Trailers of Last Week: Rogue One, GOTG 2, and Logan

So maybe I forgot to mention this but I went on vacation this last week and I didn't have the time or wifi to do a lot of writing. And of course, this just happens to be the week that a crap ton of trailers dropped. And they're for movies that, don't get me wrong, I am quite excited for them, but they weren't on the top of my list. After these trailers, I do have some different outlooks on them for sure.

So let's start with the one that is coming out sooner: Rogue One.

Here is the link. 

Now here is the thing about Rogue One and the other Star Wars movies. If you probably haven't noticed, I don't really review Star Wars movies or a lot of Star Wars stuff on this blog. The reason is because I love everything about Star Wars. I put it on a totally different level because I am such a fanboy of it. So when I have a blog on movie reviews, but I'm looking at a Star Wars movie through a totally different lens, its hard to write objectively.

That is why I didn't write a review about The Force Awakens because while I do have my critical opinions of it, I can't say that I will give you a totally unbiased review because I love Star Wars too much... like I love the prequels.

But I am wondering if that might change with Rogue One. The reason is, this is no longer a story about the beloved characters like the Skywalker family, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Han Solo flying the Millenium Falcon. I like to call those the main stream episodes and they will appeal to both casual Star Wars fans and the hardcore fans. Rogue One has the job to delve into the lore of Star Wars in a way that has never been done on live action film before. Its delving into stories that aren't totally familiar and thats taking a huge risk. There is something familiar about the Skywalker family that keeps bringing people back. Now if you're like me and you've read the comic books, played the video games, etc, you know there are a lot more stories about a lot of different characters that have nothing to do with the Skywalkers.

This movie will have the loosest relationship and as a fan that intrigues me. As a movie critic, I'm a little skeptical it will play well to a larger audience. I want it to but I'm worried.

However, the other thing that really gives me hope about Rogue One is that the trailers have gotten progressively better with each one. They're showing more and more and its making me very excited about the film.

But the part that I really liked in this trailer was the personal stake some of these characters have, mainly between Jyn Erso (played by Felicity Jones) and her father, Galen Erso (played by Mads Mikkelson).

This was the first time we saw Mads Mikkelson's character and suddenly the story is starting to tie together. Suddenly, I have an idea of where this movie going and what to expect.

Now, in retrospect, if I had been more confident in this movie, I would have wanted to figure all of this out during the first viewing I had in December, but I understand that this is a movie that has a marketing team behind it like any other and if I don't want to watch the trailers, that is my choice.

Back on target however, this is showing a lot of new characters and showing them interact with one another.

This looks like a pretty rag tag group that is standing up to an Empire. Its really great to get back to that image, something that I think they were going for in The Force Awakens but it just felt off to me, especially since I had a better understanding of the lore before going into the movie.

I appreciate this trailer showing me a little bit more of Jyn Erso and the other characters to get some kind of idea of how they are going to fit in with one another. I really hope this movie makes me care about these guys, despite the fact that there is a pretty good chance, they're not going to make it out of this film, given that they don't show up in the Original Trilogy and Darth Vader basically says that he kills them all off in A New Hope. (Not officially but there are a lot of hints pointing towards that).

The last thing worth mentioning is that this trailer set up the sides in this film. You have the rag tag

rebels and you have the Empire of the Original Trilogy. This movie is going to remind you of the complete power of that Empire and remind us why we loved to hate it in the original trilogy.

You've got Ben Mendholson being his badass self as an Admiral of the Empire and he's very good at looking creepy and staring at people. But at the same time he has a great interaction with Darth Vader that you start to realize, he's not messing around. He knows how much power he has and he's going to us it to try and crush the rebellion.

And then there was the shot of Darth Vader that was the complete money shot in my opinion. Like there were a lot of cool shots in this trailer, but nothing compares to this one.

Like I don't know if that's Ben Mendholson, I don't know if that's Mads Mikkelson, but whoever it is, they are going to die at the hands of Darth Vader and I'd be scared shitless.

