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| Left to right: Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis |
Welcome to the weekly column Trailing Off in which I take a look at a trailer from the past week and analyze its potential. This will be done using an obnoxious amount of analyzing and personal thoughts on the cast and crew as well as expectations. Coming every Sunday (it's called Trailing Off for a reason), I will attempt to highlight films ranging from new blockbusters to lesser known indies and give them their due. Partially to spread awareness, I do believe that there is an art to the sell and will do my best to highlight why these trailers matter or don't with approval (trove) or disapproval (trash). So please stop by, recommend some trailers, and I will see you next time.
Trailer in Discussion
Directed By: Andy And Lana Wachowski
Written By: Andy and Lana Wachowski
Starring: Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Douglas Booth
- Preamble -
This may be sort of cheating, as Jupiter Ascending already had a massive marketing plan months ago when it was believed to be released this year. However, I have decided to go with it not only because it was a slow week, but also because it's still an interesting move. For those unaware The Wachowski Siblings have been a strange enigma in Hollywood since breaking out with The Matrix and the lesser acclaimed trilogies. There was promise in mixing philosophy with sci-fi to produce something otherworldly and iconic. For the most part, they are part of a league with M. Night Shyamalan of early 00's directors who looked to be the next big things but inevitably didn't get that far.
That isn't to say that they are faltering. Of course, it determines what that means. Have they released a film as popular as The Matrix? Not even close. While Speed Racer has its enjoyable moments, many considered it a CGI mess. While Cloud Atlas could be praised for its technical craft, it also bombed at the box office, causing its moniker as the most expensive independent film of all time to feel somewhat of a pejorative. Still, their ambitions are unlike any other pair of directors out there. Cloud Atlas benefited from an international audience and for many, it has found its audience since the theatrical run.
There's a chance that The Wachowski Siblings will continue to have ambitions that soar above their budgets and revenue. Maybe their craft will be accepted later on when time has passed. Nonetheless, love or hate them, they are challenging the medium with a lot of interesting angles. With their latest film, Jupiter Ascending, they continue their journey into sci-fi and maybe will find their next big hit. Who knows. The only issue is that betting on them doesn't have the flair that it once did. Just because Cloud Atlas was an understated achievement in editing doesn't mean it will become beloved overnight. Same could be said possibly for Jupiter Ascending. We'll have to wait. If nothing else, it make them an interesting duo.
- Dissection -
For starters, the idea of ambition continues to be explored by The Wachowski Siblings here. Where they have been almost entirely rooted on Earth prior to this, they are going out into space with epic battles and a familiar dose of heady philosophy. With Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis in tow, there seems to be discussion of hierarchy and what is necessary to control the world in a time where the planet's balance is in question. For the most part, it is the actors that sell the trailer with the huge amount of effects and the continual breaking in the trailer from loud bombastic moments and the quiet conversations. It is a move that works once, but when used over and over, gets kind of ridiculous. This is, of course, a problem with the trailer and not the film, so I will do my best not to let that judge more thoughts
On the bright side, The Wachowski Siblings have a penchant for making intricate settings. Along with really weird Tatum hair, the overviews of the various scenery feel well defined. Still, the film does feel oddly dedicated to making space battles a central selling point. This isn't a bad thing, but most likely an approach made in order to capture the audience that made Guardians of the Galaxy the highest grossing film of the year. There is a chance that despite the notion that sci-fi doesn't sell that we're entering a period where it could. Even then, the phrasing "From the directors of The Matrix trilogy" doesn't hold as much confidence as it should. This looks like a big spectacle with some heady ideas that are ignored in favor of effects.
Of course, there has to be some hope that in the process of holding the film back by almost a year that there will be some improvements. Maybe the effects will be better or the story is tighter. Hopefully it wasn't just shelved because of quality reasons. One would hope that following up something as ambitious as Cloud Atlas will pay off. Maybe it won't, considering that this is an original film, which hasn't panned out for them too well. Fingers crossed, as there's enough cool scenes to make this have potential, even if it still looks indistinguishable from the other sci-fi epics currently being released.
- One Sentence Sell -
The Wachowski Siblings are back with another film that explores philosophical territory as they venture into space.
- Trove or Trash -
TRASH
My apologies, but I wasn't the biggest fan of Cloud Atlas. I also couldn't get into a lot of their other films. Again, this could be good, but the trailer looks too familiar and shiny for me to really have a necessary desire to see it. I like how it looks, but there's nothing distinguishing or selling me on checking it out.
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