I got an idea to do this post after watching the trailers to the newest Disney movie, "Moana." One of the trailers was for an upcoming film created by Illumination Entertainment, the same company that produced "Despicable Me" and "The Secret Life of Pets."
The film I am talking about is called "Sing" and it is about a bunch of different animals with the same dream of becoming a singer. Each character has a unique background that led them to a singing competition and only one of them could be the winner.
Here is a link to the first trailer I saw for "Sing," one that reeled me into the story and got me interested in wanting to know more.
Trailer 1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYHBD9RF2dk
Now I really enjoyed this trailer, it gave me a brief summary of what I could expect and it seems like the main characters are going to be the female pig, the gorilla and the elephant. The pig is not appreciated at home and doesn't have time to let herself be free, the gorilla has a criminal father and he doesn't want to go down the same path and the elephant is shy and needs to learn to be confident in herself. I think it works for a cute story about trying to be the best while also learning to be yourself.
I was incredibly excited to watch "Sing" as soon as it came out...until I saw another one of its trailers. The following link will show you the trailer that I saw when I went to see "Moana" in theaters.
Trailer 2- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tExoVJJt6nQ
After viewing this, I had this gross feeling in my gut. My heart sank and my love for the movie expired for a while; I disliked this trailer very very much. It was a horrible advertisement to show to people. It may not seem so serious yet, maybe you think I'm overreacting and you know what? Maybe I am, but I believe there is a better way to reveal the contents of your trailer than this. I will break down some of the major scenes that really got me mad and actually made me very close to not wanting to see the movie at all.
PROBLEM 1- MEENA THE ELEPHANT AND ASH THE PORCUPINE'S STORY
Where to start? How about I explain things in chronological order of the trailer. First thing I noticed was how they expanded on Meena the elephant and confirmed that she is in fact a very timid elephant that has trouble being in front of an audience. Her family pushes her to be the best even though she's scared to reach the top. Yet at the end she gains the confidence she needs to succeed and she will probably win the competition (that's my guess). In the Youtube video, at 1:05 it shows a scene where her grandfather (I believe) pushes Meena to work for her dream, asking, "Don't you want this?" That already tells me how hesitant she is to go on (that or she has overachieving parents, but based on the others scenes I see, that doesn't seem to be the case).
Later on, we see another scene at 1:44 with Meena about to go on stage and sing but she says, "I can't move, I'm terrified." So now I know as a viewer that she is confirmed to be afraid of the public and will probably have the best voice out of the bunch. In fact, soon after that there is a scene at 1:56 of her singing so loudly, she destroys the stage yet the audience applauds her anyways. They wouldn't clap unless they enjoyed her music, right? Meena's story is now completely predictable that it's going to be hard to feel bad for her because I know already that she's going to be well liked anyways.
Also, remember earlier when I said I knew for sure that the female pig, gorilla and elephant were the main characters? Well now, according to this trailer there is one more main character who is a porcupine named Ash. That's not such a big issue until the trailer reveals at 1:08 that her backstory involves being cheated on by her boyfriend and kicks him out of the apartment they lived in together. This was initially the very first scene in this trailer that got me annoyed. Firstly, that's an amazing backstory to put in a kids movie, to show the downside of relationships and actually depict adultery! The porcupine's heartbreak will motivate her to follow her dreams, but we know that now and that's what I don't like.
Since her story is so impactful and different from the other characters (for a kid's movie) I feel like it would have been best to save that information and never reveal it until the movie was in theaters. The shock value would heighten greater and you'd really be curious about how the porcupine will end up. Besides, she is featured in the first trailer so we already know she is there and we didn't have to get spoiled on what she went through. I think not showing her tragedy would have made the audience who eventually goes to see "Sing" flabbergasted and impressed that they could handle a story about cheating well enough for children to understand.
