With the nice weather looking like it’s here to stay, what better to muse over than your grizzly impending death? Our featured clip this week is for the fifth instalment in the popular "you gunna die" franchise with Final Destination 5, as a whole new batch of teens get tormented by death itself. Then, rising starlet Zoe Saldana gets to kick some ass as a femme fatale in Colombiana and the wonderful Steve Coogan stars in the wry and aptly named road trip comedy The Trip. Finally, three talented folks — Cillian Murphy, Jamie Bell and Thandie Newton — are brought together under chilling circumstances in the psychological thriller, Retreat. No need to go anywhere, Trailer Tracker has all the fun and relaxation you need right here.
New clips this week:
Final Destination 5
Columbiana
The Trip
Retreat
Final Destination 5
After the original became a sleeper hit all the way back in 2000, the franchise has retained its followers with its creative (though diminishingly so) ways to kill off its leads, and The Final Destination became the highest-grossing entry in the series in 2009. Now, despite the promise of no more films considering the last's title, we have another instalment in which death seeks out those who escaped their planned fates. The first “Final Destination” was a creative piece of slasher-esque horror, but since that promising debut, the property has been following a rather steep negative trajectory, culminating in the atrocious fourth entry. With a new rookie director, no-name leads and again presented in the extra dimension, I have very little hope this will buck the trend.
Following escapes from a
plane crash, road accident, roller coaster and race track catastrophe in all of
the previous offerings respectively, we now have a bridge collapse for our
heroes to sidestep. Of course the deaths get increasingly moronic involving
demises incited by laser eye surgery and acupuncture in addition to the wise
old coroner who spouts exposition as steadily as the victims do blood. I’ll
admit this series does have its campy charms at times, and with the exception
of the last I enjoy the extravagant “disaster” scenes which start off each tale
(especially the second movie; I avoided driving behind a truck carrying logs or
pipes for a while after that). Frankly however, if Final Destination 5 is anywhere near the quality of the last, the
only place it’s ending up is in a supermarket bargain bin.
Colombiana
Angelina Jolie clearly does not have the exclusive rights to ass-kicking as Zoe Saldana (who made her
big break as the tough Na’vi Neytiri) has proven her chops recently staring in
action fare including The Losers and Star Trek. Now, from writer Luc Besson
who is no stranger to hitmen/assassin flicks (he directed both La Femme Nikita and The Professional), comes Colombiana,
the tale of a girl (Saldana) who witnesses her family’s murder and becomes a
soldier of fortune as a result. This story is certainly nothing new, in fact it
is about as straight forward as one could get, but with the sultry Saldana
taking down hordes of dudes and what seems to be plenty of action scenes,
sometimes simple-minded fun is all we need. Directing is the man with the
awesome name: Olivier Megaton, who helmed Transporter
3, so expect a ton of stylized antics. Colombiana attacks theatres just after summer on Sept. 2.
The Trip
A gifted character actor
who pops up in any number of comedies (be they British-born or otherwise), Steve
Coogan reteams with his Tristram Shandy;
A Cock and Bull Story co-star Rob
Brydon with The Trip, in which he
plays himself as a food critic travelling across the UK with his friend
(Brydon) as a last minute replacement to what was supposed to be a romantic
getaway with his significant other. This film is based on a 2010 television show
of the same name and seems to boast more than a few similarities to Planes, Trains and Automobiles, though
with an improv twist. The trailer is quite wonderful and the show garnered
plenty of accolades, so as long as it avoids being simply a self-serving
comedian showcase, I certainly want to check out this fun-looking adventure.
Retreat
It seems like Cillian
Murphy just can’t keep away from those pesky global pandemics. After 28 Days Later, he may be in familiar
territory with Retreat, a thriller
about Martin (Murphy) and Kate (Thandie Newton) who in an attempt to escape
from personal tragedy retreat to an isolated island. Their attempts to recover
are interrupted, however, when a man (Jamie Bell) washes ashore, wounded and with
a gun, bringing news of an airborne killer disease that is sweeping through Europe. Clearly ultra-low budget and boasting only three
main cast members, these types of movies either sink or swim on the
performances of the leads and the film’s ability to elevate tension. All three
of these Brits have proven they can deliver and the apocalyptic element is an
interesting addition to the “creepy stranger” formula.