Evaluating the Superbowl LII movie trailers

Matt Boland

The end of football season is sad for some, but for movie lovers it means the beginning of blockbuster season in tinsel town and we got everything from first looks at Henry Cavill’s infamous mustache, dinosaurs and whatever that Dwayne Johnson movie was. Here are some of my thoughts on the Super Bowl movie trailers:

“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”

I see dinosaurs.

The “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” trailer impressed me the most because it earned some goodwill back from me after seeing the underwhelming first trailer.

Don’t get me wrong I’m still not completely sold on it, for one why are they taking the dinosaurs off the island? That story arc didn’t work in the “The Lost World,” so what has changed?

Story qualms aside, actually seeing the horror elements director J. A. Bayona said he would inject into the film was enough to get me excited.

The opening scene of the trailer featuring a young girl cowering in bed at the sight of a raptor while the raptor inched its way toward the girl teeth exposed, screamed “The Sixth Sense” and “Alien” to me.

The horror movie fan in me is excited, but the “Jurassic Park” fan is still a bit on the fence.

“Avengers: Infinity War”

The Iron, Wizard and the Spidey.

For the movie I am most excited for, this spot did not boost my excitement. After watching the spot I said to myself “that’s it?”

There just wasn’t enough new stuff in the spot to get me excited for the movie. The TV spot played out almost exactly like the first trailer we saw back in November.

I would have been way more happy if Disney and Marvel would have spent the $5 million on an “Incredibles 2” teaser.

Also, I’m just going to say it, Cap’s new shield is ugly. For how stunning visually Wakanda looks in Black Panther, how did they pick that shield design?

“Solo: A Star Wars Story”

That new Millennium Falcon smell.

Ever since I heard about this movie and I learned who would play Han Solo, I’ve been saying I didn’t like the casting and this Super Bowl trailer didn’t change my mind. I just don’t think Alden Ehrenreich can carry the movie, he doesn’t have the charisma to match what Harrison Ford already brought to the character.

It was weird that we didn’t get to see Han until the end of the trailer. It shows me that Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy maybe aren’t so confident in Ehrenreich’s casting either. If this is your first big unveiling to the world of the movie, you should lead with your best foot forward and don’t wait to show the guy who’s name is on the marquee until the end of the trailer.

Other than that the rest of the movie looks great and Woody Harralson and Donald Glover are great additions. The takeaway is it should have been Ansel Elgort from “Baby Driver” who got the role of Han.

The Super Bowl is always filled with interesting TV spots unveiling the year’s upcoming movies and this year was no different. Super Bowl LII also had incredible trailers for “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” “A Quiet Place” and season 2 of HBO’s acclaimed sci-fi dram “Westworld.” Let’s hope these movies and shows end up being just as good if not better than their trailers hint at.