Amazing Spider-Man

Let’s take a look at some of the characters we have in this trailer:

• Andrew Garfield as the witty but vulnerable Peter Parker, who makes criminals look foolish both physically and verbally.
• Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, doing all sorts of Emma Stone things.
• Denis Leary as her father, a dickish New York cop with an unflexible view of what’s right and wrong.
• Martin Sheen as Parker’s well-meaning, if distant, uncle Ben.
• Rhys Ifans as the slippery Dr. Curt Connors.

All of these characters are good roles for the actors playing them, and that is promising. While the trailer doesn’t appear to sway much from the formula in the previous three films, Garfield seems like a better fit as Spider-Man. Instead of Tobey Maguire’s nerdy awkwardness, Garfield looks comfortable in the role. He’s just as adept making fun of criminals as he is feeling insecure about his parents.

The Bourne Legacy

The first half of this trailer gives a mostly-obscured view of the transformation Jeremy Renner’s Aaron Cross goes through to become the agent he is. It’s very propaganda/brain wash-y, which fits for this series. Once we arrive at full screen, the transition from Matt Damon is completed with the quick line, “Jason Bourne was just the tip of the iceberg.” Oh, good. I’m glad you guys are so on top of this.

It turns out Aaron is far and away the best they’ve ever seen. Wasn’t Jason Bourne the best? Why do they keep losing track of their best agents? More importantly, why are they so unprepared when they lose them? This is the CIA, shouldn’t there be some protocol for handling … whatever it is that keeps happening? This is especially surprising because so many characters return for this movie, including David Strathairn’s Noah Vosen and Joan Allen’s Pam Landy. Still, rogue agent stories can only go on for so long, right?

Seeking a Friend at the End of the World

As odd a pair as Steve Carell and Keira Knightley look initially, they appear to have great chemistry in this trailer. Set against a world that will end in three weeks, they are both people looking for the ones they love to spend time with. Despite the heavy material, it is almost entirely a humorous trailer.

Not only does Carell’s character go into his (almost deserted) office, he still has to deal with office nonsense. Knightley’s character is introduced to us with the line, “Maybe I’ll run into you at an orgy or something.” Carell struggles with the language barrier and eventually gives up when attempting to tell his maid she doesn’t need to come any more. Along with some end-of-the-world hijinks plus a smattering of Patton Oswalt, Connie Britton, T.J. Miller, and Rob Huebel, makes it look like an exceptionally funny film.

Dan Spritz / Cherry On Top / @DanSpritz

Hunger Games

This is the first of two Super Bowl movie trailers (along with an Avengers trailers that shows us carnage and the faces of all of the protagonists) that came out this week. This trailer amplifies the emotion of the first theatrical trailer. Instead of showing us Effie’s (Elizabeth Banks) bubbly personality, we see her and President Snow (Donald Sutherland) expressing excitement and glee about the approach of the Games. Instead of showing Gale (Liam Hemsworth) carrying Prim (Willow Shields) away, we see her face as she screams. Instead of a brief shot of training, we see just how intensely Cato (Alexander Ludwig) maims a dummy. Instead of seeing Katniss’ (Jennifer Lawrence) fears about her own death we see just how worried she is about her family’s survival. The Capitol even looks more grandiose.

All of these components have developed nicely, but the biggest part of this trailer is the Mockingjay pin. In the book, Katniss did not give it to Prim. Madge Undersee gave it to Katniss after she volunteered to go into the games. Since no one is listed on IMDB as playing Madge Undersee, it appears that that plot has been changed for the sake of efficiency. It doesn’t make much difference in this movie, but there are a few references down the line that will have to be changed.

More worrisome though, right at the end Cinna (Lenny Kravitz) affixes the pin to Katniss’ clothing and makes it seem like she should keep quiet about it. In the book, she is freely allowed to wear it. If she weren’t, it would be removed immediately, because the Gamemakers have that power. The fact that it is made to seem like an illicit object hints towards revolution way too early in the trilogy’s arc.

A couple other exciting notes:

• We see a brief shot of Katniss, arrow taut on her bow, in the Hunger Games. That’s about as close as we’ve gotten to fighting footage from this film.
• We also hear the first reference to her as, “The Girl on Fire.” With that on the table, I’d like to mention something. I’ve been saying for months that Adele’s Set Fire to The Rain should be involved with this movie somehow, surely we can get that ball moving forward now? (I also apparently need to tweet about this connection again on February 12).

Lockout

Last week made it two weeks in a row that a major trailer came out after I finished this article. Damn you arbitrary (and self-imposed) deadlines! This trailer was worth it though. Why? Because Lockout appears to be the rare movie that is both ultra-clichéd and batshit insane.

To start, we have the president’s daughter (Maggie Grace) visiting a prison in space that is home to the world’s most criminally insane individuals. Now, women are often asked to wear loose clothing in low-security prisons to as not to rile up the inmates. With that in mind, sending someone as attractive as Maggie to a normal prison would require a certain deal of preparation and baggy clothing. In this prison, there probably shouldn’t ever be any women, let alone Maggie. The fact that she is the president’s daughter should also merit a flurry of security precautions. No one seems to think of any of this though. Not only is she dressed to the nines, SHE’S WEARING FUCKING JEWELRY.

Setting aside this horribly improbably beginning, the prison has become overrun by its inmates because a single inmate gets a single gun in an interrogation room. His possession of a gun inexplicably causes an explosion. I cannot fathom a reason for why security standards would be so lax or explosive materials would be so readily available. We don’t have time to ponder that question though, there’s too much to cover.

Apparently only one man capable of rescuing such a situation and saving the president’s daughter, Guy Pearce’s “Snow.” Naturally, “He’s the best there is, but he’s a loose cannon.” Great writing! Now, if I may ask a question, why is only one man permitted to save the president’s daughter and restore order to the most dangerous prison to ever exist? Aren’t there always “extraction teams” for situations like this? What are the various branches of the military doing about the situation? How about the guards in the prison? Have they all been killed? How did that happen? Also, the man who is apparently the best there is for a mission in space is afraid of heights.

Not crazy enough for you? How about the fact that, again, this orbiting jail (I love the idea, by the way. 22^nd century Alcatraz?) is home to the world’s most criminally insane individuals? Wait, if that’s not enough, the space station is apparently going to crash into the eastern seaboard as well.

I think I’m going to have to suspend my disbelief for this one.

G.I. Joe.

Here’s our other Super Bowl trailer. The majority of the trailer is The Rock quoting Jay-Z and then mindless action scenes flashing across the screen as we hear the portion of the song that The Rock just quoted. Make no mistake, this movie is the definition of mindless drivel. Instead of going down that road though, I would like to focus on the cliff scene once again. I just stopped having nightmares about why no one involved uses the weapon most perfectly suited to cut rope TO CUT THE ROPES THAT KEEP THEIR ENEMIES ALIVE, and now I see that no one is even trying to use their swords. “Hey look, I have this super sharp sword, why don’t I kick that guy in the head?” Also, Bruce Willis is now demanding that we call him Joe. This movie is too much for me. I need it to stop.

Dan Spritz / Cherry On Top / @DanSpritz