Superintelligence is a new sci-fi comedy starring Melissa McCarthy as Carol Peters, who might be the most average person on Earth. But somehow, she’s become quite the person of interest as a powerful artificial intelligence known as Superintelligence has focused in on her life as a way of determining whether or not humanity is worth keeping around. That Superintelligence also happens to be voiced by James Corden. And when you see how this all plays out in the first Superintelligence trailer, you’ll see why this movie shifted from a theatrical release to HBO Max.

Superintelligence Trailer

A trailer for a comedy is meant to have at least some of the better jokes from the movie. If this is some of the better material that Superintelligence has to offer, then I’m significantly concerned about the overall quality of the movie. Once again, we have a Melissa McCarthy movie that relies on a slapstick pratfall for a big laugh. But beyond that, the premise of the movie just doesn’t seem to make much sense, and it doesn’t help that the way the trailer is stitched together feels like the editor had a rough time figuring out how to sell this movie.

If you need any more evidence as to how this movie is being handled, HBO Max sent out a press release where the focus was a special 20 Days of Kindness charity campaign where the streaming service is donating $20,000 to different good cause daily for 20 days. You would think the focus would be the new trailer for a movie starring one of the biggest comedy stars today, but that’s what happens when you have a movie going straight to streaming after being intended for theaters in December 2019.

There’s the possibility of there being some charm from the relationship between Melissa McCarthy and Bobby Cannavale, and it seems like Ben Falcone (who also directs) and Sam Richardson might have some decent laughs together. But based on this first trailer, the movie feels like a dud. I’d love to be proven wrong, but since Ben Falcone’s track record as a director leaves a lot to be desired, I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Here’s the official synopsis for Superintelligence:

An all-powerful Superintelligence (James Corden) chooses to study the most average person on Earth, “Carol Peters” (Melissa McCarthy), the fate of the world hangs in the balance. As the A.I. decides to enslave, save or destroy humanity, it’s up to Carol to prove that people are worth saving.

Superintelligence arrives on HBO Max staring on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2020.

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