The first theatrical teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises has debuted online. Nolan (The Dark Knight, Inception) has a great track record with very non-descript but thoroughly engaging teasers for each one of his films, usually accompanied by an equally gripping poster to build anticipation. A poster for the third installment in the Batman franchise appeared online earlier last week and we think it looks spectacular.

As for the content of the trailer, while majority of it seemed recycled from the previous films, we are presented with new footage of a bedridden Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) speaking to someone off screen (presumably Bruce Wayne). The money shot lies in the last few seconds: a battle wary Batman slowly stumbling back from Bane in what one can only hope is a semi-reenactment of the famous “Knightfall” storyline fight. I still can’t figure out the design for Bane’s mask, but have total faith in Nolan to make it work/be relevant.

The Dark Knight Rises stars Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Joseph-Gorden Levitt, and is set to hit theatres on July 12, 2012.

Hero Complex today ended one of the biggest bits of casting speculation in recent memory: Anne Hathaway (Get Smart, Alice in Wonderland) is set to play Catwoman and Tom Hardy (Bronson, Inception) will play Bane in the third installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman cycle, The Dark Knight Rises. They join returning cast members Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Gary Oldman.

Nolan is quoted in the press release as saying “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Anne Hathaway, who will be a fantastic addition to our ensemble as we complete our story.” With regards to Hardy: “I am delighted to be working with Tom again and excited to watch him bring to life our new interpretation of one of Batman’s most formidable enemies.”

Raj: There you have it. Rumours of Killer Croc and Doctor Hugo Strange can finally be put to rest. Personally, I’m really glad to see the Bane character get another crack at the big screen, as the Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin butchered the masterminding brute, turning him into a glorified henchman. If anyone can give a fresh and exciting take to such a villain, it’s Nolan. As for Catwoman, I think she is a given in any Batman series, and Hathaway should make a suitable Selina Kyle.

Ian: The announcement that Hardy will play the villanous steroid-infused mastermind ends weeks of speculation that placed him in the role of Hugo Strange (perhaps rumours of the script being influenced by the early 90′s Prey storyline were just crossover confusion from the upcoming Arkham City video game). Hathaway’s announcement, on the other hand, ends months of rumours that Nolan was considering everyone from Natalie Portman to Rachel Weisz to Jessica Biel (wait, Jessica Biel. Really?)

Frankly, I would trust Nolan with power of attorney over my grandmother at this point, based on The Dark Knight alone. I personally am excited to see a Gotham City at war with itself – the police in a martial law showdown with the remenants of the mobs, emerging crazies, and the Batman. I picture Bane stepping in to fill the power void that the mobs’ bosses and the Joker leave behind, bringing the calculating ruthlessness needed to unite Gotham’s underwold (and the physique to give us some awesome fight scenes). Add in the Catwoman operating as a free agent amidst the anarchy… okay… I need to lie down.

The Dark Knight Rises is slated for release on July 20, 2012.

The trailer for this movie is too simple. It makes the film look like every other sports movie: a guy can’t make a living at this sport; his family life is troubled; in the end he wins the big match. However, the movie doesn’t succeed on its plot but on its characters. The Fighter is like Rocky meets Trailer Park Boys: this family is all kinds of messed up.

Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) is a boxer who has had some success but has recently been paving roads to get by. The glass ceiling he struggles against is not his own, but that of his older brother, Dicky (Christian Bale). Dicky is a former boxer best known for once knocking down Sugar Ray Leonard. That was fifteen years ago but he won’t let anyone forget it.

While there is love between them, it is obvious that Dicky trains Mickey in part so that he can be near boxing. He lies to himself that he is on the verge of a comeback, but spends most of his free time thoroughly enjoying a crack addiction.

The other component of Team Mickey is his manager – Mother. She is an overbearing cougar who nurtures Dicky and leaves Mickey to nature. She is constantly surrounded by her harem of adult daughters, a group of golem-faced hick women in need of a shave. The whole family revolves around Mickey’s career, but everyone – no matter how much they say they love him – is just in it for themselves.

