Thursday, November 17, 2016

TRAILER: All star cast for KONG: SKULL ISLAND!


More than 12 years after his last appearance in theaters, KING KONG will return to the silver screen in KONG: Skull Island in 2017!

I'm actually a fan of the 2005 Peter Jackson film, set in the 1920s (like the original it pays homage to). It has some exciting sequences with all manner of monsters. And the battle atop the Empire State Building takes the original concept to an unprecedented level. But it's also slow as shit, especially in the beginning.

KONG: Skull Island, from the producers of the latest Godzilla effort, looks AH-MA-ZING, by comparison with it's Apocalypse Now-meets-monster-movie approach to the story.


Set during the Vietnam war, a group of soldiers is tasked with mapping an uncharted and mysterious island in the South Pacific (the eponymous scrap of land from the title). The best way to do this? Drop bombs on it! I love movies that just lean in to their ridiculous premises. :-)

Kong, of course, is not happy about that:


But the best part? An all star cast--many of them from the Marvel family of films:

  • Brie Larson - Captain Marvel
  • Tom Hiddleston - Loki (Thor, Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok)
  • Sam Jackson - Nick Fury (Like, so many Marvel movies!)
  • John C. Reilly - Nova Corpsman Rhomann Dey (Guardians of the Galaxy)

Yep, it has Steve Brule in it! And by the looks of it, he's the island "expert" laying down, uh..."rules" for survival, if you will excuse the reference.

The only one not from the Marvel movie-verse is John Goodman, who plays the seedy, money man who gets the group into trouble in the first place.

Rumor has it Kong will meet up with his frenemy Godzilla on the big screen sometime in the next few years. I. AM. THERE.

What's Gameable?

In short: ALL OF IT. Looks like plenty of fodder for an Isle of Dread type of adventure or maybe a prelude to Apes Victorious? Either way--the trailer alone has enough game inspiration for an adventure hook, as it is. I'm sure the full film is chocked full of more monster mayhem than you can throw a helicopter at!

So if you're doing a mini-campaign set mid-century (read: 60s-70s) I think you've got a bunch of options:

  • Wartime mapping/recon mission (soldier heavy party with lots of incendiaries/explosives)
  • Big game hunt turned disastrous (non-professionals,no explosives, but armed with stun guns, gas grenades, tranq darts, nets, cages, etc.) 
  • Petroleum excavation crew (Heavy on science and exploration, few weapons) 
  • National Geographic documentary crew  (cameras and machetes only!)
  • Or a mix of any of the above

And you've got a great set up for NPCs and possibly foes:

  • Lost tribe of humans who worship/fear the island fauna
  • Stranded "guide" looking to get off the island
  • Greedy entrepreneur looking to make a buck
  • Mercs/henchmen, looking out for their boss
  • Foolhardy scientist/journalist who gets too close
  • Skeptical/grizzled colonel who's trying to keep his troops alive

IF your party escapes, you can a second leg where the kaiju bring the fight back to mankind on his home turf, a la one of my absolute favorites in recent years: Godzilla Half Century War.


That's a full-on military campaign, but it's MUCH more hard-scrabble for the humans than any of Godzilla's movies. We're talkin' street-level skirmishes against a kaiju--lots of fun! Oh and definitely check that comic out, the art is incredibly detailed and inspirational!

UPDATE: Eric over at Swords & Stitchery did a full write-up on running a Skull Island adventure!

Monday, November 14, 2016

Hidden space game in Watch Dogs 2?

This video, taken from Watch Dogs 2, looks like it might hint at a secret space opera-esque project. The art production is like a candy-colored goulash of acclaimed science fiction artists Chris Foss and John Harris spaceship art!

Plus, the twangy soundtrack brings me back to Cowboy Bebop.The big question--when is it coming out? (If ever?)

I'd play the heck out of this!!


Hat tip to Kotaku

Thursday, November 10, 2016

TRAILER: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets


It's finally here! And WOW does Luc Besson deliver the visuals!



Previously: Check out this huge post of images and posters!


Thursday, November 3, 2016

TRAILER: ALL THE WORLD IS WAITING FOR YOU: WONDER WOMAN!

Warner Bros. has released the latest Wonder Woman trailer and it's looking FANTASTIC. I've been looking forward to this one for YEARS. I've been hoping that WB would do right by her in a motion picture, having been disappointed with some of their recent efforts to bring DC comics to the big screen.

And I've got a geeklet of my own that is getting to know Wonder Woman for the first time. She LOVES the 70s TV show and some of the Superfriends cartoons. And while she'll still be too young to see the new film, Gal Gadot will be everywhere next summer and as the new face of Wonder Woman, I really want this interpretation to be as good as I hope it will be.


The trailer has some truly fun moments there with the action sequences and snappy dialogue. And Gadot IS Diana Prince! She has the air of an Amazonian warrior, but still has the charm that Diana is also known for.


And we're FINALLY starting to see a break from the ash-coated look of Man of Steel and Batman v Superman into a much more colorful and vibrant aesthetic. The previous films were awash in dirty, burnt hues that just reinforced their heavy-handed storylines. It looks like Diana is being given a fresh start in the DC movie-verse.

Here's some magnificent new posters, just released by WB:





Okay, enough--it's bullet blockin' time--HERE'S THE TRAILER:


THAT THEME SONG!

BONUS: Someone edited all the existing movie footage (including clips from BvS) to the classic theme song from the TV series!


Click on images to enlarge. Images courtesy: Warner Bros.