Lads holiday in Maliaaaa!
That's right, it's gonna be messy, the first trailer for The Inbetweeners Movie has been released.
The trailer shows nothing but the reactions of the much loved foursome, Jay, Simon, Will, and Neil walking through the nightlife hot-spot of Malia, Greece.
With girls in hot pants, bright lights, alcohol, and some thugs thrown into the mix, Inbetweeners fans will be left to fill in the messy gaps with this first teaser of the film.
Despite being set in Malia, parts of the film have been shot in the Spanish resort of Magaluf, which is also known for its wild nightlife.
The Inbetweeners movie is due to hit cinemas 19th August 2011.
My Thoughts:
There has been speculation as to whether this award winning TV series should be made into a movie at all. Other sitcom turned movies have tended to generate an average reception, the comparisons most obvious being Kevin and Perry go Large and Bean the Movie.
But before these ambitious productions get slated for just being plain rubbish on the big screen, let's remember that the British sitcom and the blockbuster movie are worlds apart in terms of format. The reason a show like The Inbetweeners works is because each week you go back to the same premise, four teenage boys trying to get 'in there' with teenage girls and climb the social ladder. Each episode is 30 minutes long making for a punchy laugh-a-minute narrative, which is perfectly paced for a hilarious awkward comedy climax.
An hour and a half movie (as an approximation) takes away the very foundations upon which a show like The Inbetweeners is built and works. A gag-a-minute goes from a possible 30 on TV to having to achieve 90 in a movie. A tight and slick plot line goes from a satisfying climax 30 minutes in, to making an audience wait over an hour to get that hit.
Before judging this movie, people should throw caution to the wind, and accept that this is The Inbetweeners in movie format, obvious as it sounds. In placing these well loved, successful, characters into a different format to what fans are used to, it is inevitable that some of the boxes that are ticked for the TV show will not be for the film.
The reception of the British sitcom turned movie, in general, has suffered from this infirmity. They are drawn out versions of what we get on our TV screens, you find out more about the characters, you are invited to care more, to go on a journey with them. It seems that, in this instance, movies are to TV what a helicopter ride is to a roller coaster. One's an exciting adventure in which to take everything in, the other is an adrenaline filled quick fix you can keep going back to. Where disappointment in the British sitcom turned movie occurs is the failure to recognise this difference.
By highlighting this distinction I am not presuming that The Inbetweeners Movie will not be a success, I thoroughly hope it blows me away and can achieve a sleek, punchy, plot that will have me regularly rolling in my seat. But if it is that you end up sitting there feeling the impatient wait for the next gag - expect it, it's been stretched three times past its usual billing order and may well fall victim to the same mediocre reception that is symptomatic of the British sitcom movies that have come before it.
What do you think, can The Inbetweeners prove a success on the big screen?
Also featured on Step2inspireTV