The Mickey-Dicky-Mother triangle is entertaining enough, but thirty minutes in, our hero starts dating sexy bartender Charlene (Amy Adams). Charlene balances the asshole women in the movie by calling out Mickey’s mother on her false ‘family first’ ideals and eventually kicking the crap out her brood of Neanderthal daughters.

The Fighter is not defined as a comedy, but expect to laugh out loud at how much of a disaster this family is. For example, in one scene Mother enters and exits with her car by running over the same set of trash cans. No reason.

Wahlberg is capable but can be typically whiny. Amy Adams does well displaying a soft side for such an aggressive character. Melissa Leo brings realism to what could have been a cartoon of a mother. Bale, however, is brilliant. Whenever Bale leaves the scene, you will be disappointed. He plays one of those people who kills you with kindness; he’s fun and funny and his intentions are pure while making the worst life choices. What makes it worse is that he loves Mickey, but can’t see that his choices hurt him.

The story, however, should not be forgotten. For the first two-thirds, it is successfully sad to watch Dicky’s drug habit drag him and his brother down. That relationship works. The trouble is that that story becomes partially resolved too early and the movie ends more Mighty Ducks than it should. Luckily, there is a nice reminder that Mickey’s life has been so terrible and we’re still rooting for him at the last punch.

Terminator Salvation wants to be a great film, but it has big shoes to fill.  The first two Terminator films were excellent, while the third was mediocre at best. Terminator Salvation aims to right the wrongs of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, bringing the franchise back to the darker more serious tone of the first two. The film has a fairly solid concept: a post-apocalyptic war against robots. The movie even has some great actors who turn out solid performances and the special effects are good. How could you go wrong? Based on my description, you would think this movie has all the makings of a great summer blockbuster: unfortunately this is simply not the case.

Full review after the break; spoilers to follow.

I really wanted to like Terminator Salvation. I consider myself a fan of the Terminator series and I was skeptical about the involvement of McG, who directed the Charlie’s Angels movies which I dislike with a passion.

All my skepticism about McG went out the window when I saw the second theatrical trailer, it completely sold me on Terminator Salvation. The trailer made the movie look amazing, which is the point of a well made trailer—it also made me realize that I’m a sucker for a well placed Nine Inch Nails tunes in movie trailers (cf. 300).

If the trailer were the movie, I would have taken back everything bad I’ve ever said about McG. However, as I’ve learned recently the trailer is not the movie, and as a result I still have plenty of bad things to say about McG.

Joseph McGinty Nichol—I mean McG—is a competent enough director, but this movie needed a good director. There are so many little things wrong with Terminator Salvation, things that a good director would have corrected during the production.

For starters, the script for the film is simply awful. The film features many talented actors, including Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Helena Bonham Carter, and even Michael “God Damn” Ironside, but they are given very little to work with. No matter how talented an actor is they need good material to shine, the screenplay for a film really is half the battle.

The actors try, they really do. Christian Bale is a decent actor, but he’s alternately yelling at anyone and anything in sight or growling Dark Knight-style in every other scene. Anton Yelchin was really good as a young version of Kyle Reese, he makes the role played by Michael Biehn in the original very much his own. Bryce Howard is good in the few scenes she’s in, but has no time to develop her character, she’s a non-presence in the movie. Michael Ironside brings the dour demeanour he’s famous for, but his role as the Resistance leader is shallow and underdeveloped. Helena Bonham Carter is utterly wasted, her character’s entire purpose is to relay exposition to the audience. Common’s laughable delivery of the three lines he has was unfortunate. I think the musician should stick to what he does best.

Often the actors’ experience and competence manages to shine though the terrible script, but this doesn’t happen enough. Speaking of actors and their performances in relation to the script, I must mention Sam Worthington and Moon Bloodgood, who are arguably the main characters of the film.

Sam Worthington is going to be a big star, his performance almost makes Terminator Salvation worth seeing. The fact that he can generate sympathy for his character, that Marcus Wright is a likable character at all is simply amazing. Worthington is good in the film, but he’s given literally some of the worst lines I have ever heard in a major Hollywood picture. Worthington’s character could have been far more nuanced and interesting, but not enough time is spent with him for you to ever really care.

