On Saturday night when I saw State of Play, I also saw trailers for two of the big May blockbusters. Between those previews and the occasional TV spot for Wolverine that I’ve managed to not look away from fast enough, I can honestly say that I’m starting to get a little bit worried. I’m worried they won’t be good. I’m worried they won’t live up to my anticipation. What I can’t decide is, am I worried they won’t be good because I’m starving for good popcorn cinema? Or am I worried because they’re just…not and I can already sense it?
The other night I was wrapping a birthday present and I happened to turn around just at the moment in the Wolverine (sorry, that’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine) TV spot where he punches The Blob. I saw Hugh Jackman and started to turn away, but then I saw The Blob and the boxing gloves and I thought it was a skit, so I stayed to see what it was. Much to my horror it was the actual movie. It looked so crappy. I got a little sad inside. I know, you’re saying to yourself, T, you gotta give it a chance. The trailers looked so good and you only saw 10 seconds of a TV spot before turning around. But I say, sometimes you just know. I’ve been hearing rumblings about Fox’s involvement in the movie. I’ve been hearing about boob moves by Marvel Studios. I know that what started out as a Wolverine movie is really just another X-Men movie. I’m worried.
I finished reading Angels & Demons again this weekend and, while written for the lowest common denominator at around a 4th grade level and it certainly not what I would consider to be ‘good literature’, it’s a charming little book and I was sad to see the extended trailer in which it looks like they’ve given it basically the same treatment as The DaVinci Code byt white washing all the spirituality out of it and making it into a nothing script. It makes me sad, because this movie could have been brilliant. It could have been legendary, but it looks to me like it’s just going to be another movie where we painfully watch as Tom Hanks looks as though he just wants to turn round and run out the back of the screen.
Star Trek. Man, I don’t know WHAT to think. I saw yet another extended preview on Saturday, but I can’t tell if it looks good or not. I’m surprised at a few of the plot twists. I’m surprised at some of the casting choices, but I suppose that it does look pretty. I hope it lives up. JJ Abrams has a history of “witholding the love” and making you wait for the pay off (see: Lost) but sometimes he makes you wait too long and the payoff isn’t as good as the anticipation (see: Cloverfield). I want to hope.
Terminator: Salvation is the movie I am the least worried about. It is possible that I am the least worried about it because I’ll like it regardless, but it’s also possible that it’s because it’s the one of these that continues to stand up upon multiple viewings of the trailer. It’s also the one that’s not releasing a TON of footage ahead of time. But this might actually be the most worrisome of them all, considering that the better the preview, sometimes the crappier the movie.
But then, I’ve been fooled by trailers, good and bad, before. I continue to hope. It all begins Friday.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Haven’t read all of your post, just the beginning as I’m diong my best to stay spoiler free for a lot of the May films. I’m a little worried. There still is a lot of hype out there but not as much enthusiasm. Maybe overkill of pre-coverage as we are waiting for stuff. At least we will know soon enough.
LOL. I tried to keep it spoiler free Shannon, I promise! but I’m very glad that I’m not the only one who’s worried. I really want these to be good…. I guess we’ll know on Friday.
As a huge X-Men fan, I’m dreading Wolverine being a steaming heap. X-Men 3 still stings. What little fiath I have has been shattered by a friend who saw the leaked workprint, and was not kind.
Star Trek I’m very excited about, I have faith in JJ Abrams (despite not being a fan of Lost at all).
T4 – I’m keeping a very open mind but I’ve liked what I’ve seen so far.
Angels and Demons. Snore. I’ve read The Da Vinci Code, and seen the film. Both are passable excercises in what they do, but neither are worth any of the fuss that surrounded them. It’s a Sunday afternoon DVD rental with a ridiculous budget.
Lowest common denominator is right. There’s a comedian called Stewart Lee who expresses his disdain for The Da Vinci Code so eloquently:
“Dan Brown writes sentences like, ‘The famous man looked at the red cup’. This is not literature and you must understand this. If I were advertising this book, it’d be a picture of the book in a toilet. And looking at the book would be a number of pieces of human excrement. And one of them says, ‘There goes the neighbourhood.’”
Nicely done, SS. That’s freaking hilarious. I will now commence scouring the net for clips of this man’s work.
I was made to watch X-3 on Sunday night, just before Mask of the Ninja and it was most definitely every bit as painful as I remember. Dark Phoenix? Ugh. My nerdy heart still breaks. Just the costume alone….
The rest, I will hope, but we’ll just have to see. At least the wait is up soon.
Wolverine… I’ll see it if I can see it free with one of my movie-theater working friends. Otherwise, DVD.
Star Trek is the one that has my geeky little heart beating the fastest. I’ve watched a couple trailers, but none of the other bits or previews that have been released. I don’t think it will disappoint me.
T4- only recently have my expectations started going up… I’ll watch it, for sure… but I haven’t thought too much about it.
Angels and Demons as a book is much more movie-friendly than The Davinci Code, methinks. That’s another one I’ll watch if I can see it for free.