For those of you who decided to pass on the Super Bowl this past Sunday (congratulations, Pittsburgh), there were a couple of treats for animation fans in between plays.
DreamWorks Animation and Disney/Pixar unleashed competing trailers for their tent-pole flicks this year, hoping to lure football fans and their families into theatres. Now Trailer Addict has the new trailers for Monsters vs. Aliens and Up respectively.
Monsters vs. Aliens: DreamWorks Animation Spoofs Sci-Fi Flicks
If the trailer for DreamWorks Animation's Monsters vs. Aliens is any indication, this flick will offer audiences 3 things: crude jokes, eye-popping visuals and cartoon violence.
Oh yes, and mining countless classic movies for referential laughs. Sharp-eyed viewers (and listeners) will spot nods to Dr. Strangelove, The Three Stooges, The X Files, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Cloverfield, E.T. and countless other flicks. Yep, it appears that originality is still in short supply over at DreamWorks Animation.
On the plus side, some of the jokes are nicely done. The "Ginormica (Reese Witherspoon) falling off a roof" gag was good, but you have to wonder how the eaves supported her weight – she is nearly 50 feet tall, after all. And it remains to be seen how fast Seth Rogen's schtick will go from funny to annoying. And the President's line, "Set the terror level to Code Brown, because I need to change my pants" has a very limited shelf life.
DreamWorks' animation team is still refining their game: the humans are a lot more detailed and realistic than ever before, and some of the visuals are pretty spectacular. But it remains to be seen whether Monsters vs. Aliens can bring enough funny to make this flick entertaining.
It could be Shawn of the Dead or Meet the Spartans: your call.
Monsters vs. Aliens comes out on March 27th.
Up: Pete Docter and Bob Peterson Direct Disney/Pixar Film
On the other hand, it's clear that Up is going to be another winner from Disney/Pixar. Its Super Bowl trailer offers plenty of familiar images - it's essentially a cut-down version of the original trailer that's been out for months – but the good folks in Emeryville threw in a great little gag at the end involving Russell (Jordan Nagai) and his GPS locator.
Yes, Virginia, there are jokes out there that don't rely on references to other movies. Who'da thunk it?
Disney/Pixar also added what they're calling an "Upisode": much like last year's WALL-E shorts, an "Upisode" is a short vignette (not part of the actual movie) that shows the flick's leads in a certain setting. In the short "Animal Calls," Russell demonstrates his vast knowledge of animal calls for a highly-unimpressed Carl Fredericksen (Ed Asner). However, the scenario quickly begs the question: what happens when the animals call back?
While "Animal Calls" is amusing, it doesn't stand up to the bar set by last year's WALL-E shorts. Let's hope the next couple kick things up a few notches.
Up hits theatres on May 29th.
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