There's Something Familiar About the New 'Monuments Men' Trailer

Watching the new trailer for The Monuments Men makes us feel like we've been here before.

Watching the new trailer for The Monuments Men makes us feel like we've been here before. Maybe it's just all the stars in this George Clooney-directed movie. We've got a veritable Ocean's Eleven-esque group of actors: Clooney, Damon, Murray, Goodman, Blanchett, Dujardin, and Balaban. (Okay, Bob Balaban is only a big star in our minds.) But there's that that modern music score which seems discordant and generic. Or maybe it's that element of jokiness that we weren't expecting in a true-life tale of the team that rescued precious works of art from the Nazis. Maybe it's that another—much less factually accurate—story of misfits combating Nazis graced our screens not too long ago in the form of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. 

Obviously, this movie will be different, and Clooney has a long track record now of making smart, entertaining films for adults. (See: his rant on the subject that he gave to Deadline's Mike Fleming.) And it's not like more comical takes on World War II themes have to be as outlandish as Basterds. Just look at some of the greatest films about that era. (The heartbreakingly and hilarious Mister Roberts comes to mind.) We have big hopes for this one. Maybe the trailer just wasn't what we were expecting. And maybe that's a good thing.