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ASTRO BOY Takes Flight At New York Comic Con!

Published at:  Feb 09, 2009 7:26:45 PM CST

Beaks here...



Last week, Harry put out the call for reactions to the ASTRO BOY footage from the New York Comic Con. Today, Bodhisattva complied with that and more!

The ASTRO BOY stuff is in the third paragraph. But you should also be interested in his take on Alex Proyas's KNOWING and Kathryn Bigelow's highly-acclaimed THE HURT LOCKER - which sounds like a triumphant return to action filmmaking for the skilled director behind NEAR DARK, POINT BREAK and STRANGE DAYS. I need to see this movie now.

You asked for us to send you a report on the Astro Boy footage, and since I haven't seen anything since I got back from from NYCC, here's Astro Boy and the other two flicks in the Summit panel...

First up was Knowing. Alex Proyas introduced two clips from the film - two disaster sequences. The first clip was the full plane crash sequence that we've seen glimpses from in the trailer. It was a pretty harrowing scene - one of the most realistic and intense plane crashes ever on film. And it was all done in one take with the plane ripping through a gridlocked freeway and the camera follows Cage through the carnage as runs to help people amidst exploding sections, people burning. The second clip was a five minute scene that starts out with Cage trying to warn a cop in NY about clearing the streets. She dismisses him and someone suspicious catches his eye. It's a man in a hooded sweatshirt and Cage follows him down to a subway platform, where the guy notices Cage and books it. Cage pursues him onto a subway car thinking this man has a bomb or something, but it turns out that all he had was a bunch of bootlegged DVDs. Then the shit hits the fan when an oncoming subway train derails and heads toward Cage's subway train at full speed. The impact is violent as hell, with the two trains shredding each other and mowing down people. Like the plane crash, the subway collision was notable for its shocking brutality. I'm a pretty big fan of Proyas' earlier works -- Dark City and The Crow -- and while I didn't care for I, Robot as much, I don't think it was so much his fault for that film's shortcomings. I think Knowing looks very promising.

Second was Astro Boy. This was mostly just a tease of new images and one scene - the images included shots of Astro Boy's weaponry (love the butt cannons), Metro City and Astro Boy's main nemesis, the Peacekeeper. The footage (mostly finished looking, with some rough shots) was Astro Boy's discovery of his flight capabilities - it starts off as he's falling from a huge building, with his rocket boots kicking in at the last minute, much to his surprise. Then the clip follows him around Metro City, zipping through the City's many skyscrapers, racing a bullet train and burrowing through the city's mountain -- it's very Superman meets Iron Man, power discovery kinda scene - a mix of fun and spectacle. I know absolutely nothing about Astro Boy as a character beyond some surface details, and as far as CG animated films go these days, nothing much outside of Pixar has really impressed me (from both a technical and story telling standpoint), but I'm definitely willing to give this a chance. I like the fact that it looks very action-oriented and not a bunch of anthropomorphic animals.

And last, and most surprisingly was The Hurt Locker. I say surprising because I had never (nor had anyone I was with) heard a thing about this movie and it was probably my favorite of the bunch from this panel (close to a tie with Knowing). It has such a cool concept - a movie about a bomb disposal unit in Iraq - and the 15 minutes we saw was one of the most suspenseful scenes I've see in an action film in a long time. Jeremy Renner plays the risk-taking leader of this elite squad and clip shows him trying to defuse a bomb in a car big enough to level a city block while under fire. The scene makes you squirm uncomfortably in all the right ways. Kathryn Bigelow, I think will prove again that she is one of the most underrated and creative action directors out there. The scene ratchets up the tension in almost unbearable ways. Point Break ridiculousness aside, that movie gave us some of the most indelible action scenes from the 90s (that foot chase paved the way long before it became a fixture of every action film). Renner also came out for a Q&A. It doesn't have a release date yet (looks like summer maybe?), but the The Hurt Locker is a film you should keep a close eye on.

If you use this, you can just call me bodhisattva.



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    Readers Talkback

  • Feb 09, 2009 7:28:12 PM CST

    ekkkk

    by unkempt_sock

    hoobastank

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 09, 2009 7:44:28 PM CST

    thanks man!

    by unkempt_sock

    i appreciate the heads up

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 09, 2009 7:45:47 PM CST

    no subject

    by mikethespike

    Butt cannons on Astro Boy equal something, but I can't think of what.

    Reply to Talkback

  • I still call him D'Agostino.

    No one else has any weird love for National Lampoon's Senior Trip?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 09, 2009 7:52:59 PM CST

    Astro-Boy deserves a shot

    by derousse bag

    I remember this cartoon from the late sixties. The show had a wonderfully touching storyline. It would make a perfect children's film; in fact, I can't believe it took them this long to remake it considering Hollywood's current trend to remake everything.

    As long as they get the look down, this should be a hit with the kids.

    www.sammyray.com

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 09, 2009 7:58:56 PM CST

    Astro Boy is old school anime

    by chain

    I remember watching it in B&W in the 60's
    Looking forward to seeing this one.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 09, 2009 8:18:11 PM CST

    Asshole Boy

    by gus van rant

    Yep...this movie is going to bite the big one.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 09, 2009 8:30:51 PM CST

    the hurt locker

    by kgerm

    is an amazing film that makes you both hate and love the main character in absolute equal measure.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 09, 2009 8:59:04 PM CST

    Never Heard of Hurt Locker?

    by a-cod

    um come on beaks, this movie has been playing the festivals to rave reviews. Quit wasting your time and energy on garbage like Astro Boy. I guarentee right now Boy bombs. Nobody cares max domestic gross 30 million, prove me wrong.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 09, 2009 9:02:08 PM CST

    I Robot is a good movie.

    by dr sauch

    Thats the gist. Your move, holy man.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 09, 2009 9:04:29 PM CST

    Wait, Quint left?

    by dr sauch

    What up with this site?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 09, 2009 10:31:30 PM CST

    what the world needs

    by frank cotton

    is a live-action, full-length THE TICK flick. seriously

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 09, 2009 10:48:47 PM CST

    I would watch Astro Boy but...

    by stengah

    i dont know. most of astroboys fanbase are otaku loving nerds.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 09, 2009 11:24:41 PM CST

    Astro Boy will bomb harder than Speed Racer

    by nasty in the pasty

  • Feb 10, 2009 12:23:12 AM CST

    Is he going to be flying about

    by dingbatty

    with a cheeseburger on a plate on his hand?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 10, 2009 12:35:39 AM CST

    FUCK NO, Quint left?

    by the amazing g

    you just can't be serious

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 10, 2009 2:04:56 AM CST

    Dont know about knowing

    by quintana007

    People get killed, realistic (lol) killed, explosions, crashes, shit-hitted fan... but will it have a story and a heart? Sound like a lowbrow noisemess for opening-weekend dumbasses.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 10, 2009 6:47:18 AM CST

    The Hurt Locker trailer here!

    by awefster

    http://tinyurl.com/d8fg9n

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 11, 2009 8:53:46 AM CST

    quint is writing scripts now...

    by vineethchacko

    Good for him. I can't wait to see his movies. I hear the first one is going to be a horror movie called 'Home'. All Quint fans should check it out when it is done.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Feb 21, 2009 7:56:00 PM CST

    sd

    by prossor

  • Feb 21, 2009 7:56:19 PM CST

    sd

    by prossor

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