Summer time usually means that your local movie theater is going to be flooded by big genre flicks full of explosions and action and splashy visual F/X – and this year is no different.
Today we have new TV spots for 3 big films from the latter half of summer: Guillermo del Toro’s monsters vs. robots epic, Pacific Rim; Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren’s second outing as retired government spooks in RED 2; and Vin Diesel’s return to his iconic sci-fi cult-hit character in Riddick.
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Pacific Rim
Legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, start rising from the sea, beginning a war that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for many years. To fight the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly useless up against the relentless Kaiju. Close to defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes: a washed up former pilot and an untested trainee – who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past.Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse.
This latest TV spot once again highlights WB’s formulaic approach to marketing their tentpole films: eliminate the considerably high lingering doubt with a heavy barrage of action scenes (see also: Man of Steel).
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RED 2
Frank Moses (Willis) was once an ace CIA agent attempting to enjoy retirement, until he and his ex-agent pals are labelled R.E.D. (Retired Extremely Dangerous) and become targets. After teaming up for an impossible mission to clear themselves, they must once again rely on each other against an even greater threat as they take their talents international on a comedic, thrilling adventure in Europe.
As you can see, Bruce and the gang (minus Morgan Freeman, whose character didn’t make it out of the first installment) are all back for some more action and comedic hijinks. One of the TV spots highlights Malkovich’s eccentric character, Marvin, while the other heaps early critical praise on director Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest), who is replacing RED 1 director Robert Schwentke. Coincidentally enough, Schwentke is launching his own summer 2013 tentpole with the “Ghostbusters meets Men In Black” movie, R.I.P.D. It’ll be VERY interesting to see which film ultimately does better at the box office.
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Riddick
Returning to theaters with a well-deserved ‘R’ rating for the threequel, Riddick follows the titular, infamous protagonist stranded on a barren planet, home to dangerous alien beasts. To escape, Riddick must attract the attention of mercenary ships hunting him down.
What we’ve seen of Riddick so far makes Vin Diesel’s third outing as the night-sight-gifted anti-hero look like an amalgamation of its predecessors, Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick. However, if one were simply judging the movie based on the TV spot above, it’d be fair to mistake Riddick for a Pitch Black reboot. Just sayin’….
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Pacific Rim will be in theaters on July 12, 2013.
RED 2 will be in theaters on August 2, 2013.
Riddick will be in theaters on September 6, 2013.