His relationship with Moon Bloodgood’s character is painful to watch.  The dialogue between the two is stifled by one awful line after another. Where Worthington can get away with it, Bloodgood often cannot: she’s simply not as good an actor.

One of the major problems I had with the film is that one of the central plot points of the movie is exposed completely and absolutely by the trailer and all of the associated marketing for the movie. Marcus Wright (Worthington), is a cyborg who doesn’t know he’s a cyborg for most of the movie.

Almost the entire first hour of the movie involves the characters and the audience trying to figure out who Marcus really is and what his motives are. As a result half the movie feels like a waste of time as the story goes through the motions of revealing he’s a cyborg. The big reveal, that holy-shit-he’s-a-robot moment, is utterly ruined for most people because they already knew the guy was a cyborg.

Speaking of cyborgs though, the special effects were great. The movie is dedicated to the memory of the late, great effects genius Stan Winston, and they don’t let him down. There is a nice balance of practical and computer generated effects, and they are blended together very well. The terminators themselves looked amazing and believable, not shiny and fake like some prior iterations. The previous Terminator film relied too heavily on CGI, if there is one good thing I can say about McG, it’s that I’m glad he took the effects back to basics.

The much talked about computer generated cameo by everyone’s favourite Austrian muscle man worked surprisingly well. I’m sure it was a difficult effect to pull off, but using practical and computer effects techniques in conjunction really sold it for me.

Effects-wise I really liked the film, but the action overpowers the movie. Gunfire and explosions drown out the characters and the story. Maybe McG realized that the script was absolute shite, and decided that if he had enough to explosions in the film people wouldn’t notice. Also, it wouldn’t be a McG movie without a character riding a dirt bike and going off a jump at some point… just saying.

Terminator Salvation really is a mess of a movie. Most people are just going to go see for the action and effects, which are in no short supply. If that’s all you want, then I highly recommend the movie.

But there is so much wasted potential, the film just strikes me as one giant lost opportunity. The movie doesn’t have heart, something that made the original Terminator and Terminator 2 so great. Salvation is a pale imitation, when it could have been so much more.

Maybe it will be more, maybe there is a good movie to be salvaged from Terminator Salvation. McG claims to have cut out over 40 minutes of footage. I’m sure those scenes he cut were solely devoted to character development, since this version of Terminator Salvation misses them. With the cut footage in mind I might give Terminator Salvation another chance, I’ll wait for a Director’s Cut on Blu-Ray. For now I’ll just call the movie Terminator Salvagable, in hopes that the film can indeed be salvaged.

The first trailer for Michael Mann‘s 1930′s gangster flick Public Enemies has hit the web.  The film stars Johnny Depp as depression-era outlaw John Dillinger and Christian Bale as Agent Melvin Purvis, the FBI agent tasked to track and capture him.

The caliber of those involved with this film make it one of this years most anticipated releases.  Should be interesting to see what Mann does with a period piece instead of his usual contemporary crime thriller.  All you need to do is give Mann big guns, fast cars and the night sky and you know he’ll make a solid flick—talented actors don’t hurt either.  Now if I can just get the taste of Miami Vice(the movie not the show) out of my mouth I can get on with my life and enjoy this.

Public Enemies Trailer @ Apple.com

The full theatrical trailer for Terminator Salvation has hit the web in full HD glory.  There was a point when I thought McG and I were done professionally, but this trailer almost makes me forget that he directed the abominations that were the Charlie’s Angels movies.  Almost.

Christian Bale looks to be playing John Connor in top form; screaming at people and muttering under his breath.  We also learn more about the mysterious Sam Worthington character of Marcus Wright… slightly spoilerific… so be warned before watching the trailer.

The movie may end up sucking, but this trailer is nearly flawless.  Great set pieces, good exposition and quality Nine Inch Nails music from before Trent Reznor‘s creative peak.  Zing! If this movie is anywhere near as good as its trailer, then we’re in for a treat—How many times have you said that to yourself, only to be disappointed?  Only time will tell, but Terminator Salvation is starting to look promising.  Goooood for you McG!

Terminator Salvation Trailer @ Yahoo Movies

You can see the trailer in theatres Friday attached to Watchmen, as well as the new Star Trek trailer.