Please note: This has been confirmed as fan art and was not made by Marvel.

Coming at you like a geeky avalanche The Avengers looks set to be the first big winner in the movie season I’m going to call Superhero Summer (for this post at least).

If you were one of the four people who didn’t welcome the Super Bowl spot for Marvel’s film like the second coming then do click here to catch up.

Hyperbole aside it is looking pretty great, certainly Joss Whedon is the man to bring together the disparate heroic elements and here’s a new look at our new friends looking very determined.

Look below with your eyes and click below with your fingertips if you seek a bigger version,

Thank you Comic Book Movie.

If you’re a Marvel fan then you’ll have seen the teaser for this teaser already with some new footage of our heroes fighting intergalatic nasties and now here’s the whole thing.

The whole gang is here with Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, of whom we get a better look here), Hawkeye (new Bourne man Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson), the eyepatched Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Coulson (Clark Cregg), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

Whichever way you look at it there’s a pretty fine cast there and it’ll take a director with an eye for the ensemble to tame it. Step forward Joss Whedon.

Here’s the spot and here’s the rest of our Super Bowl coverage.

More promotional artwork has been released for Marvel’s The Avengers this week, which includes a brilliant 3D poster.

The Avengers, which is set to be released on 27th April, begins when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as SHIELD, finds himself in need of a team after an unexpected enemy threatens global safety. Following on from Marvel’s big-screen adventures that began with Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers unites the superhero team starring Chris Evans as Captain America, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Mark Ruffalo as The Incredible Hulk, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye.

Here are the wall displays thanks to Comic Book Movie, which are available to buy on Trends International:

Last week, we heard that Joss Whedon, Tom Hiddleston, and Clark Gregg would be hosting a Global Twitter Chat for Marvel’s upcoming The Avengers tonight. We also heard that with the chat, we’d be getting a teaser for the film’s upcoming TV spot at this weekend’s Superbowl, and we now have that awesome video to share with you!

The TV spot itself is set to be a thirty-second video, and this ten-second tease (seventeen seconds all in, technically) is just so damn good, with some brilliant new footage that we didn’t get in the ridiculously awesome first trailer at the end of last year.

You can catch up on all the questions and answers from the chat, which Samuel L. Jackson also took part in, over at The Avengers’ Twitter, with writer-director Joss Whedon answering questions there, and Clark Gregg, Tom Hiddleston, and Samuel L. Jackson answering their questions on their own respective Twitters.

Whedon is directing from a script he’s co-written with Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk), and all of our favourite superhero cast from the Marvel Universe will be reprising their roles from recent years, including Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr., with Paul Bettany returning as JARVIS), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, taking over from Edward Norton), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Coulson (Clark Cregg), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

The Avengers will be with us in 3D on 27th April, a date which should be imprinted in your mental calendar – if it’s not, get out your diary and set it down now, because it’s a date you’re going to want to remember. For now, here’s your ten-second tease. Be sure to check back at the weekend to see the full thirty-second spot. It looks set to be immense.

The marketing campaign is well and truly underway for Joss Whedon’s upcoming The Avengers, which brings together all of the awesome characters we’ve loved watching over the past few years in their separate movies for one epic superhero blockbuster.

Just last night, we put up some great images and specs of Tony Stark’s $9m. car that’s on display at Sundance to promote the film, and today we’ve got more brilliant stills to share with you. Marvel have released five hi-res stills, with thanks to ComicBookMovie.com for the tip-off, three of which we’ve seen before just a few days ago, but only as scans from Empire Magazine.

We also heard talk yesterday about the possibility of Captain America 2 going into production this year following Iron Man 3 and Thor 2, as well as the S.H.I.E.L.D. movie potentially following those three. Marvel are certainly firing on all cylinders, and doing one hell of a job at it too.

