Preview Impressions II: Live Free or Die Hard

A while ago, I posted impressions on the first trailer for the upcoming Live Free or Die Hard, which is set for release on June 27, 2007. I had great concerns that Bruce Willis could pull off the role given his advanced age, but the first trailer overcame many of those concerns.

Today I watched the second trailer. I am even more impressed after watching this one. It looks like Willis is right on the mark, and his age seems a non-factor. He’s got some good lines. The action looks fast and furious. This movie looks like it could be fantastic.

I do have concerns, however. My biggest one at the moment is whether the action goes too far. There is a point at which more spectacular becomes downright stupid, and when I see a jet plane hovering under what looks like a highway overpass, one of my eyebrows goes up in skepticism.

Also, it’s difficult to get a good idea of how the film is constructed until you actually see it. Things that look tight in previews can be quite sloppy in reality.

Overall, though, I’m very excited about this film.

Prediction: 85

Preview Impressions: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer opens this weekend. I caught a look at the latest preview this afternoon. I must say, I’m more interested in the film now than I was when I saw the original teaser. The story looks focused, and the action looks to be tied to the story nicely. I also like the way they present the Silver Surfer: enigmatic, ominpotent, and deadly. Doesn’t hurt to have Jessica Alba in the movie, either.

Prediction: 80 (Solid)

Preview Impressions: Spiderman 3

I caught the latest Spiderman 3 trailer today. I’m encouraged by this one. The first one I saw, a few months ago, seemed to have so much in it that I wondered how they would ever get all that stuff into one movie. Earlier trailers seemed almost too noisy, with too many villains and too much going on. This Spiderman 3 trailer seems more focused, and the story is much clearer.

While the action looks incredible as well, I still have concerns. Previous trailers showed a lot of the Sandman, but this one just has a brief glimpse. Did they reduce his part? How does he fit into the story? Previous trailers also had Peter Parker hospitalized. Does that still happen?

I greatly enjoyed the first two Spiderman movies. Because of that more than the trailers, I still feel like odds are good that Spiderman 3 will live up to expectations. My greatest concern is that they are trying to do too much in one movie.

Prediction: 75

Preview Impressions: Pathfinder

Seems every time I’ve been to a theater in the past couple of months, there are posters splattered around for the movie Pathfinder, but I had heard nothing about it. I tracked down the trailer today to check it out.

I’ve always been a fan of hack ‘n slash combat, and Pathfinder looks to fall right smack in the middle of this category. We’ve got a simple story, lots of sword fighting, and an occasional sex scene tossed in for a respite from the action. All the ingredients of a classic action film! Yippee!

The problem is that most of the time these films fall far short of the mark because of sloppy action sequences, horrible editing, broken premises, and choppy stories. From the looks of the preview, however, Pathfinder might have a chance to buck the odds. The action scenes look fairly well shot. Who knows, if the story is simple enough, the movie might even make sense.

The acting could pull it down, however. I’m not encouraged in this regard. I also noticed we have a “bad barbarians pillage innocent village” scene that of course includes an “evil horseman cutting down a helpless villager from behind” shot. This does not speak well of the movie’s originality. And a quick question that arose was “How did the raiding Vikings get horses in North America?” I’m hoping the movie provides some sort of a logical answer to this question.

The story involves a Viking boy who gets left behind on a raid on Native Americans, and who is subsequently raised by the natives. When the Vikings return, he fights against them. As I watched this, I immediately cringed at the thought of the “unknowingly fight and kill your father” potential here, but they wouldn’t dare…would they?

A prediction is a complete shot in the dark here, but I’ll go with:

Prediction: 40, but I’m rooting for it to be much better.

Trailer Impressions: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I took a peek today at the second trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the upcoming computer animated film from Warner Brothers. My first impression is that the animation in the film appears to be top notch. The city looks dark and grimy, the monsters ominous and evil, and the turtles engaging yet powerful. Nicely done. The regular citizens have a softer, rounded touch to them that reminded me of The Incredibles. Movement looks fluid and well choreographed. Visually, this film looks to be a treat.

Elsewhere, I wasn’t impressed. Much of the humor in the film seems aimed at 5-year-olds. Burping? That’s a highlight you want to emphasize in a trailer? Yikes. The voice acting, from the little pieces I heard, seems surprisingly weak. And the story involves a planetary alignment that occurs once every 3,000 years. How original.

I’m guessing this one will end up in the middle, with the fantastic animation dragged down by a childish script, unoriginal story, and uninspiring voice acting.

Prediction: 52 (Average)

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