THE GOOD
Guardians Of The Galaxy (Release Date: August 1)
WHY IT'S GOOD: The "Guardians of the Galaxy" is one of Marvel's "weirder" properties, and that's putting it nicely. When this project was first announced, it seemed like a silly idea for a movie. However, this trailer puts all doubts to rest. The trailer not only perfectly explains who these characters are and gives us some semblance of this world, but also makes you genuinely excited to see this funny, action-adventure blockbuster.
Neighbors (Release Date: May 9)
WHY IT'S GOOD: Because it's downright hilarious. Even though Seth Rogen neither wrote nor directed this film, it still looks like a film that will go up with his other comedy classics.
The Boxtrolls (Release Date: September 26)
Interstellar (Release Date: November 7)
WHY IT'S GOOD: This trailer doesn't tell me anything except for 2 things. 1) It's directed by Christopher Nolan and 2) It stars Matthew McConaughey. Frankly, that's all I need to know to get me excited to see this. Both Nolan and McConaughey are on a crazy good hot streak, that I can't imagine Interstellar being anything BUT brilliant.
Other trailers that have gotten me excited to see the film: A Million Ways To Die In The West. Captain America: The Winter Soldier, How To Train Your Dragon 2, Dawn Of The Planet of the Apes, 22 Jump Street
THE BAD
Annie (Release Date: December 19)
WHY IT'S BAD: The trailer actually probably does a great job telling you exactly what you're getting yourself into, the problem is that it looks like you're getting yourself into a horrible movie. I've never seen any incarnation of Annie before, so I have no idea if this is close to what others are expecting, but this tone of this trailer and the performances seems like the film will be a pile of garbage.
Get On Up (Release Date: August 1)
WHY IT'S BAD: Playing` a famous person who is considered a genius is one of the easiest ways to earn an Academy Award nomination. It's worked for Jamie Foxx (Ray), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line), Gary Busey (The Buddy Holly Story), and Robert Downey Jr (Chaplin) just to name a few. However, for every Oscar bait flick, there's films like Diana and Amelia. Diana starred the Academy Award nominated actress Naomi Watts as Princess Diana and has a whopping 8% on Rotten Tomatoes. Amelia stars 2 time Oscar winner Hilary Swank as Amelia Earhart and has a 20% on RT. Heck, Chadwick Boseman's last film, 42, about the great Jackie Robinson was a pile of garbage and frankly a disgrace to Jackie Robinson's legacy. There's a certain tone that these biopics need to have to be good, and Get On Up does not look like it has it. Frankly, Tate Taylor's last film, The Help, suffered from this same tone problem as well. Films that try to be serious, yet refuse to get into any truly awful territory just come out being boring and flaccid, and it looks like Get On Up will fall into that category.
Divergent (Release Date: March 21)
WHY IT'S BAD: This is actually not a case (per se) where the trailer is advertising a terrible movie, this is an instance where the trailer itself is bad. Mainly because I have no idea what the actual plot of the movie is. I have no Earthly idea what it means to be "divergent" and what makes Shailene Woodley's character so special. When addressing this complaint among friends and family, they simply tell me that this movie is not geared towards me, and it's only geared towards tweens who have read the book. That seems like a piss poor excuse. Movie studios are out to make as much money as possible, which means putting as many butts in the seats as possible. If they're not trying to get more than just the readers of the books to buy tickets, then they're doing something wrong. From what I understand, this franchise is supposed to be based off of a pretty darn good book, similar to The Hunger Games. If that's the case, I'm all in. I enjoy The Hunger Games movies. I enjoyed the Harry Potter movies. And in both those cases, the movie trailers made it abundantly clear what the general plot was, and what world they were creating. Guardians of the Galaxy spent time to make sure viewers understood this new world and characters in their trailer. Divergent should be able to do the same.
Other trailers that make me want to avoid the movie like the plague: Draft Day, Rio 2, Transformers: Age of Extinction
THE UGLY
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (Release Date: August 22)
WHY IT'S UGLY: Don't get me wrong, I'm stoked as hell to see the sequel to the best film of 2005. However, this trailer is kind of a mess. In the original Sin City trailer, you were introduced to the 3 main protagonists (portrayed by Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, & Clive Owen). In this trailer, it's just a bunch of fast moving talking heads and random lines that don't seem to fit any sort of theme whatsoever. Maybe this is just a trailer to get people like me excited, and better trailers will come out in the future, but this original one is not a good one for the masses.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Release Date: May 2)
WHY IT'S UGLY: For the record, I am extremely excited about this film. While a part of me does wish the studios had let more time between Sam Raimi's trilogy and Marc Webb's films pass, the new reboot to the franchise is still pretty solid. However, what worried me about this new one is that is includes not one, not two, but three villains- Electro, Rhino, and The Green Goblin. Now, in fairness to Marc Webb and the advertisements, the main villain is clearly and unequivocally Electro, and you barely see Rhino in ANY of the trailers (Marc Webb has said that Rhino is only in the very beginning of the movie), but still, it's worrisome that this sequel is trying to do too much. Spider-Man delves deeper into the secrets of his father, deals with 3 different villains, worries about escalation, and so on and so forth. I want this movie to at least be good, but Spider-Man 3 (which had all of the same problems I'm concerned about now) still lingers in the back of my mind.
Jupiter Ascending (Release Date: July 18)
WHY IT'S UGLY: Don't get me wrong, I'm stoked as hell to see the sequel to the best film of 2005. However, this trailer is kind of a mess. In the original Sin City trailer, you were introduced to the 3 main protagonists (portrayed by Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, & Clive Owen). In this trailer, it's just a bunch of fast moving talking heads and random lines that don't seem to fit any sort of theme whatsoever. Maybe this is just a trailer to get people like me excited, and better trailers will come out in the future, but this original one is not a good one for the masses.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Release Date: May 2)
WHY IT'S UGLY: For the record, I am extremely excited about this film. While a part of me does wish the studios had let more time between Sam Raimi's trilogy and Marc Webb's films pass, the new reboot to the franchise is still pretty solid. However, what worried me about this new one is that is includes not one, not two, but three villains- Electro, Rhino, and The Green Goblin. Now, in fairness to Marc Webb and the advertisements, the main villain is clearly and unequivocally Electro, and you barely see Rhino in ANY of the trailers (Marc Webb has said that Rhino is only in the very beginning of the movie), but still, it's worrisome that this sequel is trying to do too much. Spider-Man delves deeper into the secrets of his father, deals with 3 different villains, worries about escalation, and so on and so forth. I want this movie to at least be good, but Spider-Man 3 (which had all of the same problems I'm concerned about now) still lingers in the back of my mind.
Jupiter Ascending (Release Date: July 18)
WHY IT'S UGLY: Frankly, the Wachowski siblings have lost all respect from me. The first Matrix is a work of genius that buys you lots and lots and lots of leash. But after 2 terrible Matrix sequels (that frankly diverge so far off from what made the original great), Speed Racer, and Cloud Atlas, the directing duo's name means nothing to me. Sometimes you just have one good idea, and that's it. That's what the Washowskis seem to be to me. Bold and daring doesn't always equal success.
Other movies I'll wait to see if the word of mouth on them is good: Edge of Tomorrow, Gone Girl, Godzilla, Transcendence, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Noah
What Has Been The Best Trailer of 2014 That You've Seen So Far?
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