTRA – ASSASSINJennifer Garner is very likely to star in a spin-off movie fromDaredevil based on her character of sai-wielding assassin Elektra.Currently, this synopsis of the proposed movie has been released.
Elektra is on a mission to kill Presidential candidate Ken Wind. She’swanted by S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives after she assassinated South AmericanPresidente Carlos Huevos. She dispatches, in rich, bloody detail, manyan agent. One of those unfortunates is agent John Garrett, who sheshreds nearly to pieces, only to leave him alive for her own amusement.Garrett is revived with a special electronic and pneumatic body. Elektrauses some sort of bizarre Ninja mind control over him to make him do herbidding.
Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. is busy rebuilding Perry, Garrett’s partner whoalso was badly mutilated by Elektra. What they don’t know is that Perryhas a history of violence and rage, and it’s up to Elektra and Garrettto stop him before he gets fully rebuilt. But Garrett’s betrayal ofS.H.I.E.L.D. (due to Elektra’s mind control) has agent Chastity andColonel Nick Fury on his trail.
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIADoug Gresham, the step-son of author C.S. Lewis, gave a lecture recentlyand commented on the forthcoming Narnia feature films: “I rather thinkthey are going to be great… since it was my idea.”
Andrew Adamson (Shrek) is the director with Lord Of The Rings effectscompany WETA gearing up to handle the visuals. The film should bereleased in 2004.
THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK’MTV’ talked to Vin Diesel about The Chronicles Of Riddick, and he said:“I’m ecstatic about the size and the support of the studio to reallycreate this mythology. I go in a couple of weeks to Vancouver to startrehearsals. We’ll do a month of rehearsals, and I’ll go into shootingnext month.”
“Riddick is definitely not an evolved person. He’s still a killer in hisown right. And I think we’re going to find him after he’s isolatedhimself and become this recluse for five years. So when we see him, theyare awakening Riddick.”
He also clarified that Dame Judi Dench’s role as Aereon is that of “an’Air-Elemental’ ambassador [whose] very much the mentor-like archetypein this mythology”.
So what about the trilogy angle? Will the films all be filmedback-to-back? Diesel: “It also seems material for further sequels willbe shot with this film “I don’t know if it’s gonna necessarily be a’Lord of the Rings'[-type shoot] but I do know that they’ve talked aboutdoing the first one and ‘chapters’ of both the second one and third one[at the same time], if that makes any sense. So they’ll shoot someadditional scenes.”
THE CROW – WICKED PRAYERLuke Goss (Blade II, right) has won the villain role in this latest Crow sequelas Luc Crash, a charismatic gang leader of a group of Satanist bikersnamed after the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse.
Luc murders Jimmy Cuervo (Edward Furlong) and his girlfriend Lily aspart of a ritual to become an immortal demon, but Luc finds that Jimmyhas been transformed into the avenging spirit known at The Crow, intenton stopping Luc.
THE FANTASTIC FOUR’E! Online’ reports that “Fox execs are not happy at all” with thelatest draft for a film adaptation of the comic, so it’s about toundergo some big re-writes yet again.” GARFIELDInside word has it that only Garfield will be computer-generated in theupcoming movie, with real animals cast as the other characters (as withDr Dolittle). JUMANJI 2The ‘Z Review’ reports that that Bonnie Hunt, Spencer Breslin andCaitlan Wachs are attached to star in the sequel to Robin Williams hitJumanji.
LORD OF THE RINGS – THE RETURN OF THE KING’The One Ring’ website had details on the third film from a recent WETAlecture at Victoria University. Apparently MASSIVE (the software used tocreate the hordes of CGI armies) is being stretched to its limits forReturn Of The King, with director Peter Jackson wanting the film’s mainbattle sequence to be several times larger than Helm’s Deep in The TwoTowers! The final film is said to have 1000+ effects shots, comparedwith The Two Towers’ 800. MEN IN BLACK III’Columbia’ has begun development on a third Men In Black movie, withdirector Barry Sonnenfeld set to return. This time the story isapparently going to be based on an idea Will Smith pitched toSonnenfield with Tommy Lee Jones.
