Explosions, superheroes, Muppets, and the Bible…hooray, kinda!
Remember the good ole’ days of Super Bowl movie trailers (~15 years ago) when there were only 2-4 of them and they were completely jaw-dropping? Armageddon and The Mask of Zorro in 1998, The Mummy and The Matrix in 1999, Gladiator in 2000. Nowadays, the internet is set ablaze with news of movie trailers set to premiere during the big game (with some premiering online before the game). Super Bowl movie ads just don’t have the ‘wow’-factor they used to. This year, more than eight movies had their trailers broadcast during the commercial breaks. It was mostly a visual feast of action/adventure fare, and most were new, aside from a few including 3 Days to Kill and Monument’s Men (which has too many ads playing currently). So, here are the cream of the crop:
Transformers: Age of Extinction
No Shia? I’m game! No, seriously, we’re all fairly confident that this movie has little chance of being any better than the previous three crap-fests. That being said, Optimus Prime riding a robo-dinosaur? Again, I’m game!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNfOcV0eeg4
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Captain America: The First Avenger was a surprise hit, which, along with Thor, set the stage for Marvel’s The Avengers. The highly anticipated follow-up looks super exciting!…and nearly as patriotic as the Coke commercial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o9PnbiB6KU
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
With a glowing blue Jamie Foxx and Emma Stone still a dazzling damsel in distress, this movie looks pretty solid. Add in some crazy cool spidey-vision like the last Spider-Man outing and we’re good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgIVNGF8qWg
Muppets Most Wanted (Extended Cut)
Arguably the best 2014 Super Bowl movie ad. This trailer provides self-referential humor and charming culturally relevant wit, as only The Muppets can provide!
Pompeii
Roland Emmerich must be reeling for missing out on this one. Assume a weak plot, weak story, and weak characters (no worries Jon Snow, we’ll still love you), and epic explosions. Has there ever been a more epic explosion than Pompeii? Oh wait, the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs…wink wink, Roland.
Need for Speed
Fresh off Breaking Bad, Aaron Paul seems to be taking over where Paul Walker left off (RIP) — to be the new white boy badass of speeding car action flicks! Will this be the first video game adaptation to become a critical and commercial success? Trailer survey says, ‘maybe’.
Noah
The biblical tale of Noah as depicted by the director of Pi, The Fountain, and Black Swan!? YES! My only issue with this trailer is that Jennifer Connelly just somehow doesn’t seem to fit here. She doesn’t have that, how should I say, biblical look. Otherwise, I have a sneaking suspicion that this may be a masterpiece.
Draft Day
Mr. Baseball (Kevin Costner, for those who haven’t seen Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, and For the Love of the Game) now turns to football. Looks fun. I guess. By April, I will have forgotten that football even existed.
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