Tag: cinematic
How Enter The Matrix And The Animatrix Helped Create The Modern Cinematic Universe
Enter the Matrix is celebrating its 20-year anniversary today, May 14, 2023. Below, we take a look at how the game broke new ground for interconnected, cross-media storytelling.
Nearly 25 years later, the original Matrix’s legacy as a stone-cold classic film is secure. Arguably, it was pretty much a done deal the second Neo flew off into orbit while Rage Against The Machine did their thing. Everything about action films changed afterwards, from the way fights were choreographed to the way it opened the door for action movies with loftier ideas. But while the legacy of the original film is undeniable, and more prescient than ever–for both good and ill, given how its iconography’s been co-opted in recent years–we don’t often talk about the legacy of The Matrix Reloaded in the same hallowed tones. It’s understandable to an extent. Everything audiences thought was cool about the original Matrix in 1999 had been stripmined for parts by a legion of movies immediately after, with diminishing returns every single time. Given carte blanche to avoid their creation from treading the same ground, Lana and Lilly Wachowski chose to expand the universe they created in ways that resembled an Eastern philosophy-flavored Star Trek more than, say, Blade or Underworld.
That’s not a comment on quality–time has smiled on all four Matrix films much more kindly than most of their contemporaries–but it is a comment on how a classic had transitioned to becoming a big-budget all-encompassing megalith of a property, constantly in danger of losing what was special about the original. This was the subtext of the still-underrated Matrix Resurrections, in fact. But to this day, even the biggest megablockbusters on the planet have failed to even attempt what the Wachowskis pulled off in the wake of Matrix Reloaded to keep its power despite capitalism needing to wring it dry. Ancillary media is nothing new altogether, but before The Matrix Reloaded, anything that didn’t happen on-screen during the film was just a cool, non-canon “what if.” Because the Matrix sequels had such a muted reaction compared to the original, it’s easy to forget just how much of an absolute multimedia circus surrounded The Matrix Reloaded before its release. Sponsorships were everywhere, songs from the soundtrack were ubiquitous on rock radio, books were being written about the philosophy of the original film. All of that was there, and it all only touched the fringes of what The Matrix actually was or where it was going. But The Matrix was far too important and far too intricate to let any serious work bearing its name cheapen it in any way. And so, in the middle of an absolute marketing blitzkrieg, we got two pieces of media that changed how stories could be told in the 21st century.
The Division Heartland gameplay details and opening cinematic shared by Ubisoft
Ubisoft has announced new gameplay details for The Division Heartland, the standalone, survival-action multiplayer shooter announced in 2021.
Originally set to release on PC and consoles in 2021-2022, the game takes place in a new setting, providing a new perspective on the world.
Heartland takes players to Silver Creek, a once pleasant town in the American Midwest, left in ruins following the spread of the Dollar Flu. This is a hostile environment filled with contamination, enemy hordes, and the threat of sickness and dehydration.
Renfield Isn’t Here To Kick Off A Cinematic Universe And Writer Robert Kirkman Couldn’t Be Happier About It
Any time a big-budget action movie heads to theaters, immediately people start wondering about sequels, spin-offs, and other continuations that grow to become a cinematic universe. More than a decade of Marvel Studios movies have trained many viewers to see bigger films through those glasses. That’s why it’s so refreshing to see a movie like Renfield, which is full of the action, comedy, and ridiculous gore the trailers have been promising, without having to also worry about missing a post-credits scene or a nod to a potential future movie. It’s entirely self-contained about Count Dracula’s (Nicolas Cage) familiar, Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), which is exactly how writer Robert Kirkman wanted the story to be told.
Speaking to GameSpot, Kirkman readily admitted that he loves the Marvel Cinematic Universe and other large film franchises. Still, he adds, “It [has] kind of done to death now where [at] the end of the movie, they kind of give you a preview of the movie you wish you would have been watching the whole time.”
And he’s not wrong. As exciting as every new Marvel or DC movie is, in the back of your mind, you’re wondering what’s going to happen at the end to set up the next several films, rather than just taking the time to bask in what you’re watching.
Watch NASA’s cinematic video introducing moon astronauts
Most powerful Marvel Cinematic Universe characters, ranked
Liv Tyler’s Incredible Hulk Character Is Returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe
It’s been 15 years since The Incredible Hulk—the Louis Leterrier-directed, pre-Disney Marvel Studios film with Edward Norton playing the big green guy. A lot’s changed since then—but Liv Tyler’s character Betty Ross endures. She’ll make her Marvel return in Captain America: New World Order.
Have a look at the Dead Island 2 opening cinematic
Deep Silver and Dambuster Studios have released a trailer showing off the opening cinematic of Dead Island 2.
Once the City of Angels, Los Angeles is now a horror-stained hell full of empty mansions of the rich and famous and a deserted and blood-stained Hollywood Boulevard.
As you can see in the opening sequence, there’s neither a nook nor cranny in town that has been spared. It appears someone’s wedding turned into a bloodbath, a diner became the scene of gore-filled mayhem, a plane crash has crashed, and everyone seems to have lost their shoes for some reason.
FortniteFortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 MEGA Cinematic Trailer
Amazon’s plans for a Creed cinematic universe might lead to an anime series
Michael B. Jordan might have been speaking somewhat poetically during Creed III’s shooting when he sat Jonathan Majors down to explain how their live-action boxing film was a lot like a shonen anime. But MGM parent company Amazon might be very serious about wanting to follow up on Creed III’s success with an entire cinematic universe that might include, among other things, a Creed animated series.
Deadline reports that in the wake of Creed III’s monumental $58 million domestic debut, Amazon’s now in very early talks with director / star Michael B. Jordan about a number of potential follow-up projects set in the same universe as the films that would continue the story of Adonis Creed and his family.
While the studio’s yet to lock in on…