New Trailers of the Week: Take another look at 'Creed II,' 'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,' and 'Bumblebee'
If you're wondering why this has been such a quiet week on here, allow me to explain. Next week, Film Fest 919 will hold its inaugural festival in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and as a student at nearby UNC- Chapel Hill, I'll be covering the festivities for Film Inquiry. For five days, I'll be too busy seeing Roma and The Favourite and a whole bunch of other awards contenders to study or do any schoolwork. I've been getting really ahead all week, which translates to less time for trailer posts and news articles and even full reviews. On this late Saturday night, I'm taking a little bit of time to catch up on articles before I go into festival mode on Wednesday. You likely won't see too many articles throughout early October, but coverage of the fest will slowly begin to arrive on Inquiry in the near future. As always, you can follow me on Twitter @MartinOnMovies for all of my festival tweets and mini-reviews, as well as my reaction to any major news that may drop in the coming days.
With all that said, let's talk trailers! This week brought a few first looks that I'll chronicle shortly, but we also got the chance to see new trailers for some of the biggest upcoming blockbusters of 2018. First, check out the second trailer for Creed II!
Every Creed fan has the right to be skeptical about this theoretically unnecessary sequel to Ryan Coogler's 2015 pop masterpiece, but nobody can deny that MGM has run an expert marketing campaign for the Steven Caple Jr.-directed follow-up. Though you can still make the argument that both Adonis Creed and Rocky Balboa ended their respective journeys on a near perfect note in the aforementioned sequel/soft reboot, it looks like Caple Jr. and screenwriter Juel Taylor have tapped into something with this face-off between Adonis and Victor Drago. This is a rousing bit of studio marketing, culminating with a musical cue that sent chills down my spine. There's been a great deal of concern because of Coogler's departure, but doesn't Caple Jr. deserve the benefit of the doubt? Michael B. Jordan is a bona fide movie star, and I have a feeling this could be the rare sequel that doesn't falter under pressure.
Creed II will arrive in theaters on November 21. Next up, check out the third trailer for another pre-Thanksgiving release- Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
This is another sequel where I've felt almost total ambivalence until now, though for very different reasons. I wasn't much of a fan of David Yates' Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and I've been steadfast in my belief that this franchise is a total cash grab for J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros.
Having said that, this is a really good trailer. To be frank, it's good enough for me to wonder if this sequel will be a turning point for the series. Granted, the brief Nagini reveal at the start of the trailer has created quite a negative and compelling backlash online, and considering that The Crimes of Grindelwald is already problematic thanks to the casting of Johnny Depp, I'm not sure Warner Bros. should want any additional controversy at this point. Rowling's socio-political decision-making is less and less logical all the time, and I can't begin to understand why they've made certain choices.
As a blockbuster, I'll admit that The Crimes of Grindelwald has finally caught my interest. With the loose exception of Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows, we've never really seen a globe-trotting movie in the Potterverse before. So even if we're recycling familiar narrative ground, it appears that Yates and Rowling are reaching for something slightly more ambitious here. I'm hopeful, but if the franchise doesn't click here, I can't say I'll care too much about a third installment.
The Crimes of Grindelwald will debut on November 16. Finally, watch the second trailer for Travis Knight's Bumblebee!
While everyone else is celebrating the death of Bayhem in the Transformers franchise, my response to the end of the Michael Bay era is slightly more mixed. I grew up on Bay's Transformers films; believe it or not, I counted the original as my favorite film when I was 9 years old. And even though there was a sharp decrease in quality over time, culminating in the utter disaster of last year's The Last Knight, I still hold some fond memories for the excesses of that universe.
Kubo and the Two Strings director Travis Knight is clearly going for a mix of familiar tropes (don't worry, there will still be plenty of explosions) and new emotional territory, which should mark a nice change of pace for the series. This is definitely a more cartoon-y, kid-friendly take on the characters, equipped with brighter colors and seemingly devoid of Bay's furious self-importance and vulgar humor. Hailee Steinfeld appears to be a great lead, and I'm all here for Bumblebee as the star of the show. Hopefully this one lives up to the buzz (pun intended).
Bumblebee will open on December 21. Check back soon for more trailer recaps and reviews!
With all that said, let's talk trailers! This week brought a few first looks that I'll chronicle shortly, but we also got the chance to see new trailers for some of the biggest upcoming blockbusters of 2018. First, check out the second trailer for Creed II!
Every Creed fan has the right to be skeptical about this theoretically unnecessary sequel to Ryan Coogler's 2015 pop masterpiece, but nobody can deny that MGM has run an expert marketing campaign for the Steven Caple Jr.-directed follow-up. Though you can still make the argument that both Adonis Creed and Rocky Balboa ended their respective journeys on a near perfect note in the aforementioned sequel/soft reboot, it looks like Caple Jr. and screenwriter Juel Taylor have tapped into something with this face-off between Adonis and Victor Drago. This is a rousing bit of studio marketing, culminating with a musical cue that sent chills down my spine. There's been a great deal of concern because of Coogler's departure, but doesn't Caple Jr. deserve the benefit of the doubt? Michael B. Jordan is a bona fide movie star, and I have a feeling this could be the rare sequel that doesn't falter under pressure.
Creed II will arrive in theaters on November 21. Next up, check out the third trailer for another pre-Thanksgiving release- Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
This is another sequel where I've felt almost total ambivalence until now, though for very different reasons. I wasn't much of a fan of David Yates' Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and I've been steadfast in my belief that this franchise is a total cash grab for J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros.
Having said that, this is a really good trailer. To be frank, it's good enough for me to wonder if this sequel will be a turning point for the series. Granted, the brief Nagini reveal at the start of the trailer has created quite a negative and compelling backlash online, and considering that The Crimes of Grindelwald is already problematic thanks to the casting of Johnny Depp, I'm not sure Warner Bros. should want any additional controversy at this point. Rowling's socio-political decision-making is less and less logical all the time, and I can't begin to understand why they've made certain choices.
As a blockbuster, I'll admit that The Crimes of Grindelwald has finally caught my interest. With the loose exception of Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows, we've never really seen a globe-trotting movie in the Potterverse before. So even if we're recycling familiar narrative ground, it appears that Yates and Rowling are reaching for something slightly more ambitious here. I'm hopeful, but if the franchise doesn't click here, I can't say I'll care too much about a third installment.
The Crimes of Grindelwald will debut on November 16. Finally, watch the second trailer for Travis Knight's Bumblebee!
While everyone else is celebrating the death of Bayhem in the Transformers franchise, my response to the end of the Michael Bay era is slightly more mixed. I grew up on Bay's Transformers films; believe it or not, I counted the original as my favorite film when I was 9 years old. And even though there was a sharp decrease in quality over time, culminating in the utter disaster of last year's The Last Knight, I still hold some fond memories for the excesses of that universe.
Kubo and the Two Strings director Travis Knight is clearly going for a mix of familiar tropes (don't worry, there will still be plenty of explosions) and new emotional territory, which should mark a nice change of pace for the series. This is definitely a more cartoon-y, kid-friendly take on the characters, equipped with brighter colors and seemingly devoid of Bay's furious self-importance and vulgar humor. Hailee Steinfeld appears to be a great lead, and I'm all here for Bumblebee as the star of the show. Hopefully this one lives up to the buzz (pun intended).
Bumblebee will open on December 21. Check back soon for more trailer recaps and reviews!
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