StephenSommers Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Review: G.I. Joe -- The Rise of Cobra
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Paramount », Theatrical Reviews », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
I feel no particular affection or nostalgia for the "G.I. Joe" brand-name. Yes, I'm well-aware that the toy hero has been around since well before my birth, that he's had several resurgences over the years, and that he and his massive team of friends and foes were huge cartoon stars when I was growing up in the 1980s. Yet I'm neither a fan nor a hater of the property, and so I approached his latest incarnation, the big-budget live action* film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra with no baggage whatsoever, aside from that "feelm critic" valise that is a permanent fixture inside my brain. My early verdict is this: Find the asterisked word in this paragraph, and that's all you need to know.
What many would call a "guilty pleasure" I'll simply address as a question of "intent vs. result." (Mainly because I refuse to feel guilty for enjoying a film, especially when I can back up my opinions with genius insights like this...) The intent of the mega-pricey, ultra-flashy and non-brain-taxing Rise of Cobra is this: To deliver two hours of colorfully kinetic lunacy, to be a live-action cartoon that pleases old-school fans and basic action junkies in equal measure, to present long sequences of amusing ass-kickery that are only briefly interrupted by several "exposition dumps" and a few (too many) character-building flashbacks. All coated with non-stop CGI spectacle, pulse-pumping noises, and a bunch of broadly likeable caricatures.
Interview: 'G.I. Joe' Director Stephen Sommers
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy », Interviews »
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For a guy who allegedly got fired from his latest film, Stephen Sommers shows few signs that he's letting the rumor mill wear him down. "The guys who have been hammering me for the last year have really turned around in the last couple of weeks when they started seeing the movie," Sommers beamed during an interview about G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. "I'm pretty happy."
Admittedly, Sommers' commercial track record is almost inversely proportionate to his critical one, raking in hundreds of millions of dollars with the Mummy movies and Van Helsing despite reviews that were, to say the least, often unkind. But speaking to the director via telephone about G.I. Joe, Sommers indicated that he has accepted – if not championed – his spot among Hollywood's purveyors of pure spectacle. "They love to hate the guys who make the movies that they love," he said of the "internet movie haters" calling for his head.
Cinematical spoke to Sommers about his participation in G.I. Joe, which followers of the film know has been highly-contested in press reports as the film moved towards its opening day, August 7. In addition to clarifying his employment status at the helm of the film, he discussed the development of the film's iconic conflict between G.I. Joe and Cobra, reflected on what interests him as a director and storyteller, and perhaps most importantly, explained why some of the costumes were changed en route to the silver screen.
Cinematical: When you started working on G.I. Joe, what did you feel like was essential to preserve about the source material, and what did you know that by necessity would have to change when you adapted and updated it for live-action?
Review: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Filed under: Action », New Releases », Theatrical Reviews », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
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It's entirely possible that if I were nine or ten, the age that I first discovered the animated series, then G.I. Joe would be my favorite movie of all time. It features colorful, iconic characters, huge action scenes, and a plot that I'd feel smart for having figured out. As an adult, however, its shortcomings are obvious: thin, one-dimensional characters, death and destruction on an irresponsibly epic scale, and a nonsensical plot that I'd be depressed to have to try and "figure out." But G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was made for my nine-year-old self, and the nine-year-old in all of our selves; and while it certainly doesn't hold up to the scrutiny of a more mature or sophisticated perspective, it's a surprisingly fun time at the movies that reminds us we needn't be children in order to enjoy something the same way as when we were.
Sommers Feels Good About 'G.I. Joe' Sequel
Filed under: Action », Fandom », Newsstand », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
It's not hard to argue the fact that Paramount's big-budgeted G.I. Joe adaptation has had more than a few strange adventures while on its way to the big screen. First people cheered for it, then they trashed the thing mercilessly following the release of the first few trailers, and then it was rumored that director Stephen Sommers was fired from the film. But just when all hope seemed lost, buzz began to turn around as some members of the online press screened the film prior to its August 7 release. To say that G.I. Joe has now done a complete 180 in terms of advanced buzz is an understatement -- you're now looking at a film that could go down as one of (if not) the best action blockbuster of the summer.
Of course, with the good buzz comes sequel talk -- and in an interview with Stephen Sommers set to go live later this week on Cinematical, the Joe director says he'd definitely be down for another go-round. On the potential G.I. Joe sequel, he says, "Because the mythology is all there, there's a lot of interesting stuff. Like, something you don't know yet is who killed Hard Master. I mean, the hardcore G.I. Joe fans know that it wasn't Storm Shadow. But I hope I get to do a sequel, first of all because I had so much fun with these actors. When you watch the movie or come [to the junket], all of the press can see how much fun we had making the movie. I go into these movies knowing it's a marathon, not a sprint, and I won't work with *ssholes. We had a blast – it was really hard, but we had a lot of fun on the set, so to get to hang out with these people again would be just heaven."
