This year’s crop of Super Bowl advertising for 2012's upcoming blockbusters followed the seemingly standard pattern of recent years: more and more are either getting teased in increasingly tiny chunks days before the match itself and some, like the** G.I. Joe: Retaliation** promo, are online in full before a single touchdown has been scored. But even with the early sneak peeks, a few actually debuted on the day itself, so we thought we’d slap them together into one big list and take a look to see how effective they were.
brightcove.createExperiences();
First up, The Avengers. It's had plenty of exposure, and, yes, we’ve seen a lot of this material already, but this nifty spot assembles what it has to work with efficiently and will get your blood up. It’s obviously a bonus when you’ve got a charismatic ensemble led by Robert Downey Jr, but director Joss Whedon also has plenty of set-piece eye-candy to help up the wow factor. Got to love that shot of the team together in New York, presenting The Hulk as just one of the guys, and that final line. **
UK release: **April 27.
Universal’s big blockbuster hope, Battleship. Most of the footage in this one has already appeared in various trailers. There is a little more of Taylor Kitsch vs. a suited alien type here, however, which adds a bit of flare, but on the whole there was not much to convince anyone either way. We’re seemingly in for another Transformers-style burst of bombast and if that floats (or sinks?) your boat, have at it.
UK release: April 11
brightcove.createExperiences();
The **John Carter **marketing team have had a tougher job selling a big movie with lots of moving parts, based on a pulp series of books the mainstream isn’t quite so familiar with. But this new promo gives a bit more story and lets the wow factor do the talking. It’s certainly a step in the right direction. Here’s hoping the film itself can complete the job.
**UK release: **March 9
**Act Of Valor **hasn’t had the same exposure or push behind it as the blockbusters above, mostly because it isn’t backed by one of the huge studios. But it does have real-life Navy SEALs mixed in with a fictional story, so while we figure it's probably a little bit more aimed at audiences across the Pond (and it's tough not to start hearing the Team America music during some sections), action fans here should be happy. **
UK release:** March 23
The latest release from Despicable Me creators Illumination Entertainment (backed by Universal) lands in Horton Hears A Who! territory with Dr Seuss’ The Lorax. The latest promo leans a lot on jokes we’ve seen in at least two trailers (that final bit of gender confusion especially), but there are a few new little chunks here and there. **
UK release**: July 27
Finally, one that has nothing to do with a movie itself, but does feature a cinematic icon… Clint Eastwood shills for Chrysler. “It’s halftime in America…” indeed. Clint for President!