Jurassic World, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Terminator: Genisys Trailers: What They Mean and Why They May or May Not Work
       Over the past few weeks a number of teaser trailers have been released for major blockbusters coming out next year and all of which have a strange theme to them. Mainly that they’re all some kind of continuation of a major franchise that has effectively been dead for years and/or had previous installments that had fans calling for the creative team’s blood or both.   It’s probably a coincidence but it has raised the question in me as to why some of these franchises continue to exist despite the fact that they have either long since ceased to be relevant or have since hit their high point and have never quite recovered from the decline they’ve been going into since. The obvious answer is money. In an age where franchising and brand name means everything there is no way a studio will let a potential cash cow end gracefully or burn out altogether, even if no one is asking for another installment. But sometimes there are new ideas. Sometimes there are ways to justify continuing a franchise. And sometimes these ideas are good and sometimes they are flat out shark jumping insane!
                       Jurassic World
                         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4
       In all honesty, Jurassic Park was a movie/book that probably should never have been expanded into a franchise. But much like Steven Spielberg’s first masterpiece Jaws, the studio in charge, (and in this case Spielberg himself), decided to milk what was then the highest grossing movie of all time to the point where the franchises began to look more like the “B” movies that had inspired them then the original masterpieces that started it all and from the looks of this trailer it seems like that spiral is continuing. Granted the “science” in the Jurassic Park series was never sound but the actors saying the words “genetically modified hybrid” with a straight face is baffling on so many levels and raises so many questions about the whys and the how’s and generally what were the filmmakers thinking when they pitched this idea and what were characters thinking when they decided to do this. To quote Chris Pratt’s character, “Probably not a good idea.” At the same time this concept can’t help but make it feel more like something that the Syfy channel or The Asylum would have produced to cash in on the popularity of a film like Jurassic Park.Â
       But at the same time, one could easily make that exact same argument against every single major blockbuster that has come out since 1975 and many of those are considered the greatest films ever made. Films like Jaws for example took what was effectively a “B” exploitation movie concept and made it into one of the greatest thrillers of all time. The Indiana Jones series is heavily inspired by what was then considered to be disposable movie serials that used to play before the main movie in old theaters before TV series came into their own. Other films like Star Wars and The Terminator series effectively took what were old “B” science fiction serial concepts and turned them into some of the most profitable franchises ever made. Heck even the original Jurassic Park has a concept that seems straight out of a Rodger Corman film with its “so-so” science and monsters running around eating people. So it is very possible that Jurassic World is just taking another concept that was once thought of as ridiculous and only worthy of crappy “B” movies and bringing it into modern world to a mainstream audience. But we’ll ultimately have to wait until summer of next year to find out if it will actually work or not.
      But if the image of Star Lord leading a pack of Raptors into battle isn’t enough to sell you on this movie you’re probably a lost cause anyway.
                  Star War: The Force Awakens
       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOVFvcNfvE
       The most that can really be said about the trailer itself is that, for better or for worse, it looks and sounds like a Star Wars movie. But it does raise a lot of questions and contains things that have become surprisingly controversial. Like, why is there a black stormtrooper even though they were all clones of a single man? Why are there even stormtroopers and tie fighters left even though the empire was defeated thirty years ago? Why is there a droid who rolls around like a ball? Why is that lightsaber shaped like a claymore and have handle guards? My biggest question: why the heck was a Sith warrior in a German looking forest? I expect that we’ll probably get more answers as 2015 rolls on but for the time this is what we have.
           But for me this trailer really cemented one thing in my head. I, like everyone else, was aware it was happening but it really didn’t hit me until I saw this trailer; a new Star Wars movie is really being made. Like everyone else, I shocked at the news that Lucas had sold his company to Disney. I couldn’t believe that they were already announcing movies before the ink dried. I booed when they announced J.J. Abrams as the director. I was hype when they announced the cast of both new comers and veteran actors to the roster. I read with suspicion as rumors leaked of clashes with Abrams and Disney executives over the writing and release date of the film. Yet despite all of that, it only sunk in that a new Star Wars movie was being made after I saw this teaser.
           You see, the Star Wars franchise is one that not only set up the foundation for the modern concept of a summer blockbuster franchise but one that is, more than any other, made for the modern era. I have my disagreements with other people over the quality of films like The Avengers and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general but if nothing else one has to acknowledge that it has open the door for other film franchises to follow in suite. Many in all honesty have no reason to but the Star Wars franchise was always one that was begging for the same treatment the MCU has received. With a universe as large as the Star Wars one, it is just begging for stories that go outside the same old “Jedi V.S. Sith” scenario we’ve been seeing for almost forty years. Perhaps spinoffs concerning the exploits of bounty hunters or smugglers and their dealings with the underworlds of the galaxy? A Game of Thrones-esc political drama concerning galactic politics? The possibilities for the universe that Star Wars has built are quite literally endless and that’s what this trailer seems to be more about, (for me anyway), more than anything else. It has finally given visual confirmation that Star Wars is back and gives more merit to the idea that sequels will happen and that the two spinoffs they currently have in development may actually see the light of day. And that, more than anything else, is that this teaser means.
    But seriously, why are people freaking out over this new lightsaber design?
                     Terminator: Genisys
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN__WyMfEKw
       Despite the stupid name, this movie looks awesome. There are some cool new machine designs, many of the casting choices are untraditional but are made up of good actors, the action looks imaginative and intense, the post-apocalyptic future looks great, and it seems to have a theme that messing with the timeline multiple times can and will have unexpected consequences. And yet, despite the sheer awesomeness of seeing the T-800 skydive into a helicopter I can’t help but worry.
           You see, it’s widely agreed upon that the Terminator franchise should have ended after Terminator 2. The film effectively ended, (SPOILERS), with Judgment day being prevented and all trace of the machines and Skynet being wiped from history and stating that the future is not set and that we ultimately decide where it will go. And this new movie seems to be a little too aware of this as this trailer clearly contains rehashed ideas from T2, from trying to prevent Judgement Day to a T-1000 being the apparent primary antagonist. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they’ve run out of ideas or are playing it safe, (if anything the reshaped timeline seems to imply the opposite), it does make me worry that the film itself will itself be a redo of the plot of T2, if in concept if not necessarily in execution. And quite frankly after Days of Future Past I think a good deal of these concepts have worn out their welcome.
           In the end, all of these trailers have their downsides ranging from “B” monster movie ideas, to clamor, hilt guarded lightsabers, to a complete reset of a beloved franchise but they all also show or imply a lot of promise. They all seem to contain new ideas and are interested in continue these beloved franchises in new ways but also in ways that will respect what came before them. But we won’t know for sure until next year. All we do know for sure is that 2015 is going to be a hell of a year.
So until next time please follow us here on tumblr, on twitter, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel, and get hype or ready to hate on these new movies.
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