Universal has released the second official trailer for Snow White and the Huntsman. It expands upon the first trailer with more story details, and provides some very impressive visuals of battles and mythical creatures. We also get to see the dwarves (played by a great bunch of British actors) walking and talking.

Watch below:

Universal has also released a 5 minute preview which shows off even more impressive footage, although i’d avoid it if you want to save yourself until June.

Snow White and the Huntsman, directed by Rupert Sanders and opening June 2012, focuses on the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) who is hired by the evil queen (Charlize Theron) to track down her runaway stepdaughter (Kristen Stewart). After realizing the queen intends to kill Snow White, he helps her escape, and the pair go on the run. The Huntsman then helps train Snow White in order to defeat the evil queen.

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The official Facebook page for Snow White and the Huntsman has posted a new sneak peak trailer for the movie. It’s essentially a shortened version of the trailer we got last year, but contains some new footage.

Watch below:

Snow White and the Huntsman, directed by Rupert Sanders and opening June 2012, focuses on the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) who is hired by the evil queen (Charlize Theron) to track down her runaway stepdaughter (Kristen Stewart). After realizing the queen intends to kill Snow White, he helps her escape, and the pair go on the run. The Huntsman then helps train Snow White in order to defeat the evil queen.

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About 4 of the 117 minutes that make up The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 will capture your attention.  Those 4 minutes are nearly ruined, too, when someone opens their mouth; which ends up being a frequent, and indirectly funny, occurrence.

The story is quite simple in this installment: Vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) and human Bella (Kristen Stewart) are finally getting hitched.  Everyone is happy about this.  Even the werewolf, Jacob (Taylor Lautner) seems to be cool with it, despite his eternal hard-on for Bella.  That is until he learns Bella wants Edward to try to impregnate her prior to changing her to a full-blown vamp (apparently that’s not good).  So Jacob then continues his pouting and the on-going supernatural cock fight for the average & boring looking girl rages on.

While on the honeymoon at a secluded island off the shores of Brazil, Edward reluctantly honors Bella’s wishes to try to give her a child.  He worries though (seems that’s all he does in these damn flicks) that the “fetus” may be something no one has ever seen or dealt with before, therefore, harming Bella.  Well, the virile vamp pulls it off which leads to Bella having dire complications; sparking a possible breach of the treaty between the Cullen clan and the Werewolves.

Sorry Twi-hards, this installment sets the franchise way back and now deserves the clichéd ribbing many people do when talking about this product.  This is easily the worst film in the now four picture franchise.  Improvements were being made with each sequel.  New Moon proved that this adapted story from Stephenie Meyer’s popular novels could in fact be cinematical.  And Eclipse’s totality as a feature length film changed a lot of hater’s minds including yours truly.  The direction that Breaking Dawn took, well, took all the life out of the series.  Sure the loyal will eat this crap up, but chances are they are force feeding themselves (i.e. willing their mind & heart to like it).

The screenplay is handled like a romantic-comedy without any rhyme or reason.  Serving shallow dialogue all around and having the characters mock themselves just isn’t working here.  And the choice of a soundtrack is way out of place, for the tone of what this should have been (dramatic) is confused as the director and performers.  Based on the material given here, Pattinson and Stewart are sadly unable to carry this movie as they are asked to do.  Taylor Lautner enters and tries to anchor this down, but the most intriguing character is also hampered with more terrible dialogue and piss-poor timing.  No one has evolved and that’s kind of the point of a progressing story.  And there is no help from the supporting cast as they are given nothing to do except act – which in this case translates to stand and look concerned – as a warm (and cold) body count (I’m Team Jasper by the way).

So that 4 minutes mentioned above happens in the last 15 minutes, involving a brief werewolf and vampire clash outside the Cullen house.  Right before that sequence, there’s a decent dramatic pitch with Bella going into labor.  As stated before though, just when they’re on the path to passable filmmaking, someone opens their mouth and the direction goes to hell.  The only thing that could have improved this piece is having Beavis and Butt-Head sitting on a couch providing sarcastic commentary (you’re welcome Mike Judge).

One thing that is noteworthy is this particular flick tackles and depicts some mature situations.  There’s an awful amount of time dedicated toward the Edward & Bella honeymoon – a.k.a. vamp baby-making.  Let’s just say they are suggestive scenes that mainly see Kristen Stewart prancing around in quasi-sexy lingerie and tastefully having sex with Mopey the vampire.  So perhaps a chat with your teenage daughter may be warranted after this.  That is, if this installment doesn’t completely turn them off.

