Black Widow / No Time to Die trailer review

 

The beginning of December has been accompanied by the arrival of the trailers for two of 2020’s biggest releases; one being Marvel Studios’ Black Widow, and the other being the twenty-fifth James Bond movie No Time to Die. Both are easily my most anticipated films of the coming year, so naturally I was awaiting the debut of their respective trailers with much excitement. As Black Widow's trailer premiered first, that's where I'll start.

On the whole I think it was a satisfactory preview for the first cinematic chapter of the upcoming fourth phase of the MCU. I found a fair bit to like in it, starting with the beginning. The trailer opens with snippets of Natasha’s dialogue from Avengers: Endgame about having nothing before joining S.H.I.E.L.D., which plays out over a series of clips from previous films, as well as a few original shots from this forthcoming entry. I think this was the best possible way for the trailer to start; it has a sombre mood that feels very appropriate considering that the film will be exploring Natasha’s quite dark backstory, which we have only been fed drips of in previous films and has never been fully fleshed out until now. That theme of her past is a constant presence throughout the rest of the trailer, and the film appears to be setting up a storyline that this subject will heavily factor into. Given that Natasha’s shady past has always been a huge part of what makes her such a compelling character, this is definitely the right approach for the film to take. Hopefully it will feature some exciting new revelations about Natasha to make her an even greater character than she already is.

Something that really stood out to me about this trailer is the cinematography, especially its colour palette. It has this beautiful mix of brown, red and grey that really makes it stand out among the other films in the MCU. Equally as noteworthy is the music, particularly the electronic theme running throughout the trailer that gives it an extra edge and spice, elevating it above many other Marvel trailers. What both the music and the cinematography create is a darker and more serious tone than we’ve been used to with the majority of MCU trailers, which too is in keeping with the subject matter that Black Widow looks to be tackling. I hope that it actually has the guts to explore these themes and really delve into them rather than take the safe route and supress them with humour, as Marvel has unfortunately tended to do rather a lot lately.

So far I’ve largely been quite positive about this trailer, but there was one thing holding it back from reaching the heights that it could have, and that was the editing. It was assembled and cut together in a very similar, almost identical manner to almost every other Marvel trailer from recent years. The result is that it didn’t feel particularly fresh or new, and also lacked an identity of its own; there was next to nothing about it that felt distinct to Black Widow, thus making it come across as just a generic action trailer. It’s largely this aspect of the trailer that holds it back from really being as good as it could have been, thus preventing me from rating it higher.

To sum up my thoughts on this trailer, overall I do think it was a satisfying preview of what’s to come with this upcoming entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and there are a lot of very promising things about it. Unfortunately however, the manner in which it was cut together and presented just felt far too reminiscent of many other Marvel trailers from the last few years, especially those from Phase Three, which made it feel quite run-of-the-mill. But that’s not to say that I disliked it, because I really didn’t. It did do its job of making me want to see the film, which is exactly what it was supposed to do. Natasha has always been one of the MCU’s best characters, in no small part thanks to how excellently she has been portrayed by Scarlett Johansson, and knowing that both the character and the actress are finally being given their long overdue time to shine is reason enough to get excited for this movie. Having said that though, my excitement is also somewhat tempered by a slight sense of scepticism brought about by me having been quite disappointed with some of the recent Marvel films such as Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far from Home, the latter being especially crushing, which has left me feeling a bit iffy towards the future of the franchise.

Increasing that scepticism somewhat is the unavoidable fact that this film is only coming along after Natasha’s story and character arc were both wrapped up in Avengers: Endgame, which does unfortunately make its very existence already seem redundant before it’s even been released. Of course should the film turn out to be really good then that won’t much matter, but we won’t know if it is or not for another five months. Ultimately while this trailer didn’t knock my socks off, it did nonetheless instil me with excitement to see the next chapter in the MCU, so here’s hope that it delivers when it arrives on May 1^st.

 

Following our first look at Black Widow, we finally got the trailer for the next James Bond movie No Time to Die. It’s been four years now since the last Bond film Spectre, and we’ve heard precious little about the next instalment. Unfortunately, it would appear that nothing but negativity has surrounded Daniel Craig’s 007 swansong, with the misfortunes ranging from the original director Danny Boyle leaving the film to multiple delayed release dates to on-set accidents and injuries to supposed arguments between Craig and the director to alleged constant rewrites of the script to the horrendous live reveal of the movie back in April, the list goes on. It goes without saying that this never-ending stream of bad news has created a dark cloud of scepticism around the upcoming entry in the long-running series.

I myself fell victim to those feelings of uncertainty and had a fair few doubts about this latest 007 outing, so I went into the trailer hoping it would surprise me. To my great pleasure, that hope was rewarded by a trailer that completely killed any doubt I had in my head; No Time to Die looks absolutely incredible, and it seems like it’s going to be a truly great Bond adventure. There was a lot to love about this trailer right from the off, especially its pacing. From as soon as it starts it has an exhilarating pace, throwing the audience right into the middle of a car chase that I assume is going to be part of the film’s pre-title sequence. This fast pace continues throughout the rest of the trailer, which has a high level of energy as a result, and it never loses this even when highlighting either a comedic moment or a dramatic aspect of the story. I think this is due to the music, which almost constantly has sense of adrenaline, as well as the editing that doesn’t hold on any of the scenes or shots for too long.

Despite being generally fast-paced, the trailer’s mood completely changes when it teases the film’s villain Safin. Once he turns up, the editing becomes more slow and less rapid, and the tone of the music changes from being full of adrenaline to something that sounds really spine-tingling and unnerving. Even though Safin has dialogue where he draws comparisons between himself and Bond during this part of the trailer, next to nothing is actually revealed about his character, which works really well at creating an intriguing aura around him. This also has the added effect of making me even more interested in seeing the film so I can find out more about him.

Piquing the viewer’s interest is something that the whole trailer does brilliantly. What impressed me the most was how it was able to highlight many of the upcoming plot points without giving away anything major about them. The opening car chase is intertwined with Bond seemingly believing that Madeleine Swann has betrayed him, and for the rest of the trailer, it’s not revealed whether she has or not. Other plot points not fully elaborated on include the surprise return of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Felix Leiter coming back after two films absent and Madeleine having a big secret. The trailer only gives us a very vague idea of what to expect from these plot points, which I think is the right approach; it’s just enough to whet our appetites and have us want to find out more about what’s to come. It really is the perfect balance between giving the audience a good idea of what to expect from the plot and still keeping much of it secret.

The biggest impression I got from the trailer in regards to the story is that Bond and Madeleine’s relationship will play a key role in the plot, something I am very much of two minds about. It wouldn’t be the first time that romance has been a central component of a Bond movie, but this one might not be the best candidate for that. Spectre wanted the audience to believe that Madeleine was not merely a one-film girlfriend, but in fact, Bond’s one true love, which it did not do very successfully at all, owing to a combination of being written in an unconvincing manner brought about by Madeleine being a rather dull character, and a lack of chemistry between Daniel Craig and Léa Seydoux; so the prospect of their relationship continuing on into No Time to Die, and in a more prominent manner at that, is not something I have much faith in.

Having said that though, the trailer does set up some really interesting ideas that could potentially make continuing Bond and Madeleine’s love story a worthwhile decision. Firstly it raises the possibility of Madeleine having betrayed Bond, and doesn’t indicate whether or not she actually has; secondly, it teases that she has a major secret that, according to Blofeld, will be the death of Bond once it comes to light. Both of these have actually gotten me really intrigued to see where this story is going to go once the film is released. This could also have the added benefit of making up for how bland a character Madeleine was in Spectre, so hopefully this will have a worthy payoff.

But if there is one thing that I came away from this trailer appreciating more than anything else, then that would be how it presents Daniel Craig. I absolutely adore Craig’s interpretation of the famous secret agent – in my eyes, he’s the best of the six actors who have played 007 -, but I must admit that I have had some doubts about him returning to the role for a fifth time, mainly arising from his age and physical appearance. Craig is fifty-one years old, and I felt that his age was showing itself in a somewhat concerning way. Before seeing this trailer, I had grown fearful that Craig had aged out of the role and no longer looked the part. I’m absolutely delighted to say that the trailer proved me completely wrong. Despite his age, Craig still looks great; he’s still up to speed physically, looking just as tough and dangerous as he did in Casino Royale all the way back in 2006, and he continues to handle himself extremely well in the action scenes, which goes a long way towards me still being able to believe him as Bond. Convincing me that Daniel Craig is still up to playing James Bond is what I think this trailer most succeeded at doing; it completely squashed all of my fears of him being too old or physically incapable, and that is what I most appreciated about it.

Like I said, I love Craig a lot and I am really looking forward to seeing the conclusion of his near fifteen-year tenure as Bond. Even though the quality of his four films has been quite inconsistent, ranging from outstanding (Casino Royale and Skyfall) to average or mediocre (Quantum of Solace and Spectre), Craig himself has always been consistently excellent with each of his performances, and more than anything else I just want No Time to Die to be a worthy send-off to him. Come April, regardless of whatever the rest of the film is like, so long as I walk out of the cinema feeling satisfied with how it finishes off Craig’s tenure as the superspy, then I will be happy. Restoring my faith in Daniel Craig’s ability to portray James Bond one last time is this trailer’s greatest achievement in my eyes, and I will forever appreciate it for that.

If there was any downside to the trailer, then that would be that it lacked a really satisfactory version of the Bond theme to close itself out on. The famous theme is of course regularly featured throughout the trailer, and in a good fashion at that; however the version that accompanies the final thirty seconds lacks both the punch and impact of its counterpart versions from the trailers for the previous Craig films, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall in particular. It’s not a bad orchestration of the theme by any means, but it’s still not really as good as it could have been.

Aside from that minor quibble, I can’t complain much about this trailer at all, because on the whole, I was utterly delighted with it. it took all of the doubts that had plagued my mind for close to a year, and completely shattered them in a mere two and a half minutes. Now that’s extraordinary; indeed it’s probably for that reason alone that this is my favourite of these two trailers. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that, thanks to this trailer, I am now pumped full of excitement to finally have a new James Bond movie on the horizon after four years, and I really, really, really, really hope it will be worth the wait. What a fantastic trailer.

All in all, this really was a solid pair of trailers. Both of them succeeded at making me excited to see their respective films, which is exactly what a good trailer should do. They certainly got the festive season off to a strong start, making for a great pair of early Christmas presents. I highly look forward to both of these films and I really hope that both are worth the wait.