YNMS: Holly Hunter vs. Superman: Dawn of Wonder Woman
Saturday, July 11, 2015 at 5:15PM It would be a lie to say that The Film Experience has been anxiously awaiting the latest trailer from Zach Snyder. But life can surprise you and the newly released Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice promo literally begins with this image of Oscar Winning Diva Holly Hunter!
Today is a day for truth."
And her line reading is so over-the-top IMPORTANT that I want it on a Vine loop. Like Jessica Lange screaming "Knotty Pine" or something. Is it too much to ask that Holly's Senator is like Cristal/Showgirls self aware of what kind of movie she is in?
For now we are free to imagine that this movie is actually an action drama about Senator Holly Hunter's vendetta against Superman wherein she cosplays Wonder Woman (briefly glimpsed though it's never clear who she is fighting in her cutaways) to lay waste to him. Featuring Oscar nominees Diane Lane and Amy Adams! (Those grim self-important steroid warriors are just there to sell tickets to fanboys and muscle-queens!)
So let's Yes No and Maybe So it this thing (okay the real thing - sigh) after the jump...
YES to Holly Hunter... quite obviously. And always. Or at least since 1987.
Yes but in an Ironic Way to the image of Superman floating down into so much crowd animosity... "God Hates Aliens" LMAO!
No to Superman being constipated. I liked Superman when he had Christopher Reeves dorky heroic smile.
Yes to the notion that that kind of power is very dangerous. This is chased by an image of Ben Affleck running into what is -- wait is this a flashback to Man of Steel from another perspective and everyone is angry about Superman destroying Gotham?
Yes to this image of Bruce Wayne running head first into apocalyptic city smoke while everyone else is running the opposite direction.
Yes to keeping Bruce Wayne Batman "of a certain age" (and Ben is looking great!) because the Superhero baby craze... well, it can be hard to take teenage looking superheroes seriously. Good luck Tom Holland (it'll help that he's a really good actor)
(I'm scared how much yes so far cuz i wanted to make fun of this trailer for the whole post!)
No "From Director Zach Snyder". Look I loved his work on Dawn of the Dead but since then. Yeesh. What really bugged me was when he got "visionary" comments for Watchmen despite the fact that he was just restaging actual comic book panels/framing by the original artists.
Maybe So Who sent this threatening news clipping to Bruce Wayne. I love that they mailed it like a good citizen (see the stamp) instead of slipping it under a door or something.
Yes & No. Jeremy Iron's easy gravitas voiceover.
The Fever. The Rage. That turns good men cruel."
These are not maybe the best comments to play over Ben Affleck's monotone face. Like Henry Cavill, he looks more constipated than angry or serious.
Yes to hot sweaty actors playing naked chained up prisoners.
EXCUSE ME... ahem...
WHERE WERE WE, CONTINUING...
No to Batman Vigilante Bad. OMG I'm so sick of these dark angsty superheroes. Marvel got it right lightening things up considerably, and remembering that superheroes are sometimes happy too and sometimes like each other. And their facial muscles can actually produce smiles outside of action sequences.
Maybe So. Here comes the cameo portion of the trailer. Laurence Fishburne. Amy Adams. Diane Lane. Jesse Eisenberg. Michael Shannon (well his dead face in a body bag).
You don't get to decide who cancels Hannibal!"
The reason that this is a "Maybe So" instead of a "Yes" with all these strong actors is that being a strong actor doesnt' necessarily help you find a role worthy of your gifts in a franchise movie. Amy Adams was all wrong for Lois Lane (probably still is) and Diane Lane is way too sexy to be reduced to "superhero's farmwife mom" -- I saw her at a party recently (for Clouds of Sils Maria) and she was unbelievably sexy/beautiful in real life and her body was amazing.
All of which is to say, why can't she play Wonder Woman?
Yes. Okay it's kind of fun that there's a Nightwing costume all graffiti'd up as if he's already been killed by the Joker or something? I don't know. I don't follow Batman comics mythology. There is also a random shot of a an Asian girl escorting some kind of container down a hall.
