To write about trailers, I've to watch them. It's not a bad gig but sometimes a week's releases could be boring as spit. The worst ones are those that seem contrived or uninspired. Which is frustrating because the film could be great but someone in marketing suggests that maybe a good draw for the audience is to put THE ENTIRE PLOT INTO A 90-SECOND TRAILER.
The following trailers, hopefully, do not commit this cardinal sin. Instead, they offer a peek behind the curtain. Enjoy them, especially the first one, which is a blast from the past.
It's been 16 years since the last Scary Movie instalment and we had a healthy helping of horror movies that came out between now and then. Other than the disbelief of the pronouns joke at the start, the rest of the trailer sees the movies being parodied (The Terrifier? Longlegs?!) and it looks like Scary Movie is making up for lost time.
Lewis Tan is now sidelined by Karl Urban with a sequel focused on Johnny Cage. (I'm sure Tan's character will be involved but I'm not sure in what capacity and how much he'll be seen.) Cage is roped in to protect Earthrealm by fighting against the big bad Shao Kahn. Can't wait to see how this stacks up against Street Fighter that's coming out this year.
Jury Duty was a reality show, that follows an average American experiencing an American jury trial. Except, said American doesn't realise that everyone, except him, is an actor. It was a Herculean task, not only to keep the wool pulled over the non-actor's eyes for the entire series but also to craft a story that's worth watching. You'd think that pulling off a prank like this would be a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence but those sneaky bastards managed to pull it off again. This time, the premise follows another unsuspecting non-actor, a recent hire, who tags along to the company's annual retreat. Hi-jinks ensues, of course. But more importantly, will the producers be audacious enough to bring in James Marsden again?
It's good to see Michaela Coel again and this time she's up against a powerhouse thespian, Sir Ian McKellan. It has the trappings of a heist but I'm feeling that it's a drama about finding yourself or something.
While I can't wait to watch this based on the premise, I'd like to see the title on a t-shirt, in the style of this:
Mermaids are supposed to be beautiful sirens that sometimes can be mistaken for a half-monkey-half-fish monstrosity but from the trailer, the titular mermaid looks like a mummified corpse. That said, there's an oddness to the trailer. At the 28-second mark, there's a voiceover explaining how only five per cent of the ocean has been explored. It feels incongruous to the trailer but I'm willing to give this a chance.
We finally get to see what DCU's new Green Lantern project is about, and from the looks of the trailer, it's giving me a True Detective vibe. It looks like a murder procedural and we have two gritty detectives (intergalactic peacekeepers, if you're looking for specifics), who can't stand each other's guts.
For a superhero IP, you won't see costumes or display of powers... okay, maybe there's a small instance of Kyle Chandler flying, but this trailer is emphasising a lot on the characters and less on the superheroics.
