Trailer Tracker: Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots and more

Our featured trailer this week is the sequel to the hit animated film starring everyone’s favourite pudgy panda, Po in DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda 2. Also from the popular studio is Puss in Boots which gives Antonio Banderas a chance to strut his stuff sans ogre’s Shrek and Fiona and the loud-mouthed Donkey.

Things then get significantly cruder with the red band trailer for the comedy Bad Teacher starring Cameron Diaz as the titular poor professor along with Justin Timberlake and Jason Segel. James Gunn from Slither fame is back with his dark superhero satire, aptly titled Super, featuring an eclectic cast including Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler and Kevin Bacon. Finally to wrap things up, Player Affinity will give you two decidedly different clips starting with a foreign alien invasion comedy from across the pond with Attack the Block and next the long-delayed debut on our site of the teaser clip for one of the years most anticipated sequels, The Hangover Part II. Get your Advil ready, it’s Trailer Tracker.

New Trailers This Week:
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Bad Teacher
Super
Attack the Block
The Hangover Part II

Kung Fu Panda 2

Jack Black flexed his furry box-office muscles as the panda Po in 2008’s animated smash Kung Fu Panda and considering DreamWorks animation’s plan for sequels galore in the coming years, a follow-up to this martial arts-themed adventure was all but guaranteed. After some initial Super Bowl exposure, the full length trailer is now hear and seems to promise all the beautiful animation, well-choreographed action sequences and charming voicework that made the original the success it was. In addition to Black, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, David Cross, Lucy Lui and Dustin Hoffman again lend their voices as the newly crowned dragon warrior, the Furious Five and their master Shifu respectively. A new addition comes in the form of the great Gary Oldman as the new villain, Lord Shen, who is systematically knocking off the great masters of Kung Fu.

 Art director Jennifer Yuh takes over the director’s chair for this sequel and considering the importance of style and cinematography in these films, the choice is not distressing (she also served as head of story on the original). Thankfully renamed Kung Fu Panda 2 after at one time being called Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom, this is a rare animated flick that actually warrants a sequel as the first almost served as an origin story for our unlikely heroic panda. Toy Story 2 was famously hailed as being better than the original, but that had the magic of Pixar at its back, so if “Panda 2” can reach or exceed the heights reached by the original it remains to be seen. Simply, if they are able to maintain the energy of the original and even more importantly the heart, there should be no need for worry. Count me as excited in any respect.

Puss in Boots

From ass-kicking panda to suave sword-wielding kitty, DreamWorks’ is back with a spin-off from the insanely popular “Shrek” franchise with the ogre’s sidekick now the star. A Puss in Boots film has been in some stage of “works” since Shrek 2, but now it obviously has come to fruition and joining Antonio Banderas as the titular Puss…in boots…is Selma Hayek as Kitty Softpaws (sigh), Zach Galifianakis as Humpty Dumpty and Billy Bob Thorton in a yet unnamed role. There seems to be little magic left in the “Shrek” franchise after three subpar sequels in comparison to the original and I am quite doubtful a side project that omits most of the voice talent can revive the brand. Did Puss not lose his novelty back in early 2004? Expect a lot of big kitty eyes.

Bad Teacher

As much as we may want it, this film is not a hard-hitting expose on all the terrible purveyors of education we have had in the past; it is instead a raunchy comedy with a bevy of successful stars including Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake and Jason Segel. We have a perverse red band trailer for you today so if you are of such a type, skip right by, but for those who indulge in racy you will find a lot to love here. Diaz stars as Elizabeth Halsey, an embittered recently single teacher who turns her gaze towards an attractive young substitute (Timberlake) while harshly brushing off the affections of the resident gym teacher (Segel) all the while trying to take home a bonus for less-than-noble intensions.  We really have not seen Diaz in fare so foul since There’s Something About Mary so her return to the genre is welcome and the clip itself is one of the best things I’ve seen this year. A sad statement perhaps but at least this movie has me laughing already.

Super

James Gunn stole my twisted heart with the satirical horror comedy Slither back in 2006 (thanks in no small part to the amazing Nathan Fillion in the lead role) and now he is back with another genre-blending farce in Super, which will hopefully not be “just another” entry in the long line of recent anti-superhero films of late. Fillion returns as The Holy Avenger, a fellow superhero to Rainn Wilson’s The Crimson Bolt who dons the cape after his wife (Liv Tyler) falls under the influence of a drug dealer. Indie darling Ellen Page also joins the production as Boltie, the perfunctory sidekick, and early festival buzz has said this flick is something special to look forward to this April. Hopefully the general pubic will not write this off as a Kick-Ass copy cat (that film did not fill theatres to begin with). Regardless, you will likely see me at the beginning of the line when this micro-budget flick sees the light of the silver screen.

Attack the Block

Nothing like a little bit of foreign flavour to spark some interest for the forthcoming year (though to be honest, being from Canada pretty much every film I see is technically foreign). Edgar Wright (Sean of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) muse Nick Frost takes a lead role in this strange but intriguing genre-blend about inner city thugs who band together to combat an alien invasion. With so many sci-fi films drifting around Hollywood as of late, it is refreshing to see a take from anywhere else (see the flawed but admirable French zombie flick The Horde from last year for an apt comparison). But to be honest, I’ll watch anything with Frost in it; Paul (another sci-fi comedy) stars the Brit also. Another English Invasion? I’m down.

The Hangover: Part II

Unfortunately, due to Trailer Tracker’s absence last week, I was not able to bring you a fresh offering of this hit comedy follow-up. Better late than never. Here it is and considering the mammoth success of The Hangover, you likely need little insight about this sequel. This teaser promises yet another night of out-of-control shenanigans where they again lose their former groom-to-be, and with promised cameos in the form of Bill Clinton and Liam Neeson how can this be a disappointment?