First up is probably the most anticipated trailer to the most anticipated movie around, a trailer that had jillions of hits even when it first appeared as shaky-cam footage. In the trailer for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, we get a look back at the previous two films, including some dialogue by Liam Neeson’s Ra’s Al Ghul, which – given that there have rumours of Mr. Neeson secretly shooting some scenes for the film – could be a hint as to a possible cameo, and would also back up rumours that Marion Cotillard’s Miranda Tate is really Talia Al Ghul. In any case, we get some new footage, mostly of Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon, in a bad way in hospital apparently, and asking for “the Batman” to rise again and defeat evil. Evil, coincidentally, also appears in the form of Tom Hardy’s Bane, who looks suitably creepy and psychotic and, judging by the shot of a knackered Batman we see at the end of the trailer, a bloody handful. Watch it and feel sufficiently teased here.
As far as I can see, the only real surprise in the trailer for Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man is that it doesn’t call itself ‘Spider-Man Begins’. Just from this glimpse, it seems the Nolan Bat-reboot is the template for this “new” version of the popular Marvel character, judging by the careful emotional beats, Andrew Garfield’s broody Peter Parker, and the music. Oh, the music. Saying that, there are a few neat touches, the switch from child Peter to adult emo Peter (I didn’t think he could get more emo after the disastrous Spider-Man 3, but there we are) is well done, Emma Stone looks to be the perfect Gwen Stacy, and hey, webshooters! Despite this, it just seems a bit dull for a Spidey movie. Obviously director Marc Webb wants to get away from Sam Raimi’s interpretation and have it be its own thing, but it comes across as lifeless and drab, although I’m sure the “Mirror’s Edge” sequence at the end is probably really cool on the big-screen, especially in 3-D. Oh well, get radioactively bitten and start listening to Bullet For My Valentine here.
Remember John Carpenter’s The Thing, the beloved body horror classic with the amazing Kurt Russell beard that everyone loves to bits? Well, Universal has just released the trailer for the prequel to the film, which is also called The Thing. And, um, it looks a lot like the original film. Granted, it’s going to do, as it’s set in the Norwegian camp as seen in the first movie, before all the carnage happened, although there’s an American there (Scott Pilgrim Versus The World’s Mary Elizabeth Winstead) along for the ride, which is kind of a shame as it would’ve been a ballsy move to have the whole movie in Norwegian. But many of the shots seem just like the first movie, to the point where you wonder if it’s a calculated move on the part of the filmmakers, right down to the ‘Burn it!’ and the cell imitation/absortion science bit. It looks ok, but how much of that is goodwill from the original film? It’s worth noting that nothing in the trailer, not even the credits at the end, make mention of John Carpenter or the original film, but instead say ‘From the producers of Dawn of the Dead’. Hmph. While it’s tempting to just tell people to watch the original movie with the Norwegian audio track, if you’re so inclined you can get your thing out here.
Now we go from John Carpenter to John Carter, as Disney reveals the first footage of its adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ legendary pulp adventure novel A Princess of Mars. Directed by Andrew Stanton of Pixar fame (he directed Wall-E and Finding Nemo), the film follows American Civil War veteran John Carter as he travels through time and space to a dying Mars. Running with some nice period shot and a really good soundtrack (thanks to The Arcade Fire and Peter Gabriel), the film opens up to show a desolate yet Martian landscape, although perhaps not as exotic as we imagined. We also glimpse some amazingly designed flying ships, the beautiful Lynn Collins as Dejah Thoris, and what I assume is Willem Dafoe’s Tars Tarkas, whose voice we also hear at the end.It teases well, doesn’t show a huge amount, but I definitely want to see more. The film comes out next March, but you can watch the teaser here.
And, just in case you want more, you can catch the trailer for upcoming live action role playing comedy Knights of Badassdom (starring Game of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage) here and catch a preview of Cameron Crowe’s documentary homage to Seattle’s finest, Pearl Jam: Twenty here.
Finally, here’s a sneak preview of August’s killer release (assuming you don’t count Rise of the Planet of the Apes or Super 8 or Cowboys & Aliens) as Jason Momoa takes the jewelled crown of Aquilona upon a troubled brow as Robert E. Howard’s uber-warrior, Conan the Barbarian 3D.You can watch it here but be warned, it’s a bit NSFW, being from a scene early in the movie where a young Conan is behaving very much like, well, Conan. You can take the boy out of Cimmeria…
