So here we are, not even two months into the summer movie season, and
already studios are busy plugging their latest blockbusters scheduled for
release after the summer's ended.
Leave it to Hollywood, and its Lazy Susan manner of thinking, for keeping this
particular gravy train rolling.
Last week, moviegoers welcomed the release of no less than three
high-profile trailers - for a reboot, a prequel, and a sequel. Two of these,
naturally, trade on your nostalgia for beloved returning characters, while the
third assumes you've never even heard of its characters at all. Together, they
give us an all-encompassing view of how to approach a potential franchise.
I'm all for a decent prequel, and yes, Monsters, Inc.: When Sully Met Wazowsky does lend itself to some
decent comic possibilities. But there's something amiss about the way Pixar
insists on revisiting already-established characters - more a corporate
decision than a purely creative one.
Next up: Dredd (in 3D!),
with Karl "Bones McCoy" Urban as IPC Comics's world-famous one-man
judge, jury and executioner. Bonus points if you remember they already made a
version of Judge Dredd in 1995,
starring Sylvester Stallone – an ugly, muddled mess of a movie vilified by fans
for soft-pedaling the character's comic book mythology. September's grim,
gritty reboot attempts to rectify the issue, co- written by Alex Garland of 28 Days Later fame. So, you know, there's
always hope:
That plot, by the way, bears a striking resemblance to last year's
festival favorite, The Raid: Redemption,
which is also about a team of cops battling their way up a drug- and
scum-infested apartment complex. Call it the world's first reboot/remake
hybrid.
Finally, there's Taken 2, from director Olivier Megaton (has there ever been a name better
suited for action pictures?), returning screenwriters Luc Besson and Robert
Mark Kamen, and returning cast members Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace and Famke
Janssen. The first Taken is something
I enjoy more than I probably should, with its R-rated subject matter and
bone-crunching action (the PG-13 version, released stateside, softens the
violence a bit). But if you told me Neeson's character was really Jason Bourne living
under an assumed name in his later years, I'd believe it - the guy is that
good. The sequel promises more of the same, which is exactly what you'd want, I
suppose:
So tell me, folks: Which of these trailers peaked your interest the
most? Do they accomplish what they set out to do? And since Monsters University is the most
family-friendly (and most recognized) of all three, does it catch your eye because
the trailer's actually good, or
because you'll follow Mike and Sully anywhere they take you?
Dredd renders
judgment on September 12, 2012. Taken 2
will find you October 5 in U.S. theaters. And Monsters University scares because it cares on June 20, 2013.
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