Whedon is directing The Avengers from a script he’s co-written with Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk), and all of our favourite superhero cast from the Marvel Universe will of course be reprising their roles from recent years, including Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr., with Paul Bettany returning as JARVIS), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, taking over from Edward Norton), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlet Johannson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Coulson (Clark Cregg), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

The Avengers will be released here in the UK in 3D on 27th April, precisely three months from today. Anybody else excited? (As if I even need to ask.) You can catch up on all things The Avengers-related right here, and if you’ve not yet seen it but would like to, I’ll particularly point your attention towards the rather impressive (read: utterly incredible) first trailer that surfaced late last year. And as usual with these new images, you can click to enlarge. I especially love the second one of Samuel L. Jackson/Nick Fury at the head of the table, staring down the camera. And Jeremy Renner’s veins look a little bit like they’re about to explode in the fourth shot. Awesome stuff.

It was only a few days ago that we got to see some brilliant new promo images for The Avengers released in celebration of the Chinese New Year. We’ve now got some more excellent images of the Marvel superheroes as four of them grace the cover of Empire, in a four-cover issue, giving you a choice of Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, and Captain America to add to your collection.

Not only that, but there are some great scans from inside the issue, which is released this Thursday, coming via ComingSoon.net and Collider, as well as snippets from their interview with Kevin Feige, Marvel’s President of Production, and Tom Hiddleston, who will play Loki, on some of the things we can and can’t expect from writer-director Joss Whedon’s upcoming superhero blockbuster.

Hiddleston said of his impending villainous role,

“He knows who he is now, and what his powers are. In order for The Avengers to come together, Loki has to be more menacing, and all of his malevolence is founded in a completely delusional dream.”

And when Feige was asked about Loki’s army,

“Who said they were aliens?… It’s not Skrulls, I’ve been clear about that. Beyond that, we want to hide it. The identity of the alien race is not impactful. It exists in the comic books, but we’re not setting up the Kree-Skrull war or anything like that.”

And for some time now, rumours have been circling that Red Skull, played by Hugo Weaving in Captain America: The First Avenger, would be returning in Whedon’s film, but Feige seems to clearly put that rumour to bed:

“Was [Red] Skull vaporised at the end of [Captain America: The First Avengers], or thrust into another realm? That remains to be seen. It would be fun to see Skull in future, but he’s not in this one.”

Marvel have shown that they’re clearly invested in continuing this recent slate of superhero films, with Iron Man 3, Thor 2, and hopefully The Avengers 2, all currently on the line-up, so there’ll be plenty of room for Weaving to reprise his role in the near future.

Whedon is directing from a script he’s co-written with Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk), and all of our favourite superhero cast from the Marvel Universe will be reprising their roles from recent years, including Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr., with Paul Bettany returning as JARVIS), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, taking over from Edward Norton), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlet Johannson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Coulson (Clark Cregg), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

The Avengers will be with us in 3D on 27th April here in the UK, which means we’ve only got three months left before we can see them assemble. Here’s to hoping the time flies by. For now, here are the brilliant new cover images and page scans to enjoy. As usual, click to enlarge. And in case you missed it, you can catch up on the immense first trailer that hit towards the end of last year, and all the rest of our coverage of the film right here.

Joss Whedon’s upcoming The Avengers is by far one of the most highly anticipated films of 2012. We’ve been seeing plenty of great things from the project in recent months, with the mind-blowing first trailer arriving back in October last year. If you’ve missed that and all our coverage for the film, you can catch up on it here.

Some brilliant new promo images have now been released for the film, courtesy of The Borneo Post via ComingSoon.net. For six days starting tomorrow, these red envelopes (which Wikipedia tells me are also known as hóngbāo, Ang Pao, Lai See, Sae Bae Don, and Lì Xì in a variety of Asian languages) will be given out to cinemagoers in a handful of Asian theatres, in celebration of the Chinese New Year.

