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The Preview Reel: Can a Wimpy Kid Take on Aliens and Everything?

Scott Davis
The Preview Reel

Welcome to the “Preview Reel” column, where we look at this week’s upcoming wide release movies. This week features a trio of new releases, with one of them poised to knock Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 off the top spot. Alien: Covenant should debut at number one since it continues the popular and long-lasting Alien franchise, while Diary of the Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul looks to please the family crowd, and Everything, Everything goes after the teen romance crowd.

 

Alien: Covenant

What we are excited about: It’s another Alien movie. It’s directed by Ridley Scott. Michael Fassbender (arguably the best part of Prometheus [2012]) returns. As a fan of the Alien films, what more do you want? The trailers seem to show that the film is going back to its original horror roots, which is very exciting given the middling response some of the more recent entries of the series have received. If the film can build on the mythology established in Prometheus, and terrify us like Alien (1979) did, then we would consider this a win.

What we are worried about: Even though this writer was a fan of Prometheus, it’s not difficult to see why some people might have been upset with it. It was just barely a prequel to Alien, there were questionable character decisions aplenty, and the movie decided to go more of the action route than straight horror. Ridley Scott has also had a shaky track record of late with movies like Robin Hood (2010), The Counselor (2013), and Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) not being very well received, although his last movie, The Martian (2015) was a box-office hit and an award season darling. This movie is arguably the biggest question mark this summer since it is technically a sequel to the middling-received Prometheus, but Scott has proven capable of making memorable blockbusters, so we’ll have to see.

The Buzz: There’s always strong buzz around an Alien movie (except maybe those Aliens vs. Predator disasters), and this one is no exception. The trailers have been mostly well-received and it seems people are ready to move on from Prometheus, but the reviews indicate that this might be another polarizing film in the series. Although sitting at a 77% on RottenTomatoes and 67 on MetaCritic at the time of this writing, many reviews are saying that this movie will continue to polarize Alien fans. It will almost certainly knock off Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 from the top spot, and will likely pull in around $40 million (which is lower than Prometheus’ $51.1 million opening in 2012).

Final Thoughts: It’s summer, it’s an Alien movie, it’s Ridley Scott and Michael Fassbender. Whether you were a fan of Prometheus or not, how can you skip one of the more intriguing releases of the summer? We can’t.

 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul

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What we are excited about: Even though this writer has not seen a single Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie, he did read multiple Wimpy Kid books during his elementary days. They are perfectly fine for kids, and the movies have apparently captured the book’s spirit. There’s not much aimed at kids at the cineplexes right now, so this might be an entertaining option for the younger ones.

What we are worried about: There’s a difference between a kid’s movie and a family movie, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul looks to be a kid’s movie through and through. There does not seem to be any redeeming qualities for parents or older siblings to enjoy here. While many Disney movies have entertained both parents and their kids, Wimpy Kid is strictly targeting the kids.

The Buzz: Bet you didn’t know this is the fourth movie in this series, which is surprising since there is never much buzz around a Wimpy Kid release. The movie is sitting at a lowly 22% on RottenTomatoes and 49 on MetaCritic and should make about $10 million this weekend.

Final Thoughts: We are not checking this one out this weekend, but it is interesting that Fox is releasing both Alien: Covenant and Diary of a Wimpy Kid the same weekend. We know they are going for two completely different audiences, but one would think they would spread their properties throughout the summer rather than lump them in one weekend.

 

Everything, Everything

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What we are excited about: Nothing, nothing. This looks like another sappy adaptation of a YA-novel that is clearly not made for our demographic. If it can capture what made a movie like Fault in Our Stars so special, then maybe we would be excited, but this does not look like it will.

What we are worried about: Everything, everything. The trailers just seem to be sappy, melodramatic, and kind of downright silly. The chemistry is a bit off and nowhere near Ansel Egort and Shailene Woodley’s chemistry that made Fault in Our Stars so special.

The Buzz: There isn’t much buzz around this movie, which is probably not what the studio was hoping for. They were probably banking on the film getting Fault in Our Stars or Me Before You kind of hype prior to release, but it just doesn’t seem to be there. There are no reviews out yet for the film and it should make under $10 million this weekend.

Final Thoughts: Like Wimpy Kid, this doesn’t seem to be aimed at us and we’ll be buying a ticket to Alien: Covenant instead.

Scott Davis

Scott Davis is a recent graduate of Oakland University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for the student newspaper on campus, The Oakland Post, where he became the paper's managing editor. He also earned a minor in Cinema Studies at OU. Scott enjoys all things film and TV related, especially the blockbuster kind. He might be the biggest Christopher Nolan fan you know.
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