At today’s Comic-Con panel, Universal Studios unveiled new trailers for Kick-Ass 2 and Riddick, a pair of previews that are sure to get more play in a single ballroom than as attached to R.I.P.D. this entire weekend. While the latter reveals less than some earlier bits of marketing, the former is given an all-out exposé, such a veracity of beat-by-beat coverage validating just how little I’d care to see it in the first place.
Whereas Riddick, cheesy though it may be, shows visual imagination and imagined sci-fi worlds — hello, David Twohy! — Kick-Ass 2 has the veneer of an MTV Movie Awards skit taken way too far, be it the dirt-cheap aesthetic or lame, groan-inducing gags. Do people in Hall H think this junk is worth cheering for? At least the other movie lets Vin Diesel have a good time.
The first trailer can be found below:
Synopsis:
Kick-Ass, Hit Girl and Red Mist return for the follow-up to 2010’s irreverent global hit: Kick-Ass 2. After Kick-Ass’ (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) insane bravery inspires a new wave of self-made masked crusaders, led by the badass Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey), our hero joins them on patrol. When these amateur superheroes are hunted down by Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse)—reborn as The Mother F%&*^r—only the blade-wielding Hit Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) can prevent their annihilation.
When we last saw junior assassin Hit Girl and young vigilante Kick-Ass, they were trying to live as normal teenagers Mindy and Dave. With graduation looming and uncertain what to do, Dave decides to start the world’s first superhero team with Mindy. Unfortunately, when Mindy is busted for sneaking out as Hit Girl, she’s forced to retire—leaving her to navigate the terrifying world of high-school mean girls on her own. With no one left to turn to, Dave joins forces with Justice Forever, run by a born-again ex-mobster named Colonel Stars and Stripes.
Just as they start to make a real difference on the streets, the world’s first super villain, The Mother F%&*^r, assembles his own evil league and puts a plan in motion to make Kick-Ass and Hit Girl pay for what they did to his dad. But there’s only one problem with his scheme: If you mess with one member of Justice Forever, you mess with them all.
Directed by Jeff Wadlow, Kick-Ass 2 arrives on August 16.
Here’s the preview for Riddick:
Synopsis:
The infamous Riddick has been left for dead on a sun-scorched planet that appears to be lifeless. Soon, however, he finds himself fighting for survival against alien predators more lethal than any human he’s encountered. The only way off is for Riddick to activate an emergency beacon and alert mercenaries who rapidly descend to the planet in search of their bounty.
The first ship to arrive carries a new breed of merc, more lethal and violent, while the second is captained by a man whose pursuit of Riddick is more personal. With time running out and a storm on the horizon that no one could survive, his hunters won’t leave the planet without Riddick’s head as their trophy.
The film will open on September 6.
What do you make of these previews? Which film are you looking forward to more?