It’s a decent idea; Man on a Ledge.  Now what can we do with this?

Best guess is that this discussion went on all the way through shooting, because after taking in the 102 minutes, the only thing creative and truly engaging is in fact, the man on the ledge.

Sam Worthington makes the most of his predominantly statuesque role.  The guy is standing on a twenty-to-thirty story ledge of a plush hotel in New York City.  A crowd (spectators and first-response teams) form around him and the entire opening act is treated like a real jumper situation.  Of course, it’s not that simple.  When Worthington asks specifically for an officer, played by Elizabeth Banks, there is clearly more going on here.  And this act also ushers in the supporting duo of Jamie Bell and Genesis Rodriguez.  So the intrigue of what is Worthington’s ultimate agenda lingers around until about the halfway point.  Once revealed, the audience will hold on tight hoping they (filmmakers) can sell this.

Sorry folks, it’s just too scant to buy into.  Not that you won’t know what is going on (which is part of the problem), but you just won’t care enough after Worthington, or more specifically, the script, has played their hand.  Despite solid performances all around – including Ed Harris and Anthony Mackie jumping in – the script is underdeveloped and unable to sell what the characters are enacting.  For instance, Bell and Rodriguez have fun chemistry together but their role in the story is laughable.  There’s no way one can believe they are pulling off the things they are asked to do on screen.  Perhaps with some more background this would have worked, yet there’s none.  And this also leads to some of their intended comedic moments to be met with silence from an audience.  Also showing up are Edward Burns and Kyra Sedgwick in roles that are negligible.  Basically, they fail to use any of their talents so why bother even having them?

The one thing that gets developed is the aspects of what can occur with a possible jumper scenario.  If there’s any cleverness in the script it is how they execute certain things around Worthington’s actions.  Again, the concept, and how the story is flowing through Worthington’s perspective is quasi-catchy & original.  Sadly though, that’s about all the mental stimulation one will have.  As for physical stimulation, thank you Genesis Rodriguez.

Still can’t say enough about Sam Worthington here (obviously) as he firmly tries to pull this flick to something suspenseful.  He slowly has the ability to make you care about him.  The one flaw that the director needed to address was how his character telegraphs his every move when talking to Elizabeth Banks.  Moments like this are a buzz-kill for audiences expecting a thriller type emotion.  And though everything unfolding around him is painfully obvious and recycled, the guy can literally talk an audience into at least hearing him out.  Issue that arises is that you have to see other things happening outside of his stationery set piece (the ledge).  When the camera isn’t bringing the audience into his environment, it showcases the actions of the police – working on containing the situation, and Bell and Rodriguez – doing their respective parts.  And while the cinematography remains strong throughout, the story and screenplay can’t fully rise up to the levels of the titular idea.

Overall, Man on a Ledge had a thought, but couldn’t get evolve past the brainstorming stage.  Nice idea (and try), decent performances – though vague, yet it probably would have been more exciting if the film just depicted a true jumper situation.

RATING:  2 out of 5

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HeyUGuys have posted a new UK trailer for Man on a Ledge, the crime-thriller from Summit Entertainment starring Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Ed Harris and Anthony Mackie.

The trailer is much shorter than the US one, which makes it fast-paced and straight to the point, but will it be anything more than your typical average thriller?

Watch below:

In Man on Ledge, New York City cop Nick Cassidy (Worthington) has been wrongfully convicted of stealing a diamond worth $30 million. His last chance to prove his innocence hinges on a wild plot that involves an escape that lands him perched on a skyscraper’s ledge and begging the help of police negotiator Lydia Anderson (Elizabeth Banks).

The movie is set for a January 13th, 2012 release in the US (no UK date yet), and is directed by Asger Leth (Ghosts of Cité Soleil) and written by Erich and Jon Hoeber (Red).

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Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn will be hitting UK screens later this month, and a new UK trailer has been released online in preparation.

As the movie is pretty much complete now the action scenes are prominent in the trailer, with most of the new footage involving a motorcycle and a sidecar. We also see shots of ships on fire, and some amazing scenery from Tintin’s travels.

Watch below:

In the film, co-written by Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim), Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) and Steven Moffat (Doctor Who), Jamie Bell stars as journalist and adventurer Tintin with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost playing detective twins Thompson and Thomson and Daniel Craig playing villainous pirate Red Rackham. Paramount will release The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in the US in December, with Sony releasing the film in Europe and overseas over the next few months.

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Summit Entertainment have released the first trailer for Man on a Ledge, a crime-thriller starring Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell and Ed Harris. You can probably guess the premise of the film simply based on the title, or can you?

Here’s the trailer:

The official synopsis for Man on a Ledge is as follows:

Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) was an honest cop. Now he’s in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Desperate, he seizes the first chance to escape. Hours later, he is freshly shaven in an expensive suit, standing on a window ledge high above New York City. As a crowd gathers below, police cordon off the area and agree to Nick’s request to speak with pretty police negotiator Lydia Anderson (Elizabeth Banks). But Lydia doesn’t know that she is part of his grand plan, a plan that could give them both a second chance.

