Trailers 2017: The Good, The Meh, And The WTF

By Grainger Heavensbee | Film | April 18, 2017 |

By Grainger Heavensbee | Film | April 18, 2017 |

Can you judge a movie by it’s trailer? That’s the hope of studios looking to entice easily distracted audiences. But for the same of some of the biggest movies set to hit this year, we’re hoping for more than a lot of these trailers suggest. Here’s a rundown of the good, the meh, and the WTF.

The Good
Whether they’re for movies we’ve been breathlessly awaiting or ones we’ve never heard of, these trailers have us giddy in anticipation!

Logan

This moody trailer promised us a more brutal, more mature, more all-around R-rated X-Men movie. And Logan delivered.

Ingrid Goes West

Aubrey Plaza’s been winning new acclaim and new fans with Legion. But in this upcoming comedy, she won our dark hearts when she face-maced the #perfect bride.

Atomic Blonde

Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri

Thor: Ragnarok

The trailer for Taika Waititi’s sure-to-be-wild follow-up to The Hunt For The Wilderpeople is so full of action, swaggering stars, sci-fi spectacle, and quirky humor (“He’s a friend! From work!” ) that it’s hands down the best of the year. Sometimes the competition was fierce. Sometimes, it was a cake walk.

The Meh
We might be looking forward to these movies. But these lackluster trailers aren’t helping.

The Justice League

This one has caused a lot of debate amongst the Overlords, with some (okay, Brian) loving it, and some (Petr and Steven) finding it awful. The rest of us couldn’t be bothered to care one way or the other. And apathy is hardly what DC is striving for with their superhero-stuffed answer to Marvel’s Avengers.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

DC’s not the only one dropping the ball on the superhero game. In showing off their flashy reboot of Spidey, this Sony/Marvel/Disney trailer seems overstuffed with spoilers. Leave something for the theaters!

The House

Will Ferrell + Amy Poehler + Jason Mantzoukas = meh. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!?

Alien: Covenant

Ridley Scott has returned to the Alien franchise to unleash a new evolution of extraterrestrial terror. So, why does this seem like a half-hearted reboot from a random studio hack?

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Is this a safe space to admit we were underwhelmed? Look. We’re still totally stoked for the continued adventures of Rey, and the continued romance of Poe and Finn. But this? It’s a teaser that’s left us tepid at best.

The WTF
Trailers that promise a movie so out there it’s either made of dreams or nightmares.

The Assignment

This isn’t the first time a forced gender reassignment surgery was used in a revenge plot line, but it may well be the most thoughtless. How/Why did Sigourney Weaver sign on to this nonsense!? We recommend Erin Whitney’s insightful piece on how The Assignment exploits the transgender experience, and also never ever seeing this movie.

Colossal

WTF isn’t always a bad thing! This wild and winsome trailer for Nacho Vigalondo’s awesome and surprisingly feminist monster movie introduced a curious concept, but cleverly hid the movie’s biggest twists and social satire. So audiences might come for the “Anne Hathway Kaiju” movie, but they walk away having experiences something far smarter and more layered than they could have imagined!

The Hitman’s Bodyguard

Another example of WTF that we’re totally down for is the Ryan Reynolds/Samuel L. Jackson mayhem promised in this trailer. F-bombs. Explosions. Whitney Houston. It’s fantastically bonkers.

The Emoji Movie

And sometimes WTF means why in godtopus’s name must we be subjected to this poop emoji. Our thoughts go out to Rebecca, who will surely be asked to review this atrocity.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Just when you thought The Emoji Movie was going to be the worst movie of the year, Guy Ritchie pops by to remind you he was a thing, and strives to be again.