It’s only the end of February, and I’m already anticipating all of the big-budget eye candy that makes up summer 2010. Iron Man 2! The Last Airbender! Dolph “Go f*** yourself, Spaceman” Lundgren!!! But before I can even start to get all drooly over those upcoming films, spring has a whole slew of media to keep me preoccupied. TV premieres and finales, film and gaming all have their entries that are making me budget how much time I’ll be spending in a darkened room over the next few months. It’s going to (wait for it) kick ass.
Kick-Ass – If you haven’t heard of Kick-Ass, then you’ve been living under a Starlight Cruiser-sized rock for some time. If you have heard of Kick-Ass and are not wetting-your-pants-excited about it, then I don’t think we can be friends. The film adaptation of Mark Millar’s graphic novel about normal people becoming masked crusaders looks like it will be faithful in all the right places. Most importantly, it establishes a real, bloody world where people will get, to be colloquial, messed up crazy style, and all of the trailers released so far deliver on that premise. I’d hate myself for jinxing this, but Kick-Ass looks like it can deliver on its lofty, gritty expectation where efforts like Watchmen failed. PS: Haven’t watched any Kick-Ass trailers? Go now.
God of War III – Where Kick-Ass depicts violence and mayhem within the confines of the real world, the God of War series smacks a healthy helping of head-ripping, eye-gouging and god-killing splattered over the backdrop of Ancient Greece. This epic tale of revenge and betrayal, of a man who fights the God of Olympus, has me totally pumped to finish a story I have been unfolding over the past two games. It may be sacrilege to be indifferent towards Final Fantasy XIII, which is released a week before, but for me this is entertainment at its most visceral.
How the hell will Supernatural “end”? – While I’m eagerly anticipating how God of War will end, I don’t think it is spoiler alert-y to say it will involve lots of dead dudes killed by the hand of our badass protagonist. What WILL be surprising to see is how the showrunners at Supernatural, our favorite show here at Hombre Potato (yes, I’m speaking for Karen, too, when I say that) end their little story arc of the apocalypse and a seemingly-inevitable clash of the titans between Lucifier and the archangel Michael wearing the Winchester brand of meatsuits. I’m certainly worried about how the season will end because it feels like they may be painted into a corner, but Supernatural has also adeptly twisted and turned through several stories that seemed like dead-ends. My blind faith for the TV season is going to Supernatural based on its history of being awesome.
Doctor Who redux – Whatever remaining blind faith I may have left is going straight to Stephen Moffat’s reimagining of Doctor Who. Continuing my sacrilege, I’ve been sick of David Tennant’s interpretation of the Doctor and Russell T. Davies’ direction since season 3 and I’m not ashamed to say it. Now, I certainly like Tennant and appreciate what he has brought to the role, but I’ve been ready for someone new to play that character, and, more importantly, for someone new to helm the direction of the show. Moffat has written most of the best episodes of the new Who, and I think a fresh perspective free of the baggage of Rose, Martha, Donna, and all the Doctor’s sexy friends is the right medicine. Yes, that even includes Jack – he has his own awesome show now where he can snog to his heart’s content. I cannot wait to see this new interpretation of the re-imagined Who.
Honorable mentions: The Losers, another graphic novel adaptation, feels like an underdog in the “Black Ops team framed for shit and needs to clear its name” genre that will be occupied by The A-Team and The Expendables in the summer, but Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Idris Elba can easily make this a standout; Red Dead Redemption, the newest adventure by Rockstar Studios (those dudes who made Grand Theft Auto), gives gamers an open-world western epic — a genre and world rarely seen, and even more rarely seen done well, in gaming; Survivor: Heroes Vs. Villains and The Amazing Race started already, but I can say that they’ll provide the most consistently entertaining television week-to-week until their finales air in May (aside from Supernatural, of course, hopefully).