PROBLEM 2- THE PIG'S BREAKTHROUGH
I have a feeling that one of my very favorite characters out of this movie will be the female pig (I can't find out what her name is on the internet). I can tell from the first trailer link I showed that she was a wonderful mother but not very appreciated by anyone, especially her husband who tends to centers things around himself like in 1:11 of the first trailer, his wife falls yet he doesn't care. It is funny, but when you think about it that's really sad. The female pig probably used to enjoy singing a lot and performing before she settled down like at 2:32 when she spontaneously begins dancing to music in the supermarket. She has that fire and spark to be a star but her responsibilities hold her back and I was eager to know just how much she would breakthrough. But then the other trailer gave that to me...
In a very quick second at 1:28 in the second trailer link I sent, you see the female pig in a very flashy costume on stage and her family is impressed by how confident she looks. I could have tried to ignore that scene but her costume appears again at 1:53 where she is dancing with her husband looking happier than ever before, and that's a scene that really angered me.
First off, we already see the big reveal, she's going to dress in that for the performance, get her groove back and probably take more time to herself. Secondly and lastly, she is dancing with her husband...who ignores her issues and only cares about himself.
It would've been satisfying to see the female pig have her own individual performance, to prove that she doesn't need him to support her. The message for that could've hit even stronger if she was just like, "I'm doing this performance alone while you support me from the sidelines, because you have been nothing but rude in our marriage and I want this moment for me!"
Sounds kind of selfish, huh? Well remember, this movie has yet to come out. A lot of things could have happened to excuse this: the husband could have had a breakthrough too, but until I see that come into fruition, I really hated seeing them together and seeing her all extravagant. You need to save that for the theaters so people can be much more impressed!
This is my final problem with the second trailer I put up and this one is what really...REALLY angered me. To the point where I just said, "Forget it, why see this now? I don't care anymore" Before I show you, let me put up the first and second trailer here once again.
Trailer 1 (The good one)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYHBD9RF2dk
Trailer 2 (The bad one)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tExoVJJt6nQ
Did you watch it?
Yes?
If so, can you guess what I hated the most?
That's right, it was....
.
.
.
.
This was without a doubt, the moment that my heart sank, my fists balled up and my frown was firmly in place. This scene alone really made me question whether or not I even wanted to see "Sing" in theaters anymore. Let me explain.
In the first trailer, it clearly shows how passionate the teenage gorilla is about singing but due to his father's criminal background and his need to help him complete his crimes, he cannot pursue his dreams until he finally gains the courage to go against what he's known and actually get out there and step out of his father's shadow. He is clearly a good singer and wants to rise in his potential and evens pays money for piano lessons to get better and make a name for himself that won't be infamous. In 1:48 of the first trailer, it really punches the heart when the father says, "How did I end up with a son like you?"
A lot of people unfortunately hear that before from people they loved just because they do something that goes against their parents beliefs. My heart ached for that teenage gorilla and I just wanted him to get away from that terrible father. Or I would've settled with them patching things up and the father learning a lesson about treating him with respect and support the things he wants to do in his life. I would've been happy with either, but now there's no more mystery. There's no speculation. We all know now, the father will be proud of his son and be there to support him. The father is sitting in his jail cell when he watches his son sing and he exclaims at 1:31 "That's my son!"
I'm not saying that I wanted him not to reconnect with his son, like I said if that were to happen then that's great, but now I know it's going to happen. Do you understand the problem?
This whole trailer leaves no suspense and basically lists out the series of events that will happen with each character. I'm calling it right now: Meena the elephant will get over her shyness and win the competition, Ash the porcupine will sing a rock song and show off to her ex-boyfriend and not take him back, the female pig will show off her old dance moves with newfound confidence and the husband will appreciate her more and the gorilla will do well in the competition, impressing the father and making him apologize for his rudeness. Why do I need to see this movie anymore? I got the whole plot laid out now.
In spite of everything I said, I do feel like "Sing" is a decent enough movie that many people will come to enjoy it, the characters and the songs. There are some popular people in this film too that can keep this movie in popular What I'm just upset about is how openly the trailer revealed the major plot points with each character.
Would you imagine how exciting it would have been to see the female pig in her glamorous outfit? Or be brought to tears watching a father and son bond again? Now that is gone and that's something I can't just forget, I will only expect it to happen and it takes away the magic that this movie could've had more of.
No comments:
Post a Comment