In the past five days the Internet exploded with trailers for upcoming nerdy blockbusters, well at least movies that studios hope will become blockbusters. The best of the bunch was the trailer for The Force Awakens. Star Wars still trumps everything, as evidenced by the 88 million views the trailer received in its first 24 hours online. Check out the other trailers below.
Jurassic World
I never saw Jurassic Park 3, mostly because Jurassic Park: The Lost World was terrible. I did love Jurassic Park, though; I remember watching it for my friend Jimmy’s 12th birthday party. I haven’t watched it for a long time, but I still remember how terrifying the raptors were and how massively intimidating the tyrannosaurus was. Jurassic World looks decent, though I fear the trailer gives away too much of the movie. The trailer definitely has a lot of dinosaur action, so hopefully there’s a lot more where that came from. Also, if Chris Pratt dances to a 70s song again, I will watch Jurassic Park seven times in the theater.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJJrkyHas78&w=560&h=315]
Fantastic Four
Even though I wrote about it, I wasn’t that impressed by the first trailer for Fantastic Four. This trailer, though, has me tentatively excited. I’m still not sold on the team’s origin, but at least it seems like they’ve got the relationships right. More than any other super hero team, the Fantastic Four is all about the relationships among its members. If the movie can get those relationships right, then I might be able to look past wonky origin stories. If the movie screws up Doctor Doom, though, then I hope the movie is so bad that Fox sends the rights back to Marvel faster than the Philistines got rid of the Ark.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rRoD28-WgU&w=560&h=315]
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
Zak Snyder tried trumping The Force Awakens by releasing a five-second teaser to the trailer for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. His trick didn’t work, though, as five seconds of DC’s biggest super heroes got lost in the wave of love for Han and Chewie. Then, to make matters worse, the full trailer was leaked online, undoing Warner Bros.’ plans for an IMAX premiere for the trailer. The studio then released the trailer, hoping to undo the damage of the leaked trailer. I was unimpressed by the Dawn of Justice trailer. It’s dark and brooding and the voiceovers made me want to hear Luke Skywalker’s voiceover again. I’m sure there’s more to Dawn of Justice, but this trailer was a blip compared to nuclear explosion of The Force Awakens trailer.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwfUnkBfdZ4&w=560&h=315]
We live in a brave new nerdy world where trailers for movies are big news. None was bigger than The Force Awakens, but that doesn’t come out until Christmas. So I might as well watch some dinosaurs and super-powered scientists to bide my time.
Which of these trailers got you most excited?
I share your guarded optimism about “Fantastic Four.” More character beats, and they do feel right. They’re so gosh-darned young, though… In the comics, part of what makes the team unique is that is a blend of youth (Johnny) and experience (everyone else.) We shall see.
Jurassic World seems largely a retreat of Jurassic Park. But I’m going. Because dinosaurs!
The trailer does make Jurassic World feel similar to the original, but I like the prospect of a park filled with people as opposed to a scant few running around the island.
Uh, that should have read “retread.”