A Reel Review: The Super Bowl Movie Trailers

The Super Bowl has always been an opportunity for studios to capitalize on the large viewing audience and showcase their big releases for the coming year. With a captive, global audience that won’t turn away from the TV during commercial breaks, the chance is there to capture some eyeballs that normally wouldn’t be there. This year however, many studios sat on the bench for the big game, perhaps due to the ballooning cost of a 30-second spot ($5.6 million this year), but other studios were more than happy to get into the field of play. Here’s how they all landed in The Good, The Bad, and The Glorious. 

THE GOOD

-Disney is never afraid to bet on themselves, and once again they showed confidence in their own product. The first big trailer was BLACK WIDOW, with Scarlet Johansson reprising her role as the Avenger who gave her life to save every one of us. The new trailer had a chilling voiceover from Johansson, a lot of new footage which gave us great looks at co-stars Rachel Weisz, Florence Pugh, and David Harbour. 

-Disney also rolled out some new looks at their live-action remake of MULAN, which has an epic, down-and-gritty, feet-on-the-ground feel. Great looking spot with some stunning shots. 

-Back for more fun are the beloved Minions with the first look at MINIONS: RISE OF GRU. This was all new footage with looks at a young Gru, and had everything we’d expect from a MINIONS movie. The spot ended with a promise for a full-blown trailer later this week. 

The FAST AND THE FURIOUS franchise unleashed an action-packed, mostly wordless spot for what seems like their 984^th movie. Loaded with car chases, crashes, and ridiculous stunts, it delivers everything that long-time fans would expect from these films. 

THE BAD

-You get negative points for not showing up. Warner Bros. had a chance to capitalize on the goodwill they’ve built up with their Oscar-nominated JOKER, but bafflingly decided to not promote their upcoming BIRDS OF PREY; a film that has audiences scratching their heads over. They did do a short teaser for their upcoming WONDER WOMAN 1984, but it was actually a commercial for laundry detergent. Stupid and worthless. 

-Sony Pictures decided not to bother promoting GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE. 

-Disney made the odd choice of no trailer for their newest Pixar adventure, ONWARD. 

THE GLORIOUS

-It actually ran just before kickoff, but the trailer for TOP GUN: MAVERICK still counts. It’s mostly a re-hash of footage we’ve already seen in the previous two trailers, but a few glimpses of new stuff. Not much to it, but the footage of star Tom Cruise actually in a fighter-jet flipping upside down still takes the breath away. 

-There’s no question that the production for the 25^th James Bond film, titled NO TIME TO DIE, has had its problems; late changes in directors, on-set accidents, awkward announcements, and the question of committal from star Daniel Craig who seemed like he was forced back into the role. They needed a great trailer to get back on track, and they got one a few weeks back…and that new momentum carried over last night. The new trailer gave us some new footage, with the promise that everything changes for 007 this time around. And any time we get to hear the Bond theme is a good thing. James Bond may be British, but his movies are as popular in America as a football. Perfectly timed and executed. 

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Super Bowl LV will be played February 7^th, 2021.