I think the big thing I took away from this is, this needs to be the last trailer. At least this is the last trailer I am going to watch.

I have seen everything that I need to see from this movie before its released and they have been on such a good trajectory, there is no point for them to spoil what they have started. Leave it on a good note.

I'm excited for Rogue One because this was just an awesome trailer. I am satisfied until the movie comes out, let December come quick!

The next film trailer I want to talk about is the Guardians of the Galaxy 2 trailer...

Now... let me be very clear, because I did have fun with Guardians of the Galaxy. I thought it was a risky move and Marvel did a good job with it.

However... its not as good as people think it is.

I think I am due for a rewind review of this movie because I have spent a good amount of time going back and thinking of all the problems I realize Guardians of the Galaxy has and why its not as great as people think it is.

That's why I am not as overly hyped for its sequel as other people are. I am going to see it, but its not my most anticipated film of 2017... in fact, its probably on the lower end of my most anticipated films to be one hundred percent honest.

So did the trailer change that?

Not really...

Now I get it, this is a teaser, its the first trailer, they still have a lot of footage that is going to get me more excited. However, nothing about this really got me very excited.

It honestly just showed some strutting shots of the team and a couple of action shots, but nothing that blew my mind away.

I can only hope that this movie will be more focused on showing how exactly these guys are now friends, something that was kind of missing in the last film. It seems like there is going to be some development on the relationship between Star Lord and Gamora (Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana), something that was non existent in the first film, and at least these are characters that hug now? Maybe?

I guess my biggest issue was putting the most dialogue in the trailer was between Drax and Star Lord... I didn't hate the scene, but it was just lackluster for what was supposed to be the first look we get at the movie.

Unfortunately, it also kind of reminds me of the great possibility that the world might be getting Chris Pratt fatigue soon.

Now I am one of the people that really love Chris Pratt. He seems like an awesome guy, he is a talented actor. I'm just worried that he had a window where he was at his peak between latter half of 2014 to mid 2015. This also happens to be the same period where he got away with basically playing the same character in Star Lord and Owen from Jurassic World. Now I can forgive that if Guardians comes out and I am reminded of the character of how great Star Lord, or if he is phenomenal in Passengers and gives me hope that there is more unique Chris Pratt waiting out there for us, we just have to go find it.... I also need to go see Magnificent 7.

Overall, in my personal opinion, Guardians of the Galaxy has to prove itself a little bit and its the trailer out of the three I'm picking out today that I wasn't impressed with.

But then it all came together with the beauty that was Logan.

Here is the link to the regular trailer and then here's the one to the international red band trailer... pretty much the same except for one huge difference.

Damn...

So yeah, this is the people at Fox deciding that the X-men are headed in a more serious and darker direction.

So why did I like this trailer better than the Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer?

I mean I have to be careful because it’s not exactly comparing apple to apples. Marvel calls the GOTG2 trailer a Sneak Peak, and Logan seems to be more of an actual trailer. Logan gives more of a story while Guardians basically just gives the movie going audience the reminder that Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is coming out soon.

But I think the thing that made me like the Logan trailer better was how different it was.

When I watched the Guardians trailer, all I could think of was how similar it was to the trailers of the first movie. I mean think about it, do you not remember the slow mo walking shot from the first trailers? Do you not remember getting lost in Zoe Saldana’s eyes as she stares into the camera? Do you not remember seeing Star Lord with his mask on looking like a bad ass? I know that there are new shots in that teaser but for me it didn’t seem like there was anything new being brought to the table with this teaser. Now I know that Kurt Russell is going to be in the film along with some other new faces so I’m sure there is something new but Guardians didn’t show me anything I couldn’t get confused for possible deleted scenes from the first film.

