I know I’m not the first person to say this, but I really think Marvel is just fucking with DC at this point. A few weeks ago, DC drops the Justice League trailer and Marvel is all “That’s a nice little trailer you have there.. Fuck you, here’s Spider-Man: Homecoming!” Last week DC announces that Joss Whedon is writing and directing a Batgirl film for them, so today BOOM! Thor: Ragnarok!
The Thor movies have been the weakest of the standalone Marvel films so far, but this looks fucking spectacular! We live in a wonderful time to be comic book fans…
Summer is almost upon us and that can only mean one thing… SUMMER MOVIE SEASON BEGINS!!! Every year between the first weekend in May until Labor Day weekend we’re bombarded with every enormous sequel, threequel, prequel, remake, reboot, reimagining, adaptation, tent pole film that Hollywood can throw at us.
And like the suckers we all are, we watch the amazing trailers and see the cool movies posters and think “Man, Van Helsing is going to fucking RULE!” and “Spider-Man 2 was SOOOO good, 3 has to be even better, right? RIGHT?!”.
But I’m the biggest sucker if them all because I fucking LOVE the Summer Movie Season. Because for every “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, “Pixels” and “Transformers: Revenge of The Who Gives A Shit”, every now and again we sit down in that theatre and magic happens. Jaws. Raiders of the Lost Ark. Jurassic Park. The Dark Knight. The Avengers. I could go on and on. Now, I don’t know if the movies below will fall into the “Holy Shit, that was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen!” Or “WHAT THE FUCK WERE THEY THINKING?! Please give me the last 2 1/2 hours of my life back.” categories. Let’s all cross our fingers and hope for the former. Without any further ado here are my picks for my 5 most anticipated movies of summer 2017 (plus an Honorable mention):
Honorable Mention: War for the Planet of the Apes
Opens 7/14
Director: Matt Reeves
These movies are way better than they have any right to be. When “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” came out in 2011, I don’t think anyone predicted it would launch one of the best sci-if franchises of the decade. Though the 2nd film, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”, wasn’t quite as good as “Rise”, it was still a great entry in the series. “War” looks to be where the shit really hits the fan in the war between apes and humans. Plus, seeing Woody Harrelson go full Col. Kurtz is a real draw. This movie is also notable because “The Batman” starring Ben Affleck is “War” director Matt Reeves’ next film. Reeves has already proven himself a more than capable director, but Batman and DC fans will be breathing a little easier if Reeves knocks “War” out of the park.
Also, I can absolutely guarantee it’ll be better that this…
Seriously, can someone please tell me what the fuck is happening there?
War for the Planet of the Apes trailer:
ALIEN COVENANT (2017) movie poster
5. Alien: Covenant
Opens 5/19
Director: Ridley Scott
I know I may be in the minority here, but I actually really liked “Prometheus”. So I was definitely thrilled to hear that Ridley Scott would be continuing that story in some fashion. I’ve always been fascinated by sci-fi that plays with ideas like, where we came from, what’s our place in the universe, and who or what created us. There was an existential kind of Lovecraftian horror in “Prometheus”, which I felt set it apart from similar films. At one point, the original title of this movie was “Paradise”, meaning if The Engineers are God, their home planet must be Heaven. This is the planet the crew in “Alien: Covenant” makes the horrific mistake of trying to colonize. I don’t know how much of that made it into the final film, but I really like the idea. In the original “Alien” film, at first Ripley was not necessarily the clear hero of the story. Of course, as we all know Ripley is indeed the hero of the movie which was sort bucking tradition at the time. In the “Alien: Covenant” trailers, Danny McBride’s character seems to be a blue-collar pilot, member of the crew. Presumably in the film for comic relief, he seems to be a cannon fodder character. How cool would it be if he was unexpectedly the hero/sole survivor like Ripley in the original? I doubt it, but it would be cool.