Whedon is directing from a script he’s co-written with Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk), and all of our favourite superhero cast from the Marvel Universe will be reprising their roles from recent years, including Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr., with Paul Bettany returning as JARVIS), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, taking over from Edward Norton), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlet Johannson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Coulson (Clark Cregg), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

The plot is being kept fairly under wraps, as is to be expected, but it’s a safe bet that it’s going to be nothing short of immense. Whedon can do no wrong in my eyes, and I can’t wait to see his take on bringing together all the Marvel characters from their recent slate of superhero films.

You can no doubt easily understand why it featured in so many of our Most Anticipated Films of 2012 here at HeyUGuys. The Avengers will be with us in 3D on 27^th April here in the UK, which is a date that can’t come fast enough. Only three more months to go. Until then, here are the great new promo images of the red envelopes. As usual, you can click to enlarge.

Unlike Charles Ferguson’s Oscar-winning documentary Inside Job that made your blood boil at the sheer gall of the games played financial institutions and leading persons involved, ex-Merrill Lynch employee and writer-director J.C. Chandor’s new thriller serves a token of sweet torment on the money-grabbing scoundrels that kicked off the financial crisis.

It’s 2008, and after sweeping redundancies are announced at an investment bank on Wall Street, outgoing risk management boss Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci) hands a USB drive with an unfinished project on it to junior risk analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto), saying “be careful”. After finishing the project that same night, Sullivan horrifyingly discovers that trading will soon exceed the historical volatility levels used by the firm to calculate risk, and if mortgage-backed securities decrease by 25 per cent, the firm will suffer a loss greater than its market capitalisation. The plan of action that brings in senior management in the early hours (played by Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons and Simon Baker) and puts heads on the line is an ugly one that will destroy the firm’s relationships with its clients and counterparties, who will never trust them again.

You don’t have to talk financial speak to understand the environment you are entering into, but it can only help. That said Margin Call is still a gripping, sophisticated, adrenaline-fuelled attempt at humanising today’s folk devil, the banker, the world of which Chandor simplifies to expose the motivation, greed and gambling to the fore. It’s a quick-talking, snappy-decision-making drama, without any special thrills, the majority of which is shot in a cool and clinical corporate environment that still has a dangerous allure.

The film’s primary strength, apart from being well written, is all down to the honed performances enacting the risky, sleazy game playing that both riles and fascinates. Spacey and Bettany dominant centre stage in most of their scenes, and are simply at their glorious best. Spacey who plays Sam Rogers, Head of Sales, is the closest this drama gets to a character with a warm pulse, as we get snippets of empathy, bordering on wavering remorse. Bettany seems to dip into the psychopathic mindset of his former baddie characters, like The Da Vinci Code’s Silas, only cloaked in an approachable, carefree but money-centric, devilish rogue disguise as senior fixed income salesman Will Emerson. As their sales roles suggest, it’s their performances that ultimately sell the film, and help expose the toxicity of its senior players, like CEO John Tuld, played brilliantly and callously by Jeremy Irons, as he buries the littler man while casually eating breakfast in his glass high tower.

The beauty of Chandor’s stylish film is it makes no excuses for the damage caused, and offers no answers; it merely dangles its players on hooks and allows us to watch them squirm and (some) wriggle free. In turn, this heightens our reproach for them but also holds them in ‘another worldly’ awe at their precarious choice of money-orientated lifestyle. It’s a curious watch because it’s aloof and standoff-ish nature, though simultaneously provides a few ironic scoffs and intimate reveals when the barriers begin to crumble.

Ultimately, nobody is a winner and all are tainted by association: In this sense, it’s an acutely satisfying watch for the rest of us, expertly crafted by a debut feature film writer-director demonstrating and using a sound knowledge of 30 years of banking experience.

****~ (4/5)

Earlier in the week, the stars of new movie, Margin Call were in London for the UK Premiere. The film stars Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore and Stanley Tucci. Bettany and Irons were both present for the premiere and interviews with them are below.

