...and I think I like it.
My previous post here was some months ago and concerned my dissapointment with the teaser trailer that was released for the Spirit movie back in late April 2008. In short, I felt that the trailer then was too choppy and messy, that it borrowed a bit too heavily from the look of Sin City (also a Frank Miller project), and that it made abad choice in backing music by using the theme from the Untouchables, because it made it seem less original. Since that time all we really got was another, admittedly longer, trailer which basically featured all of the female supporting cast from the movie to get across the idea that the spirit is all about the ladies. Well if that is not the message they were trying to get out there - sorry, that's the message they put out. At least it included a nice series of shots of Samuel Jackson as the Spirit's nemesis, the Octopus.
For those that missed it, here it is below.
Okay, enough with that. the big news here folks is that Lionsgate finally released a full trailer for the upcoming Spirit movie. And equally important (at least for me) is the fact that I actually liked this one!
Before I go on too far, here is the new, longer, trailer. (BTW, it is also being touted as the NEW 3rd trailer)
Okay, let me rattle off the reasons that I am happier with this new trailer than I am with the previous ones. For the record, it is not just about the length of the trailers, the teaser trailers for the Dark Knight movie and the Watchmen movie were both very, very effective in conveying their respective messages to their prospective audiences and did so with disciplined length. No this is more an issue of not achieving your objective with your chosen promotional medium: you want to help start the buzz building by releasing a teaser trailer that gets the fanboys (and girls) talking positively about the few moments of celluloid that they have all just witnessed together in a darkened room. I believe that the reports out there will back me up on the suggestion that the first Spirit trailer didn't meet its objectives. Length has nothing to do with it.
This new trailer really hits the marks much better than before; the first trailer failed to establish any sense of character, this one does. The characters of the Spirit and his nemesis, the Octopus are both fleshed out somewhat. I am starting to get a feel for how Gabriel Macht, who plays the Spirit, is going to come across in the film. He has a personality in this movie - at least I gleaned that from the trailer. The environment of the movie is also pretty effectively established and it didn't feel so much like the Sin City universe as it did in the first two trailers. As well, the fight scenes in the trailer are intriguingly comic-booky in nature. This might not seem very surprising or a big deal, but in today's reality obsessed violence in comic book movies, I don't recall anything very cartoony in its violence since maybe, the Warren Beatty Dick Tracy movie back in the early nineties.
The backing music for the new trailer is similar or reminiscent to the Sin City soundtrack but at least it is more original than using the Untouchables piece.
What really matters, I guess, is that the latest trailer for Frank Miller's upcoming Spirit movie has me interested in actually seeing the movie, whereas the earlier trailers failed to do this for me, and hey - isn't that ultimately what movie trailers are all about?
4.20.2008
We now have a Spirit movie teaser trailer!
We have a new teaser trailer out for the upcoming Frank miller Spirit movie. That's the good news. The bad news is that it pretty much sucks as far as teaser trailers go.
Maybe the recent teaser trailer for the Dark Knight movie raised the bar or something, but whatever it is that had me expecting more from this first peek, I was left feeling dissapointed and not just a little embarrassed for Mr. Miller and his shiny new movie. Anyway, before I go on too far, here is the trailer for you to watch below and then keep reading to see if you agree with my opinions on this or not.
Okay, lets start with the music since it is so prominent in this trailer; if you are going to build the mood with music, sure you might want apiece that is instantly catchy or that carries a melodic hook, if you will, but you don't use a piece of music from a well known Hollywood movie (The Untouchables) that carries with it its own associations unless you are going for the parody angle (which they are definitely not doing here). Okay strike one. The next thing is that if you dont have alot of finished film to work with for your trailer then maybe go minimalist or something (like they did with Dark Knight and the voiceover over some simple graphics/special effects) and try to avoid having your footage look choppy or messy. They failed here too in my opinion. The footage shows a lot of motion but it is all dark and messy (and yes, I realize that the film is maybe supposed to have grainy feel or look to it) and felt too ambiguous to me. I did like the crime noir feel to the trailer but I am concerned that it might be a little too much like Sin City for its own sake from what I saw here.
Finally, I feel that this teaser showed us quite a lot of the title character considering just how short it is, but didn't really make a dent on the character of the character. Am I making any sense here? I think I should have amore positive feeling about the heroic potential of the character after a minute, but ... meh, not so much here.
Oh well, nowhere to go but up, right?
Maybe the recent teaser trailer for the Dark Knight movie raised the bar or something, but whatever it is that had me expecting more from this first peek, I was left feeling dissapointed and not just a little embarrassed for Mr. Miller and his shiny new movie. Anyway, before I go on too far, here is the trailer for you to watch below and then keep reading to see if you agree with my opinions on this or not.
Okay, lets start with the music since it is so prominent in this trailer; if you are going to build the mood with music, sure you might want apiece that is instantly catchy or that carries a melodic hook, if you will, but you don't use a piece of music from a well known Hollywood movie (The Untouchables) that carries with it its own associations unless you are going for the parody angle (which they are definitely not doing here). Okay strike one. The next thing is that if you dont have alot of finished film to work with for your trailer then maybe go minimalist or something (like they did with Dark Knight and the voiceover over some simple graphics/special effects) and try to avoid having your footage look choppy or messy. They failed here too in my opinion. The footage shows a lot of motion but it is all dark and messy (and yes, I realize that the film is maybe supposed to have grainy feel or look to it) and felt too ambiguous to me. I did like the crime noir feel to the trailer but I am concerned that it might be a little too much like Sin City for its own sake from what I saw here.
Finally, I feel that this teaser showed us quite a lot of the title character considering just how short it is, but didn't really make a dent on the character of the character. Am I making any sense here? I think I should have amore positive feeling about the heroic potential of the character after a minute, but ... meh, not so much here.
Oh well, nowhere to go but up, right?
3.23.2008
The Spirit Movie: An Early Glimpse at an Iconic Character.
The Spirit, is the long awaited movie adaptation of Will Eisner's iconic and long running crime noir comic series, which will be directed by Frank Miller (who also wrote the screenplay). From the look of the early teaser trailer and subsequent regular theatrical trailer, it would appear that Miller 's work on this project has been heavily influenced by his collaberative efforts on both Sin City and 300, both with different directors behind the helm however.
The Spirit is scheduled for a December 25th, 2008 release.
The Spirit is scheduled for a December 25th, 2008 release.
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