He's appropriately respectful of the source material, without slavishly adhering to it, noting that the new movie is "inspired by the first films, but is a true new beginning in that it takes place in the future." Even in discussing the new film's unique visual style, he has a reason for the changes he's made. It doesn't seem to be change for the sake of change, or coolness for the sake of coolness. He says that the filming process they're using "creates a surreal texture that is in keeping with the notion of the entire picture -- feeling detached from the world we know today." Most importantly, he says they're "committed to putting the story and character first and then supplementing that with action and visual effects." Awesome visual effects are awesome, but they're useless if the story and characters are crap. (I'm looking at you, Speed Racer.)

The newly released trailer also seems to be fanning the flames of hope. Now if McG --or anyone, really -- could offer up some hope that star Christian Bale can stay out of jail long enough to finish filming, that would be super.