Trailer Hitch
By Zach Kolkin
August 1, 2005
Welcome to Trailer Hitch, your weekly look at the latest movie trailers to hit the internet. As August rolls around, we've moved entirely into the realm of fall and winter releases, and we have a number of trailers for heretofore relatively low-profile films this week. Read on to find out which of several impressive previews was picked as our Trailer of the Week.
Who ever thought this was a good idea for a movie?
Zathura
As I watched this trailer, there was one thought running continually through my mind: "Wait a minute, doesn't this look exactly like Jumanji?" Luckily, there's no plagiarism going on here: Chris Van Allsburg only stole from himself in writing this story, which might as well be called Jumanji in Space. The trailer is primarily composed of one extended clip from the boys' first experience with Zathura, a mysterious board game that transports them into outer space, that results in their house being bombarded by a meteor shower. Unfortunately, it's not particularly exciting, and again, anyone who has seen (or even heard of) Jumanji will be struck by the major similarities between the two films. I suppose that there might be some young kids who haven't seen Jumanji and would consequently find this movie quite appealing, but for everyone else, this is another dull example of the "There are no new ideas in Hollywood" trend.
<Can you ever just be, like, whelmed?
Doom
Dwayne Johnson, AKA The Rock, is incredibly likeable, charismatic, and well-spoken, especially for an actor whose career started in the world of professional wrestling. So why is it that he's barely seen in this trailer, and has exactly two lines? If I were trying to sell an action film with such an appealing lead, I'd be sure to give him as much face time as possible. For some reason, however, this trailer for Doom chooses to leave Johnson's presence out of the spotlight. Also in the cast, and equally consigned to "Hey isn't that...?" appearances, are Lord of the Rings/Bourne Ultimatum cast member Karl Urban and underrated Bond hottie Rosamund Pike. Nevertheless, the majority of this teaser is devoted to introducing the film's premise (rather pointless for a movie based on a videogame) and cheesy tagline. This teaser does absolutely nothing to get anyone except for a couple gamer geeks excited for this film. Hopefully, Doom's full trailer will sell the movie more effectively.
OK, I'm intrigued
Little Fish
What is perhaps most interesting about this film is the fact that it features Cate Blanchett in a role that is so different from those we are used to seeing her in. Whereas Blanchett usually plays either British or American women in her movies, she here plays an Australian (Australia is, in fact, her homeland). Though Blanchett's characters are usually good, strong-willed females, here she plays a hardened ex-con. Also starring in the film are Sam Neill and an almost unrecognizable Hugo Weaving. While the acting performances all look quite good, the trailer does not do a particularly good job of introducing the film's premise. Indeed, it's hard to figure out what exactly is going on here, beyond a love triangle and some mother-daughter strife. Still, the scenes highlighted, brief as they are, do appear to be quite compelling, and thus, in my mind, Little Fish is certainly worthy of keeping an eye on.
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
This trailer is definitely a pleasant surprise. While it would be easy to say that Get Rich or Die Tryin' is simply the latest career move made by rapper 50 Cent (or, as his momma calls him, Curtis Jackson) in his continuing attempt to emulate his mentor, Eminem, this film certainly does not appear to be a phoned-in rehash of the surprisingly tolerable (not to mention successful) 8 Mile. Though this is only a short teaser – there is really no introduction of a storyline, only a number of short clips relating to an attempted armed robbery involving the rapper – Jackson does not stick out at all. Indeed, I think I heard more words cleanly enunciated by the man in this short trailer than I have in all of his rap songs combined. I was also pleased to see the entire ad go by without a single 50 Cent song being played in the background. Rather than simply capitalize on the success of In Da Club, this film seems to be attempting to sell itself on its own merits, and I appreciate that. Hopefully, the picture itself will turn out to be as respectable as this trailer makes it look.
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist, Roman Polanski's highly anticipated follow-up to The Pianist, is scheduled for release this Christmas, and its first domestic trailer is finally available. Although I am certainly quite excited for this film, I found this first preview a little bit disappointing. While Ben Kingsley looks brilliant in his role as the tragically sinister Fagin, I was less than impressed by the performance of Barney Clark, the young boy in the title role. Obviously, it would be unfair to base my opinion on this ad alone, but Clark certainly doesn't stand out in any of the highlighted scenes. Whether this is ultimately for better or for worse, of course, it is impossible to tell at this point. Still, with a film based on a story that is so universally known, it is going to have to be the actors and their performances that draw people to the film, and though I still have high hopes for the picture, I was expecting to be a little more impressed. This will most likely be a film whose eventual success (or lack thereof) will be largely dependent on how strong its reviews turn out to be.
I'm already counting down the days
Lord of War
Nicholas Cage is in light-hearted action movie mode for this new film in which he plays one of the world's biggest arms dealers. The trailer includes just as many laughs as it does explosions, and to good effect. Cage's banter with his girlfriend, played by Bridget Moynahan, is cute, and the "I prefer it my way" line from one of the African warlords got an especially good chuckle out of me. There's not much of a story introduced here, but who cares? This is clearly not a film aiming to win any golden statuettes (or at least, it isn't being advertised that way). It's a little surprising to see this film get a September release, since I would think it would be a good bet to capitalize on the success of Cage's National Treasure last November with a late summer opening, but apparently Lions Gate felt differently. Writer-director Andrew Niccol has been hit or miss with his two previous directing projects, Gattaca and S1m0ne – this film will hopefully put him back in the "hit" category.
Serenity (Trailer 2)
Serenity's marketing technique has been quite interesting. In addition to its standard trailers, the film had numerous screenings (with paid admission) throughout May and June all over the country. These screenings allowed the diehard Whedon-ites to see the cinematic follow-up to Firefly early, and hopefully build buzz, while the trailers started to sell the film to an entirely new audience. Luckily, the ads have done a fantastic job of making the movie comprehensible to those who have never seen Firefly, and this latest trailer is no exception. I have only seen the show's pilot, broadcast over the past two weeks by the Sci-Fi Channel, but I still had a complete understanding of what was going on in the preview, and I'm confident that even those who haven't seen as much as one episode will still feel clued-in. Since those truly enamored with the series will have already seen the film at one of the screenings, the regular spots are able to focus solely on new viewers, and they take great advantage of this opportunity. Though it is always tricky to sell a TV-to-film follow-up (The X-Files movie comes to mind immediately), the producers of Serenity have, in my mind, done a terrific job.
Rumor Has It (Trailer of the Week)
It's been a long time now since Rob Reiner last made an endearing picture, but Rumor Has It certainly looks like it might be the film that returns the director of When Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride, and The American President to his former level of prominence. This movie features a great cast, including Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Ruffalo, and Kathy Bates, and boasts a wonderful premise: Aniston plays a woman who discovers that her family was the basis for The Graduate (MacLaine takes on the role of the older Mrs. Robinson). Aniston is as endearing as ever in the preview, and overall the trailer is extremely funny and enjoyable. Christmastime seems like the perfect time to release this film, and I think it's a plus that this ad is being released almost five months prior to the release date. It's definitely the type of trailer that should stick in adult moviegoers' minds, and by the time the Holiday season rolls around, there should be a healthy amount of buzz surrounding this picture.
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