DISNEY DROPS AN EXTENDED PEEK AT “FINDING DORY” AND CAPS OFF THEIR EPIC PRESENTATION WITH AN ADVANCE SCREENING OF “CAPS!”
Article by Adam Mast
With titles like AGE OF ULTRON, INSIDE OUT, ANT-MAN, and THE FORCE AWAKENS tucked firmly under their belt, there’s no doubt that Walt Disney Pictures had quite the lucrative 2015. The question is, will the Mouse House be able to top their gaudy 2015 box-office numbers in 2016? With a new film from Steven Spielberg, as well as a new standalone STAR WARS picture and movies from Marvel and Pixar, it’s clear–as always–that they’re putting forth quite the effort.
During their presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Walt Disney Pictures shared a look at their upcoming slate. While I was holding out hope for some early GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 footage, it simply wasn’t meant to be. What did we get a look at? In addition to the big screen debut of trailers for Steven Spielberg’s THE BFG, Marvel’s DOCTOR STRANGE, and ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY (true, these trailers are currently online, but you haven’t really experienced them until you’ve experienced them in a theater), Disney opted to use their epic showcase to focus on FINDING DORY and CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR.
THE BFG
DOCTOR STRANGE
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY
FINDING DORY
Disney and Pixar have a great relationship with NATO (National Association of Theater Owners) and in fact, Pixar has presented a number of very early advance screenings for exhibitors at CinemaCon and ShoWest through the years (including FINDING NEMO and TOY STORY 3), so I was quite surprised to learn that they wouldn’t be showing a film in its entirety during the 2016 Disney presentation. Having said that, Pixar certainly didn’t come to CinemaCon empty handed. They were kind enough to share the first 27 minutes of their upcoming summer release, FINDING DORY, with a very enthusiastic crowd.
I should preface by saying that FINDING NEMO is my favorite Pixar movie but upon learning that a sequel was in the works, I have to admit, even I was a bit bewildered by the idea of a follow-up. I only say this because FINDING NEMO is such a perfect story. It’s complete. The notion of a sequel simply didn’t make sense to me.
Director Andrew Stanton was on hand and he freely admitted to attendees that even he thought FINDING NEMO was a one-and-done. As the years passed by though, he couldn’t stop thinking about supporting character Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) and whether or not she was okay following the events in the first film. After all, she does suffer from short term memory loss. This makes life for Dory and those around her, quite complicated.
For several years, thoughts of Dory continued to nag at Stanton until he finally realized he had to tell her story. So, here we are, nearly 13 years later.
Stanton pleaded with attendees, including yours truly, to keep plot specifics to themselves, so we will honor that agreement. What I can say is that technology has come a long way since the first FINDING NEMO was released. The underwater vistas that make up FINDING DORY are even more breathtaking than they were in the original film. I can also tell you that Ellen DeGeneres is back as Dory and Albert Brooks is back as Marlin. And that’s it. That’s all you’re getting out of Cinemast.net.
FINDING DORY opens on June 17th!
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
So, given that CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR had it’s L.A. premiere the night before the CinemaCon Disney presentation (as well as a handful of press screenings a few days prior), the word was pretty much out by the time we got to see it. General buzz around the industry suggested that the movie was a winner!
Unfortunately, no one from cast or crew was in the house to introduce the screening, presumably because they were all in Los Angeles for the big premiere, but no matter. Just getting to see the movie was good enough for me!
We’re currently working on a review for CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, but here are a few initial thoughts: It is, in fact, a winner!
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is significantly stronger than AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON and quite frankly, it’s vastly superior to BATMAN V SUMPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE. It’s action packed, yes but it also has emotional weight and as expected, each iconic hero who makes an appearance (and there are a lot of iconic heroes in this movie to speak of!) is given their moment to shine. SPIDER-MAN (played by newbie web-slinger, Tom Holland) and ANT-MAN (played by an engaging Paul Rudd) in particular bring a ton of likability and humor to the proceedings while new addition Black Panther (played by Chadwick Boseman–soon to appear in his own BLACK PANTHER standalone flick) brings a real sense of drama to this all-star superhero opus.
CIVIL WAR is long and there’s certainly a lot going on (at times, perhaps a little too much), but this is an undeniably entertaining movie and the central conflict–Caps v Iron Man–is provocative and makes sense. The Russo Brothers take real world issues and inject them right into the heart of a fantastical comic book movie and these real life issues help make for a film that’s equal measures serious and fun. Speaking of fun, the big throw-down between Team Caps and Team Iron Man is ridiculously entertaining! On a final note, as was the case with THE AVENGERS, it’s cool to see a comic book movie in which our favorite iconic superheroes communicate with one another, whether it be on the battlefield or otherwise.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is cinematic superhero goodness on an epic scale! Watch for our full review soon.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR opens on May 6th, 2016.
All in all, Disney delivered! Yes, some GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 footage would have been amazing, and yes, I would have done nearly anything to see Steven “The Beard” Spielberg dish on THE BFG (his first collaboration with Disney and his final collaboration with the late, great screenwriter, Melissa Mathison) in person. In the end though, we hardly have reason to complain. We got to see 27 minutes of Pixar’s latest effort two months early and to top that off, we were treated to an advance screening of one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2016. A movie that really delivers, I might add. Not too shabby. Thanks Disney!
