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July 24, 2009
A Tale Of Two Clip Packages, Pt 2
Kick-Ass came into Comic-Con with a completely different set of expectations.
There was no line waiting for the 5:45p event to start. One well-know writer was so irritated by a Paul WS Anderson movie being squeezed in from 5:30 to 5:45 that he left the auditorium before the event even started. And truth be told, it only became a part of my day because I ran into the director, Matthew Vaughn, at lunch.
Yet... it became one of the real high moments of the day for me.
The film, based on a the Millar and Romita, Jr. comic book, did what it needed to do with its choice of clips. It set up the story. And it gave the audience no fewer than 3 “you’ve gotta see this” stories to tell their friends and the ‘Conners who had not been at the presentation.
Like Avatar, there is no way of telling from 10 minutes or so of clips whether the film comes together as it threatens to… as a great iconic teen movie that will be watched endlessly for decades. But the clips did the job.
Matthew Vaughn, who came out steaming with the gritty Layer Cake and stumbled a bit with the massive, fantastical Stardust, seems to be right in his wheelhouse here. Real kids acting like real kids, but with ambitions to be fantastic.
Vaughn himself was charmingly real, not only messing up a few improvised intros, but in admitting that Comic-Con has seen a bunch of great trailers for terrible movies, so he was going to bring the clips, all from the first act and closing with what he called “a compilation of what happens after the first act.” (The Comic-Con guy called it a “trailer.” Oh well.)
Highlights include Aaron Johnson’s debut as an uber-nerd, which will be an interesting contrast to his role in The Greatest, in which he plays a beautiful stud boy (who knocks up the fast-rising Carey Mulligan), a funny turn (of the ankle) by Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and a lot of blood splatter jokes.
But the home run hitter of the film clips was the most dangerous piece of the puzzle – the element that will make big studios nervous about distributing – the amazing, wonderful, and laugh-out-loud funny Chloe Moretz, real life 12-year-old, probably playing an under-10-year-old. She plays Nic Cage’s daughter, who he is training to take on his idea of a super villain. The training is shocking and very funny. Once she dons her hero costume, as Hit-Girl - who seems to be The Robin of the movie, though in this case, more skilled than any of the adults – she steals every scene they showed. In much the spirit of Yoda breaking out the kung-fu, this little blonde thing wielding the big machetes, spears, and other highly damaging tools of destruction is going to be the “must-see” of this film and no matter how nervous it makes distributors, she will be THE icon of pre-teen and teen girls who will find a way into this R-rated comedy when it’s in release.
Again… Matthew was clear that we were just getting the first act here and that there would be a lot more surprises to come. (One may be Nic Cage finally donning a super suit as the Batman-look-a-like Big Daddy.) This means the film could be even better than it looks… or it could somehow disappoint.
And aside from the young girl with violence and language concerns from distributors, there will be nerves about the film being a tweener on some level. It could be a $40 million grossing cult movie or a $130 million summer phenom like Superbad. I have to say, these clips, on their own, are more exciting than the first Superbad clips I saw. If these teens end up being as unrelentingly teen-honest as these clips suggest (“Paris Hilton…I don’t get it, she has no tits at all.”), it can be Superbad WITH action comedy.
So…
In overwhelming expectations and giving the audience something that they could share with endless joy with friends, Kick-Ass – which may be the first real Comic-Con movie sale – won the day.
Avatar, that said, didn’t really stand a chance of being the world-beater that people NEEDED it to be. We weren't seeing the while movie,. We saw clips. And when Cameron goes romantic, clips are not enough for that feeling of getting it fully. I recall a summer a dozen years ago when AICN declared Titanic dead… before they declared it great months later. Very similar situation going in. No one had seen the movie. It was The Big Secret and The Big Budget, etc. So how do you safely break that cherry?
Comic-Con was not what it is now back in 1997. And the coming out party for Avatar had to start sometime. It made sense to use this platform. The big public platform is the IMAX event on August 21. A trailer will, I assume, follow on its heels. And I suspect the movie will lock around the end of October.
There is some pushback, but I think this was absolutely the right call. And Cameron stayed above it all with an elegant and thoughtful choice of scenes and how they would be presented. (And again... I loved half the clips and really liked and appreciated and was caused to anticipate the rest of the film by seeing the other clips.)
But most of all, to me, there is the need in this era to allow people to get used to the idea of something new... especially something really new. This is a conversation I have had on movies like Sweeney Todd… where the star is doing something that will get some heads spinning. (And Depp singing and being a brutal anti-hero is something altogether different than playing wild wackos like Willy Wonka and The Mad Hatter.) My strategic thinking is that you have to let people get used to what’s coming… to digest the change. And then, you get a resistance cycle, followed by an underdog cycle, followed by some clarity… and that’s when your advertising kicks in. Others disagree… they want to open the movie with an explosion and then hope that carries them through, maybe even creating a phenomenon.
I don’t know what the intricate storytelling of Avatar will bring. But I do know that the universe Cameron created and the 10-foot-tall, blue, giant eyed, sparkly creatures have to become normal (though a little magical) to audiences if we are going to accept the love story and care about these creatures living or dying. And that process started yesterday.
