Isn’t this the way it’s supposed to work?
I think these days, people have this expectation that the moment a studio starts marketing a movie, they’re going to throw all the best stuff at the audience right away in a take-no-prisoners approach to getting butts in theater seats.
Personally, I’ve always been a fan of the slow burn, the gradual reveal as we get closer to a movie, while still trying to hold things back, and so far, I’d say “X-Men: First Class” has been doing everything right in terms of the trailers they’ve cut.
Now, over at MTV.com, there are three new character trailers that do a nice job of re-introducing us to characters we’ve met in other films as well as characters that have never appeared in an “X-Men” movie before.
My first reaction is that the film looks better with each new clip, and part of that is because we’re getting a look at the way Matthew Vaughn approaches shooting this world and these people, and there’s a keen intelligence to his take on things.
For example, the first clip features Nicolas Hoult as Hank McCoy, also known as “Beast,” and not only do we get a glimpse at the relationship he has in the film with Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), we also get a look at the way Vaughn personalizes the horror of Beast’s transformation, putting us in Hank’s position so we can feel it instead of just watching it. Check this out:
I’m not wildly familiar with the other new characters here. Havok, played by Lucas Till, looks to be a very powerful mutant and watching the way Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) works with him to bring his powers under control, even in this short glimpse, is intriguing:
And finally, there’s Banshee, played by Caleb Landry Jones, whose sonic powers seem to have a number of different potential uses, just a few of which are seen here. It’s enough to give us a sense that we’re not just going to see the same old things in this film that we’ve seen in the others, and that the sense of discovery is an important part of the drama in the movie:
Overall, I think this one looks great. And while I am a fan of the way “Thor” and “Green Lantern” seem to be aiming younger, that doesn’t mean I just want one flavor of superhero film all summer. If “X-Men: First Class” plays as adult as it looks like it does, then it could be one of the summer’s real treats.
“X-Men: First Class” opens June 3, 2011.