San Diego Comic Con 2008 - PREVIEW NIGHT

From Iron Man to Black Man -- all in one summer.

Festivities were undoubtedly underway earlier tonight at the San Diego Convention Center as fanboys scurried to pick up their four-day passes for Comic Con at the event's Preview Night. This year, the vibe around town is a little different than last, if only slightly -- things are always progressively more commercial with each passing Con. Look no further than the fact that the aforementioned four-day passes sold out months ago; never before has that happened. (In fact, you can't even buy a single day pass at this point; they've been gone for weeks themselves.)

Without any real interest in the minor events offered by Preview Night and no real reason to pick up my Press Badge until the following day, I did what any cinema-lover naturally would: hit up the first of two SDCC preview screenings of the much-anticipated Tropic Thunder. Packed to a full-house reception at Downtown's UA Horton Plaza 14 cinemas, the picture went over considerably well with fans, most of whom were in the 20-30 demographic. There was loud applause and laughter, as expected, when stars Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr. appeared onscreen for a recorded introduction (the next best thing to actually being there). And the warm response continued long after the film began.

My thoughts on the movie? Without giving too much away--I will be reviewing it in detail next week--I wasn't as wild about the picture as everybody else seemed to be, but still marginally recommend it. There are lots of laughs, especially during some fake pre-show trailers (Downey's is particularly hysterical) and bits starring Tom Cruise and Matthew McConaughey (WTF!?), but on the whole I couldn't help but feel a tad unsatisfied. With such a lofty premise and such a great cast, it's sometimes a bit of a disappointment when Tropic Thunder goes for stock gags and loud action scenes that seem waaay too much like they could be in the fake Vietnam movie that the cast of characters is shooting. Nonetheless, the project certainly qualifies as good summer fun--if nothing more--and there's no harm in that.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my first panels of the year and coverage of yet another film screening!