Trailer review: Resident Evil: Afterlive / Paranormal Activity 2 / Fair Game / The Social Network
Ok, the point of these reviews will be to judge upcoming movies solely on their trailers. Each time I will do the trailers that came with a movie I watched in cinema, so I at least witnessed them on the big screen. I will only comment on things that are in the trailer, NOT any gossip that can be found on the web or reviews from places where they already premiered. At the most, I will extrapolate previous experiences with cast/crewmembers.
These trailers came with the movie “Machete”.
Resident Evil: Afterlive
So, we see a burning city with some decent effects, some nature as well under a dramatic melody, nothing new here. Que a woman talking about how five years ago a virus whiped out the world, the music starts becoming more actionpacked. We see a woman getting out of a small plane on a field filled with other planes, while the voice comments that there is hope.
But then… Mila Jovovich steps forward and the voice tells us that her name is Alice, then it hits: this is the new Resident Evil! The music quickens and action starts to happen (mainly Alice fighting), with sometimes a shot clearly meant to interest us (a guy throws his sunglasses at us, some guy in black in a white marble room). We also get some text-pieces about how the movie was shot with Cameron’s Avatar tricks and some more commercial babbling about great 3D. The first part trailer ends with a shot so blatantly stolen from the Matrix, that I’m surprised there is nobody calling me Mr. Anderson.
Que title: Resident Evil: Afterlife
For those of us who pause to see names: Director/Writer Paul WS Anderson (back from RE1, also did Alien vs. Predator, Mortal Kombat and some more movies of this type), Mila Jovovich (duh!), Ali Larter (that girl from Heroes, redoing her character from the third part of the series) and the rest of the names are not very big names.
Will I go see this movie? Yes, but only because I pay a monthly fee for unlimited movies, I wouldn’t spend extra money on cinema for this. I would surely rent it, though, because movies of this Director and/or series have proven to be fairly entertaining for a popcorn night on the sofa. The trailer didn’t make me curious, but it did show me that I would probably get what I expected: Mila Jovovich killing people (haven’t seen much zombies in this one) with cool action movies, and a movie for some nice shots on Whatthemovie.
Paranormal Activity 2
Too long black screen with some weird noises, this must be another bad horror. Then somebody gets thrown into a camera in a living room.. But wait, didn’t we already see Paranormal Activity (I didn’t, but I know it has been out for a while.)
“In 2009 You Demanded It” …Errr, no I didn’t. I hate it when trailers tell me stuff about me. The rest of the trailer is basically shots of an audience filmed in “night vision”, more shots of a a house and some silly scary moments where things come towards the camera, people suddenly appear after a cut or a dog growls at something we can’t see. Oh, and of course some scary music.
Que title: Paranormal2Activity
Some more of forementioned shots and the trailer is over with just an URL. No names, so probably nobody bothered to get some talent for this sequel.
Yes, they made a sequel. Of course, what is there not to milk out when your movies are cheap to film and the first part made millions! Is it me, or are “horror” (as far as you can call this stuff horror…) loving people really that dumb, that they think that films like these must be good, because the first part got a few good scares and was somewhat original? Will this get as bad as Saw, with 793324 parts where nobody understands what’s going on, nobody cares and more and more bodyparts start flying around?
No, I will definitely NOT go see this movie. I might find the first part on the internet some day, if I am bored, but I am quite sure that it will bore me even more. Movies like this can’t be named film, in my humble opinion, they are just moments of calm with moments of action in between, meant to pump some adrenaline through us, and as extra bonus they are cheap as hell to make!
Oh, and why can’t they give it a proper title? Paranormal Activity 2 would be fine, if you are at a loss of inspiration (although it promises something for the movie if you can’t even make up a good title), but Paranormal2Activity…? Come on, even for stylistic reasons this can’t be forgiven!
The thing that interests me most in this trailer, is wondering what kind of parents would keep their baby at night in the living room, without a blanket, with a dog loose next to it…
Fair Game
Dramatic music, but not in a bad way, followed by shots of Naomi Watts being a housewife and a voice-over telling us she has to be at the airport in 45 minutes. Que cards are shown in between saying “Wife, Mother”. Husband is shown, played by Sean Penn, and there are also two kids. WAIT A SECOND! Why does that girl have a Platypus plush? I WANT A PLATYPUS PLUSH! 
Oh, sorry, got distracted.
New que card, with dramatic beat in music: “Spy”.
