Wahlberg and Crowe in Broken City Trailer

UK Release Date: 25th January 2013.

Stars: Allen Hughes (director), Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Plot: An ex-cop trailing the wife of New York City’s mayor finds himself immersed in a larger scandal.

Here is Russell Crowe taking on a very different look and perhaps overdoing the tan to play his character in Broken City whilst Mark Wahlberg just looks the same as he always does. I think these two actors have something in common with one another: they have both made some fantastic movies (The Departed, Gladiator) but both have also made movies that tread the line between bad and mediocre (Contraband, Robin Hood).

It feels like with the Broken City trailer we are being told lots of things but we are actually being told very little. The conspiracy or the ‘larger scandal’ are kept secret which is obviously a good marketing ploy to attract viewers but is the very boring story of ‘find out who my wife is sleeping with then i’ll kill her’ really an interesting in? I don’t think so.

I’m a fan of Russell Crowe and I do really like Mark Wahlberg (the same can’t be said for my feelings on the incredibly annoying Catherine Zeta-Jones and when she finally gets out of movies I will be very happy) so I hope that Broken City is a good film, but I can’t see it escaping the pool of mediocre films and it will surely slip into obscurity.

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.