(Can’t be any worse thanMen in Black II,surely? – DVDfever Dom)
SUPERMANAshton Kutchner (Just Married) spoke with ‘Yahoo UK’ recently about hisrumoured involvement with the Superman remake. He said: “I wasapproached about doing it and it seems like a really interesting offer.The scheduling of that film got moved back so now even if I were to doit would be a conflict with my television show and I would end upultimately having to commit to more time the television show to do itand it would just make things really complicated”.
Kutchner seemed reluctant to be typecast: “I think there’s a bit of acurse behind the role, just in what’s happened to the past people who’veplayed it. That movie and that character is always going to be biggerthan anyone who plays it and I don’t know if I can be Clark Kent likeChristopher Reeve was Clark Kent. I have a lot of other roles I like topursue and play and playing that role would limit playing other rolesthat I would want to play. Once people see you as Superman could theysee you as anything else?”
In related news, inside sources state that ‘Warner Brothers’ are nowtied between known star Brendan Fraser (The Mummy) or unknown actorMatthew Bomer.
Other potential candidate Josh Hartnett has dropped out of the running,saying: “The decision was a struggle. But I just never really wanted toplay Superman. It’s probably the biggest [budgeted movie] ever – andbecause it was planned as a trilogy – it was three films [over] 10 yearsor something like that.”
Director Brett Ratner concluded that: “This has been a very difficultmovie to cast – it’s a big role and the actor has to be able to play totwo distinct roles. It’s a long commitment, but we’ve only offered it toone person so far. We are still in the process of evaluating the bestcandidate for the part, and we want to take the time to make sure thatwe get it right.”
VAN HELSINGStar Hugh Jackman (X-Men) was interviewed by ‘Empire’ magazine and gaveaway the premise for the upcoming creature feature Van Helsing:
“This is kind of the younger and more adventurous swashbuckling versionof Van Helsing, who is, for want of a better word, a mercenary for theCatholic Church who is out there killing or dealing with possessed soulsof all different shapes and sizes.”
“Right at the beginning of the movie you meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,which introduces my character. So he’s out there dealing with theserogue demons that have taken over bodies. And as it turns out, Dracula,whose existence has been known to the Church in Transylvania, is kind ofstarting to get out of control, and so they send Van Helsing, on a bigmission to find him. Anna, Kate Beckinsale’s character, is the youngestand final member of the family whose job it is to try and track Draculafor 400 years.”
“So that’s how we meet up and Frankenstein becomes involved because…ooh, I don’t know if I’m allowed to tell you that. This is the firsttime I’ve been asked about the plot. I’ll get a lot slicker by the timeI finish; I’ll have a straight answer!”
“Anyway, we all kind of meet up in this mish-mash of monsters and realpeople in Transylvania, and it’s really amazing. Stephen has really donea great job. The way he’s cast it is very interesting too… It’s notlike we’re a star-studded cast, and I think that helps you get into thecharacters and get involved in the world. And it’s cheaper,’ he laughs.’They couldn’t afford Mel Gibson!”