Yes. First shot of Wonder Woman in Diana Prince garb? While Batman moans about "how many good guys are left?"
No. Batman saying that we have to destroy Superman and pulling some tarp off some a supersized Bat Signal in a torrential downpour. Subtlety thy name isn't Zach Snyder.
No No No. Batman looks way too bulky. How can he move? It's not unlike seeing 1984 size Arnold Schwarnezzeger squeezed into a Batsuit form instead of naked as a Terminator. That bodybuilder stiff look worked for Arnold but normal superheros look better slightly more lithe if you ask me. Like they could actually touch their toes or rest their arms alongside their bodies or dance with their ladyfriends or run down the street rather than waddle or what not if they wanted to.
Yes. Great suggestions of what Lex Luthor will be like in every scene he occupies in this trailer. Especially this weird subservient style shot where he's almost caressing Superman who looks P-I-S-S-E-D. This might be more effective if Supes didn't always look pissed though in every shot in this trailer.
OH HELL NO
We have to sit through the Batman origin story again? They show Bruce Wayne's parents being killed. What is this cinematic bloodlust for papa Wayne. We don't need to see the same person die in 5 or 6 movies you know? STOP IT. God, this is genuinely sick now, the amount of times filmmakers won't to violently off this innocent philanthropic billionaire while his kid is watching.
The last minute of this very long trailer (3 and a half minutes) is all action so let's just say "Maybe So" for the rest of it. Some of it looks ridiculously self-serious, some of it makes us curious -- like every shot of Wonder Woman on account of she's something we've NEVER seen in a feature film (how weird, right?) but who knows how it will turn out.
The red capes are coming. The red capes are coming."
YES YES YES ... to Jesse Eisenberg taking the piss out of the film's self seriouness with his mocking voiceover at the finale.
I am very surprised to consider myself a firm "Maybe So" at the end of this assault, when Man of Steel and superhero fatigue had me completely in the "No" camp prior to seeing this? Are you similarly halfway to convinced?
Reader Comments (24)
a big fat YES to me (i might be biased since i'm such a Batman nerd, but whatever)
Point for point in agreement here.
I'm honestly here for Wonder Woman. I **love** the costume. I don't feel good about npt hearing her speak in the trailer because that has always been rather ominous in the past. I desperately don't want them to fuck this up because WONDER WOMAN, y'all.
See, Amy Adams on PAPER makes total sense as Lois Lane but what we've seen on screen so far? Bleh. I'll blame the writing rather than Amy. I do miss Erica Durance's interpretation of her on Smallville. She was pitch perfect.
*has a flashback to the dark days of Kate Bosworth*
Zach has always been pretty great when it comes to trailers but the final product in recent years usually never matches the same quality.
Time will tell if I'll see this or not, but right now I can't be bothered with it. Another humourless, dark take on superheroes? Totally agree that Amy Adams is way miscast in this. Not only because it's odd that Superman's gf and mother are less than 10 years apart in age (altho go her for turning the sexist age-gap in movie couples around), but she just doesn't sell it for me. And totally agree on your "Oh Hell No" bit.
Yes because I love Jesse Eisenberg and haven't caught his last few flicks; No because I am still hopelessly allergic to Ben Affleck's acting resurgence.
No to the movie. Yes to Holly Hunter making a resurgence in the movies. I know you want a second Oscar for her and she certainly is worthy based on who she is alone.
OK, I'm now sold on Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor.
"OH HEL NO" made me actually laugh at loud. I'm completely with you. I was all "maybe this won't suck" while watching the trailer up until that shot of the Waynes being murdered.
I also agree that Superman v. Holly Hunter would be a much better movie.
I though Amy did a solid job with what she was given in Man of Steel.
"Yes to the notion that that kind of power is very dangerous. This is chased by an image of Ben Affleck running into what is -- wait is this a flashback to Man of Steel from another perspective and everyone is angry about Superman destroying Gotham? "
THIS and that image of Ben running into the smoke has me excited. Remember when everyone was bringing up that the death toll must be enormous after the last superman Movie? Looks like this film took that to heart and actually wrote it into the script!
