Trailers! Trailers!: Upcoming 2018 Edition

It's been a long time since I've done one of these, but I'm itching to put down some preliminary thoughts on some of 2018's most prominent would-be blockbusters. As always, all links lead to Trailer Addict.

Avengers: The Infinity Wars - Thanos looks different than I'd imagined. More pink. Anyhoo, the best part of the trailer is inevitably the hints of all the different crossovers finally happening: Thor meeting the Guardians, and the "Doctor Strange" crew coming across Bruce Banner. I also like some of the new looks for various characters. Black Widow has gone blonde, and Vision has gone very human, which I take to mean that they're going to step up his romance with the Scarlet Witch. And my guess is that he's the most likely to get killed off. The callback to Nick Fury's dialogue practically guarantees that somebody significant is finally going to kick the bucket. Oh, and they finally got the theme music in there! Praise Tony Zhou!

Alita: Battle Angel - The big question is, would this have looked any better if James Cameron were directing it instead of Robert Rodriguez? We know that he was going to use a heavily CGI enhanced Alita, but would he have gone with the gigantic eyes that everyone is so obsessed with? As for the rest of the trailer, it looks like the filmmakers are adapting the same storyline that was used for the anime version of "Battle Angel Alita" way back in 1993. The casting is excellent - I'm looking forward to Christoph Waltz as Dr. Ido and Mahershala Ali as Vector in particular. However, after the recent failures of "Ghost in the Shell" and "Death Note," the big question is how well the story is going to translate. And we shouldn't forget that Neill Blomkamp already borrowed a big chunk of "Alita" for "Elysium" a few years ago.

Ready Player One - The Comic-Con teaser was fantastic, the absolute highlight of the whole con. The trailer can't hope to live up to it, but does provide some new details and help us to get a better idea of the shape of this thing. We finally have our first look at the Oasis avatars, which are pretty spiffy, and some of the other characters. Ben Mendelsohn and Mark Rylance are always good to see in anything. However, I can't deny that what got me the most excited was the shot of the Gundam. Along with the "Akira" motorcycle, it looks like some significant anime IP is going to be represented in the film's giant fanservice melee. There's also a new shot of Chucky and a closer one of the Iron Giant, who reportedly plays a big part in the finale. I have no idea if this thing is going to be good or bad, but I'm itching to see what it's all about.

A Wrinkle in Time - I'm rooting for this movie, not just because I love the book, the director, and most of the stars involved, but because it's been made very clear to me that it is vital to have a kids' fantasy movie like this with a non-white female lead. And thankfully, it appears that it might be a good one too. I think the costuming and makeup on Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Witch are a little too much, but the rest of the film just looks gorgeous. I'm slightly worried about the blockbuster-ization of the story, which seems to involve a big action finale that didn't exist in the book, but that was bound to happen with any major studio adaptation. Also, keep in mind that there are several other books in the "Time" series if this one does well.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - The biggest reason that I want to see this is because Juan Antonio Bayona has taken over directing duties, and his films have all been very solid. I also find it gratifying that after four movies, we're finally going to be actively rooting for the dinosaurs this time around. The plot involves rescuing the hapless dinos stranded after the last movie, as an active volcano is threatening their island. Alas, Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly are still writing this thing, which doesn't inspire much confidence that Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard's characters will be much improved.

Ocean's 8 - Yes. Yes to all of this.

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