Film Preview: The Commuter (2018)

Page Revisions:

(November 19, 2017) Original
(December 17, 2017) New Trailer (#3) / New Posters (#3-#6)
(January 7, 2018) New Posters (#7-#14)

Release Date:

January 12, 2018

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A businessman is caught up in a criminal conspiracy during his daily commute home.”

Poster Rating: A- / C+ / C / C+ / C / C / C- / D / D+ / D / C+ / C / B- / C

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOW
Review: (#1) This is a fascinating design. It’s distinct enough from the myriad other designs to stand out, but visually compact enough to be easily absorbed. And the “Lives Are on the Line” tagline has a surprisingly clever double meaning. (#2) Thankfully, this design isn’t just the weak traditional black-white-and-red motif. There’s some extra color here that is reminiscent of color-coded subway lines, which plays into the film’s title and concept fairly well even if everything is overly simplistic.

(#3) This makes Liam Neeson look sinister rather than manipulated. That’s not what you want in a poster for this movie unless you’re trying to remind the audience of Taken, which would be a mistake. (#4) While it uses the commuter line concept that worked well for prior version, it does so in a slightly flatter, but not better way. (#5) I don’t know if the designers are trying to conjure images of old-timey spy thrillers, but it doesn’t come off that well. (#6) This design looks simplistic and is not particularly interesting or inspiring.

(#7) One out of many. That’s not well represented here and the black-white-and-red motif is tired and should be retired, especially after this. (#8) Black-and-white for the Asian markets? That design doesn’t make a lot of sense or even make a lot of interest. (#9) Giving the audience a sense of the action is a solid decision to make for a poster designer. If it weren’t otherwise dull, they might have been onto something. (#10) This is how you don’t make an action poster. Blurry backdrop, black-and-white-and-red color palette. Nothing in this works well.

(#11) Not quite a symbolic artistic representation, the obviousness is harmful, but the overall design isn’t bad. (#12) Similar to design #7, in its repetitive imagery, this poster suffers the same problems even if it is a bit more artistic. (#13) Definitely reminiscent of Hitchcock’s best designs, this poster works better than almost all of their previous incarnations even if it won’t make enough since to everyone who looks at it. (#14) There are figures on the track that are all to brief in their appearance and it manages to ruin some of the aesthetic of the design.

Trailer Rating: B / B- / C

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Review: (#1) The first trailer contains a fair bit of mystery, a somewhat fascinating set-up, and a general exploration of the narrative that almost seems compelling.

(#2) The second trailer removes some of the mystery and over-complicates the story, giving away more of the action than is truly necessary to sell the film.

(#3) For an action film, this latest trailer is rather dull. All the information from the prior trailers is here, but the narrative seems even more superficial than it did before and that won’t help sell tickets.