Speaking quietly into a lapel microphone, Nick coordinates the high-tech theft of a $30 million diamond—the same diamond he was convicted of stealing. It’s the only way he can prove his innocence, but he needs Lydia’s help—and he’s running out of time. When his identity is exposed, a SWAT team positions itself on the roof, read to take him out. Lydia isn’t sure he’s telling the truth, but if he really was set up for the diamond heist, it had to be an inside job, which means at least one of the cops on the scene wants Nick dead. With SWAT about to move, cops destroying the evidence that could save him and nowhere to go but down, Nick’s chances of survival are getting slimmer by the minute.

Man on a Ledge, set for release January 13th, 2012, is directed by Asger Leth (Ghosts of Cité Soleil) and written by Erich and Jon Hoeber (Red).

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A new trailer for Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn has found its way online. It’s not the best quality so it’s hard to get a good look at the faces (the teaser did a good job of hiding them), but the new footage gives us a run-through of the story and we get to see a few new action scenes.

Watch below: (I’ll update with a HD version when it becomes available)

In the film, co-written by Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim), Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) and Steven Moffat (Doctor Who), Jamie Bell stars as journalist and adventurer Tintin with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost playing detective twins Thompson and Thomson and Daniel Craig playing villainous pirate Red Rackham. Paramount will release The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in the US in December, with Sony releasing the film in Europe and overseas in October.

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As expected, Paramount today released the first official trailer for The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. The teaser only lasts a minute long so few plot details are explained, however we do get a look at Tintin himself and a few money shots, including a ship (the Unicorn I presume) sailing across a desert.

Watch below:

It’s certainly a visual treat, and reminds me of the cartoon made in the 90s. I’m not sure why they’ve intentionality tried to hide the faces (apart from the shot at the end). Maybe they’ve done it because it’s a ‘teaser’, or it could be the case WETA haven’t completed the visuals yet so they don’t want to sell the movie with incomplete motion capture.

In the film, co-written by Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim), Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) and Steven Moffat (Doctor Who), Jamie Bell stars as journalist and adventurer Tintin with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost playing detective twins Thompson and Thomson and Daniel Craig playing villainous pirate Red Rackham. Paramount will release The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in the US in December, with Sony releasing the film in Europe and overseas in October.

Read similar posts to The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn teaser trailer at Filmonic

Steven Spielberg finished filming The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in March 2009 after a mere 32 days of shooting with the same performance-capture technology James Cameron used for Avatar. Since then Peter Jackson’s WETA Digital have been working their magic, but instead of aiming for photorealism they’ve gone for a classic Tintin look.

The only marketing thus far has been the release of some stills back in November last year, but now Alberta Film Ratings has updated their site stating a teaser trailer lasting 1 minute and 3 seconds has been submitted by Paramount Pictures, so we can probably expect it to be released sometime soon.

The likely bet is for it to be released alongside Kung Fu Panda 2 as it is also a Paramount movie, which means we only have roughly 2 weeks to wait.

In the film Jamie Bell stars as journalist and adventurer Tintin with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost playing detective twins Thompson and Thomson and Daniel Craig playing villainous pirate Red Rackham. Paramount will release The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in the US in December, with Sony releasing the film in Europe and overseas in October.

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The Eagle. Period piece. Set in the time of the Roman Empire. Legions march. Swords cling-n-clang. And a friendship is formed. 114 minutes later…The end.

It’s really that simple folks. Usually this sentence is saved for the end of my reviews, but overall, this is mildly interesting, but the poor direction can never break this piece through the average barrier. This is why…

Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum) is a commander in the Roman army. His reputation precedes him, for he is the son of a great commander, who directed the infamous Ninth Legionnaires. Their fame stems from tragedy. Marcus’ father was leading the legion far north into unexplored territory. On his person, was the golden eagle – the symbol of Rome. After many months have passed, the five-thousand men that made up the ninth legion were never heard from again. The emperor ordered a great wall be built to keep out whatever forces bested the mighty legion. All of Rome was to consider this wall the “end of the world.”

Based on these tales, Marcus has always dealt with other soldiers showing him a lack of respect, despite his position and heroism. In the midst of a surprise attack, Marcus successfully defends his outpost and single-handily defeats the fierce savages from Briton. However, his efforts were not without consequence. An injury forced him into retirement. During this time, his Uncle (Donald Sutherland) takes him into is wealthy compound. As distinguished guests pass through, continuous banter and rumors about Marcus’ father’s fate motivates him to cross into no man’s land and find out what happened to the ninth and the golden eagle. He feels that by uncovering the truth and possibly finding the eagle statue, his family’s honor will be restored in Rome.

He is not going alone though. His personal slave – and Briton countrymen – Esca (Jamie Bell) is required to come along on what everyone considers to be a journey to certain death.