Alien Covenant trailer
4. Spider-Man: Homecoming
Director: Jon Watts
Opens 7/7
Despite the fact that I had big problems with the most recent trailer (see my recent article: Spider-Man: Homecoming and The Lost Art of the Trailer) I’m extremely excited to see this movie and It looks like it’s going to be a blast. This flick has a lot going for it: a FINALLY age appropriate Peter Parker, Spider-Man officially part of the MCU, Michael Keaton as The Vulture. Reportedly these movies will follow something similar to the “Harry Potter” model. Each film taking place during Peter’s Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years in high school. Unfortunately, there have been some recent rumors regarding how Sony may not actually allow Marvel to use Spider-Man as part of their cinematic universe indefinitely. Which, if true, is a real shame. At the very least we know we’ll definitely see Spider-Man kicking ass alongside The Avengers in next years’ “Avengers: Infinity War”.
Check out the trailer:
3. Wonder Woman
Director: Patty Jenkins
Opens 6/2
All I can say, is it’s about damn time we got a Wonder Woman movie. She is arguably one of the top three most iconic superheroes of all time as well as being one of DC’s most interesting characters. Gal Gadot not only looks the part (I love that costume) but she was one of the best things in the last year’s “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice”. The trailers haven’t exactly blown my socks off, but as we all know a trailer is not necessarily a reflection of the quality of a movie, for better or for worse. All the DCEU* films have been met with mixed responses so far (personally I kind of loved Man of Steel and BvS, but Suicide Squad was pretty awful). Hopefully this is the movie fans and critics have been waiting for. A character like Wonder Woman deserves nothing short of greatness in her solo cinematic debut.
*DC Extended Universe
Wonder Woman Trailer:
2. Baby Driver
Director: Edgar Wright
Opens 6/28
Edgar Wright is one of the few filmmakers where, regardless of the subject matter, I’ll be eagerly awaiting one of his films, no questions asked. I could walk into the movie theater to see a new Edgar Wright film without even knowing the title of the movie and I would be excited. That’s a pretty small club that includes people like Guillermo Del Toro, Quentin Tarantino, Joss Whedon, and maybe a few others. Edgar Wright’s track record speaks for itself: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, The World’s End. All excellent films. The premise for this movie is just icing on the cake. It’s a heist/car chase movie about a young getaway driver trying to run away with his girlfriend and get out from under the thumb of his gangster boss. If this plot sounds derivative, watch the trailer I posted below and you’ll see why I think this looks so exciting. Add to that, some great casting which includes Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, and Kevin Spacey and it looks like Wright’s winning streak is safe.
Baby Driver trailer:
1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2
Director: James Gunn
Opens 5/5
There really was no contest for the number one spot on this list. The first Guardians of the Galaxy is a bona fide modern classic. Later this year, in November, DC’s Justice League opens. I’m a massive fan of those characters and for me seeing the Justice League on the big screen for the first time is an event on par with the first Avengers movie or The Force Awakens. But if you put a gun to my head and made me choose Guardians or Justice League, I may have to go with the Guardians. These were some of the most lovable and charismatic characters we’ve seen on film in a long time and I have complete confidence that director James Gunn is going to deliver a spectacular sequel. This film also sees the introduction of Kurt Russell as Peter Quill’s father which is brilliant casting and I’m happy to see Michael Rooker’s Yondu has been promoted to a full-time Guardians member. The first Guardians film may be the best film Marvel has made to date (depending on which day you asked me, I may have different best film). So I’ve been anxiously awaiting Vol.2. May 5th can’t get here soon enough!
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 trailer:
So what summer movies are you most looking forward to? Do you agree with my list? Let me know in the comments below.
There’s nothing more exciting than seeing a great trailer in a movie theatre. The best trailers capture your imagination about the movie to come without tipping their hand too much. These days though, it seems like once you’ve seen the trailer for a big Hollywood blockbuster, you feel like you’ve seen the whole damn movie!
