Aboriginal Science Fiction, Issues 57–58 — page 34: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Will Mulan make up for Hercules? between computer-generated action figures against a backdrop of live-action humans (Kirsten Dunst, Phil Hartman, and Ann Magnuson form the cast of the latter; Tommy Lee Jones, Denis Leary, and the ol’ EMH himself, Robert Picardo, voice the former). On the plus side, the film marks the big screen return of director Joe Dante, a man who gets too few chances to exercise his tal- ents (and, yes, Dick Miller is a member of the live-action cast). On the minus, rumors have it that the story line is far from coherent, and there’s an uneasy whiff of me-tooism to this project that isn’t helped by Dreamworks’ next CG effort, Antz, which will be beaten to the screen by Disney’s sound-alike A Bug’s Life. Nutty Professor or Golden Child? Doctor Doolittle may once and for all determine the direc- tion of Eddie Murphy’s career. We're back to the appealingly humanistic Eddie in this fantasy, with the classic British tale con- siderably revamped to the star’s personality. No pushmi-pullyus or giant sea-snails this time around (and no film-company- busting budget, either) — instead Eddie plays an earnest young doctor who finds himself tempted by an evil insurance company (HMOs: the new film menace) and perplexed by a recently rediscovered ability to grunt and 34 Aboriginal Science Fiction — Summer 1998 squeak and squawk with the ani- mals. The beasties talk back with the voices of, amongst others, Norm MacDonald, Chris Rock, and Paul Reubens. Under the direction of the talented Betty Thomas and with animatronic animals by the Henson Creature Shop, the odds are looking good for this one — a hope only encouraged by reports of test screenings where the projectors had to be shut down because audience members were laughing too hard. Armageddon — that other big- asteroid movie — might be another story. Now, let’s see ... Bruce Willis starring in yet another big-budget SF produc- tion, this time out of the Jerry Bruckheimer action mill. Good luck with Breakfast of Cham- Cyber Penny? pions, Bruce — Armageddon outa here. On the one hand, the trailer for The Avengers, starring Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman as master spies John Steed and Emma Peel, looks pretty cool. And goodness knows, the idea of Thurman in black-leather bon- dage has certain, uh, anthropo- logical interest (rowf-rrrrr-rufff- aroooooooo!!). But Warner Bros. has rescheduled the release date for August 14th — never a good sign — and one has to wonder whether, in these days when camp seems to be the only mode of expression for too many film- makers, a director such as Jeremiah Chechik (Benny and Joon) will be able to finesse the drier tack taken by the original series. Does it provide any sort of a hint that the story line seems to be about an evil plot to control the world’s weather, with Sean Connery playing a villain called Sir August de Wynter? How about that that’s the same plot used in Our Man Flint? Further down the _ pike: Warner Bros., the company that hasn’t recently had much luck with its tent-pole productions (Batman and _ Robin, The Postman), may finally have a winner with The Wild, Wild West. Directed by the nimble Barry Sonnenfeld and starring Will Smith as 19th-century super- agent James West, Kevin Kline as chameleonic sidekick Artemus Gordon, and Kenneth Branagh as evil genius Dr. Loveless (cooooo000l casting!), this looks well placed to replicate the wry humor that made the TV series such a kick. They’ve even got Robert Conrad — the original West — in a fairly substantial role. Sounds like one to look for- ward to. I’m not so sure about Frost, a film set to premiere at the end of this year. Also out of Warner Bros., this one has Tom Hanks as a dead jazz musician who’s resur- rected via CG as Frosty the Gomicbooks. com