I remember very clearly getting chills when I first saw the teaser trailer for Superman Returns:
Hell, I get chills even on the rewatch. The epic John Williams score, the solemnly uplifting narration, the images chosen to inspire awe and wonder… it is, in a microcosm, everything a good teaser should be. Of course, this story doesn’t have a happy ending. I mean… you probably saw the movie. You know how it all turned out. Fast forward six years, to the summer of 2012, where we got this:
It’s a very similar trailer, conceptually. But whereas the 2006 teaser seeks to inspire or transcend, the 2012 one seems to humanize, to bring the hero down to Earth. Which, personally speaking, I think is a weird way to sell a Superman movie. And make no mistake, that’s what we’re talking about here. Selling the most popular, recognized hero in the world to an audience that’s already been burnt once. (Or three times if you count Superman 3 and 4…)
And as much artfulness as they can sometimes display, in the end, trailers are nothing but ads, designed to sell product. But who do you know that’s excited about the new Superman movie? What appeal does that ponderous, oblique teaser have for anyone that isn’t already pre-disposed to see a Superman movie no matter what? In case we forget, what’s the knock on Superman Returns? That it was morose, ponderous, and just plain not that much fun. And the push for the new movie, to me, looks like more of the same.
Now, they did release a second trailer, with slightly more footage of Superman in action, but (and again, this is personally speaking), it didn’t do that much for me. Despite what looks like some epic action, it still seems needlessly glum. And in a post-Avengers summer movie season, that kind of stuff closes out of town.
Now none of this is to say that Man of Steel will be a terrible movie. It might, in fact, be a great deal more entertaining than it looks. What I’m trying to explore here is the idea of how a trailer goes about selling a movie.
And in that regard, I predict that After Earth will be terrible.
I want to say that I saw this teaser trailer during the same set as Man of Steel:
It starts off looking very promising. The crash landing looks fairly harrowing, and who doesn’t want to see Will Smith sucked out of an airlock? But the moment he starts talking, the whole thing goes to hell. The things he says are stilted, and his delivery of them is slow to the point where I have to assume he’s suffered brain damage in the crash. The imagery is arresting and intriguing (if not somewhat derivative), but with the voiceover layered on top? It is just off-putting. And to top it off, the big reveal: the planet they’ve crashed on… is Earth! Okay. But… who cares?
Again, think about what you’re selling. In theory, a trailer is designed to peak at its moment of greatest interest. The movie should look good, and then you close on an image or a concept that cements your desire to see it opening night. Even the Man of Steel teaser got that right, by closing on an image of Superman flying. Now, by contrast, what does the After Earth trailer do? Closes by revealing that it’s basically Planet of the Apes. This is a nothing twist to me. It has no impact because it seems to have nothing to do with the narrative it has presented in the rest of the trailer. There are sabre tooth tigers and crazy pterodactyls and stuff. Why the hell does it matter what planet it is?
Of course, that’s just personal opinion, but in truth there’s another aspect that leads me to believe that this movie will wind up being not good:
It is directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
Now, for those out there who don’t remember who M. Night Shyamalan is, he is one of the last “name” directors out there. He is a former wunderkind who made one great movie and two good movies; then tragically received a blow to the head and forgot how human beings think, act, and speak. He then went on to make four more movies.
And when I found out he was involved, it all came together. The stilted, self important dialogue! The oddly portentous tone! The pointless twist at the end! The entire damn teaser was a Shyamalan movie in miniature.
Now what is most interesting about this is that his name is nowhere to be found on any of the promotional footage. Whereas once he was a selling point, now he’s a liability. The movie is being sold solely on the merits of the spectacle and the two stars. Which, again, makes me wonder if the” twist” is even necessary. Is there a reason the planet on this movie has to be Earth? I have no idea, because the trailer doesn’t seem to feel the need to clarify. Instead of being intriguing, it’s confusing.
But, even as I puzzle out the trailer, there’s a part of me that realizes that it probably doesn’t matter. If history has taught me anything, it’s that I’m probably going to see both movies, regardless of what I suspect the ultimate quality may be.
This is the insidious nature of trailers. The great ones, of course, make you wish that you were watching that movie instead of the one you’re about to see. The bad ones are awful, like a blaring siren warning people to stay away. But the strange ones, the ones that may look good but somehow feel ‘off’ (which I contend Man of Steel and After Earth fall into the category of)… well, if you see them enough times, they can disorient you and practically brainwash you into thinking your instincts are wrong.
And of course you should want them to be. After all, being a true movie lover means you approach every possible movie with hope. Hope that the studio didn’t know how to sell it, or that your suspicions are unfounded. That a movie that looks bad or not compelling will surprise you.
And, trailers aside, the best movie going experience is the one you never see coming…
UPDATE: Since this article was written, they released a third trailer for Man Of Steel, this time with less soulful contemplation and more exploding tentacles. On the one hand, it all still seems needlessly dour to me. On the other, Michael Shannon is screaming threats while wearing full body armor and that makes my heart grows three sizes. My opinion of the ad campaign remains the same; color me cautiously optimstic.
