“You will need to find five items.” Well, I think I’ve found them: some dragon fire, a little bit of Scott Glenn, exploding Nazi look-a-likes (i.e. nods to steampunk), robots, swordplay in lingerie – all tied together with Led Zeppelin. Upon subsequent viewings I am not much of a fan of 300 and pretty much loathe Watchmen on almost every level; yet consider me along for the ride with Zack Snyder and his Sucker Punch. This newest trailer isn’t a whole lot different than the one we got back in July, but this one is about twice as long and we now have a bit more of an idea of what the storyline is along with why and how it is being told. There is also a lot more guns, explosions and robots being vertically split in half.
For elaborate CGI fan-service, the trailer is tucked under the seat.
Glad you finally came around to just how bad 300 is, Andrew, but you are quite wrong on Watchmen, which (while not perfect) does have a lot going for it and makes very good use of its actors.
As for this one, I did the Stuart-Smalley-esque ‘tagline’ from Scott Glenn at the end of the teaser – If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. Sounds like Zack Snyder’s fanbase. Hiiiiyooooooo!
Looks fun. The second song in the trailer seems to bring down all of the action. It’s very meh.
WHAT?! Silversun Pickups are awesome! Heh, I’m not sure what it says about me that I don’t know the Led Zeppelin song but perked right up when SSPU came on – that song is electric in concert. (Never mind, I know what it says about me – it says I didn’t start listening to music until like 2002. *sigh*)
I think the Led Zepplin worked better than the far more generic sounding SSPickups, nothing wrong with the song, but it doesn’t exactly light this trailer on fire….
300 is terrible, I hate it, but I am a big fan of The Watchmen DC and Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead; both are pretty great. That trailer, however, did absolutely nothing to make me want to see Sucker Punch; it looks quite awful.
I’m a fan of Dawn 2004′s SPECTACULAR opening credit sequence (which isn’t (I believe) directed by Snyder) and the ‘celebrity head-shot’ roof-top scene in the middle of the movie, but it is a pale second to Romero’s original (beneficially much less slick and glossy) version.
Come to think of it, my favourite part of Watchmen is also the opening credits, also not directed by Snyder….hmmm. The 300 Credit sequence, while stupidly pushed to the end of the film is also magnificent…..I guess I cannot wait for the Sucker Punch opening credits!
Looking back, the only movie of Snyder’s I really like is Dawn. Watchmen is confusing, boring and trying too hard; like Southland Tales with super heroes. It’s a terrible mess that I don’t care to ever revisit. I still say 300 was pretty fun on a first watch basis though.
Lol @ Kurt, well done! I think the ending of Snyder’s Dawn is amazing as well, with the Jim Carroll Band playing, then the “found footage”; I think that was quite fantastic.
@ Andrew: did you watch the DC for Watchmen? I think it’s the much better version.
@Andrew, “like Southland Tales with super heroes.”
You must have been sleeping at the wheel on your viewing of the film, Andrew. Watchmen is a quite meticulously assembled narrative and quite efficient considering all the ground it has to cover and all the characters. It is not confusing or muddled in the least, it even does a very good job of explaining itself to the audience. It’s tone and execution may be portentous but not pretentious!, It is certainly not confusing to an alert viewer!
I should have said bewildering rather than confusing I guess. Replace those words and my statement still stands. It makes sense narratively I suppose, but it’s all over the place and disjointed; not cohesive. I seriously hate super hero comic book movies. Outside some stuff from the 80′s I can’t think of one I like.
@KeithTalent, if you mean the post-credits ‘cookie’ ending, then yea. Awesome! I guess I could give Snyder credit in that the pre-credits sequence with Sarah Polley and her daughter and Toyota is very good. It’s the big sloppy mall stuff and getaway stuff that is kinda ho-hum compared to Romero’s goofier and scrappier original.
I still fail to understand the ‘not cohesive’ comment. But I certainly see where you are coming from on the ‘super-hero’ stuff. That said, I still like (for various reasons) a fair number of these, recent and older….It’s only been the 21st century glut that has killed this ‘sub-genre’ for me. Watchmen, flaws and all, still remains one of the highlights of the genre.
@Jandy – Not dissing the band. The song itself is good just doesn’t work here. It seems to suck all of the energy out of the action in the second part of the trailer. Surprisingly, the first half with Zepplin has all the talkie bits and it still manages more energy. Weird.
@Andrew – “like Southland Tales with super heroes”
Is that a backhanded slap against ST? That movie is a mess but endlessly more watchable (for me at least) than WATCHMEN.
And I like Snyder. Yeah, it’s not high art but they’re fun. More than anything, I like his over-polished aesthetic. It works for me in small doses and considering he only makes a movie every couple of years, that’s perfect.
@Kurt Yes, that’s the part. I do agree with the opnening as well; I actually love Sarah Polley, so the movie gets an extra bump just because she’s awesome. I do think the film could have been improved by keeping it to a nice, tight 90 minutes, removing 10 minutes or so from the muddling middle third. Hard to mess with classic horror like Romero’s original, but I think Snyder did an admirable job.
I can’t decide whether this looks like utter crap or lots of fun.
I’m never blown away by Snyder, I wasn’t even that bothered about Dawn of the Dead, it was ok, but not a patch on the original. I keep changing my mind about Watchmen and can never settle in my mind whether I liked it or not – my love of the graphic novel makes it hard to make a decision.
