So there have been loads of new trailers over the past week
and while in an ideal world I would want to have a separate article for each
one I simply do not have the time or interest in all of them to write one, so
instead I decided to simply write a quick summary of each one and combine them
into one article. We now virtually have the line-up for the biggest players of
2016 (including earlier trailers for ‘Civil War’, ‘Deadpool’ ‘Suicide Sqaud’…. Wow
that’s a lot of comic book movies). And with these four trailer giving us a
taste of what the others have to offer allow me to share some thoughts on them.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice
Where do I start with what this trailer did wrong? I accept
that it has been pretty divisive and I can see why because there are still some
very cool shots, particularly the verbal sparring between Bruce Wayne and Clark
Kent at the start. Eisenberg’s Lex Luther is… well it certainly isn’t the
Luther we know and love but if they are hoping to establish a franchise here it
might be a wise decision ti give the villain his own chance at development here
as well, or at least that is what I assumed so I’m relatively happy with that.
In fact if the trailer had just shown me some random shots
of action in no context at all after that I would have been very pleased with
the trailer. But it just kept going, and going and going. The SDCC trailer was
a long one at three minutes so why they decided to risk giving more away is
beyond me, as I can now make a very good guess at this movie’s overall
structure, Batman meets Superman, two do not get along and those flames of
resentment are only fuelled by Luther’s manipulation, they fight but resolve
differences, Luther’s plan was to have Batman kill Superman and must now resort
to creating some kind of creature (Doomsday or Bizarro) out of Zod’s corpse
forcing Superman and Batman to team up with the help of Wonder Woman.
Then there’s that final shot. I don’t know what it is about
it, whether it be composition, cinematography or unfinished CGI but it just
looks awful. True it is exciting to see those three characters together but
looking past that trinity the shot itself just looks wrong, especially when
compared to that one rotating shot of the Avengers line up in 2012. The shot
also completely undermines the title of the movie. Imagine this, you’re a new
viewer unaware of this film until now when you see this trailer, the final shot
emphasises the unison of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman before the title of ‘Batman
V Superman’ appears, is that not a little odd?
X-Men: Apocalypse
The strength of the X-Men series has always relied on its
actors for me, the way that it blends the lines of good and evil slightly more
than any other franchise seems to be doing at the moment and how the actors
within that series do an excellent job of crafting morally ambiguous
characters. This trailer still showcases the performances but not for the sake
of morality, for the sake of emphasising the scale and power of what the X-Men
are now facing. There were virtually no massive scenes of destruction yet I
felt that there was an extreme and clear danger with this adversary. There are
some brilliantly placed moments that showcase this, from the biblical
references that are so simple yet effective to the frankly terrified facial
expression of Quicksilver (perhaps the character with the best excuse ever to
be constantly laid back) as he runs through Xavier’s mansion.
But the most jaw dropping moment comes from James McAvoy’s
expression as he (presumably) uses Cerebro to locate Apocalypse and what
follows is this stunning blend of fear, awe and respect just in one shot. We
don’t need to see what he is seeing, we understand what scares him. Another
quick thing, does anyone else find it ironic that in Bryan Singer’s original
X-Men movie from 2000 he tried to distance himself from the comics by giving
his characters more sombre costumes and less extravagant features, but now in
2016 his next X-Men film is set to have all the bright costumes, neon lights
and Mohawks from the comics, makes you think.
TMNT: Out of the Shadows
Firstly can we agree that if your main title is Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles, you don’t need a subtitle, just call the sequel ‘2’. It
is an incredibly Michael-Bay-kind of trailer, full of explosions and sexually
suggestive shots of Megan Fox. For me the main question about this trailer is
this, did it revel in its ridiculousness? That is one thing the first one
missed out on, it tried so hard to be taken seriously rather than just accept
that it was a film about giant turtles who are ninjas, who would take that
seriously? Then 2014’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ proved that even with the
craziest and most outlandish characters (comprising of a man that does not
understand metaphors, a taking racoon and a Vin Diesel tree) as long as you
write a fun, interesting and compelling story, you can find your necessary
drama and humanity without resorting to cheap gimmicks. So all in all the
trailer looks utterly stupid, but if the movie is anything less than completely
ridiculous then I will be sevely disappointed. (I mean their last shot is a
Rhino driving a tank through a river chasing some giant turtles before a tank
shell literally hits the screen).
Star Trek Beyond
I may be in the minority here, but I liked this trailer, or
at the very least I liked the possibilities it posed for the next film in the
Star Trek franchise. ‘Star Trek Beyond’ appears to be focussed much more on
exploration this time around, which is a welcome change, especially as ‘Star
Wars’ will fill the gap the previous two movies were trying to occupy. Justin
Lyn’s direction is clearly visible as his camera lingers on the action
spectacle more than JJ Abrams’ does and that may suit the outdoors environment
more. It looks to have some of the humour that was missing from ‘Into Darkness’
and though some may complain about that soundtrack, remember that the ‘Star
Trek’ universe, unlike ‘Star Wars’, is not detached from our society but rather
a continuation of it, so a few pop culture references are perfectly fine with
me. There are some rather glaring unfinished CGI shots but overall the look of
the movie is good, not such a far cry from the established tone of the other
two but differing when it needs to. 
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