Experiencing a trailer for the first time in a theatre is a rare experience for film-lovers these days, as by the time a trailer print hits theatres, we’ve generally spent hours examining every frame on the internet. Far be it from me to go against the grain with this week’s blog, in which I look at the most recent trailers for five upcoming ‘big’ movies.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
While I’m as cynical as the next guy about Michael Bay’s ability to make coherent blockbuster movies, I’m also prone to some of the cinematic gravy he piles on his movie french fries. There’s always at least a couple of shots in every movie he releases that makes seeing them worthwhile. The action seen in the above trailer between 1.40 – 1.52 is the kind of stuff I’m talking about. If eating movies is what I really do, then Bay’s are the least nutritious. But I still eat them.
The building –collapse stuff towards the end of the trailer is slightly worrying, but then again, I think my favourite part of the first film was when Megatron crashed through a building. He was accused of 9/11 insensitivity then, it’ll be interesting to see if the new film provokes any such reaction.
I’ve always appreciated how the Transformers movie mythology ties into the space race, and this film appears to be really playing up that angle, which is cool. Bay has also mentioned Black Hawk Down as an influence on the finale here, which suggests an contained urban environment and lots of shaky cam. If the crapiness of Battle: Los Angeles taught us anything, it’s that we need to retire Black Hawk Down as a reference point. Ground level shaky cam is all good and well, but it has its place, and I’m not sure that’s in a Michael Bay film.
But the main reason I’m interested to see T3 is because it represents a (relatively) contrite Bay. He has tacitly acknowledged how terrible part 2 was, and wants to make up for it. I’m always amused when movie titans (especially one so casually antagonistic as Bay) state their intentions to “make good” on a movie, as if, y’know, they weren’t really trying last time around.
And is it just me, or does Rosie Huntington-Whitely (who replaced Megan Fox as the franchise love interest after she compared Michael Bay to Hitler) totally look like a dude?
The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddiKjC_4BOo
When I was a boy, you were either into Asterix OR Tintin. If anyone tried to say they were into both, they were a filthy fence sitter. I was firmly on the Tintin side of the argument, so like millions of others, I have a lot invested in the upcoming adaptation, which represents a collaboration between Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson.
The first thing to observe about the above trailer is that it features not one single frame of synched dialogue. I hope this is merely because that kind of footage simply isn’t ready yet, and not a deliberate case of holding back what the studio fears will turn off audiences.
Modern trailer conditioning dictates the “money shot” always come right at the end of a trailer, and it’s kinda odd for this to merely be a well-lit shot of our main character’s face. Without sync.
But I still couldn’t help but get mild goosebumps when watching this trailer, if only for how it tapped into my enormous reserves of goodwill for the characters in the Tintin world. I’m encouraged by certain shots in here, and some (not all) of the character design looks really cool. I especially like the faces that are glimpsed at 0.37 – that’s no doubt Professor Calculus on the left, and the other guy, presumably some random sailor, has a nice level of stylization to his profile.
But we’re only six months away from the film’s release, and this trailer fails to allay any fears that this will be an unconvincing mo-cap experience of the Robert Zemeckis (The Polar Express; A Christmas Carol) variety.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_gKq200EBk
Although it’s the second reboot of a franchise that already spawned five movies and two TV series, there’s an ever-so-slightly quaint vibe of originality about Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Perhaps because the franchise its exploiting was created more than ten years ago, or maybe it’s my desperate need to put Tim Burton’s ill-advised 2001 film to rest.
I really like this trailer. Animals running amok is an under-exploited idea in the CGI era, and I love every shot in this trailer that features the WETA-created apes jumping about. Every recent film featuring animal attacks (The Happening; Water For Elephants) has let me down in terms of brutality. I really hope we get to see a gorilla smush someone here.
The film appears to be principally inspired by the events in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, the fourth film in the original series, which jumped all over the place chronologically. It will be very interesting to see how this film ends, especially in light of Burton’s universally derided climax.
Reel Steel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S8a180uYBM
Seemingly the result of some sort of movie plot-generating computer program (the pathos of Over the Top meets the competiveness of UFC fighting meets the robotiness of Transformers!), Reel Steel is based on a Richard Matheson short story which also inspired an excellent episode of the original Twilight Zone series starring Lee Marvin.
The more ridiculous aspects of this trailer (I’m dreading the father-son stuff already) are overcome by the general awesomeness of the robots on display. I must admit to being much more excited about seeing this movie after I saw the trailer than I was beforehand. I just hope there’s a Gender Bender cameo.
Cowboys and Aliens
God bless Jon Favreau. Like JJ Abrams, he’s a director who places value in holding something back for the actual experience of watching a movie, and not simply squeezing all the gravy he can into the trailer.
Directors aren’t to blame for this mentality, it’s the studios who create overspoilery trailers, but when a director attains a certain level of power and uses said power to make sure their trailers don’t spoil everything, it’s a glorious thing.
Reading interviews with Favreau over the past few years, it’s clear he had a less-than-wonderful experience with the studio when he made Iron Man II (and oh boy does it show). Channelling this frustrating into creating a compromise-free situation with Cowboys and Aliens has lead to a blockbuster trailer that actually manages to hold back a little.
As Favreau himself has said, we will not see the aliens of the title until we actually see the movie – I can’t remember the last time a comparable situation occurred. Maybe Cloverfield.
The trailer above doesn’t necessarily rock my world, but I’m very excited for the film, because I know there’ll be more to it.
Do these trailers rock your world? Any other trailers gotten you super-excited recently? Does it bother you that you never get to see a trailer for the first time in the theatre? Comment below!
