Captain and America and Jurassic Park IV To Be Superlative Hyperbole Superlative Superlative
By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (16)
I can only imagine how excited so many of you are for that white-bread comic-book flick, Captain America, which is expected to begin filming in June. There’s still no word on who will end up in the lead role (I’m still partial to Mark Valley, inexcusably). Details on the movie have been relatively scarce, but the director, Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, The Wolfman, Jumanji — Wow! What a score!) revealed some details about the direction of the film, and we’re duty-bound to report those:
It’s something different. It is influenced by the comic book, but it goes off in a completely different direction. It’s the origin story of Captain America. It’s mostly period — there are modern, present-day bookends on it — but it’s basically the story of how Steve Rogers becomes Captain America. The great thing about Captain America is he’s a super hero without any super powers. Which is why this story, among the hundreds of super hero stories, appealed to me the most. He can’t fly, he can’t see through walls, he can’t do any of that stuff. He’s an every man who’s been given this amazing gift of transformation into the perfect specimen — the pinnacle of human perfection. How does that affect him? What does that mean for him emotionally and psychologically? He was this 98-pound weakling, he was this wimp, and he’s transformed instantly into this Adonis. You’d think he got everything he wanted. Well, he didn’t get everything he wanted. The rules change at that point and his life gets even more complicated and dire. For me, that’s the interesting part of the story. It’s got some great action sequences in it and some incredible stuff that we’ve never seen before. But at the heart of it, it’s a story about this kid who all he wants to do is fit in. This thing happens and he still doesn’t fit in. And he has to prove himself a hero — essentially go AWOL to save a friend. Eventually at the very end, I don’t want to give away to much, but he does fit in. But it’s the journey of getting him there that’s interesting. And it’s a lot of fun.
Man, that does sound inventive! An origins story! Unheard of. About a super-hero with no actual super powers! Gee Flickering Whiplash! How novel! How so very unlike Batman. And I’m sure the fact that he goes off the book is going to please those oh-so-many Captain America fans out there, too, who have always wanted a cinematic translation from the guy who directed Honey! I Shrunk the Kids.
Johnston, who directed Jurassic Park III, also had a few words about the fourth installment, which is expected to launch a whole new trilogy.
Well, there is going to be a Jurassic Park IV. And it’s going to be unlike anything you’ve seen. It breaks away from the first three—it’s essentially the beginning of the second Jurassic Park trilogy. It’s going to be done in a completely different way. That’s pretty much all I can tell you.
Well, there you go, folks. You heard it straight from the director’s mouth. “It’s going to be unlike anything you’ve seen,” which I’ve never heard a director say in the past. Ever. Not once. Because if there’s one thing that America wants, it’s something unlike anything we’ve ever seen, which is why remakes and sequels do so poorly at the box office.
If it sounds like I’m not very excited about these projects, I apologize. It’s because I’m not.
(Source: Box Office Magazine)
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Comments
Posted by: Tracer Bullet at January 14, 2010 5:44 PM
How do you do a Captain America origins story? "Skinny twerp gets shot in ass, becomes Aryan superman." That's the entire story, unless they're going to follow him through WWII. I don't think America is ready for a 17-year-old Bucky Barnes machine-gunning Nazis in the face. Or maybe we are.