With that said this move has a couple of massive drawbacks:
1) Trying to come up with ways where batman has a shot in hell at taking down superman... whatever they come up in the movie will be quite stupid guaranteed because there is no way.
AND
2) This movie looks awfully bloated. My bet is this will be one long movie. Introducing Affleck's Batman, showing Batman's backstory, introducing Lex Luthor AND wonder woman AND building up Superman and Batman's rivalry effectively. WAY too much. Some or more probably all of these items will get the short end of the stick and not get the screentime/build-up that they need. More is not always better Hollywood; you should know that by now.
Why do Henry and Ben have to be built like army tankers yet the actress chosen to be Wonder Woman looks like she'd fall over in a stiff wind.
I loved this write up, and Echo it completely. The trailer seemed great right up until I saw the Wayne's being murdered (AGAIN!) and I said no, this ain't happening without a fast forward button nearby.
The trailer looks fantastic but the truth trailers of Zach Snyder's movies always look like masterpieces.
oooh, explosions! it must be good!!
i am so tired of things blowing up in trailers. all these movies seem the same
and when did superman become the bad guy? [is that what's happening? i lost interest before the halfway mark....and i haven't seen a superman film since i was burnt by superman 3]
so, no
I can pretend I'm a "no" or "maybe," but superhero movies are what we do here in this country, so it's a "yes" based solely on that fact.
●Seeing Diane Lane in these movies makes me sad that she didn't/wasn't able to capitalize off of her Unfaithful moment the way I thought/hoped she would.
●I can't stand Henry Cavill's action-figure build as Superman. He looks weirdly proportioned and uncomfortable.
●I'm so here for Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, whom -- oddly enough -- I find sexier than both Affleck and Cavill.
Always YES for Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Holly Hunter, and hottie hunk Superman.
Maybe so to Wonder Woman.
No on Affleck as Batman and doucheface Eisenberg.
So maybe I'm maybe so on this yet-another-superhero film.
Yes-No-Maybe- why does Batman look like a robot? The trailer is a bit ponderous with that over powering score- I had mixed feelings about "Man of Steel" but the sci-fi comic book geek in me will pay to see this.
Jaragon - That's armor Batman is wearing. It's influenced by The Dark Knight Returns. Anyway, I'm a yes on this. While I thought it was solid-ish, I was hugely disappointed by MOS and the teaser trailer for BVS did nothing for me. This trailer, however, definitely got me excited about it. In saying that, I'm still pretty caution about the actual film and will temper my expectations.
As for Affleck's physique, he does look too bulky in the suit - or the suit just looks too bulky - but they seem to be trying to make him look as close to the comic book Batman as humanly possible, so take that for what you will.
Of course, "Yes". Maybe not 'stand in line the first night' yes, but certainly opening weekend yes.
Superman died for me with Christopher Reeve. All others, fuck off.
Nah, none of this looks like anything more than the same old same old, right down to the by-now-quite-silly choral voices on the soundtrack and the hemorrhoidal expressions of the caped heroes. I just can't get excited for the superheroes anymore, they've all been run into the ground. I will say Jesse Eisenberg looks like he might fun in this though.
Ugh, I don't know. The idea of this has me firmly in the NO camp, but it is hard to see the likes of Hunter, Fishburne, Irons, and especially Eisenberg having fun in these roles and not at least seem interested. Cavill, Adams, and Snyder remain so wrong for this movie, and I'm afraid about what I see from Affleck. How can you be a yes for a movie about Batman and Superman, if the only parts you seem interested in do not involve Batman or Superman? Oh I know, how about if it were just a Wonder Woman film!!!!
Very lukewarm maybe so.
So hard to judge on just a trailer but Eisenberg looks like he's trying to play Lex Luthor as the Joker. A completely wrong take on the character.
Nat - I disagree. You can't blame Amy Adams for the shitty Man of Steel screenplay. She was the best part in the movie.