Movieline

The Runaways Full Trailer: Top of the Charts or Cherry Bomb?

After an energetic but brief blast of a teaser, Apparition has released the full trailer for The Runaways, and it's much closer to the tone of the movie than that first clip -- they even added appropriately Quaaluded Dakota Fanning narration to drive home that "drowsy rock movie dream" vibe. What else is there? Would you settle for some underage lesbian shenanigans?

While the aesthetic tone of the trailer is accurate, the female empowerment storyline it tries to sell is a bit of misdirection. I guess I can't blame Apparition for trying to tease a "girl power" narrative out of the movie, but The Runaways spend almost all of the movie under the manipulative thumb of Svengali producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon), whose time in the trailer is limited to a rare supportive soundbite. "We did it the only way we knew how," mumbles Fanning. "On our own." Well, not until the third act, though.

VERDICT: So-so trailer, but will it work?