The last few weeks has seen a massive tide of big new trailers roll out as 2012 draws to a close and next year’s films begin the process of jockeying for position in our consciousness . Allow me to share with you my opinion of them, and offer up an assessment of their degree of awesomeness.
Pacific Rim
I have been anticipating this trailer with extreme fervour, and I must say I’m very happy with how it balances juicy reveals with a sense that there’s much more we haven’t seen.
The instantly apparent sense of scale promises action the likes of which has not yet been attempted in the CGI blockbuster era. I love bigness, and this trailer is overflowing with it.
With Charlie Hunnam’s voiceover referencing monsters from another dimension, one is reminded of Pacific Rim director Guillermo Del Toro’s affection for the works of H.P. Lovecraft – it was the failure of Del Toro’s planned adaptation of Lovecraft’s At The Mountains Of Madness that lead directly to Pacific Rim going into production, so it’s nice to hear the director may be channelling some of that affection in this film. With a giant helping of Godzilla and Voltron thrown in.
The tagline – TO FIGHT MONSTERS, WE CREATED MONSTERS – is a touch ham-fisted and the post-title money shot of a tumbling “Jaeger” (which we now know is pronounced “Yay-ger” [there’s going to be a tough drinking game in this – Ed]) feels a little too Michael Bay-ish, but everything else in this trailer rules, especially the rocket-powered punch applied just before the title comes up.
Guillermo Del Toro’s epic monster mash is going to live or die on its set-pieces – tellingly, there are no stars in the cast. The movie is the star. That big rhino-looking dude attacking the bridge is the star. The giant robots are the star. Bring it on.
Awesomeness Factor: 10
Oblivion
Yes all the Superbowl stuff is painfully cheesy, but I’m just excited that there’s another original sci-fi movie coming out that isn’t based on something we already know. Oblivion is apparently based on a treatment by director Joseph Kosinski which is also being turned into a graphic novel.
As the ‘live action Wall-E‘ first half of the trailer gives way to a more generic sci-fi action sell, I remained captivated by the cool ‘white’ aesthetic of the tech and the bare landscapes.
Then when Olga Kurylenko shows up, we start to see hints of some sort of large Twilight Zone-esque reveal, which I can appreciate. The brief glimpse of some sort of gargantuan space thing that occurs just after Kurylenko says “You need to know what happened” evokes the epic aesthetic of ’70s and ’80s sci-novel covers. It is choice.
The post-title money shot here (of Cruise being dragged along by a robotic grappling hook or something) is decidedly underwhelming though. I am gonna give the trailer the benefit of the doubt and chalk that up to it not wanting to be too spoilery. However, Kosinski has a lot to prove after so spectactularly messing up the Tron sequel.
Awesomeness Factor: 7
Man of Steel
The first Man of Steel teaser gave me chills, and this first full-length trailer very much picks up where that left off.
The unfiltered mythic power of Superman really shines through here. I love that they haven’t just laid out all the big action – this really focuses on drama and tone more than anything. It’s still very much a tease however, with only brief glimpses of Amy Adam’s Lois Lane; Russell Crowe’s Jor-El and Michael Shannon’s Zod.
The ‘young Clark Kent’ stuff that makes up the first 60 or so seconds of the trailer helps seperate this version of the story from those that have come before, as does the more complex portrait of Ma and Pa Kent, as played by Diane Lane and Kevin Costner.
While a couple of shots betray some pretty generic action (Collapsing buildings. Sigh.) others hint at a unique approach – (Clark on fire! Supes arrested!).
I’m sure a third trailer will lay everything out a bit more clearly, but I’m very content to stay in the dark a bit longer.
Awesomesness Factor: 10
Star Trek Into Darkness
There are lots of nice things in this trailer, but overall the impact is slightly less than I had hoped. The reverent tone of the opening (shots of the Captain’s chair etc) is nice, and the character-focused voice-over is pretty cool. Plus I LOVE the red foliage planet we see Kirk and Bones running across.
There’s been much speculation and very little solid info about the exact nature of Benedict Cumberbatch’s villain, whom many want to believe is Khan (the famous villain from 1982’s Star Trek II: The Wraith of Khan, played by Ricardo Montalban) or at least someone Khan-like.
Cumberbatch’s ominous voiceover in the Announcement Teaser in which he spouts on about vengeance would seem to support this notion, but that line has been dropped from the new trailer.
The shot toward the end of the trailer of two hands (one seemingly Spock’s) touching tenderly with glass inbetween evokes one of the more famous moments from the 1982 film, but JJ Abrams surely wouldn’t spoil such a scene in the trailer, so I’m gonna read it as a misdirection.
There’s apparently lots of ‘falling’ action, which I love, but overall I was slightly underwhelmed by this trailer.
Awesomeness Factor: 6
After Earth
I should be more excited about the existence of another original sci-fi film, but I am struggling to look beyond the nepotism factor in After Earth, in which father and son Will Smith and Jaden Smith play father and son.
The trailer did not benefit from coming out just after the one for Oblivion, which seems to have a surprising amount of overlap with this film in regards to a deserted Earth holding secrets for a select few individuals.
The opening crash scene is nice, but little else popped for me in this trailer. I am encouraged by the V/O line “Everything on this planet has evolved to kill humans”, and that thing that looks like a giant passionfruit is kinda nifty. But the sub-Avatar vibe of this trailer does not inspire much excitement in me.
Although he’s made a bunch of stinkers lately, I remain faithful that M. Night Shyamalan has more great movies in him. I just don’t know if it’s this one.
Awesomeness Factor: 4
The Lone Ranger
It’s never encouraging when you hear about a giant movie having to trim its budget, as was the case with this troubled production. The notion of a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced Lone Ranger film has never been particularly inspiring, and is there anyone left in the world still excited by the prospect of Johnny Depp doing a funny voice in a big budget adventure?
But the first proper scene in this trailer (after the opening flurry of edits) in which the titular character wakes up high atop a shaky wooden structure perched on the edge of a vertiginous rocky outcrop really grabbed me.
Reliably visual director Gore Verbinkski flexed his Western muscles in last year’s Rango, and some of the shot compositions in this trailer are similarly lush. Though there’s very little sign of the supernatural elements that apparently caused the budget problems.
But a film will always get me on side by featuring a train prominently, and this trailer has done an effective job of making me moderately more interested in seeing the film.
Awesomeness Factor: 6
Jack The Giant Slayer
This film did not endear itself to me when it changed its name from Jack The Giant Killer to Jack The Giant Slayer – a clear puss-out if ever there was one.
This mess of a trailer doesn’t do much to get me back on side. As I mentioned above in my bit about Pacific Rim, I’m a big fan of a film that can project a large physical scale. That would seem to be the raison d’etre for Jack The Giant Slayer, but the shocking CGI and bland-looking action on display is putting me right off. Plus the “humour” centred around medieval pomposity is strained and hackneyed.
A trailer is definitely doing something wrong when you find yourself wistfully recalling the creative highs of the 2010 Jack Black vehicle Gulliver’s Travels.
Awesomeness Factor: 2
Any thoughts on these trailers? Comment below!