Our friends from Upbeat were there to interview the stars and filmmakers as they walked the res carpet in a rather low-key affair.

When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster.

Margin Call is released this Friday January 13, 2012.

Joss Whedon’s upcoming The Avengers is without a doubt one of the most highly anticipated films of the year, and in the past few months, we’ve been treated to plenty of brilliant images, posters, and that all-important first trailer that took the Internet by storm back in October. Truly, it made the film look even more incredible than we all knew it would be.

Earlier this month, we saw some new footage from the film when the German trailer came online, and we’ve now got a bit more to see with the Russian trailer that MSN Russia have put up, via ComingSoon.net. Like the German trailer, it’s very similar to the English language one, but with a few added moments of awesomeness to soak up ahead of its release next spring.

Whedon is directing from a script he’s co-written with Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk), and all of our favourite superhero cast from the Marvel Universe will be reprising their roles from recent years, including Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr., with Paul Bettany returning as JARVIS), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, taking over from Edward Norton), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlet Johannson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Coulson (Clark Cregg), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

No matter how many times I see Downey, Jr. cut away in mid-air with an instant change of direction in the Iron Man suit, I still love it, and can’t wait to see it once more on the big screen. The Avengers will be with us in 3D on 27^th April next year, which means we’ve got less than four months to prepare ourselves for its awesomeness. Here’s the new trailer to tie you down until then. And if that’s not enough, you can catch up on everything else we’ve seen for the film right here.

Stealth Media have released the official U.K. poster for Margin Call.

Written and directed by J.C. Chandor, Margin Call stars Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany, Demi Moore, Jeremy Irons, Penn Badgley, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell and Aasif Mandvi.

When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster.

Margin Call, which scored positive reviews following screenings at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and the 61st Berlin International Film Festival, will be released in the U.K. on January 13, 2012.

Check out the U.K. poster embedded below:

Source: Facebook

Here’s some lovely lovely new banners from The Avengers courtesy of those lovely (did I mention lovely) people from Marvel.

The Avengers is directed by Joss Whedon​ and after you see this trailer, you’re going to be very keen to see the completed movie when it’s released 27th April 2012.

The Avengers will see many of you favourite Marvel characters all come together to create a rather epic movie. The cast of the new movie includes Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth​, Scarlett Johansson​, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner​, Mark Ruffalo​, Tom Hiddleston​, Jenny Agutter​, Gwyneth Paltrow​, Paul Bettany​ and Robert Downey Jr.​ with all of them getting a brand new poster for their trouble.

Man I love these! Click to enlarge!

Source: Yahoo! Movies , Moviefone

The Avengers is the next Marvel movie that we’re all very much looking forward to after Captain America: The First Avenger. The Avengers is directed by Joss Whedon and after you see this trailer, you’re going to be very keen to see the completed movie when it’s released 27th April 2012.

The Avengers will see many of you favourite Marvel characters all come together to create a rather epic movie. The cast of the new movie includes Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Jenny Agutter, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany and Robert Downey Jr.

If you’ve missed all our coverage from The Avengers, you can keep track of it all here.

Earlier today, we had a trailer for the trailer but now, the full version is here in all it’s glory! Without further ado, he’s the trailer for the movie for your viewing pleasure!

We got an absolutely fantastic first trailer for the upcoming financial crisis thriller, Margin Call, back in the summer, and it gave us a terrific first look at the film, which really raised expectations for it.

This was then followed up last month with what has to be one of my favourite posters of the year. It beautifully divides up the film’s major players into their moral right and wrong stances, taking a clear cut against Jeremy Irons’ corporate cut-throat strategies to stay alive in times of crisis.

A great new clip from the film has now emerged over at Yahoo Movies, showing us an extended look at part of the first trailer, in which Kevin Spacey stands off against Jeremy Irons. Spacey tries to make Irons see that what he’s doing is wrong, only to find himself facing the survival-of-the-fittest dogma propounded by Irons character.