Guess we'll see if the public agrees when the film opens everywhere on Friday. And stay tuned for our full interview later this week.
Fan Rant: Where Did the Bad Buzz on 'G.I. Joe' Actually Come From?
Filed under: New Releases », RumorMonger », Newsstand », Movie Marketing »
One of the most mystifying things about the summer of 2009 has been how, months ago and without any actual information to go on, it became gospel that G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was going to be a ridiculous train wreck. This is especially bewildering in light of the moderate-to-positive buzz that preceded the release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, also for no apparent reason. Who decided that G.I. Joe would be terrible? When? Why?
I have, as they say, no robotically enhanced dog in this hunt. I certainly do not expect G.I. Joe to be any sort of season's highlight. I don't have any specific expectations for it, to be honest. But here's the information I have: this is a summer action movie directed by Stephen Sommers, whose last three blockbusters have ranged from tolerable mediocrity to delirious fun. Its cast includes character actors like Christopher Eccleston and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (as the arch-villain, no less). Its trailer is no more or less ridiculous than you would expect from a movie based on action figures, and actually struck me as lighter on its feet than other recent tentpoles. Why it's fated to be the summer's biggest disaster escapes me entirely.
I mean, look at this USA Today piece about the film's "bad buzz". What facts does it actually contain? Anonymous, generalized "complaints" about elements of the trailer. (Was it really that bad? I just don't see it.) The notion that "the script was hurried into production" to beat the writer's strike -- legitimate, but shamefully vague. And a positive review from Harry Knowles, which I guess some people would consider a bad sign, but I'm not sure that's the point the article was making. The piece doesn't even mention the absurd rumors -- not helpful, though proven false -- that Stephen Sommers was kicked off the project in post-production.
'G.I. Joe' Director Fired? Biggest Stinker of 2009? Do Tell!
Filed under: Action », RumorMonger », Celebrities and Controversy », Fandom », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
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It's no secret around these parts that G.I. Joe is -- how shall we say ... the one-legged monkey of this summer's crop of movies. Already the butt of lots of jokes online and off, G.I. Joe and its small amount of marketing materials (including a trailer or two and 578 character posters) haven't exactly impressed more than four people (and some suggest those four people don't even really exist). Now I really hate to crap on a film before it hits theaters because a lot of people worked hard to make the thing and a whole ton of money was spent in the process, but the news just doesn't seem to get better when it comes to the live-action G.I. Joe adaptation no one really asked for.
The latest comes from a message board poster over at producer (and Cinematical's number one fan) Don Murphy's site. Latino Review found the post, which goes into lots of detail regarding G.I. Joe director Stephen Sommers and how he was canned and replaced with a "fixer" director after the film tested poorly. Normally a message board poster wouldn't be the greatest source for a story like this, but LR did some checking with people and say it's the truth. Of course Paramount will try to deny there's anything going on here (which kinda reminds me of all the hoopla surrounding Lexi Alexander on Punisher: War Zone), but if it is indeed true, then it kinda looks like Cobra is going to fall before they get to rise.
But give it two years for the bad taste to go away, and I'm sure someone will try to reboot the franchise. Read the detailed message board post after the jump. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra hits theaters on August 7.
UPDATE: Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura spoke to Latino Review and claims there's no truth whatsoever to this story. Read his response over here.
Discuss: Is There Room for Michael Bay in the Age of Chris Nolan?
Filed under: Action », Celebrities and Controversy », Fandom », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Trailers and Clips »
The cacophonous Super Bowl spot for Transformers 2 made me think -- not for the first time -- that Michael Bay is full of crap. There are plenty of directors who make stupid and expensive action blockbusters, but few who are so damned self-righteous about it. It seems that every interview with the man contains a response to his naysayers to the tune of: "I don't see anything wrong with spending a lot of money to make big action movies to entertain people. Yet somehow, I come under special scrutiny. I mean, why don't people get upset if Dow spends $300 million to invent some new chemical? Audiences like popcorn movies. What's wrong with that?" and "What we do is not brain surgery. We are entertainers, plain and simple, and we're responsible to bring that money back, to make a profit."
As a response to the criticism that his movies aren't very good, this is, of course, complete nonsense. There are people who make very commercial, very popular Hollywood films who don't have to resort to the "I'm just making popcorn movies" defense -- which, as Eric D. Snider pointed out to me, is another way of saying "I'm not making very good movies." Google Sam Raimi, and you'll get quotes about the power of great stories, and his love for his source material. Even Stephen Sommers, who has certainly made some reviled films, talks about his enthusiasm and inspiration; you can sense he's trying. From Bay, you get: "I'm an entertainer -- don't hold me to any standard."
