There were plenty of summer blockbuster spots during the broadcast of the Super Bowl on Fox, but which ones were the best? Perhaps even more importantly, was there enough time in the teasers to make a valid judgment call?
These questions also play into the recent overwhelming trend of reboots, sequels and superhero movies. About half of the trailers fit into one of those categories, and most of them, in my opinion, looked pretty weak. While not even dignifying Justin Bieber with commentary on his “movie,” there were some spots that looked just as bad. For instance, it seems like children will have slim pickings for decent animated movies this year. I really wasn’t impressed with the first Kung Fu Panda anyway, so having them come back for another is a perfect example of a studio milking a somewhat successful film for all its worth (also, it has possibly the worst subtitle for a movie ever— “The Kaboom of Doom”? Really Dreamworks?). Rio looks equally as bad; it’s sad to see Jesse Eisenberg come off The Social Network to have this probable dud being one of his next projects. And I’m tired of seeing George Lopez try and be funny during commercials when I’m trying to watch Conan, so I don’t think listening to his voice for an hour and a half will change my opinion of him.
But besides the kiddie trailers, we also got a look at the final pieces for 2012’s The Avengers, with spots for Thor and Captain America. I’m getting dangerously close to being fed up with comic book movies from such a saturation of them in the past decade. But as long as they’re done with a fitting cast and crew that know what they’re doing (hard) and the project is done in an innovative and original manner (harder), then people will always have interest (I’m looking at you, The Dark Knight Rises and Untitled Spiderman Reboot). As for Thor and Captain America, it’s hard to tell. I think Iron Man is fantastic for its realistic perspective on the genre, so Thor’s plethora of fantasy elements doesn’t do much for me. Captain America seems a little better on the realism scale, but then again Hugo Weaving in a red mask cuts right through that (I liked it better when he rocked the Guy Fawkes look). I don’t think either of these films will be surprise hits like Iron Man was; at best, they act to bridge the gap to the more anticipated Avengers.
Then there’s Pirates. Honestly, this trailer seems the most superfluous of them all. Let’s face it, most people have already decided whether or not they’re going to see Johnny Depp in his sexually ambiguous role for a fourth time before they even saw a TV spot. If they haven’t made up their minds, this trailer will do little to sway them either way. The storyline still isn’t completely clear— apparently everyone is looking for the Fountain of Youth, but whether or not there is more to it than that is uncertain. Actually, considering this is a fourth installment, the film surprisingly shows some promise. The subtraction of Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley is probably the best change for the franchise. 80% of Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End was Will shouting “Elizabeth!” or “My father!” with that pseudo-emo, forlorn look on his face. Sadly, another pretty boy Brit character seems to replace him, and this time his romantic interest is a mermaid. Disregarding the creepiness of that inter-species entanglement, the couple’s inclusion seems really unnecessary. You already have a great cast with already established great characters (I will see this solely for Geoffrey Rush’s Barbossa), and you also already have a romantic element with the addition of Penelope Cruz. But like I said, if you’re fed up with Jack Sparrow, I don’t think this trailer will do much to put you in a theater seat. Even though it’s too early to tell, it doesn’t seem like it would be a mistake. Also, you know, Penelope Cruz.
Finally, the two sci-fi films advertised, Cowboys and Aliens and Super 8, both look awesome. While I’m not completely sold on having the western genre introduced to aliens, it does have the luxury of pairing up James Bond with Indiana Jones, I mean, Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. And Olivia Wilde. While it’s a completely ridiculous premise (but based off a graphic novel of the same name), the team of director Jon Favreau and executive producer Steven Spielberg shows a lot of promise, and it most likely is going to be a great movie with plenty of action.
Also produced by Spielberg this summer is the mysterious Super 8, which is directed by J.J. Abrams, who made a little television program called Lost. He also produced 2008’s Cloverfield, a movie critically panned and instigated a variety of incidents involving sick audience members. Be that as it may, credit must be given where credit is due, and Cloverfield did a fantastic viral marketing campaign. If followed, it really added to the experience of the movie itself (A whole other discussion for another day, certainly). However you feel about J. J. Abrams (hey, Star Trek wasn’t that bad), he has a truly unique style and at the very least makes things interesting. The Super 8 trailer reveals absolutely nothing about what is going to happen in the film, but it’s intriguing all the same. Is having a mystery surrounding the movie a cop-out to generate fan interest? Maybe, maybe not, but props to Abrams for making a new, original story in the age of sequels and adaptations.
There are a bunch of other trailers that premiered last night, most not worth mentioning. A Topher Grace 80s comedy, some Channing Tatum action piece that only 15 year old girls will go see, and the odd pairing of Robert de Niro and Bradley Cooper. Oh yeah. wasn’t there something for a THIRD Transformers? Great news for the twelve people who liked Revenge of the Fallen. Someone please, please stop letting Michael Bay make movies.
In the end, 30 seconds really won’t do a film justice. To get a real feel for what a movie’s going to be like, you need the solid 2.5 minutes. These super bowl spots are too choppy and sloppy, flashes of action sequences where we can’t even tell what’s going on, and forget about plot details. Cryptic monologues at the beginning, the dramatic pause in the middle, and montage of action scenes at the end. A 6th grade video production class could probably do a better job. So here’s hoping that this summer these movies surpass what little expectations that these trailers have brought us.
The only one worth watching:
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