Trailer : Splice (2009/2010)

Produced by Guillermo del Toro, and directed by Vincenzo Natali (“Cube”), “Splice’, tells the tale of two scientists, played by Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley, who attempt a radical experiment, splicing together human and animal DNA. The result is a female hibryd, evolving rapidly, very intelligent, and, in the vein of all horror films, extremely dangerous. Boasting with a controversial sex scene between Brody and the hibryd creature, the movie attempts to explore the moral and human boundaries of science, as well as provide some good ol’ fashioned horror spectacle.

Trailer : Predators (2010)

“Predators” is a direct sequel (not a reboot, as initially thought) to the the first Predator movie. Written and produced by Roberto Rodriguez (“Sin City”) and directed by Nimrod Antal (“Armored”, “Kontroll”), the movie removes itself from the failures of the awfull “Alien vs. Predator” flicks and pulls closer to the spirit of the original. A genuine fanboy feast !

Trailer : Robin Hood (2010)

Ridley Scott returns to what he does best : historical epics. Following in the history spin-off tradition of “Gladiator” and “Kingdom of Heaven”, “Robin Hood” will probably be another risky move for Scott. “Kingdom of Heaven” flopped at the box-office, under the pressure of studio quarrels and hightened expectations. The Director’s Cut (extended by aprox. 1 hour) for that one mended many of its shortcomings and proved it was a worthy cinematic achievement (and one of my personal favourites). I hope “Robin Hood” won’t end up with a corrective DVD extended version. It certainly looks promising, but I would rather they didn’t use the “story of the man behind the legend” marketing strategy. “King Arthur” used that same approach and it was a terrible underachievement.

Trailer : Iron Man 2 (2010)

Iron Man will be back on the big screen, in full gear, this summer, bringing along for the ride a new set of characters from the comic book. For the connoisseurs out there, they are Black Widow, Whiplash and Nick Fury. For the rest of use, they are Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke and Samuel L. Jackson. Favreau returns to direct from a script penned by promising new talent Justin Theroux, who also co-wrote “Tropic Thunder”. Looking good on all accounts, promises the same mix of furious action and witty laughs. Will it deliver ? We shall see.

Trailer : Prince of Persia (2010)

Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer shake hands once again to recreate the success of “Pirates of the Caribbean”. A video game adaptation, “Prince of Persia” is a similar attempt at using a vague historical setting mixed with pseudo-mythology as a setting for a kids-friendly adventure movie filled with humor and epic action. Definitely the most eagerly expected trailer of this week.

So far, the trailer reveals loads of CGI  and Jake Gyllenhaal doing a bad british accent. I find it funny that a british accent is quintessential to envisioning the middle east in a movie, so much so, that an american actor has to fake the said accent in order for everything to be “authentic”. Not that I’ll let stuff like that prevent me from enjoying some good ol’ fashioned mindless action. I’m sure it’s going to be a fun crowd-pleaser (Mike Newell behind the camera is a big plus), though not as successful as “Pirates…”, and probably less likely to spawn a franchise…though I have been wrong before. Lower expectations and take in all that eye-candy.