Byzantium Trailer

UK Release Date: 31st May 2013.

Stars: Neil Jordan (director), Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan, Caleb Landry Jones, Sam Riley, Daniel Mays, Warren Brown.

Plot: Residents of a coastal town learn, with deathly consequences, the secret shared by the two mysterious women who have sought shelter at a local resort.

This British attempt at cashing in on the popular vampire series at the minute seems to be a bit of a cross between Dracula and Interview With a Vampire. Will it be as successful as either of those? Probably not, even if it is directed by the same person as the latter.

I don’t really get it. Sometimes it’s set in the present, sometimes it’s in the past? Flashbacks I could understand but the fact Ronan is on the beach with loads of people from the eighteenth century, what’s going on there?

I’m sure all will be revealed, the action scenes look pretty decent and I’m sure the story will all be explained throughout the film. Gemma Arterton is a great actress and I enjoy most of the things she is in (Prince of Persia was poor though by anyone’s standard) so this might be worth a watch.

Contraband

UK Release Date: March 16th, 2012.

Contraband is the story of Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg), a former drug runner who is forced back into the world of running contraband in order to save his family. His brother in law, played by Caleb Landry Jones (X-Men First Class’ Banshee) botches a drug deal and so Chris must do one final deal in the world he worked so hard to escape from otherwise it is his own wife and children that will be in danger.

The premise is promising, it sounds as though it should make a good action thriller and with Mark Wahlberg leading an action movie you would expect it to be good, really. However, the trailer doesn’t do much to hype the interest of the film; it doesn’t make it look action packed, it doesn’t make it look full of suspense, it doesn’t really make it look that interesting.

Having already received mixed to negative reviews in the States it will certainly look to do better over here in the UK, but in order for this to happen they are going to need to put together better trailers that interest the audience more.