I'm sure everyone who has been on the internet the past couple days knows all about the new trailer that was released for STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. I had a lot of skepticism over that upcoming film--and in some ways I still do--but seeing that trailer made me actually look forward to it.
The very first thing you see in the trailer--a shot of a wrecked Imperial Star Destroyer on a desert wasteland of an unknown planet--brought to my mind a David Lean-esque type of feeling, a feeling that this was something from a grand historical epic. The voice-over from Mark Hamill will send any hardcore Star Wars fan into a frenzy, and then of course there's the trailer's revelation of an older Han Solo and Chewbacca, which I think made the entire world stop on its axis. (That shot of Han and Chewie, by the way, is based on a famous photo still from the original film).
What really makes this trailer work is that it leaves more questions than answers. That's what the best movie trailers do (are you reading this, entertainment conglomerate executives?). Who has the remains of Darth Vader's helmet? Why is the helmet still around? Who are the stormtroopers in the trailer, and who are they serving under? In the trailer Han says to Chewie, "We're home." The two of them are obviously on the Millenium Falcon, so does that mean that Han has not seen his ship in a while? And if he hasn't, then what happened to it?
There's a dozen other questions that I could ask from viewing this trailer....and that's the fun of being a fanboy, or being involved in a certain fan community. There's a sense of togetherness from following a certain movie or TV franchise, and discussing and debating it with fellow fans (when those fellow fans are not arguing or insulting one another, which happens way too often). In today's world, human beings are driven apart more and more by religion, or politics, or social issues.....yet people all over the world can come together and reach an understanding through a movie or a TV show. What does that say about the state of society in the 21st Century? (Maybe that's a blog post for another day.)
Another trailer for a major "event" movie has also been released....this one for BATMAN v SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (how pretentious is that title??). I've written several blogs already on how I feel about the movies based on DC comic book characters. This trailer begins with a cacophony of newsanchor-type voices debating the role of Superman on Earth. When then see a statue of Superman painted with graffiti that says "FALSE GOD". Apparently this film is going to go down the same road as the X-Men movies--the whole "Superheroes are enemies of the common folk and must not be trusted" road. I feel this is a mistake. As I have stated before, out of all the famous comic book legends, Superman is the nice one, the good & noble one, the one who is most adjusted and accepting of his role. So why, in all these 21st Century Superman movies, do they surround him with darkness and doubt?? You can make an fun, exciting comic book movie without being heavy and moody--and you can still have the audience take it seriously. Marvel Studios has proven that.
The BvS trailer says it is coming out in 2016--which means Marvel is going to have a few movies out ahead of it. It also means that fanboys on the internet are going to have plenty of time to pick it apart. This movie is supposed to be a game-changer for the DC cinematic universe, but it's hard for me to have any faith in it at this time.
I have also seen trailers for the new Terminator movie. At first I was going to dismiss this out of hand, but after seeing the previews I've got to admit I'm intrigued by the premise. It looks as if this "new" Terminator will be a remake of the first one--but this time Sarah Connor saves Kyle, instead of the other way around. (Has anyone noticed that no matter what anyone does in any of the Terminator movies, Judgment Day still always happens?)
As for the new Mad Max movie, that was another one I shook my head at when first hearing about....but the trailers make the film look so over-the-top crazy, I want to see it. The fact that Mad Max creator George Miller is involved with this is another reason for my interest.
Last year's movie summer....heck, last year's movie year....was kind of blah. This year has a chance to be more memorable.
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