New 'G.I. Joe' Character Posters
Filed under: Action », Paramount », Newsstand », Movie Marketing », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Images », War », Posters »
It's only the middle of December, and already I feel like Summer 2009 is just around the corner. It feels like I was bombarded with Terminator: Salvation and X-Men Origin: Wolverine all weekend, and now G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra is coming back into the mix of things with a few new character posters. They're not entirely new, as they first appeared over the summer at a licensing fair, but have been scanned online for the first time thanks to Film.ru. There's four in all -- Duke, Snake Eyes, Baroness, and Ripcord, and all four have been added to the GI Joe gallery below. Unfortunately, they haven't appeared in a big, hi-res version yet.
Paramount might want to reconsider the design since they look just like the Star Trek character posters. You can't have people wandering into Trek, and wondering where the heck Snake Eyes is. G.I. Joe is the All American Hero! Make these screamingly obvious -- red, white, and blue all the way! At least throw in the camoflauge I remember (and probably wrongly) from the packaging. None of this classiness and silver font -- that has to be left for Mission: Impossible installments.
Paramount might want to reconsider the design since they look just like the Star Trek character posters. You can't have people wandering into Trek, and wondering where the heck Snake Eyes is. G.I. Joe is the All American Hero! Make these screamingly obvious -- red, white, and blue all the way! At least throw in the camoflauge I remember (and probably wrongly) from the packaging. None of this classiness and silver font -- that has to be left for Mission: Impossible installments.
Stephen Sommers Directing 'Tarzan'
Filed under: Action », Classics », Deals », Warner Brothers », Scripts », Newsstand », Remakes and Sequels »
There's an interesting trend going on in film right now -- everyone is grabbing up classic characters of pulp and adventure literature right and left. We've got Conan, Sherlock Holmes, John Carter, and now Tarzan. There's a sociological study in here for an aspiring student.Tarzan has seen many a reboot, and there's always whispers of someone wanting to make a new version. This current project has been floating around since 2003 (the same year Warner Bros tried to bring Tarzan to television and the modern city), and once boasted Guillermo del Toro's name. Now, according to Variety, it has landed in the hands of Stephen Sommers, who is cowriting a script with Stuart Beattie. Beattie boasts some impressive credits, like Pirates of the Caribbean and Collateral, so the Lord of the Apes might be in quite capable hands.
But Sommers' movies tend to fall a bit short of expectation, to put it kindly. And I mean it kindly, from someone who does actually own Van Helsing -- I could write a long defense as to why, but it really just comes down to liking Hugh Jackman and David Wenham a lot. But, in my defense, I reportedly audibly booed the ending when I saw it at the theater, though I can't remember if it was because they so visibly CGI'd pants on a naked post-werewolf Jackman, or the floating head of Kate Beckinsale. I think it was the floating head, but knowing me, it may have been the pants.
So, while I want to think about how cool a new Tarzan movie could be, what hot dude they'll put in a loincloth, how feisty Jane will be, I can't. Because I'm picturing the whole thing saddled with the same CGI Sommers has used since The Mummy, a jungle peppered with apes that can stretch their jaws for miles. Am I wrong, readers?
Sienna Miller's New Cleavage: G.I. Whoa!
Filed under: Action », Paramount », Celebrities and Controversy », Comic/Superhero/Geek », War »
Fair warning: This is a slight, trivial, and practically meaningless piece of upcoming movie news -- but it touches on three things we love here at Cinematical: Action movies based on cartoons based on ancient marketing campaigns, horny directors, and fake breasts. Here we go:
According to SFGate's Hot Dish blog, sexy actress Sienna Miller was forced to wear fake hooters so as to accentuate her cleavage in the upcoming G.I. Joe movie. Ms. Miller will be playing The Baroness, and apparently her god-given boobies were not adequate in the eyes of director Stephen Sommers. ("'I'm gonna be honest, I like girls with big boobs," is what the director told her. Strange comment from a guy whose leading ladies have been Famke Janssen, Rachel Weisz, and Kate Beckinsale, three gorgeous women who aren't exactly D-cups.)
Ms. Miller notes that she was "mildly offended" by the breast issue, and I'm kind of surprised that the topic didn't come up before her first costume fitting, but hey ... The Baroness is pretty stacked. Perhaps Mr. Sommers is just trying to remain faithful to the source material -- or yeah, maybe he just likes big boobs. Lord knows the target demographic for G.I. Joe loves boobs. Check out images of Sienna as The Baroness in the gallery below.
...after the jump: more pics!
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