Trailervision: Jack Ryan- Are we Pining for a Major Reboot?

I like Jack Ryan. My favorite Jack Ryan was Alec Baldwin, the silly fool who decided to do a comic movie – The Shadow- instead of doing a sequel to The Hunt for Red October. I thought he was intelligent and a little green, but man enough to hold his own on a sub. Shoot he held his own acting against the great Sean Connery who does great in this role. After Mr. Baldwin then came Harrison Ford who was much older and then the franchise killer– Ben Affleck. Since his turn as the CIA agent who has a PhD the movie franchise has lay dormant… Just like Daredevil and Kevin Smith movies, and I’m a fan of both. Now comes Captain Kirk, I mean Chris Pine, to breath new life into it. Sort of like Daniel Craig after too much Pierce Brosnan, we will try and lift it back from the dead.

But when they rebooted Star Trek they had a team that blended well. It wasn’t just Chris Pine as Kirk that made this a hit, but Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban and Zoey Saldana that worked together against a good – not great villain in Eric Bana’s Nero- that was entertaining. Throw in a cameo by Leanord Nimoy and you have a film worth watching and a rebooted franchise.

The good news for Jack Ryan is that yes it has Chris Pine as the lead character but also Keira Knightly as his shady wife and Kenneth Branagh not only as his Shakespearean trained Russian bad guy but also as the director. Rumor has it that Knightly beat out Kate Beckinsale for this role. That is a different movie indeed. As for Branagh he did direct Thor and Much Ado about nothing but he also did Iron Man 2… He also played the villain in Wild Wild West which we all know was a debacle. But the biggest negative factor is the movie killer himself, Kevin Costner. He may have single handily canceled out all the good in this movie. I had a hard time watching the trailer because he was in it. And it’s not a small role, he is Jack’s handler. So I don’t know if this movie can be saved.

The trailer looks like the film has a meaningful not by the numbers plot with plenty of action and Chris Pine can do well with a good plot (same with Keira Knightly). But Kevin Costner? I’m just going to put even money on this and say it can go either way. The trailer doesn’t do enough to persuade or dissuade me. This movie trailer is an enigma.

What would Jesus do- A Superman “Man of Steel” trailer review

I am not a superman fan. Never have been. I’ve never been a huge fan of his big blue Boy Scout persona. One of the reasons why I didn’t like Captain America or Cyclops while growing up either. Perfect people or people who think they are perfect annoy me. I rooted for Batman and his dark persona, Storm in her Punk phase, and Spider-Man and his insecurities. I liked the movie Superman 2 because he lost his powers and General Zod was such a great villain.

But this latest trailer for Man of Steel brings me hope Man of Steel Trailer. I do not think that I am going to see a dark side of the son of Jor-El (Russell Crowe using his accent to great effect like Marlon Brando’s distinct voice before him) but what I do expect to see is what I alluded to in teenage angst- a man who is trying to find himself and his place in the world. It’s also almost like an X-Men mutant story with Papa Kent (please don’t mess this up Kevin Costner- yes I liked him in the Untouchables and Bull Durham but two out of a thousand films not a fan makes) warning his “son” that people will not accept him and his powers and they will be afraid of him. How cool is that? No longer will we see just blind acceptance of the Boy Scout, but a true reaction from the human race when they see something different or unusual- fear and potential hate. Similar to my feelings surrounding Nikki Minaj (yes I loved her in Kanye West’s monster but like Foxxy Brown I think I liked her better as a hungry guest MC).

The other angle that I see for this film is the religious one. What would we do if a being of pure good that wanted to help save the world appeared to us? A person who extols his philosophies onto the masses to help them become better people… a prophet. Would we just blindly accept him and his powers and teachings or would we shun him or find reasons to destroy him? As the trailer alludes to, Superman wears an “S” on his chest to symbolize hope. His Kryptonian father states that we will accept him as a God. Is this movie a parable to the return of Jesus or for those who are non-Christian, a coming of the true messiah and how the human race will react to his presence? That is a story I would like to see. Mankind has become so cynical and we know what we have done to men of higher callings in the past when delivered- Martin Luther King, Ghandi, Malcolm X- we have killed them. And then we make movies about them. Still waiting for a good Martin Luther King movie treatment. This trailer hints at similar circumstances for Superman. We are afraid of this super powerful alien and all that he can do. What would happen if he was not friendly? Spoiler alert- the villains in this movie represent just that- Superman without the symbol of “Hope” on his actual chest.

Since all good comic book movies are won or lost by the villain, we should be in very good shape with General Zod (Boardwalk Empire’s favorite misguided religious law enforcer Agent Nelson Van Elden). He is intelligent and strong and hell bent on revenge. Those are qualities that I like in my bad guy. Kevin Spacey tried hard as Lex Luther in the recent reboot, but in the end I wasn’t sold. Much more sold with his character in House of Cards on Netflix. Sort of how I was disappointed in the William Dafoe’s Green Goblin in the (original?) Spider-Man movie. Which is one of the three roles he is highlighted for on the IMDB app along with Finding Nemo and the Boondock Saints. Not Mississippi Burning or Last Temptation of Christ (See what I did there) or Platoon but Spider-Man and Finding Nemo. Come on IMDB, a little class please?

But I digress. If this film touches on either if these hinted subplots or both and has great fight scenes I will say hail to Superman and DC comics for getting this icon right for the first time since the real superman, Christopher Reeves all those years ago. This trailer did what it was supposed to do- make me want to spend $13 on a movie opening weekend. I mean that’s What Jesus Would Do.