Well, the summer blockbuster season is around the corner and this guy is giddy with anticipation for the months of comic book related movies about to be released. Iron-Man 3 will be here in less than two months continuing the story from what might be my favorite movie of all time at this point (next to Ghostbusters, of course), The Avengers. Maybe I’m shallow, but some years the months between September and May are just a giant void between movies I want to see. And since last year’s Avengers, Dark Knight Rises, and (don’t hit me) even The Amazing Spider-Man, not much else has really excited me. In my own defense, winter sucks and I don’t want to walk outside to even go buy food let alone go watch movies that don’t have automatic toy deals and Subway cross-promotions. But soon Iron-Man 3 will be released, and then I will know that it is time to dig my way out from under the rock I’ve been living in, rub my eyes as they try to adjust to the sunlight, skip with glee to the local talkie house and feel like the smartest guy in the room when I clap during Stan Lee’s cameos!
The other day, something awesome happened. The trailer for this summer’s The Wolverine was released online. Not that the trailer was particularly awesome, but the fact that I DIDN’T have to go see the new GI JOE movie to see it was pretty damned sweet. Man, I love the internet. Anyway, it shows my childhood sports hero Wolverine yelling, gritting his teeth, fighting ninjas, and then yelling some more. That’s all it needed for me to get excited. Nevermind that I’ve already endured the first Wolverine movie, plus the three main X-Men movies which should have been called “The Wolverine Chronicles.” This trailer shows him fighting friggin’ ninjas! (Before anyone points out my naivete, I know that this is loosely based on the Chris Claremont/ Frank Miller Wolverine miniseries from the early 80s and that the concept of the ol’ Canuckle-Head fighting ninjas is far from a Hollywood original). I’m aware that the threat of complete and total disappointment is very real, but this may be the Wolverine movie that we deserve, just not the one we need right now, or something. WOlverine in Japan fighting ninjas fills me with hope. Before the full trailer was released, however, there was a TEASER trailer released days earlier! It seems to be the “thing” now. The hollywood studios, knowing that even hard-to-pleasers like me will absolutley FLIP for certain franchises, will release onto the web a ten-second clip which shows split second cuts of scenes from an upcoming trailers while loud banging sounds pound your ears at each transition. Then the screen turns black and something like “Full Trailer During the Superbowl” appears written. Then I usually will jump off of whatever worn-out cat scratch post piece of furniture I happen to be sitting on and shout “HOLY SHIT!!! NOW I HAVE TO WATCH THE SUPERBOWL!!!” I must reiterate: this reaction only occurs when the teaser of the teaser of the easily teased is based on an already beloved franchise. I do not carry on this way for Twilight or Fried Green Tomatoes.
I remember when I was fourteen waiting all week to watch the episode of Extra! which was going to premiere the trailer for Batman Forever. It was awesome! Then I saw the movie. So, you see, sometimes the trailers are the best part or only good part of whatever movie they are promoting. And now, with highspeed internets and Youtube, I can buy into media hype anytime I want! And this week of Wolverine badassary is much better than downloading the first X-Men trailer on dial-up.