Trailing Off: Super Bowl 52 Edition

Scene from Red Sparrow
Welcome to the sporadic 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. 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.


Ladies and gentlemen, it's time once again for Trailing Off's annual look at this year's Super Bowl trailers. I will be commenting on all eight of the trailers, including picking which one looks the most promising of the bunch. Please enjoy and feel free to join me in the comments by sharing your opinions on each and every title. I will try to judge on trailer and not just on my personal biases that are already established.

Skyscraper

While the conflict is to each their own, I am personally becoming less and less willing to put up with gimmicky movies from Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. I was fascinated by the teaser poster, whose realism was so off that it would lead its star to inevitable death. This looks fine if you're just going for an action film that's at times ripping off Die Hard. I'm sure it will provide some interesting moments for The Rock, but it's another example of him being used to elevate the material to something bigger and more enjoyable. I personally think that The Rock is what sells the film, and I'm not particularly interested in buying it.


Trove or Trash: Trash

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

By this point, you know what to expect from a Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible movie. There will be a lot of cool looking stunts, some quips from Simon Pegg, and a lot of pretty scenery. In that sense, this trailer is a bit predictable. However, this quick introduction to Ethan Hunt as an aging man is a little interesting and adds a twist to all of this insanity. And of course, Cruise doing whatever it is he does throughout the film is exciting, and there's some great cliffhangers present throughout the film. We'll know he'll survive, but how? This looks to be a fun little ditty to say the least.

Trove or Trash: Trove

Avengers: Infinity War

It's a difficult corner to be in for a highly anticipated movie. To put it bluntly, I judge trailers on how much they make me want to see the movie. Considering how excellent the bigger, more epic trailer that premiered in December was in spite of my familiarity, getting a quick teaser is a bit dull. I know that these characters will be in the film and there's nothing here that I'm introduced to for the first time in any exciting way. Considering that the Black Panther marketing has been doing the heavier lifting in the past few months, I don't know that anything can really sell me on Avengers: Infinity War besides just going out and seeing it. 


Trove or Trash: Trash

Red Sparrow

Following the great Atomic Blonde, I'm all on board for female Cold War spy thrillers. The initial marketing for Red Sparrow has been doing a great job of getting me hyped. However, I think that a quick teaser doesn't do enough to make me change my mind. I don't love the film any more or less after this trailer. Jennifer Lawrence looks like she's going to have a great time, and I'm there for it. It's just that a teaser that would work for newcomers is a bit underwhelming when knowing that there's a handful of better trailers out there at this very moment.

Trove or Trash: Trash

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

This is probably the closest that a second trailer comes to making me care more about the film. While the first trailer did a decent job of selling the scale, I think that this one adds a sense of fear and horror that makes the Jurassic Park franchise all the more appealing. I'm left to wonder what exactly to expect from what's to come. There is that part of me that thinks it will be as mediocre as Jurassic World, but at least their early work is pretty compelling. However, that revision of the John Williams theme is extremely goofy and ruins the mood.


Trove or Trash: Trove

A Quiet Place

Even if the film has a lot of rungs to climb to get me to care, I think that the original trailer sells the film so well. It literally makes me curious to know where A Quiet Place needs to have a quiet place. It's got a great stinger and horror underneath that makes me want to know more. It feels like a film that will falter in marketing as more of the secrets are revealed. I worry that this brief insight into the film is already tearing apart the initial charm of what I saw, so I worry that this is just going to be another misguided film for the great Emily Blunt. Oh well, at least Mary Poppins Returns is only a few months away.


Trove or Trash: Trash

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Oh hey, the Star Wars movie with the most problematic production history finally released a trailer. It's a teaser on par with the J.J. Abrams era of marketing, but it does enough of the job to sell a film about the series' most beloved character: Han Solo. What's odd though is how it doesn't feel like Han Solo is a significant character. Lando gets more screen time, and he doesn't actually do anything in the trailer. It does plenty to allude to what Han Solo's early years will be like. However, I think it could've done with a little more solo Solo. Even then, it's a teaser, and it works well enough to make audiences care about the expansion of this universe.


Trove or Trash: Trove

The Cloverfield Paradox

It's hard to write this in hindsight to the immediate impact of the film, but think of the moment that this was released. It was the first piece of marketing for the film at all. In 30 seconds, it went from another Super Bowl trailer to one of the biggest post-game celebrations of the batch. It doesn't even show that much footage, but it manages to escape the horrors of spoiler-filled culture by releasing the movie before anyone has time to piece together what they're looking at. It's an incredible achievement, and releasing it during the Super Bowl is an even smarter, more inventive move that the Cloverfield franchise will have trouble topping.


Trove or Trash: Trove


Best: The Cloverfield Paradox
Worst: Avengers: Infinity War

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