Jan 16, 2015

Co., Ltd. The Weinstein Company's "underdog" trailer is worth cringe as expected

The Weinstein Company has released the American trailer for Underdogs (alternately known as Metegol, Foosball and The Unbeatables). After numerous delays, they'll release the film into U.S. theaters on April 10, 2015.

Inspired by table football, the Argentinean film was directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Juan José Campanella (The Secret in Their Eyes) and became the third-highest grossing film of the year when it was released in its home country in 2013. It's also notable for being the most expensive film, animated or otherwise, ever produced in Argentina.

The cringeworthy Americanization of Underdogs is nothing new for the Weinstein brothers, who own one of Hollywood's most pathetic track records when it comes to animated films. Time after time, they've shown a complete disregard for animation as a legitimate form of filmmaking. And now with this Underdogs trailer, they're once again promoting what might have been a decent family film as a cliché-riddled kiddie matinee that no one over the age of seven would voluntarily watch.

I'm not saying that Campanella's film is an animation classic, but it could have been positioned far more effectively as a family film. For comparison, here are a couple international trailers that show the film is not nearly as unappealing as the Weinsteins make it look: