One week on from the 2018 San Diego Comic Con and now that
the dust has settled and the initial hype is over, I want to look at each (and
by “each” I mean “the ones I can squeeze an obligatory post from) trailer and what
it promises for its upcoming movie. Who were the winners? Who came up short? And
could anything possible be worse than that ‘Titans’ trailer? (the answer is no
to that last one by the way, nothing will ever be worse, we found out society’s
lowest point).
Also I should note this is less about the trailer itself and
more relating to speculation regarding the movie each one is advertising since
trying to critique a trailer is ultimately pretty pointless since it’s hardly
reflective of a film’s overall quality. Enjoy!
Glass
The only thing more unexpected than M Night Shyamalan
finally making a return to form with 2017’s ‘Split’ was that he would use that
opportunity to finally make a successor to his heavily praised 2000 film ‘Unbreakable’.
What many initially assumed might only be an Easter egg for loyal fans, has
quickly materialised into the third part of a deeply fascinating trilogy.
Shymalan used ‘Unbreakable’ to deconstruct the superhero on film, and in the
time since its release the movie has become strikingly relevant to what
currently dominates the blockbuster landscape.
Obviously with it being Shyamalan I can’t help but exercise
some caution in whether ‘Glass’ will live up to its potential. But there’s little
denying that Shyamalan managed to draw the best from its three leads when he
worked with each of them. James McAvoy is once again electrifying just from the
brief glimpses alone, whilst Bruce Willis exudes the same noble stoicism that
makes his presence very welcome. But the scene stealer has to be Samuel L
Jackson’s clinical menace, as Mr Glass remains a character unlike any other he’s
played. If ‘Glass’ as a movie can match the quality of the actors inhabiting
it, then we could be witnessing something very special.
Fantastic Beasts:
The Crimes of Grindelwald
In retrospect I think one of the commendable aspects of 2016’s
‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ was how it didn’t indulge too heavily
in the Harry Potter iconography. Though it was very much in the same world as
Harry Potter, it at least felt like an individual story. It’s why I am a little
irked by this trailer for the sequel to immediately go back to Hogwarts. As
much as I adore the Wizarding School as a location it can’t help but feel
shoehorned into this trailer. They even go as far as to reference a scene from
the single best ‘Harry Potter’ movie (fight anyone who says otherwise) just to
toy with my emotions.
But on the plus side ‘The Crimes of Grindelwald’ does feel
much more focussed and driven than its predecessor, which spent far too long
meandering around to feel urgently compelling. I also like the idea of
exploring Newt more since we got fragments of character development but no
cohesive arc in the first one, even though said fragments did seem interesting.
The sheer creativity of JK Rowling’s world always shines through and if nothing
else we’re sure to be in for a visual splendour of great production design and
visual set pieces. I even found Johnny Depp as Grindelwald to be somewhat
decent, even if I would trade him for Colin Farrell in a heartbeat.
Godzilla: King of
the Monsters
Yes everyone probably wants to talk about the music choice
for this trailer first, and I hate to give into a trope but I feel like I have
to as well. While I had my doubts at first the gentle harmony that built in volume
and impact to terrific effect. The editing did so much to complement the music
choice and both actively raised the trailer to very impressive heights. Based
on the trailer I can also praise ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ for its
varied colour palette. The contrast of orange and teal may be a trope but it’s
an effective one, and the constantly opposing cuts from each palette to the
next make each individual shot stand out.
It was also upon watching this trailer that I realised for
the first time just what an impressive cast this film boasts. The likes of Kyle
Chandler, Sally Hawkins and Ken Wantanabe would be intriguing, but then you
take into account Charles Dance, Millie Bobby Brown, O’Shea Jackson Jr and
Thomas Middleditch as well just to make everything even better. But the real
star is of course the titular king of monsters. Based on the trailer I worry
that Michael Dougherty isn’t as restrained as Gareth Edwards when it comes to
depicting the monster (something I greatly admired about the 2014 film) but
then again he has earned the right to up the ante for the sequel so we’ll have
to wait with baited breath.
Shazam!
Perhaps the biggest surprise of SDCC this year was the
notion that a DC movie might be fun and uplifting again. Obviously Patty
Jenkins’ ‘Wonder Woman’ conveyed that and then some, but it was sad to see the
good will DC built with that film slowly seep away as the disaster that was ‘Justice
League’ came and bombed. Luckily though, the folks at Warner Bros might have
learned their lesson. The trick that DC seem to have finally tapped into is
that they need only make good movies (an oversimplification I admit but stay
with me). When so many studios are so far ahead in the Cinematic Universe game,
it makes so much more sense for DC to just rely on telling stand alone stories
and focus on making them and them alone into the best possible film they can.
‘Shazam!’ just looks like great fun, a superhero film
directly about the demographic who can find the most joy in the genre. The
trailer just carries this infectious energy that has me very excited to see
what awaits. Zachary Levi is immensely charismatic in the lead role, and fits
perfectly into what a kid’s concept of a superhero would be like. The costume
is also so wonderfully cinematic yet comic accurate at the same time that it
makes me smile all on it’s own.
Aquaman
Then there’s ‘Aquaman’ which…also pleasantly surprised me.
Though I remain sceptical for the movie as a whole, I can’t deny that the
trailer definitely swayed me to a more optimistic place. I’ll start with my
biggest gripe in that I still fear Jason Mamoa’s iteration of the character
just seems to bipolar for me to see him as an empathetic character. Even in the
trailer he seems to be switching between the dark and brooding tone that reeks
of being too desperate to disregard to inherent silliness of the character, to
then lean completely into the ridiculousness and be pleasingly boisterous.
Putting that aside, the score alone seems to be very
affecting. Within the trailer it creates a rousing sense of anticipation and
awe inspiring quality. I also love how
James Wan has rendered Atlantis as a tactile world within this trailer. From a
few shots alone he seems to have an explicit vision of what this environment is
going to stir within its audience. The CGI leaves a little to be desired but I
can forgive that for the overall feel and emotional weight of the trailer. If
it’s main goal was to convince me that there’s a chance of an ‘Aquaman’ movie
being a serious commodity then it succeeded as far as I’m concerned.
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