Trailer Round-Up – 14 May, 2017

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins, stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince, princess of the Amazons, who was raised on a sheltered island and trained to be an unconquerable fighter. After an American pilot, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), crashes on the island and tells her about the war to end all wars, Diana leaves her home to try and stop it. The final trailer for Wonder Woman has most of the highlights of the previous ones, mixed in a healthy amount of new footage and set to an appropriately epic score. The trailer builds up to the action quite effectively and even though the montage can get a bit overbearing, especially near the end, this is still the best and most promising piece of marketing Wonder Woman has gotten so far. The bright colors alone separate it from previous DCEU entries, which is important since they were pretty divisive. Wonder Woman is set for a June 2, 2017 release. Blade Runner 2049 Directed by Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Sicario), Blade Runner 2049 is set thirty years after the events of the first film. A new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former blade runner who has been missing for 30 years. This is a fantastic, gorgeous trailer for what looks to be an absolutely amazing movie. The tone, visuals and dialogue all show a deep commitment to the original Blade Runner's aesthetic and themes. Visually, the trailer is impressive enough that it would be great even if you watched it muted, but it's the music, which updates the classic Blade Runner theme that really gets you pumped up. Blade Runner 2049 is scheduled for October 6, 2017 release. Cars 3 Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast racers, the legendary Lightning McQueen is suddenly pushed out of the sport he loves. To get back in the game he will need the help of eager young female race technician Cruz Ramirez. Proving that #95 isn’t through yet, he will test the heart of a champion on Piston Cup Racing’s biggest stage against his new rival, Jackson Storm. The initial promotional material suggested Cars 3 would have a much darker, grittier tone. This trailer, however, is decidedly more lighthearted and indicates that the sequel might not be such a significant departure for the series. The old versus new angle of the story is nothing new, but Cars 3 doesn't seem to mind that. In fact, it appears to relish indulging in some of these cliches, which may or may not work in its favor. It's a solid trailer. Directed by Brian Fee, Cars 3 is scheduled for a June 16, 2017 (US), 14 July 2017 (UK) release. Baywatch Directed by Seth Gordon, Baywatch is based on the hit NBC TV show of the same name, which originally premiered in 1989. The live-action movie stars Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Alexandra Daddario, Zac Effron, Kelly Rohrbach, Jon Bass, Ilfenesh Hadera, Priyanka Chopra and Hannibal Buress. It's clear at this point that Baywatch is trying to replicate the success of the Jump Street movies, but the marketing has been inconsistent on whether or not it can actually pull it off. Some trailers were really funny, while others were slow, even tedious. This one lands somewhere in the middle. It lacks the energy that made earlier trailers sizzle, but has enough laughs to still be kind of effective. The "Get Rocked, Get Ef'ed" tagline is fun and reminiscent of Central Intelligence's "Small Hart, Big Johnson" promotional quip. Baywatch is set for a 12 May 2017 (UK), 26 May 2017 (US) release. War Machine In the Netflix Original film War Machine, based on the book “The Operators: The Wild & Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan,” by the late journalist Michael Hastings, writer-director David Michôd (Animal Kingdom) recreates a U.S. General’s roller-coaster rise and fall as part reality, part savage parody. The most off-putting thing about the War Machine trailer is Brad Pitt's lead performance, which never quite feels natural. It's too exaggerated, too stiff and even if it is reflective of the person it's based on, you're always aware that you're watching Brad Pitt acting, which breaks immersion and affects the comedy. In every other way, this is a good, competent trailer, but that one major flaw is far too distracting for it to be effective. War Machine is set to release on Netflix on May 26, 2017.