Along with Spacey and Irons, Margin Call features a terrific cast that includes Paul Bettany, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Demi Moore, Mary McDonnell, and Stanley Tucci. J.C. Chandor is making his writing and directorial feature debut with this – and what a cast for his debut! – and judging from what we’ve seen so far, it should be an immensely fine debut at that.

The US will be getting this on 21st October, and Stealth Media Group will be releasing the movie here in the UK January 2012.

Without further ado, here’s the great new clip, entitled This Is It. Enjoy.

We got an outstanding first trailer for the upcoming Wall Street-set thriller, Margin Call, back at the end of July, and it gave us a fantastic taste for the brilliance we should be able to expect from it.

We’ve now got a terrific new poster for the film, courtesy of IMP Awards, which really cleverly divides the cast up according to which side of the morality line they stand upon within the film, with Jeremy Irons fully on the left, his face half cast in shadow, and Kevin Spacey uncertainly hovering in the middle. And in contrast, Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany, Demi Moore, and Zachary Quinto are all stood firmly on the right (figuratively and literally), their faces all beautifully lit up.

This is the kind of poster I love. It’s really cleverly thought out, ensuring it’s far more subtle about its message than the vast majority of posters. It’s far and away one of my favourite posters of the year so far; simple, yet very effective. The film marks the feature debut of its writer-director, J.C. Chandor, and it’s set to be an awesome debut at that, with an absolutely stellar cast in all the major roles.

Margin Call, which also stars Simon Baker, Penn Badgley, and Mary McDonnell, is a thriller set over a 24-hour period at the very first stages of the recent financial crisis, looking at the top people in a Wall Street investment bank and how they react to it.

With the US set to see its release on 21st October this year the film does have a UK distributor who have confirmed to us that the film will receive a theatrical release over here but there’s no current release date, it truly looks like it will be well worth the wait. Without further ado, here’s the great new poster, followed by the trailer embedded beneath in case you missed it in the summer. As usual with the poster, click to enlarge.

Until recently, writer-director Nick Murphy’s credits mostly included a few episodes of the odd TV series or documentary. He’s now starting to make a big name for himself with his first feature film, The Awakening, starring Rebecca Hall and Dominic West, due out in November.

Murphy is now set to go behind the camera again for another feature, Blood, which is to be an adaptation of the Bill Gallagher’s TV series, Conviction, which Gallagher will himself adapt, ScreenDaily report.

The project is already taking shape nicely, with three fantastic lead actors attached in the form of Paul Bettany (Priest), Brian Cox (X-Men 2), and Stephen Graham (Snatch), the last of which Murphy has already worked with on the 2009 TV series, Occupation.

Neal Street Productions, whose credits include Jarhead, Starter For 10, The Kite Runner, and Revolutionary Road, has already secured funding from BBC Films and the BFI, which is terrific news, and production is scheduled to begin in January next year.

Blood will be,

“about two policemen who kill a murder suspect and are then plunged into chaos when they are forced to investigate their own crime.”

Those two roles of the policeman, who are brothers, will presumably be filled by the awesome Bettany and Graham, both absolutely fantastic actors, and Cox will likely be playing their father, who, according to Wikipedia, in the original series is fighting a losing battle with Alzheimer’s.

I missed the original TV series when it was shown back in 2004, but I’m definitely tempted to hunt it down and watch it soon, because it sounds pretty awesome. As much as I tend to watch American television and films more than I do British, I must admit that the BBC often gets it so right when it comes to making good television.

Just from that basic premise, I can already see Bettany, who is by far one of my favourite British actors working at the moment, being beyond amazing in this role, and it really can’t come to the big screen fast enough for me. Hopefully with production already scheduled for the start of next year, I won’t have to wait too long to see the final product. This is going to be something to look forward to for sure.