If one can overlook the bad acting and lazy story, what this product really needed was a solid edit.  I’m all for a movie taking its time but lingering on superficial scenes that fail to dial up any emotion and/or have a purpose is literally laughable.  By doing so, this direction plays – and projects – something resembling the spoof nature of Vampire Sucks rather than what one saw in the previous two Twilight sequels.

Overall, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 is dead on arrival.  In sequel terms, this represents a B-movie horror flick that continues to spawn more installments that debut on the SyFy channel.  And that’s never a good thing, kids.  Everyone has gone backwards here, losing the momentum that Eclipse fought hard to attain.

And if you’re still into this – which is to say you enjoy subpar filmmaking and stories – be sure to stay after the credits for a teaser.

RATING:  1 out of 5 

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Kristen Stewart landed her first high-profile role outside the Twilight franchise with Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman, and now the actress may be about to star in the live-action adaptation of anime graphic novel Akira for Warner Bros.

Yesterday Twitch reported that Stewart had been offered the role of Kei, a young medium who becomes the love interest for Kaneda (Garrett Hedlund). Deadline followed this up by saying the actress is in “advanced talks”, so it looks to be a done deal. The site also seems to confirm that Gary Oldman will play the Colonel.

The graphic novel follows the leader of a biker gang who must save his friend, discovered with potentially destructive psychokinetic abilities, from government medical experiments. Warner Bros. has moved the location from Japan to the US, with the story now taking place in a rebuilt New Manhattan.

Leonardo DiCaprio is producing under his Appian Way banner, and Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves recently re-wrote the script. Katsuhiro Otomo, who wrote and directed the 1988 Japanese anime movie of the same name, will serve as executive producer. Shooting is set to begin in late February/early March 2012 under the direction of Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown).

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This time next week The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 will be making a killing at the box office, but will Oscar winning writer Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters) be able to deliver the franchise with its first critical hit as director?

Here’s a summary of the first batch of reviews and reactions:

According to Movie Exclusive with Part 1 series screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg “makes the split right where it belongs” and Bill Condon “has taken the ‘Twilight’ franchise in a new and exciting direction” which is “easily the most emotionally satisfying of any of the films so far” and leaves “you with bated breath for the concluding film due one year later.” That’s where the glowing praise ends, though.

Screen Daily says Melissa Rosenberg “does a decent job of distilling some of the main conflicts from the 750-page novel” but thinks director Bill Condon is a “subpar director of spatial action”, citing a fight between the wolves and the Cullen clan that ends up being “a jumbled mess with a shrugging emotional impact.”

The Hollywood Reporter thinks splitting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows into two films was justified given the “massive amount of narrative”, but thinks Breaking Dawn – Part 1 could have been covered in 40 minutes instead of two hours. The reviewer says the movie “feels both bloated and as anemic as Bella herself becomes while enduring her pregnancy.”

Variety says the movie is a “downgrade” from Eclipse action-wise and “two nocturnal wolves-vs.-vamps combat scenes are essentially thrill-free, and so underlit that one is inclined to suspect slapdash CGI”. Bill Condon “takes the reins capably enough” but “his approach suffers from a certain stylistic anonymity that seems endemic to the material.” The review suggests Breaking Dawn would have “benefited from a dash of Cronenbergian body-horror” and “a willingness to push past a PG-13 rating”, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen.

W.L. Swarts describes the acting of the three leads as “honed” but they deliver nothing new as “we’ve seen Kristen Stewart shake and look pained, we’ve seen Robert Pattinson look confused and we’ve seen Taylor Lautner look upset and strong.” The character of Bella also lacks development as she does “not become more sophisticated, more intuitive or more interesting, she is just pregnant.” Despite this Michael Sheen “resurfaces to remind viewers what a dramatic powerhouse he can be” as Volturi leader Aro and there is praise for the soundtrack which “is an actual special effect that helps tell the story”.

Plenty more reviews will be surfacing over the upcoming week, but it looks like it’ll get the same response as the previous films. The fans will love it and it’ll make millions, but critics and regular movie-goers will be left wondering what the hype is all about.

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Universal has released the first official Snow White and the Huntsman trailer, giving us our first look at footage from one of the two Snow White movies hitting next year. We’ve been told Hunstman is the more serious of the two, and the first 30 seconds of the trailer confirm that to be true, with charging battle scenes and Charlize Theron’s Evil Queen sucking the life out of a young woman.

The Evil Queen actually dominates the trailer. The Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) is seen wielding an axe and taking orders, but Snow White (Kristen Stewart) isn’t seen until half way through and doesn’t speak a word. Overall, it looks very promising.