Take last years Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. I’m not even going to touch the question of the quality of the film, I’m just gonna talk about what the trailer showed. Regardless of what you actually think of film, if you were a lifelong DC Comics fan, there are a lot of really cool Easter eggs and moments that are absolutely thrilling to see on the big screen. Imagine if the promotional material hadn’t shown 90% of that incredible Batman warehouse fight towards the end of the film? Or if you didn’t know that you were going to see Cyborg or The Flash or Aquaman? Or Parademons?!!! We all would’ve lost our minds! But because of the trailers and TV spots, we all knew this was coming. It’s so much more fun walking into a movie and being truly surprised but what you see up on the screen. Unfortunately that’s becoming more and more rare.
One of my most anticipated movies this year is Spider-Man: Homecoming. Spider-Man was one of the highlights of last year’s phenomenal Captain America: Civil War. The first trailer was a blast! It had this awesome, John Hughes meets Harry Potter vibe. And who out there doesn’t love seeing Michael Keaton playing The Vulture like an absolute badass? Then a few days ago, they released the second theatrical trailer and I was really excited. Despite the fact that everything in the trailer itself looks really cool, I feel like the trailer gave the entire movie away. Check out the trailer below to see what I mean and then keep reading:
Let me break it down: we have Spider-Man swinging around, doing his thing in the cool suit that Tony Stark gave him in Civil War, he’s trying to get a spot on The Avengers while dealing with all of his high school crap. He makes a big mistake while facing off against The Vulture and his crew. Tony Stark has to come and save his ass and then takes his Spidey suit away because he feels Peter isn’t ready for it (and because Tony Stark is a prick). Then, in his old crappy homemade Spider-Man suit, Peter has a final showdown with The Vulture and shows that he doesn’t need any high-tech suits to save the day, he’s Spider-Man! (And I’m sure by the end of the film Tony Stark will give his Iron-Spider suit back and Peter will be one step closer to being an Avenger) That sounds great and everything but that’s the whole damn movie!!!
Of course, on the other end of the spectrum there are trailers done the right way. “Teasers” that excite and intrigue you about a film without giving the whole thing away. Below, I’ve posted two great examples of this. One recent and one from almost 20 years ago.
This first teaser is for the M. Night Shyamalan movie “Unbreakable” starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson. This was M. Night Shyamalan at his best. He was just coming off the success of “The Sixth Sense” and this was his follow-up to that megahit. “Unbreakable” is arguably Shyamalan’s best film and one of the best superhero movies ever made. One of the things that makes this trailer so good is that it gives you an incredibly compelling set up without spoiling the surprise of what the movie is. I’ll let the trailer speak for itself:
Tell me that teaser didn’t absolutely rock! You’re thinking “What the fuck is this movie?! I don’t know, but I bet it’s fucking awesome!”
Next, I have the trailer for Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens. Now there are actually several trailers and teasers I could’ve used for this film, but I wanted to use the “main trailer” which I think was the second or third that they put out. The one thing all of the trailers for The Force Awakens have in common is the fact that they’re all undeniably Star Wars movies, they’re exciting trailers, and they don’t give you any damn clue what the movie is really about. Is Luke Skywalker in this? Who the hell is the guy in the Vader mask? Who is the girl on the desert planet? See for yourself:
Of course when we all saw the movie, we saw that there were all sorts of fun reveals and twists throughout the story. The experience of seeing this landmark film would’ve been diminished had some of the story and character beats been spoiled in a trailer.
Personally, I’d really love to see them go back to the type of trailers like the “Unbreakable” one above. We so rarely get surprised in movie theaters anymore. There’s real magic in going to see a film and getting swept up in the story and the characters. I think it’s a shame that to a large degree, with very few exceptions, we’ve lost that. Don’t get me wrong, I will be there opening night for Spider-Man: Homecoming and I’ll probably love it. However, the next time we get a huge blockbuster movie, I hope the filmmakers realize that a teaser trailer can be a work of art all by itself and restraint can create magic in the theater.
Thanks for reading!
-Paul
P.S. I should mention as a disclaimer that other writers like Quint over at Ain’t It Cool News and others have written similar articles about teaser trailers and I was definitely inspired by their great work.
World’s Best Media 