I confess that Margin Call isn’t a film I’d heard of before today, but Yahoo Movies have released the first trailer for it and it looks excellent, instantly becoming one of my most anticipated movies for the end of this year.

The film is a thriller set over a 24-hour period at the very first stages of the recent financial crisis, looking at the top people in a Wall Street investment bank and how they react to it.

That premise in itself sounds pretty interesting, and the trailer is full of promise. Margin Call is writer and director J.C. Chandor’s feature debut, one with a stellar cast.

Margin Call stars Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci, with Quinto also producing the film. And with it being set in an investment bank, the entire cast is looking pretty smart in the trailer, suited and booted, which is always a good look.

Irons and Baker look set to play the top executives, keeping the company’s best interests at heart, with Spacey, Quinto, and likely Bettany, trying to be the voices of conscience. In the run-up to this generation’s biggest global financial crisis, Margin Call really does look like it has an intriguing story to tell.

The film is set to be released in the States on 21st October, and whilst there’s no release date scheduled over here, I really hope that we’ll get to see it in theatres by the end of the year too. This trailer has made an instant convert out of me, and Margin Call could well rank high up on my list of favourite directorial debuts if it lives up to this brilliant first trailer. Without further ado, here it is.

If there was ever a film which could serve as the perfect example of a Frankenstein-like stitching together of every past popular fantasy genre film from the last thirty years or so, the unholy genre mash-up that is Priest would fit the bill.

Beginning with a stylised animated sequence (the material itself is based on a series of Japanese graphic novels) which reconfigures earth’s history and presents a place where vampires and humans have supposedly waged war against each other for centuries, we’re then introduced to a post-apocalyptic world and a rigid, theocratic state governed by men of the cloth and preceded over by Monsignor Orelas (Christopher Plummer, adding his usual gravitas to proceedings). The surviving humans here are housed in a huge walled city, where the inhabitants line up for a daily routine, ready to divulge their sins in huge metallic, industrial-looking confession booths. Priest (Paul Bettany), a former warrior in those battles with the undead, is forced out of retirement (much to the disapproval of his superiors who believe that such an act suggests treason towards the church) to save his 18 year-old niece who has been kidnapped by a pack of remaining vampires in the outside desert world.

Priest then hooks up with her boyfriend and local sheriff (Cam Gigandet) and a former member of his team who has been charged with tracking him down (Maggie Q). Together they embark on a rescue mission and quest to take down the mutated vampiric horde, who are led by a former padre and member of Bettany’s crew who has now pledged his allegiance to the dark side (Karl Urban).

Although it’s chock-full with moments of pseudo-religious nonsense and is also highly derivative, against all odds, Priest never fails to entertain. It hits all those familiar action beats you’re seen numerous times before (all slow-mo attack lunges and head-to-head video game-inspired clashes) yet somehow it manages to succeed despite an overriding sense of déjà vu almost everywhere. Some of this must be attributed to Bettany, who cuts a surprisingly lean and badass figure as Priest, complete with a laconic, Eastwood-esque drawl and fighting skills which are part kung fu (and in a seemingly arbitrary development later on) part gravity-defying superhero. He plays it thoroughly straight throughout, as does everyone else, adding to the ridiculous and fun atmosphere. Jim from Neighbours and now fully-fledged denizen of US TV land, Alan Dale, crops up briefly as one of Plummer’s cronies, momentarily taking you out of the picture, but again, his po-faced delivery is a welcomed presence.

We’re also presented with a fantastic-looking fantasy world, which is an intriguing mix of western iconography and archetypes (there’s even a travelling medicine man, played by genre fave Brad Dourif), alongside a more recognisable dystopian futuristic landscape. A powerful and sweeping score by Christopher Young really helps to build an epic sense throughout too, and the sight of Priest and his companions roaring through a vast and desolate desert on huge enhanced motorcycles, which look like they’ve been drafted in from Mega City One (the film shamelessly steals from everything and anywhere it can) is one of the many thrilling sights on offer.

