Courtney Howard // Film Critic
I’ll tell you: so many things – as well as so little things.
My job (for better or for worse) requires that I view and write about trailers before seeing the movie. My ability to go into a movie with a clean slate is hindered around 60% of the time. I envy people who can stay far, far away from trailers. However, in rare cases, I’m happy to get a feeling on what I’ll be in for when I see a movie like COLLIDE.
At first glance, based on the cast roster, I thought, “This is gonna be great!” With an ensemble that boasts Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max, X-Men: Days of Future Past), Academy Award® nominee Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything, The Amazing Spider Man 2), and Academy Award® Winners Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley, it grabbed my attention. However, after looking at the trailer, my proficiency to figure out the plot has been hindered.
Here’s what I got: After being saved by love, Nicholas Hoult has to go back to his old life doing illegal things for a garishly dressed Ben Kingsley. Anthony Hopkins wants to stop him by kidnapping and leveraging Hoult’s ailing girlfriend, played Felicity Jones.
Not too shabby, right?! Wrong. Here’s the official synopsis:
After a heist goes terribly wrong, Casey Stein (Nicholas Hoult) finds himself on the run from a ruthless gang headed by mob boss Hagen (Anthony Hopkins). Now Casey has precious cargo that belongs to Hagen, who will stop at nothing to retrieve it. Left with no choice, Casey calls his former employer and drug smuggler Geran (Ben Kingsley) to protect his long-time girlfriend Juliette before Hagen gets his hands on her. Casey sets out on an adrenaline-fueled car chase on the German highways to save the love of his life before it’s too late.
Coupled with the fact this is poorly crafted and edited, low energy trailer that makes it look like both a PARANOIA knock-off (one that makes Hoult, a tremendously talented actor, relegated to a role that it Liam Hemsworth probably maybe turned down), my critical bar has been drastically lowered.
Even the poster…
…is vaguely reminiscent of PARANOIA…
…and THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (a good thriller):
I actually dig the simpler, straight-forward international trailer better:
COLLIDE opens on August 19, 2016 (which incidentally is exactly three years and three days from when PARANOIA debuted).