As for Kick-Ass, you love that little girl and the kids playing dress up and trying to the right thing NOW. Instant heroes.
Even if it were to be considered a failure at the box office, Avatar will make more in its opening week than the best expectations of Kick-Ass’ total domestic box office should be. They are such different animals… though the magic of movies is that you can love the little movie as much and as intensely as the mega-movie. And that is true of the clip packages as well.
Posted by dpoland at July 24, 2009 04:20 PM
Comments
You want to know why no one wanted to go to that event? Well, really, Kick-Ass has gotten progressively worse each issue. It's a lame ass concept, that could turn into something on the screen. Which Millar and Co. obviously do not put on the page. Nevertheless, this once again demonstrates how out of fucking touch you are, but that's like I like you kid. You've got panache!
Posted by: IOIOIOI ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 24, 2009 05:33 PM
Clark Duke is in the soon to be classic "Hot Tub Time Machine".
Posted by: martin at July 24, 2009 08:10 PM
The Hot Blog: where people who love Broadway and very little of pop culture... LIVE!
Clark Duke is Dale. Oops. I am so sorry you will never ever figure that out.
Posted by: IOIOIOI at July 24, 2009 11:26 PM
IO, Are you aware that Broadway has, from time to time, actually BEEN pop culture? And there are Broadway shows that have a much larger name for themselves in the ranks of pop culture than so many of the obscure comic book characters that you claim everyone knows.
But, then again, I must just not read the correct websites, right? That always seems to be your argument. These mysterious websites.
Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 at July 25, 2009 05:56 AM
Broadway isn't as influential because it's all revivals and adaptations. i don't disagree with your arguement Kamikaze, but what was the last Broadway show that was truly a pop culture phenomenon.
Rent?
The Producers?
Kick Ass is an interesting comic concept, one i've enjoyed. it's a lot of sound and fury. and at the end of the day it's more a satire about comic fans than satire of the genre.
Posted by: anghus at July 25, 2009 07:55 AM
AH, IO land, where pop culture begins and ends in the comic store.
Posted by: storymark at July 25, 2009 09:53 AM
Mamma Mia?
That was last year right?
Posted by: messiahcomplexio at July 25, 2009 10:24 AM
mamma mia?
Posted by: messiahcomplexio at July 25, 2009 10:25 AM
Uh no, pop culture does not begin and end in comic book stores, but you are posting on the hot blog. Which means you have an infinitesimal amount of pop culture knowledge compared to yours truly. Seriously, the fact that many of you did not give dap to MCA. Demonstrates how limited many of you are, but you guys are the real clever white folk.
That aside Camel defending Broadway is not really shocking, but Anghus gave an appropriate response. Seriously, more people know about Tony Stark right now than the witches of Wicked. If you disagree, then you must realize that I used THE THEATER as an goof on a guy, praising a comic, that most people who read the comic realize is not as clever as it used to be. He's out of touch. Broadway just shows how much so.
Now KC, stop being a stereotype, and enjoy some MMA.
Posted by: IOIOIOI at July 25, 2009 05:13 PM
IO is running through this place like Nino Brown this weekend. Respect.
Posted by: LexG at July 25, 2009 05:23 PM
I don't believe I said anything about more people knowing Wicked than Iron Man, but merely that the thought of Broadway being in the pop culture lexicon is not far fetched.
And when I said "obscure" characters I was not talking about Tony Stark, but about all the X-Men characters that he thinks people seem to have infinite knowledge about. Didn't we have this discussion about Deadpool just a couple of months back?
Anghus, I agree with what you say but... that's not at all what I was getting at. I was merely pointing out that just because IO doesn't like Broadway doesn't mean it isn't a part of pop culture.
IO, they're called commas. And I don't believe Dave ever said that just because he writes the Hot Blog that he should suddenly have some all-encompassing knowledge of comic book universes. I really don't know why you assume everybody should.
Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 at July 25, 2009 05:55 PM
I know who MCA is, and I don't want him to die of cancer. And yet I didn't offer condolences in that earlier thread. I now regret this, because it gives the erroneous impression that I am limited in my pop culture knowledge.
Posted by: yancyskancy at July 26, 2009 01:03 AM
Kiki, you really need to get a handle on how things work, and a lot of people know about Deadpool. It's not my fault that you fuckers did not know anything about the character, BUT THIS IS THE FUCKING HOT BLOG! WHERE ANY REFERENCE TO POP CULTURE CONFOUNDS, COMPLEXES, AND CONFUSES THE LOT OF YOU! BAHUMBUG!
Yancy: YOU ARE OFF THE LIST!
LEX: AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?
Posted by: IOIOIOI at July 26, 2009 01:15 AM
IO's reading skills have whithered away from reading funnybooks about carttons too much. DP never mentioned the comic, no one gives a fuck about the comic. DP said the movie looked great.
To refute IO's comment, let me ask...what comic has been more influential than many Broadway shows lately? People only know of Tony Stark because he was in a movie. And people will only know about Deadpool when he gets his own starring movie...which will probably bomb.
Posted by: The Big Perm at July 26, 2009 10:23 AM
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