Another surprisingly successful addition here is the 3D work – achieved via the post-conversion process. Where a film like Thor benefits little from the enhancement (once again making you question the studio’s unethical and exploitative handling of the medium), the quality on display here is much superior, and many should be fooled into thinking that the film was shot using that format.

Priest will never sit amongst its cribbed-from predecessors and achieve the longevity enjoyed by many of those (mainly) superior features, but it’s a fun and undemanding yarn, and will provide its intended audience with an adequate fix before what looks like an oversaturation of similar material during the summer blockbuster season.

Whatever the box office outcome, the makers appear to be wholly confident they have a hit on their hands. The film sets up the intended further escapades of Bettany & Co in such a self-assured way, you half expect to be greeted with a title card at the end which reads ‘short intermission’ before being thrust back into the action once again.

***~~ (3/5)

Over the weekend, we joined together with four other UK movie blogs to chat with Karl Urban about his new movie, Priest 3D which hits cinemas this Friday, 6th May. In the interview we talk about the movie in hand but also do our best to get some info out of him for the forthcoming movie Dredd, based on the Judge Dredd comics.

Priest also stars Paul Bettany, Cam Gigndet, Maggie Q, Lily Collins, Steven Moyer, Brad Dourif, and Christopher Plummer. It’ll be with us 13th May but scroll down to view the new trailer below.

Synopsis: A Vampire western about a warrior priest who disobeys church law by teaming with a young sheriff and a priestess to track down a band of renegade vampires who have kidnapped his niece.  Based on the graphic novel by Min-Woo Hyung.

This interview was conducted in conjunction with four other great blogs including Film Shaft, The Hollywood News, Flicks and Bits and Live For Films. I’ve placed our questions top followed by the others below…..

——————-

Vampires are very common in movies today. What sets Priest apart? HeyUGuys!

The vampires in our film are not the vampires that we’ve become accustomed to, they’re creatures. They’re closer to elements that you’d find in The Lord of the Rings. I think it’s refreshing that they’re not the vampires that you take home to meet mum. These creatures are scary, which is refreshing after we’ve had a raft of these sexy, pretty boy vampires. We’ve taken the thing a bit more in a direction which is grounded in horror and fantasy.

We will see you soon as the new Judge Dredd. Dredd, like Priest, came from a comic book – are you staying faithful to the source and are the two projects at all similar? HeyUGuys!

I think on some levels there are definite similarities between Dredd and Priest. The Priest lives in a walled city and there’s a post-apocalyptic wasteland around it outside. He rides a motorbike too and I’m sure there are more similarities.

The character of Black Hat seems more ambiguous than your generic movie villain – how does it compare to a ‘good’ character like Judge Dredd? HeyUGuys!

I guess the aspect that appealed to me about the character – as I approached him -  was that there is wonderful element of tragedy about him. He’s a fallen hero, a Warrior Priest who’s job was to protect mankind from this plague of vampires. In the course of doing his job he falls in battle and gets transformed into the very thing that he’s been fighting. That’s an amazing starting point. To suddenly be on the other side of that bridge and have no choice about it. It was really interesting – a question of where do you take it from there?

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Did you have to do any training for the ass kicking antics in the film, if so did that help you with your character? Flicks and Bits

Yeah, the physical aspect is definitely a part of it. The vampire is endowed with superhuman strength and ability. Paul Bettany and I trained for about 4 or 5 weeks with a martial arts team. We get to do a lot of physical action in the film. I think it’s great. It really stacks up.

