Everybody, it’s time for another edition of Trailer Catch-Up! For those who aren’t familiar with this segment on the site, I give a typical rundown on the recent movie trailers of the past week or two and give my general thoughts on what they could bring to the forefront.
I didn’t post one last weekend because there wasn’t a lot to talk about, and I was a bit busy. But, we seem to have a ton of new trailers that came out of nowhere online, which gives me enough to discuss. So, let’s jump into the batch of trailers in today’s installment.
‘The King’s Man’ (2/14/2020)
First up, Fox has released the first official teaser trailer to The King’s Man, the prequel to the Kingsman series. Director Matthew Vaughn returns to this action world, but it goes back to WWI as we experience the origins of the Kingsman agency and follows Ralph Fiennes as the Duke of Oxford training Harris Dickinson’s character to become a Kingsman.
I didn’t know how to feel about the news of a new Kingsman movie when I found the second movie, The Golden Circle, a major letdown. But I like what I’m seeing. What I appreciated about this trailer is that it looks different from the previous two in terms of the action. I’m still apprehensive about The King’s Man, but here’s hoping it would be a return to form from the franchise.
Score: 7.5/10
‘Cats’ (12/20)
Next Up, Universal Pictures has finally released the official trailer to their adaptation of Cats, based on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway musical of T.S. Eliot’s work of poems. If you don’t know what the musical is about, a group of Jellicle cats spent one night on which one will be sent to Heaven and came back as somebody new.
Have I ever seen the show before? No, but Cats is one of those musicals, besides Wicked, that I can see being turned into a feature-length movie, and since director Tom Hooper has been involved in another musical from the studio in Les Misérables, this could be an interesting take. This trailer… I have no idea what to make of it.
What I like is the production design, and the cinematography looks gorgeous. The main qualm that I and everyone online will have with this is the look at the actors in what appears to be motion-capture? Strange, but it could grow on me. As of now, the characters look kind of nightmare-ish. Jennifer Hudson singing “Memory” was the perfect selling point for those who are familiar with the musical.
Let’s not forget that this is competing against Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker that same weekend. I’m still going to see Cats because I’m usually up for a musical. But after this trailer, I’m starting to re-think everything. My feelings on this are middle-ground cautious.
Score: 5.5/10
‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’ (10/18)
Next up, Disney has released the full-length trailer for their upcoming sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, starring Angelina Jolie as the titular villain. This offers us more new footage about what’s to come with the story and how Maleficent is going to fight off Michelle Pfeiffer’s queen in order to protect Elle Fanning’s Aurora.
Just like when I talked about the first trailer a couple of months back, I didn’t care one bit about this sequel, and that’s still the case after this new trailer. I think Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is a pointless sequel for Disney to make when not a whole lot of people liked the original. My problem is that this trailer makes it look like she’s turning evil, but we all know Pfeiffer is the real villain in this. Other than that, they’re trying WAY too hard with making the action look epic.
Score: 4/10
‘Judy’ (9/27)
The other trailer that came out on Monday was the full-length trailer for Judy, the Judy Garland biopic starring Renee Zellweger. The teaser came out back in May, and this gives us more of Garland’s life and her turn in performing at the “Talk of the Town” nightclub and the turmoil her life becomes.
I don’t know a lot about Judy Garland, but I can remember that she didn’t have the best life throughout her career. I’m not sure if this is something I’ll take the time and check out, but there’s a chance Judy could be a satisfying biopic if done right. Nice trailer for those who are fans of the actress.
Score: 6/10
‘Hustlers’ (9/13)
After a week of teasing, STX Entertainment released the first trailer to Hustlers, with Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Lizzo, and Cardi B. Based on a New York Magazine article, a crew of strippers working together to scam against their Wall Street clients.
To my surprise, Hustlers doesn’t look bad. This ensemble could work if the story is told well. This also comes from the director that wrote of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, which is very underrated. Kind of like a female version of Pain and Gain, but I hope this will be watchable. Why does Cardi B have to be in this? I don’t have a clue.
Mostly all I want out this is for J-Lo to be in a good movie. That’s all I’m asking for Hustlers.
Score: 6.5/10
‘The Kitchen’ (8/9)
Next up, Warner Bros. Pictures has released the final trailer for The Kitchen, which comes out just next month. Now I already talked about the first trailer when it was online a couple of months ago, and it still looks already when it looks to be a good crime drama that will have good performances from its three leading ladies.
I’ll consider checking The Kitchen in theaters if there’s a strong word of mouth. I’m still hoping this will be a surprise for an August release.
Score: 7/10
‘Good Boys’ (8/16)
We have ourselves another red band trailer for Good Boys, which I actually saw in front of Stuber this past weekend, and let me tell you, I laughed more times than the movie I was seeing.
This provides more laughs from the underage humor that’s going to be hysterical. Did we need another trailer? No, it just comes in one month and I’m pretty stoked about it. Good Boys comes out a week before school starts, so this has to be worth it.
Score: 8/10
‘Dora and the Lost City of Gold’ (8/9)
Next up is the second trailer for Dora and the Lost City of Gold, which is, of course, the live-action Dora the Explorer movie. Yay? And in this, the titular Dora (Isabela Moner) goes on an adventure with Boots, Diego, and her new friends from high school in search of her parents and find the lost city of gold.
This trailer was pretty similar to the one that was shown in front of Toy Story 4 a few weeks back, and I still think this is going to be bad just on the idea alone. There isn’t a lot of new footage, but we did get a first look at Swiper (voiced by Benicio del Toro) and a fart joke at the end that was entirely unfunny. I will admit that I did merely chuckle at the part where Dora when she was little looks at the camera when she says, “Can you say “delicioso”, and those around here not knowing what’s happening. That’s kind of funny for the movie to point out something absurd that happens regularly in the show.
Other than that, there’s no way I’m going out of my way to see Dora and the Lost City of Gold unless I hear good things about it. But I doubt it.
Score: 4/10
‘Playing with Fire’ (11/15)
Next up, Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies released the first trailer for the family comedy Playing with Fire with John Cena. In this, a group of firefighters has to take care of a group of siblings after recusing them from a fire. Then let the shenanigans and slapstick ensue.
I get the feeling Playing with Fire will be like The Pacifier and Instant Family, but not coming close to the latter. The trailer got me the chuckle once, but this looks lame, in my opinion. And this does look like something Andy Fickman (Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, The Game Plan) would directing, and I didn’t know until I looked this up.
Score: 4/10
‘Ad Astra’ (9/20)
And the last trailer to discuss is for the second trailer for Ad Astra starring Brad Pitt as an astronaut that travels through the solar system to search for his missing father.
This new trailer was fine. I might be in the minority when I say I thought the first trailer was better. The new trailer might indicate this will be a bit of a slow-burn drama, which won’t bother me if it’s energetic. Still, though, Ad Astra might be the kind of Oscar contender that we didn’t see coming.
Score: 6/10
DC's Take 