Trailer Tracker: Skyfall, Paranormal Activity 4 and More

From Istanbul with love, the first full trailer for Skyfall has just debuted, marking James Bond’s 23 outing on Her Majesty’s Secret Service. From director Sam Mendes, this full-length look promises the perfect combination of espionage and thrilling action. And then — Katie's back, which means it must almost be that time of year again with Paranormal Activity 4 just around the corner.

Next, following the release of a clip courtesy of Comic-Con, Open Road Films has now unveiled the first trailer for its follow-up to 2006’s supernatural fright flick Silent Hill: Revelation 3D. Then Gerard Butler finds himself far from Sparta in Chasing Mavericks, an inspirational surfing drama (of course based on true events). Finally, we’ve got some behind-the-scenes footage of Chloe Moretz in the remake of Carrie which highlights some of the torment that leads our outcast to unleash her psionic powers on her peers. We’re all about awesome and wondrous power here – the power of movies, that is. Welcome to Trailer Tracker.

Skyfall 

It has now been 50 years since Ian Fleming’s iconic 007 made it to the big screen with Dr. No in 1962. Since then we’ve had 22 films, six incarnations of the spy and a legacy that can only be described as awesome. The number will soon be 23 with Skyfall, Daniel Craig’s third outing as Bond and our first full look at what’s on display can also only be described as awesome. Gunplay, car chases, fist fights, snappy dialogue, the return of Q, a villainous Javier Bardem and the near death of James Bond himself, Skyfall seems to have distilled the essence of the legend. Or so the crisply cut trailer would have us believe. 

From the trailer and the brief plot synopsis we’ve been give, Judy Dench’s M is given more of a spotlight than in previous instances, as a roster naming all of MI6’s undercover operatives is lost, making her the subject of scrutiny and puts Bond’s life on the line, inadvertently uncovering secrets from the past. Then there’s the aforementioned presence of Bardem, who has seemingly honed in on the charisma that won him an Oscar for No Country for Old Men. Though we’ve been given no more information than any previous entries through the same period, for some reason Skyfall seems more potent than ever and its raised stakes hint at an exhilarating crescendo for 007.

Paranormal Activity 4

“All the activity has led to this."

It makes sense, seeing how each entry since the original’s debut in 2007 has been a prequel of some kind: the second film took place almost directly before the events of the first film and the third entry took place years prior to the first two. Now with the fourth time around, fans of the series can look forward to the continued hauntings of Katie and her nephew Hunter after having disappeared in past entries, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake.

From the look of the admittedly brief teaser, it screams more of the same found-footage techniques we’ve seen from past “Activity” films. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if you weren’t a fan of the series before, there is little on display that is likely going to intrigue you, except for the idea of using webcams to document the events surrounding the unnamed teenage girl who apparently likes to videotape herself sleeping. With each entry in the low-budget series, the budget tends to go up, so who can tell what might go down this time around. All we know is that the possessed Katie and Hunter will be involved, the new protagonist seems to have no relation to their family (a series first) and that if you don’t want anything spoiled, this should be the only trailer you watch given how the series’ best moments have been blown by their trailers in the past.

Silent Hill: Revelation 3D 

Yet another sequel that nobody really asked for (and yet another instance of a follow-up being released so long after the previous entry), Silent Hill: Revelation 3D should nevertheless please fans of the game. The original Silent Hill from back in 2006 was a flawed horror entry to be sure, but its reliance on sets and costume work over CGI really helped to give it a distinct style and creepy visuals.   

This time around, the visit to the gloomy ghost town will center on a new character from the Silent Hill 3 video game by the name of Heather, though it appears as if characters from the original (including Radha Mitchell and Sean Bean) will play a large role in why our young protagonist is brought to the cursed town. The style seems intact, but seeing as that aspect was the main reason to check out the original, after visiting this world for a second time I can’t help but think we’ll be in for a case of “been there done that.”

Chasing Mavericks

Surfing films have a spotty history on the big screen to say the least, with everything from the underrated animated film Surf’s Up and the iconic Point Break to junk like Blue Crush. Gerard Butler and newcomer Jonny Weston will try their luck with Chasing Mavericks, the true story of legendary surfer Jay Moriarty’s early days and his quest to conquer the enormous waves of Northern California. Honesty, sports dramas in general are hit or miss, either striking the right note between energetic displays of the sport and compelling human drama, or just descending into all out sentimental schlock. Chasing Mavericks looks pretty generic, but hopefully Butler can bring his charisma to the film, which does have Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) in the director’s chair.

Carrie

The filming of Carrie (the remake of Brian De Palma’s 1976 classic) is in full swing, and just recently the studio has released a behind-the-scenes video showcasing an instance of bullying (likely one of many) of our titular pseudo-protagonist. We don’t get much with this glimpse, but the whole idea of a remake is a bit of a sticking point. It’s really going to come down to Chloe Moretz’s performance and if she can make her character truly memorable amongst likely instances of stock teasing we’ve seen in countless high school-set films. Directed by Kimberly Pierce (Boy’s Don’t Cry), Carrie will set fire to theaters March 15, 2013.