The Trailer Park: Does Whatever a Spider Can

In our latest round of new movie trailers, Spider-Man battles a new trio of villains, yet still finds time to ponder why he even bothers. Meanwhile, Channing Tatum is back with another attempt to become the next big action hero.

‘Amazing Spider-Man 2’

Comic book fans everywhere are giddy with excitement to see a live-action Spider-Man going to battle against Electro, played by Jamie Foxx, and Russian thug The Rhino, played by Paul Giamatti. The former is missing his recognizable green and yellow jumpsuit, but Foxx’s version looks and feels darker and more sinister. We’re never given a good look at Giamatti, except for the tip of his horn, but it’s enough to assume that his entire suit will be made of steel. Dane DeHaan doesn’t strike me as a good Harry Osborn, but his face, voice and mannerisms will probably make for an awesome Green Goblin. What I like best is the brief glimpse of other villains to come, like Doctor Octopus and Vulture. I’m excited for this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDwFhUztk5Y&feature=em-uploademail

‘Jupiter Ascending’

Whoever made the decision to let Channing Tatum grow a goatee in a movie should never be allowed to work in Hollywood again. I don’t know if I’m supposed to pay attention to his face or that pile of dried turd hanging from his chin. The fact that it distracts from his awful acting is a positive, I suppose. As for the rest of this trailer, it looks promising. With the Wachowskis behind the concept and production, the movie could be a good deal of fun. I’m a little torn and somewhat hesitant, but at the moment, I’m leaning towards watching this in theaters.

‘The Machine’

From the world of independent sci-fi, director Caradog W. James’s android thriller looks pretty promising as well, especially with good word-of-mouth from the film festival circuit. From the preview, you can tell the movie was made on a limited budget, yet the concept and visuals appear top-notch. I have a feeling that this will likely only play in select areas, so that means I’ll wait to check it out on Blu-ray.

For more of the latest movie trailers, check out our trailers page.

7 comments

  1. What is it with comic book sequels overloading themselves with too many villains? This seems to happen over and over, despite the fact that the best comic book movies are almost always one hero vs. one villain. Spider-Man here looks like it has about 20.

    Jupiter Ascending looks an awfully lot like John Carter. Anyone else get that vibe? It’ll probably bomb. I think it looks interesting, though I liked Cloud Atlas, so take that however you will.

    • Alex

      It’s all about balance, though. Batman Begins has two major villains (Ra’s and Scarecrow), and a ton of minor villains (Falcone, Flass, that CEO who looked like a replicant, Joe Chill, and Zsasz), and yet didn’t feel over-crowded.

      But then there’s Batman & Robin on the flip-side.

      It all seems to be down to the skill of the filmmaker. As far as Amazing Spider-Man 2 goes… well I thought the first one was technically more proficient than the Raimi version, but lacking its wit and soul, so I have my doubts.

    • Superman II and The Dark Knight both had multiple villains – it just depends on how you use them and if they need to be in the story.

      Jupiter Ascending actually looks pretty good to me. It certainly looks better than Cloud Atlas, which I still have yet to see.

      • I would argue that The Dark Knight would have been a much better movie had it only focused on the Joker, and saved the Two-Face storyline for the third movie (where he would be the only villain, and completely dump the incoherent Bane/Talia plot).

        • Brandon Erwin

          I agree to a point, but I do think having multiple villains can have the potential to work. It’s hard to say after watching the trailer, but from what I’ve heard, Rhino and Green Goblin are only being presented in this movie as a set up for future sequels/Sinister Six. There was a great deal wrong with Spider-Man 3, and I think having too many villains was the least of the problem. Personally I’m excited to see how the film turns out, and I think the cast is decent enough. As long as the villains aren’t battling each other for screen time, and the movie focuses primarily on Electro, I see this working.

        • Brandon Erwin

          Also, in response to Jupiter Ascending, I’m keeping my expectations low. Letting yourself get excited for a Channing Tatum movie, usually results in depression and mental meltdowns. I hope it turns out great, I’m a big Wachowski fan, and it’s visually impressive. It is throwing out a John Carter, or maybe even an Elysium vibe, but honestly that’s only bad for the box office. I was okay with both of those, despite their “bomb” status. Here’s to hoping Kunis and Tatum are capable of carrying the film. If not, it’s always nice to see Sean Bean.

  2. JM

    The new ‘Godzilla’ trailer illustrates everything that’s wrong with ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2′ and its 2002-era CGI, which is weird because ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ tried to be a David Fincher knock-off and almost worked.

    Too many villains is how you reverse-engineer ‘The Avengers.’ The other way is to force Batman and Wonder Woman into ‘Prometheus 2.’

    ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 4’ is supposedly going with the Sinister Six, so I guess all the villains have to not die in 2 & 3. My only question about 2 is if Peter Parker is going to have 3 or 4 love interests and which one Paul Giamatti is. But as long as Diora Baird wears a Black Cat outfit, I’d buy that for a dollar.

    ‘Jupiter Ascending’ looks like it was written by the writers of ‘The Matrix’ sequels. Except extra cheap, with twice the crazy. I’m thinking the good parts of ‘Cloud Atlas’ came from the book and the co-director. But this has Mila Kunis as the Queen of the Universe, and Sean Bean as a “Han Solo-type character” so I’m going to call it glass half full.

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