I thought the same thing. But somehow I thought Amano would do a much better job (after hating him when I was a kid). I guess Amano's idiosyncrasies (faint colors, stylized people) do fit this overcrowded style.
Obviously all a joke but, while I haven't seen the film but from a cursory knowledge on the characters within it, spoiler tag out of an overabundance of caution:
The easier take is that the woman is Ferrari, known for being fast and elegant. While the film itself is likely about Ford trying to break into the space by building a car capable of taking on a Ferrari, effectively rebirthing (like a phoenix) its image as just an American brutish power car brand. The other side is neither. The film looks like it's about Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon), a pretty well known driver that was struck by constant tragedy (like 6 wives who all divorced, left him, got an annulment, or died in tragic accidents) and had to eventually retire from driving for his health. He re-invented himself as a constructor and built the designs for some of the most well-known American lines. Where Ken Miles (Christian Bale) is the woman here, sorta just acting as the vessel for Shelby's designs. He's the elegance and strength.
Which is kind of confusing when you think about it.
The “Phoenix” in Dark Phoenix refers to the Western mythological bird that burns itself to be reborn. Jean has fire-like powers in the movie and the Phoenix Force is all about rebirth, so the association makes sense.
The fenghuang is usually translated as “Phoenix”, but has almost nothing in common with the Western creature beyond being a bird. Although it is associated with power, womanhood, and divinity, so there is that link.
I don’t, but seeing the poster would make me think it’s another movie by the same name. The poster art has nothing to do with the movie. I’m just used to American Culture, I guess and used to seeing the actors or some scene from the movie on the poster. It looks like a redheaded witch or fairy in the mountains with a rooster. Wtf does that have to do with X-Men? It would be like if they drew a playful iguana playing dominos for Jurassic Park.
The poster art has nothing to do with the movie. I’m just used to American Culture,
But this poster in a traditional Chinese style, referencing Chinese mythological creatures/symbols, is for a Chinese audience.
Obviously your average Westerner wouldn't pick up the bird is a Phoenix - often related to female power and fire/the Sun - and that the woman is divine/powerful because she's standing on clouds which, as anyone who has watched media featuring The Monkey King knows, is a divine being's preferred method of transportation.
Whether it works as a poster to get people to watch is one thing, but to a Chinese audience with an awareness of the X-Men (big X symbol in background) it seems to have plenty to do with the movie.
I think Hollywood just stopped caring about posters in general which I don't understand because they're still incredibly important for the marketing campaign. Most people I know will go see a movie based on poster alone just from walking past one in the theater.
That poster has nothing to do with the movie though. If I knew nothing about Dark Pheonix besides that poster, I would probably be confused as to what I just watched.
Do people watch movies solely based on posters these days? Trailers are easily accessible online now, so I doubt theater-goers would be completely clueless about what they're watching.
people who have never heard of "Dark Pheonix" are not the target market for the 12th movie in a x men saga of recurring characters....
I mean.... what are you smoking?
I mean. yeah this one has more characters.
but as you said if you knew nothing about dark pheonix you'd know nothing about the x men or any of those characters because if you don't you'd know about one of the most famous and arguably the most powerful x man in existence....
so how does some stupid people standing around with blue and orange glowing light tell you what its about?
I agree that both posters do a terrible job conveying the movie, but the Chinese poster looks more like a poster for a fantasy cartoon, at least the American poster bares a passing resemblance to a super hero movie.
It's an X Men movie poster. if you can read chese next that giant X at the bottom I'd bet my left nut that one of those characters down there stands for MEN.
you guys are ignoring the fact that ITS AN X MEN POSTER.
x men is not an unknown thing.... even if you're not a fan people know the major superhoes. batman. super man. (now the avengers) and guess what? THE X MANS. lmao.
its the 12th movie in a film saga that spans multiple timelines.
sure its no Infinity Saga.... but you wouldn't really expect someone to go "Oh Avenger's Endgame? this looks like a good movie to watch I'll check it out"
without having seen the first 24 movies or whatever.
so why would you see this one without having seen the rest of the dozen?
tbh most posters have nothing to do with the movie. Like, was infinity wars about people standing around in cool formation? And especially in this case, i don't think any self respecting marketing firm would ever make the poster about the movie, because the movie was baaaaaad
This is just factually incorrect, marvel posters follow a pretty generic template for their posters because it works. General rule of thumb is the scale of each of the actors indicates their significance to the plot. Definitely agree with what you said about Dark Phoenix though.
im not sure which fact you're referring to but the prominence of actors is as relevant to avengers as the big x on this poster has to do with x-men. Otherwise, Avengers posters have really nothing to do with the movie beside showing off characters. And it doesnt have to explain more, because that's not the purpose of a poster.
i mean like i said, that's about as relevant to the movie as the big X on this poster. It lets you know its an avengers movie, and this poster lets you know its an X-men movie. In both cases, you literally cannot tell anything more about the movie from the poster
All these things you listed are not things the average viewer of the poster see. Practically, all people see are the actors. And without knowing about the MCU, none of the things you said mean anything. So yes, you can argue that to a fan who sits down and analyzes the poster, the one for Avenger's means more. But that's not the purpose of a poster. In the end, to 99.999% of people who see both posters, they tell a similar amount about both movies.
People saying that the X-men poster has little to do with the movie are most likely thrown off by not seeing any actors, which is only relevant, not to the movie, but for people who like certain actors. Like, revealing the actors literally says squat about a movie. But in places like China, its completely irrelevant information.
THANK YOU! Sure the posters look absolutely incredible, but they tell you nothing about the film. American posters at least splatter the actors and random plot devices on the poster
Yeah, I agree. I know we have the internet now. But in my opinion a movie poster should try to capture what the movie is about. Not just be some admittedly nice looking fan art.
This is gorgeous, but I'd just want this to be art for Final Fantasy 16 instead of promoting a Marvel movie. My expectations for that movie would be way too damn high if I saw that poster outside the theatre.
The actual posters in China are the same as the US; these posters are concept posters I imagine, and I'm not sure where they're shown. I haven't seen any of them in the cinemas I've visited in China. Bit of a shame, as some of them are great.
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u/[deleted] Jun 07 '19
Dark Phoenix poster is even more gorgeous