But Logan. This movie doesn’t feel like any kind of superhero film I’ve ever seen. You’ve got the solemn Johnny Cash song and a very dower and almost depressing tone. You’ve got barely any action

shots, just a lot of the same shots you might get in a Oscar Bait drama. There are still the iconic imagery, like Wolverine’s claws and recognizable characters but they seem like they’re in a totally different feeling environment. It seems like they’re going for some actual character interaction and friendship and you can guess that there is going to be some dramatic moments from these actors who until now have really only been seen together in a comic book environment like Days of Future Past.

We see Logan and Charles Xavier in this dystopian looking future where mutants seem to be gone. We don’t know why there aren’t mutants anymore, but we can only assume the worst. Logan has stopped healing, and Charles Xavier doesn’t look great. I have heard rumors that he has Alzheimer’s in this film and that is a fascinating concept to think about since he is a telepathic character and there’s a lot that could happen there.  

The story suggests that there is a girl who is like Logan, very much like him. Based on rumors that I’ve seen, this is suggesting X-23, or the female Wolverine. How she is going to be a viable player in the new franchise of X-men from Apocalypse remains to be seen but the timeline is already so messed up that anything could happen.

Based on what we know from X-men Apocalypse and other rumors, Mister Sinister is supposed to be the villain in Logan and we can guess that the Essex Corporation is hunting Logan, Charles, and this girl to capture her.

And the movie looks awesome.

Now I haven’t been a huge fan of the solo Wolverine movies in the past. Origins was terrible and The Wolverine just seemed like an opportunity Fox was cashing in on to get people to pay to see Hugh Jackman in his iconic role. But the thing that really interests me in this film is the fact that it is using material from the Old Man Logan comic book run.

The only thing that possibly worries me about this film is the R Rating. While I don’t think it’s a bad choice, I am worried that pushing Logan to be a Rated R film is just a ploy and knee jerk reaction from the huge response Fox got from Deadpool, a Rate R film. I don’t want comic book movies to all of a sudden start being Rated R just because Deadpool was successful. I want comic book movies to

be Rated R when it serves the purpose of the story and its going to be able to tell the story in the best way possible. For Deadpool, that was the only way they could tell that story. Now by the track record of Wolverine, it’s a little bit muddled. He has been in successful X-men movies that were rated PG-13 and yet all his standalone films were not good. Now I’m not convinced that was because it was missing an R rating, but it is something to consider. As long as they can produce an interesting story, utilize the R rating in a way that is conducive to the character and the story, and not just make the movie R rated to cash in on Deadpool’s popularity, I think Logan will be fine with that rating. 

Now I must make a disclaimer. I have never read the Old Man Logan comic books. I have done very little research on the storyline and I can’t say I know exactly what happens. However, what I’ve realized in the span of time that comic book movies have had their golden age is that most movies are not going to do very true adaptations of the storylines they pull material from. Civil War is a long

comic book run with a lot of characters Marvel does not have the rights to involved. The movie is nowhere close to being an adaptation of the comic book movies, it just has an umbrella theme to it and it shares the same name.

Now I will concede that there are other films that have said they’re drawing inspiration from a famous comic book run and they have not been great movies or anywhere close to the source material (Example: Batman v Superman = The Dark Knight Rises, and X-men Apocalypse = Age of Apocalypse). But at the same time, the reason I get excited when I hear that a certain comic book storyline is attached to a movie is because it means that they are at least pulling material from something that people enjoyed. The hardcore fans are never going to be satisfied that its not a direct adaptation, but the fact that they hold those storylines in high regard means that I am excited to see how Marvel, DC, and Fox all take that and try and incorporate it into the worlds that they’ve created.

I also think/hope that since this is the last outing of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, they’re going to try and give him the best script and the best story to send him off on. I have no idea where the X-men franchise is going, nor do I have any idea what direction Fox is taking this, but all I can point out is that I am incredibly excited for Logan. 

Out of these three movies, which one are you most excited for? Am I being too hard on the Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer? Do I need to re-watch the first one? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. Hugh Jackman is a freaking beast. One day I will be a huge beast like him. Enjoy!