After a few more 3D titles that seemed to pale in comparison to Alice in Wonderland was something extraordinary in every sense of the word. Let me preface what the Twilight panel was like by describing what the preceding 48 hours were like for the series’ fans. Hundreds of tweens, their mothers, and other women of all ages camped outside of Hall H for two nights, and perhaps a thousand camped out for one night, all to get the closes seat possible to the stage, where the cast would appear live. Having lived and breathed the world of gaming fandom for over five years now, I thought I knew what a fanatic was. It was truly eye-opening to see the committment and the passion these women had for the Twilight franchise. There are established and competing fanbases called “teams” supporting either of the two male lead actors. Fans create clothing, nay, uniforms – in support of Twilight (although, many women thought it appropriate to dress-up for the panel). And when, near the front of the massive line, people were suspected of cutting in line, security guards were beckoned and the accussations and fighting began. Clearly, Twilight was serious business.
I expected the Twilight panel to be interrupted repeatedly with shrilling woo’s, and since I forgot to equip myself with earplugs, I stuffed paper napkins in them. Fortunately, it worked to dampen the drum-shattering screams. The cast appeared on stage to throngs of their biggest critics – their adoring fans. All of the cast members but one, the actor who plays Jacob, appeared to be somewhat uncomfortable on stage. The aforementioned actor was unnerved however, and embraced the on-screen persona fans loved so much and in turn, fed the frenzied crowd with more soft-spokenness and tenderness. But just when I thought I had seen the pinnacle of the mania, a clip from the upcoming Twilight film, New Moon, was projected onto the screens. At one point in the clip, Jacob took his shirt off, revealing the ripped male form to the thousands of screaming and fevered women in the audience. I noticed one woman in particular, a larger, older woman, gyrated with all the furious glee she had in her being – all in response to the image of the young man on screen. The madness continued to the end of the panel, at which point the thousands that camped for so long, simply left (they were already standing during their ovation to the panel).
The rest of the audience who remained in Hall H and the thousands of others who finally were able to enter and take a seat were richly rewarded for their patience with a tremendous presentation during the Avatar panel. James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver (Ms. Weaver was incredibly graceful, eloquent, and intelligent, in stark contrast to the young actresses from the Twilight panel), and other actors from the film (Sam Worthington was unable to make it, but sent a video message) appeared to discuss the film. Avatar is primarily a CGI-rendered film, and will be shown in 3D when it hits theaters later this December, and what was truly amazing was that Cameron treated the audience to a staggering 30 minutes worth of clips from the first third of the film. The CGI is mindblowingly-good, with motion capture of even the actor’s retinal movments. Watching the level of immersion 3D technology allows now really makes me believe that we are experiencing a true revival of 3D films. At the panel, Cameron wrapped up by announcing that August 21, 2009 would be marked as Avatar Day, when in every Imax theater across the globe, audiences will be able to experience 15 minutes of the film!
Finally, Hall H completed its epic stack of panels with Kick-Ass, a film based on a comic created by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. Having read each of the six issues published thus far, I was surprised to see the campy and humorous (dark humor) tone of the film. The extended trailer that was shown featured an upbeat pop song, and the “sickening violence” that was so promoted by the comic book, and the film clips were very well-received by the audience. Obviously, the marriage of light-hearted moments (scenes where daddy and young daughter are bonding) with extreme violence (said scene end with daddy shooting kevlar-wearing daughter in chest) was designed to shock the conscience, and indeed, it seemed as though this audience, who thought they had seen it all, was delightfully jarred. Kick-Ass was the sleeper hit of Comic-Con this year, and it’s guaranteed that next year, Kick-Ass will take top billing at Comic-Con’s Hall H.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
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