You can watch the trailer below:

Snow White and the Huntsman, directed by Rupert Sanders and opening June 2012, focuses on the Huntsman (Hemsworth) who is hired by the evil queen (Theron) to track down her runaway stepdaughter (Stewart). After realizing the queen intends to kill Snow White, he helps her escape, and the pair go on the run. The Huntsman then helps train Snow White in order to defeat the evil queen.

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Other than some characters shots there has been little marketing material for Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman, but the first official trailer is expected to be released this week, and in preparation the studio has released a new banner featuring Chris Hemsworth as The Huntsman, Kristen Stewart as Snow White and Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen.

Click the banner below to enlarge:

Based on what we’ve seen and heard so far i’m more interested in seeing Huntsman than Tarsem Singh’s Mirror Mirror. Singh recently described his movie as being “sickeningly kiddie”, which i’m sure there’ll be an audience for, but the darkness and seriousness of Huntsman is more appealing to me.

Snow White and the Huntsman, directed by Rupert Sanders and opening June 2012, focuses on the Huntsman (Hemsworth) who is hired by the evil queen (Theron) to track down her runaway stepdaughter (Stewart). After realizing the queen intends to kill Snow White, he helps her escape, and the pair go on the run. The Huntsman then helps train Snow White in order to defeat the evil queen.

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Following the 15 second preview we saw last week, Summit Entertainment has released the full second trailer for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1. We see more of the Bella/Edward wedding and the subsequent honeymoon, but the main focus of the trailer is on the half-vampire, half-human child that’s growing inside Bella’s womb.

Watch below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

In the highly anticipated next chapter of the blockbuster The Twilight Saga, the newfound married bliss of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) is cut short when a series of betrayals and misfortunes threatens to destroy their world.

After their wedding, Bella and Edward travel to Rio de Janeiro for their honeymoon, where they finally give in to their passions. Bella soon discovers she is pregnant, and during a nearly fatal childbirth, Edward finally fulfills her wish to become immortal.

But the arrival of their remarkable daughter, Renesmee, sets in motion a perilous chain of events that pits the Cullens and their allies against the Volturi, the fearsome council of vampire leaders, setting the stage for an all-out battle.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 is directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) and opens November 18th, 2011.

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Last week we got our first look at Lily Collins as Snow White in Tarsem Singh’s movie, and now Universal have released our first look at Kristen Stewart as Snow White, Charlize Theron as the Queen, Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman and Sam Claflin as the Prince in Snow White and the Huntsman .

Charlize Theron as The Queen

Chris Hemsworth as The Huntsman

Sam Claflin as The Prince

Snow White and the Huntsman, directed by Rupert Sanders, focuses on the Huntsman (Hemsworth) who is hired by the evil queen (Theron) to track down her runaway stepdaughter (Stewart). After realizing the queen intends to kill Snow White, he helps her escape, and the pair go on the run. The Huntsman then helps train Snow White in order to defeat the evil queen.

A panel for Snow White and the Huntsman took place at the San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend and producer Joe Roth (Alice in Wonderland) said the movie “is on the scale of Lord of the Rings in terms of size and scope.” A bold claim for a movie that will be released in 11 months and hasn’t even started filming, but maybe they know something we don’t.

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Snow White and the Huntsman, which is set to star Kristen Stewart as Snow White, Chris Hemsworth as the Hunstman and Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen, is not only an attempt by Universal to jump on the classic literature/fairytale bandwagon, it’s also an attempt to launch a new franchise.

Producer Joe Roth, who also produced Alice in Wonderland, recently told EW:

It’s meant to be the first in a series of films. This story will end, but there will be questions remaining for these three characters.

He also explained the basic story of the film:

We retain the basic story in the same way we retain the basic story of Alice, a young girl meant to be the queen who is cast out… The Huntsman is a mercenary, in the sense that he’s a guy who is very able in the woods, more able than most anyone. His job is to capture runaway girls, who are all fleeing the kingdom because of the queen. He’s a nondescript bounty hunter, as we first meet him… [Snow White] starts out not a damsel in distress, but innocent, and after 11 years of imprisonment by the Evil Queen, she escapes and learns the ways of a warrior in the woods

Tarsem Singh, director of Relativity Media’s Untitled Snow White Movie, said last month that “there really, truly is only room for the first one of these”. As his movie with Julia Roberts, Lily Collins and Armie Hammer hits in March 2012 it has the advantage, but Snow White and the Huntsman could still be successful despite coming out a few months later in June. It will be seen as ‘the other Snow White movie’, but that might help it if Tarsem Singh’s effort isn’t all that.

Rupert Sanders is directing and the aim is to begin shooting later this year.

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