THE TOP MOVIES TO SEE… IN 2003
1. The Matrix ReloadedThere’s simply no escaping the hype. The Matrix changed the face ofmodern sci-fi in 1999 and the effects-filled sequels will do phenomenalbusiness. Even better is the firm belief that these won’t be emptymovies in terms of storytelling and characters. 2. The Matrix RevolutionsAgain, 2003 is quite simply The Year Of The Matrix. Audiences will beanxious for a resolution post-May, and they’ll get their wish inlate-2003 when the final chapter is released. I can’t wait! 3. Terminator 3Can this sequel can match the dizzy heights of T2? Everyone certainlyhopes so… but, to be honest, I doubt it. But that doesn’t stop meputting T3 at Number 3 in my “must see” list. At the very least thisshould be an enjoyable action chase film – so why complain? Fingerscrossed Jonathan Mostow surprises us all. Lower your expectations andreap the benefits of a decent enough sequel, in my opinion. 4. The Lord Of The Rings – The Return Of The KingTo be quite honest I’m getting a little jaded by Lord Of The Rings.There’s no denying the prior films are excellent, but they don’t (for mymoney) really satisfy your hunger after 12 months of waiting. Here’shoping Part 3 finishes the trilogy with a deserved bang. 5. Kill BillIf you love Kung Fu and Quentin Tarantino, this should be seventhheaven. A revenged-filled premise, cool vibe music, great fightingchoreography and a typically sparky script packed with pop-cultureriffs, ensures Kill Bill will likely be the funkiest movie of the year. 6. The HulkForget the disappointing trailer; inside sources still state firmly thatthe effects for the Hulk are staggeringly realistic. Ang Lee is adamanthe has rounded characters and a meaty plot, but let’s just hope hehasn’t fouled up the whole thing with weak CGI that causes snickering atthe back of cinemas. 7. X-Men 2The trailer comes a close second to Matrix 2 in the “wow” stakes, withdozens of new characters, some great action sequences and a more gung-hoplotline. Everything looks very, very good… so much so that theoriginal already looks anaemic by comparison. 8. The League Of Extraordinary GentlemenThis could go either way: off-kilter success or Avengers-style misfire.The concept is strong, the cast is good, the source material fine… butwill it work? Shoulders shrug everywhere, but this could be a surprisehit.
9. Charlie’s Angels 2The original was undemanding fun and possibly the most vibrantlyentertaining piece of nonsense in recent memory. The sequel shouldsimply regurgitate the successful formula – complete with Demi Moore ina skimpy bikini. What’s not to like? 10. Master & CommanderThe last time Russell Crowe did a period action drama the result withthe awards-laden Gladiator. This time Peter Wier (The Truman Show)directs the Crowe aboard a 19th Century ship. Expect plenty of sea-basedheroics and impressively staged stunts. 11. The Last SamuraiTom Cruise jumps onto the chopsocky bandwagon with this martial artsperiod drama depicting the downfall of Japan’s Samurai warriors. Thescript (written by John Logan of Gladiator fame) has earned plaudits,and the news leaked so far has been very positive. This should be anantidote to the more stylized excesses of martial arts in The Matrix andKill Bill. 13. UnderworldNo firm rumours on whether or not this vampires versis werewolvesromantic action flick starring Kate Beckinsale will work or not. But thepromise of bloodsucking monsters engaged in an urban war against hairybeasts is tantalizing. This should be good horror hokum in the same veinas Blade II. 14. Tomb Raider 2The first movie was a pale shadow of the video-game’s promise, althoughAngelina Jolie was perfect casting. This time ex-Speed helmer Jan DeBont directs Ms Jolie through a variety of escapades and skimpy costumesas she tries to locate the mythical Pandora’s Box. I think the sequelwill improve on the empty original, but is De Bont back on form afterrecent claptrap like The Haunting? 15. Pirates Of The CaribbeanJohnny Depp and Orlando Bloom star in this movie adaptation of a themepark ride, playing seafarers trying to rescue Keira Knightly from a shipfull of pirates cursed to transform into skeletons come nightfall.Should be a fun children’s film that grown-ups will enjoy – and litteredwith contemporary Jason & The Argonauts-style effects. 16. The CoreArmageddon underground, basically. A team of scientists journey to thecentre of the Earth to jump-start the planet’s magnetic field with anuke. Cue lots of subterranean terror and terrestrial horrors as theplanet is ripped apart by electrical storms (that seem to target famouslandmarks, strangely…) This could be an almighty bomb, with therelease date bumped from Christmas 2002 and some edits made in light ofthe Shuttle Columbia disaster – but the prospect of celluloid globalcatastrophe should stir box-office success.
US TOP 10 (CINEMA) Note that these are US release dates.
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.