Are you big on comics or was joining the film a reaction to the script, character or project in general? Film Shaft

I do enjoy comics although I don’t get much opportunity to read them these days. But certainly a few years ago there were a few favourites. Frank Miller’s Dark Knight was one of my favourites all time comics along with the Judge Dredd series. I guess my first point of contact for Priest was not the comic. My first point of contact was the script, which I read and found to be very interesting. I guess I was drawn to the characters. And upon reading the script I met with director Scott Stewart and found myself to be quite in sync with him. The way he outlined his vision for the film was loaded with references that I understood and respected. He was talking about Blade Runner, Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood and films like The Searchers. It was clear to me that he was very specific in his vision and what he was attempting to achieve had a truly epic quality to it. So I figured when you encounter someone like that it’s a good idea to go with it.

The film is a mash-mash of many genres; it’s post-apocalyptic, it’s futuristic, it’s got horror elements, western elements… how would you describe it? Flicks and Bits

(Laughs) Well that’s exactly how I would describe it! That’s actually how I have been describing it. ‘A post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, vampire, western’. I also believe that there is a tinge of fantasy in there.

How was it handling the fight choreography? Any accidents? Flicks and Bits

Yeah there were a few. I accidently crushed Paul Bettany’s fingers in one scene. There was another time when we were rehearsing a fight sequence on gravel. Some error of co-ordination and my fist ended up in Paul Bettany’s face – which I was most apologetic about!

How was working closely with Paul Bettany as your nemesis? The Hollywood News

I had a great time working with him, he’s just a class act. He really is. He’s a fun, funny guy to be around. The great thing about Paul is that he comes to the set with such a positive attitude. He’s so genuinely happy to be there that it’s infectious – a great chap. The entire cast and crew became one big family. You can tell that you’ve had a great time making a movie when on the last time of filming you are genuinely sad that it’s over. You feel like you could continue with these characters.

Have you seen the finished film yet? Live For Film

Yes I have, I loved it and 3D is the way to see it. Don Burgess, the cinematographer, has done an incredible job. They really come at with a lot of energy and the 3D conversion is fantastic too.

Do you have a favourite line or moment from Priest? Live For Film

A favourite line? I just loved everything about it but I thought Lily Collins was extraordinary as were Maggie Q and Paul and Cam. Just really strong performances. The fact that you enjoy spending time with these characters I think is a good sign. When you get to the end of the film you want to know what happens next.

So the Priest comics may have taken some inspiration from Judge Dredd and 2000AD comics? The Hollywood News

Everything is some way shape or form is derivative. I mean Judge Dredd was inspired by Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry in creating the character so it has it’s own point of genesis.

Are you a fan of the Stallone version of Judge Dredd? Film Shaft

The interesting thing about the Stallone version was that there were some elements that were faithful and some that were not. I was a fan of the Judge Dredd comics before the Stallone version came out. Even though on some levels I felt the film was not exactly honourable to what John Wagner had created, it was still Judge Dredd and I still enjoyed seeing that world up there. I think the most telling admission that’s come out recently is that Stallone said himself that he felt his Judge Dredd was a missed opportunity.

Priest 3D is at cinemas on Friday 6^th May

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The cutting of a film trailer – a good film trailer, is a fine art.

The quality of the choices you make, the shots you select, how you use the music and the decision to tease or to throw your best shots at the screen – all of these must be faced and for a group of London students the decisions they made had some very important consequences.

Forty-one film students were given the chance to re-edit the recent Priest trailer (which you can see here) and give their own spin on the world Scott Stewart and Paul Bettany have created.

Once the tast was completed three of the students were chosen to fly out to Los Angeles and show their new trailers to the film’s stars and director who then had the task of selecting their favourite.

It’s a fascinating story as its one thing to spur on film students to learn part of the filmmaking process by creating something new and exciting, but its quite another to have their work shown to established filmmakers themselves.

Having seen the trailers it’s testament to the creativity and understanding of the chosen three that they made such varied choices which resulted in the three distinct visions.

You can see the story unfold, and the reaction from the director of Priest, in the video below and we’ve got an exclusive look at the three trailers chosen – check those out beneath the next video.

A longer version of this story is available to watch here.

Trailer 1:

Trailer 2:

Trailer 3: