A look at new and notable trailers that recently hit screens.
Avengers: Infinity War
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Don’t blink or you’ll miss one of more than a dozen superheroes featured in the new trailer for “Avengers: Infinity War.”
Marvel’s all-star adventure brings together not only Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) from the Avengers, but also the Guardians of the Galaxy (Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana’s Gamora, Bradley Cooper’s Rocket Raccoon and Vin Diesel’s Groot) and — oh, yeah — Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), whose stand-alone movie has grossed more than a half-billion dollars in the United States.
Apparently it will take these combined superpowers and more to overcome the threat of Thanos (Josh Brolin, who’ll play a different character in Marvel’s forthcoming “Deadpool” sequel). This villain is on a quest to collect the six Infinity Stones, which will allow him to wipe out half the population of the universe.
Directed by the brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, who also oversaw the 2016 smash “Captain America: Civil War,” the latest Avengers installment looks to incorporate some of the cheeky humor that has set Marvel titles like “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Deadpool” apart from the more serious films of its rival, DC Comics. After Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) introduces himself to Peter Parker (Tom Holland), the web-slinger quips: “Oh, we’re using our made-up names? Then I am Spider-Man." (For the record, the doctor’s full name is Stephen Vincent Strange.)
“Let’s talk about this plan of yours,” Star-Lord says to Iron Man. “I think it’s good, except it sucks.”
Disney and Marvel hope moviegoers will feel more positively about “Avengers: Infinity War” when it lands in theaters on April 27.
The Spy Who Dumped Me
“In 2018, women are killing it.” That’s the opening line of the trailer for the new Mila Kunis-Kate McKinnon comedy “The Spy Who Dumped Me.”
While that invokes the spirit of the current feminist moment, what follows seems to play into stereotypes from an earlier time, like the one about women being bad drivers.
When the two are drawn into a world of espionage after the ex-boyfriend (Justin Theroux) of Kunis’ Audrey is revealed to be a CIA agent, they struggle with a stick shift.
In the teaser, an operative played by “Outlander” favorite Sam Heughan clues the women into the spy game and they grow more competent in their secret-agenting skills, much like Melissa McCarthy’s desk jockey in the 2015 comedy “Spy.” Yet once they’re subjected to potential torture by an enemy, they become hysterical and start spilling secrets. (“Audrey shaves between her boobs,” McKinnon says.)
Co-written and directed by Susanna Fogel (best known for the short-lived TV drama “Chasing Life”), “The Spy Who Dumped Me” plays off James Bond films, from a title reminiscent of “The Spy Who Loved Me” to the 007-style opening montage and the sexy song in the trailer: a cover of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” by Michael Bublé.
“The Spy Who Dumped Me” arrives in theaters Aug. 3.
Tag
The Jason Bateman-Rachel McAdams comedy “Game Night” has recently scored a win at the box office, earning more than $85 million worldwide, and now the trailer has been released for another starry, game-based farce: “Tag.”
Yes, it’s inspired by the childhood chase, but in this case, it’s based on the true story of a group of friends who continued the game for decades into adulthood. The cast includes Jeremy Renner (who’s not known for comedy, especially after his appearance in the Will Ferrell-Amy Poehler flop “The House”), Ed Helms, Jon Hamm, Hannibal Buress, Isla Fisher, Rashida Jones and Leslie Bibb.
Through childbirth, a wedding and a funeral, the game continues, and the trailer makes humorous use of MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” to score its scenes of slapstick mayhem. One bit, in which Hamm clocks Helms across the face, might remind viewers of the “slap bet” gags from “How I Met Your Mother.”
It may seem like child’s play, but “DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story” grossed more than $167 million worldwide in 2004, so Warner Bros. could be laughing all the way to the bank when “Tag” opens on June 15.