“I seriously hate super hero comic book movies.”
You know what? I was going to get all up in arms with Andrew about this, but I quickly reached the conclusion that the problem with Watchmen the movie, is that it took Watchmen and turned it into the sort of movie that Andrew hates. And I agree with that – the movie is pretty pointless and terrible, but the book is obviously a masterpiece.
I have zero issue with comic books and graphic novels. I think they are perfectly acceptable as an art form or piece of entertainment. But yes, almost never in the last 20 years has Hollywood managed to take one and successfully put it to screen. I like Batman Begins, but other than that I can’t think of one – though I’m sure there must be one or two…
The Incredibles
Iron Giant
Iron Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2
X-Men
X-Men 2
Blade
Blade 2
The Incredible Hulk
Men in Black
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Tank Girl
The Crow
Mystery Men
Sin City
Kick Ass
V for Vendetta
Timecop
And that’s just the past 20 years and restricted to Hollywood only.
Outside of Hollywood I guess I can think of a couple I like – though not sure they’re based off of a comic book (Special and Mirageman).
Most of those titles above I’m not much of a fan of. The ones I like:
Incredibles
Blade
MiB
Sin City
V for V
I don’t really consider these to be traditional super hero movies though – except maybe Incredibles or Blade.
Matt, you had me until Time Cop. That movie is hilariously bad.
You Forgot ROBOCOP! albeit i guess it is 21 years old now.
Yeah, his 20 year statute of limitations precludes all manner of great 80′s superhero films.
No statue. Just saying that nothing post 90s is my thing. I like the 80′s Superman films (aside from IV) and I like Burton’s first Batman movie. Your defensiveness amuses me.
Matt have you seen MODESTY BLAISE, and if so, did you like it? It might just be the first comic book film made, (and by a big-time arthouse director, Joseph Losey, to boot)…
@Kurt: I’ve been curious about Modesty Blaise. Is it anything similiar to Danger: Diabolik in terms of tone?
The trailer is a fanboy’s wet dream; in other words, I’m not at all interested. I hate the obviously GSI aesthetic: it makes it look like a video game.
When it comes to Zack Snyder’, I don’t like any of his films. Haven’t seen his take on Dawn of the Dead, but I hate 300 with a passion and dislike Watchmen (he was wrong director for the adaptation). I don’t hate him — I just don’t find his style appealing. He and Michael Bay are in the same company, in my opinion.
I’m not a fan of “super hero” comic film, either — but, Andrew, have you recently seen Burton’s Batman? I loved it as a kid, but, after re-watching it recently, it’s a bad film. I still like the look and Jack Nicholson’s and Michael Keaton’s performances — everything else about it sucks, though.
I actually haven’t seen Batman in quite some years. It’s been on my very long list of movies to pick up on BD. As soon as I buy it I’ll watch it again. Maybe I won’t like it as much, but I remember it quite well and everything I remember about it I really like. I love all the set design and the larger props (Batmobile, Batwing, etc.). The performances are great and fun (though I’m not a Basinger fan). We’ll see I guess. I’m sure when I finally watch it again, I’ll talk about it on the show.
Hmm. It’s available on Netflix instant. Maybe I’ll try to watch it, but I was hoping to wait for a Blu release.
Haven’t seen Modesty Blaise, nor Danger:Diabolik for that matter. One of these days I’ll get around to watching them.
Your defensiveness amuses me.
I’m not being defensive. I just know you have no idea what super hero comic book movies have actually been made in the past 20 years.
I’ve seen every single one you listed except Iron Man 2 – which you actually didn’t list and I won’t bother anyway. And even if your assumption that I “have no idea what super hero comic book movies have actually been made in the past 20 years,” I can only judge on the ones I’ve seen… which is a shit load of them. So the stats don’t lie. I’ve seen roughly 20-25 comic book super hero films since 1990 and I liked maybe 5% of them. It’s just personal taste man, no need to be defensive.
I didn’t list Iron Man 2 because I didn’t think it was a particularly enjoyable/noteworthy film, unlike the others I listed. Didn’t list the Hellboy films, Wanted, 30 Days of Night, Ichi, Transformers, A History of Violence, Road to Perdition, Ghost in the Shell, Old Boy, Paprika, Red, The Mask, Dick Tracy, Ichi the Killer, Speed Racer, Scott Pilgrim and a host of others that all originated as comics and feature some version of the superhero mythos either. Mainly because I got sick of listing movies.
Really what I find ridiculous is trying to craft a massive sub-genre that includes Ichi the Killer, Transformers, Ghost in the Shell and Spider-Man into some niche. Its a huge tent, and it just sounds ridiculous to lump all of them together in an all-enclusive format of “I don’t like it, it sucks.” It would be the same as me saying “Any sci-fi, horror, western or fantasy book adaptations made post-1990 suck.”
You’re one small step away from Kurt’s utterly ridiculous “super hero comic booky style action blockbuster films” rant. And people complain that I’m the one prone to hyperbole. Sheesh.
I don’t really consider Transformers or Red or Wanted or History of Violence super hero films. Next you’re going to tell me American Splendor is a super hero movie.
Heh, well the opening scene does involve super heroes.
hey , what is the song at the end called?
The second half of the trailer is “Panic Switch” by Silversun Pickups.