The music starts to get more exciting, and Naomi is suddenly in the CIA headquarters, being told that something is top priority. First name: “From the Director of The Bourne Identity”. So? Not something to be extremely proud of, but I guess it could be worse. Naomi talks to some guy in a black car with a red laserpointer on the outside of the car. “Inspired by True Events”, yeah right. Apparently Naomi is in charge of an investigation to terrorists building nuclear weapons (ah, it will be one of those movies…). Suddenly Penn is also in Langley, while a voice-over tells us that they turn to him for answers (why? What does he do? Is he in the nuclear weapon business, or does he just know a few terrorists?). Apparently it is his opinion that a sale that size could not have happened. Good. Some guy who happens to be married to a CIA agent must know what he is talking about!
The trailer continues with some more tense discussions, where it is shown that some people apparently don’t want that the terrorists can’t build nuclear weapons. And suddenly is Naomi’s name in the paper, she is uncovered as a spy! Some more tense music, shots of explosions in Baghdad next to shots of conversations and the trailer ends with Naomi telling us she doesn’t have a breaking point.
Que title: Fair Game
Ok… what to say. This looks like another remake of the same movie about a spy who discovers something about her own government, mixed with something about how the war in Iraq was bad, m’kay? But, where others of this genre have failed or were mildly decent, this might actually be a good movie. Why? Well, not because of the director. After The Bourne Identity (which was a decent film), Doug Liman made Mr. and Mrs. Smith (meh, somewhat entertaining but no quality) and then sank to the abismal Jumper. That’s not it. The cast, however, has promise. Sean Penn is one of the best actors in america today, and has managed to avoid being cast in generic action films, but instead always finds scripts where his character really is a human being, as far as I can tell from the trailer, he only has scenes where he can be, well, Sean Penn, having dramatic discussions. The other half of the starduo, Naomi Watts, is less consistent, with tops such as 21 grams and downs such as King Kong.
Will I go see this? I don’t know, it may have some potential but I fear it will be another disappointment. I might go see it, if I have time, or download it some day if I have not. Or I might just forget about it and save myself the trouble, until I hear more reviews.
The Social Network
The first minute of this trailer is solely some nice music and shots of Facebook, the global social network site. Which reminds me, I need to harvest some rice on Farmville, give me a minute…
…Ok, back! Let’s see. Apparently we are in 2005 at Harvard University. We see Jesse Eissenberg behind a computer.. Letthisbekickass2letthisbekickass2! Some shots of student life, including classes, people on the internet, parties and boozing, while Jesse’s voiceover explains that he wants to build a website where people can keep in touch with their friends, upload pictures and have profiles. Basically student-life online, which was a great success. But then, people claim Jesse stole the idea from some other kids, Jesse is seen rowing and then Justin Timberlake (oh damn, I so hoped he quit acting ) tells them a billion dollars is big money (no shit, Sherlock!). The discussion about who stole whose website gets bigger and bigger, ending up in court-threats. The rest of the trailer is basically shots of more student life, but in a more extreme way: nightclubs, burning trashcans, girls kissing guys and shots of people in suits sitting at a table discussing the courtcase, all under this amazing piece of music.
Que title: The Social Network
Well, let’s see here. What just happened? Apparently, the kid from kick-ass made Facebook at college, but somebody else made Facebook first and now people are angry…? I literally have no idea what this movie is about, besides Facebook. The acting looked kinda lame, with Eissenberg (who I just dislike), Timberlake (come one!) and a bunch of people I didn’t recognize. The best piece of the trailer was easily the music! And yet… and yet, I have this feeling this movie will be amazing and thrilling. The shots really looked as if they were taken by someone with good experience at making great movies, the editing of the trailer was good and the subject is new, at least, I haven’t heard of another movie about the creation of Facebook. I will definitely see this, but I don’t know yet if it will be Cinema-worthy…
I just cheated and googled the movie, and apparently it’s the latest project of some bloke called David Fincher.. yes, the one from Fight Club, The Game and Benjamin Button. He brought along the cinematographer of Fight Club and the music is done by someone called Trent Reznor, who was the creator of the rock project Nine Inch Nails. Maybe the best part of the crew is the name of the fellow who wrote it: Aaron Sorkin, who also wrote the great TV-series The West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, next to such modern classics as A Few Good Men, The American President and Charlie Wilson’s War. I can’t think of someone I prefer more to write a movie like this, than this man, who has written some of the best discussion scenes that I can remember. I only need to remind you of the great “You can’t handle the truth!” scene, so marvelously displayed by Jack Nicholson, from A Few Good Men.
Now I know this, I will REALLY see this movie.