Let’s see, what were the positives? Acting was decent. Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell formed sufficient chemistry, even though their dialogue only reaches anything resembling a level of substance during the climatic sequences. Supporting players were game too. Mark Strong has a role that is slightly above cameo criteria. Denis O’Hare – who looks anything but an elite Roman solider – makes the most of his early moments. Rest of the cast were limited to piece-meal scenes. The majority of this flick follows our two main characters riding on horseback through the lands of Scotland. Which is about the only time the cinematography is worth it.

Because the rest of the camera work blew it in all the limited fight scenes. To make matters worse, this is rated PG-13, and they never pushed the envelope in the gore and/or action department. If this was a Disney production, this approach would be understandable. However, the execution feels dated. Pretty sure 1981’s Dragonslayer and/or the recent Narnia flicks had better fight choreography. As alluded to earlier, the action is very light in this flick. Less action would be tolerable if the script could inject life into the other sequences. Subtle attempts at innovation are noticed in a few moments such as the poor man’s gladiator fight (more like beating) and interacting with the barbarians of the north. Then again, these said moments eventually led to nowhere gripping or pertinent.

Mechanically speaking, the continuity of the characters’ actions is a bloody nightmare. From having a fatal injury one minute, and then being able to fight off numerous savages; To seeing men on horseback with a head start getting caught by starving warriors after days of running in the mountains, is beyond ridiculous. A lot of the third act felt like they took the cutting room floor shots from Last of the Mohicans, polished them up and then had a four year old paste it together. It’s a shame too, because the cast was really trying here.

In the end, this review will close out and compare The Eagle similar to how the Roman society voted on whether a fallen gladiator should live or die. Thumbs up or thumbs down (hopefully Ebert will not file in court). My thumb is definitely down. As the flick went on though, it did improve slightly. So picture yours truly with my thumb down at stomach level for the first half of this flick. At the completion, my thumb is still down, but my hand now resides at my chest level.

Hey, it makes sense to me.

RATING: 2.5 out of 5

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Focus Features has released the first trailer for The Eagle, a Roman epic lead by Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell. The movie comes from director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, State of Play) and follows a young Roman centurion who attempts to uncover the truth about the disappearance of his father’s legion.

Watch the trailer below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diY-ccvdcUk

It has similarities to Centurion which was also shot in Scotland and also revolves around the disappearance of Rome’s 9th Legion. The Eagle doesn’t look as violent though, so it may not be restricted by a harsh rating.

Here’s the official synopsis:

In 140 AD, two men – master and slave – venture beyond the edge of the known world on a dangerous and obsessive quest that will push them beyond the boundaries of loyalty and betrayal, friendship and hatred, deceit and heroism…The Roman epic adventure THE EAGLE stars Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell and is directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald. 20 years earlier, Rome’s 5,000-strong Ninth Legion, under the command of Flavius Aquila, marched north carrying their treasured golden Eagle emblem. They never returned; Legion and Eagle simply vanished into the mists. Hearing a rumor that the Eagle has been seen in a tribal temple in the far north, Flavius’ son Marcus (Tatum), determined to restore the tarnished reputation of his father, is galvanized into action. Accompanied only by his slave Esca (Bell), Marcus sets out into the vast and dangerous highlands of Scotland – to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father’s memory, and retrieve the hallowed Eagle. Along the way Marcus realizes that the mystery of his father’s disappearance may well be linked to the secret of his own slave’s identity and loyalty – a secret all the more pressing when the two come face-to-face with the warriors of the fearsome Seal Prince (Tahar Rahim).

The Eagle will be released on February 25th in the US.

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Empire were given our first official look at Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn. The film is based on the series of comic strips created by Belgian artist Georges Rémi which have sold over 200 million copies worldwide (mostly in Europe).

Secret of the Unicorn is using the same performance-capture technology James Cameron used for Avatar, but from these images it looks like they are opting for a classic Tintin look rather than being completely photo-realistic. Spielberg actually finished filming in March 2009 after a mere 32 days of shooting, and Peter Jackson has since been working with WETA on the special effects.

Captain Archibald Haddock, played by Andy Serkis

“With live action you’re going to have actors pretending to be Captain Haddock and Tintin,” says Peter Jackson. “You’d be casting people to look like them. It’s not really going to feel like the Tintin Hergé drew. It’s going to be somewhat different. With CGI we can bring Hergé’s world to life, keep the stylised caricatured faces, keep everything looking like Hergé’s artwork, but make it photo-real.”

From past experience with Avatar these types of movies always look better in motion, but these images look pretty cool. The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn still has another year in post-production until its December 2011 release so things we see now will probably be improved upon by the time the movie rolls around.

Jamie Bell stars as journalist and adventurer Tintin, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost play detective twins Thompson and Thomson and Daniel Craig plays villainous pirate Red Rackham.

Head over to Empire to see their Tintin December cover, and they also have quotes from Spielberg on this movie as well as future sequels (he’s thinking about having the third or fourth Tintin film based on Tintin’s adventures on the Moon).

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