'Collide' Trailer: "Who Could This Foolish Man Possibly Be?"

In Collide, Casey (Nicholas Hoult) must revisit his dark past to save the one he loves. That set up is very familiar, but Eran Creevy is a director capable of transcending tropes. Creevy's sophomore effort as a filmmaker, Welcome to the Punch, is a story of hero and foe uniting, a potentially trite set up that makes for a refreshingly streamlined film with a reliance on practical action. His follow-up, Collide, which he co-wrote with F. Scott Frazier (xXx: The Return of Xander Cage), looks like another lean action-thriller from the director.

Below, watch the Collide trailer.

In addition to Hoult, Collide features Felicity Jones, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Sir Anthony Hopkins. It's an impressive cast, not dissimilar to Welcome to the Punch, which stars James McAvoy, Mark Strong, and Andrea Riseborough. Creevy–who was a production assistant on Matthew Vaughn's Layer Cake–has not only a good eye for action but also performances. The acting in Welcome to the Punch is as compelling as the set pieces. The performances and drama aren't entirely routine or an afterthought in that film, unlike plenty of other action movies, and perhaps that'll be the case for Collide.

Here's the Collide trailer (Source: Yahoo! Movies)

The shot of Casey failing to pull off the big job is worrisome; it's a darkly lit scene overloaded with CGI. Thankfully, the rest of the action appears to involve real car crashes and real stunts. A chase movie set on the Autobahn is the last kind of action movie anyone wants to see brought to life by CGI, so seeing Creevy once again making grounded, tangible action is promising.

Ben Kingsley is obviously having a ball in the film, and the same goes for Anthony Hopkins. Kingsley is often a lot of fun when he lets loose as a villain (Sexy Beast, The Boxtrolls) or slightly unpredictable characters (The Wackness). He's definitely made some bold choices with his drug smuggling character Geran.

Here's the official synopsis for Collide:

After a heist goes terribly wrong, Casey Stein (Nicholas Hoult) finds himself on the run from a ruthless gang headed by mob boss Hagen (Anthony Hopkins). Now Casey has precious cargo that belongs to Hagen, who will stop at nothing to retrieve it. Left with no choice, Casey calls his former employer and drug smuggler Geran (Ben Kingsley) to protect his long-time girlfriend Juliette before Hagen gets his hands on her. Casey sets out on an adrenaline-fueled car chase on the German highways to save the love of his life before it's too late.

Collide opens in theaters August 19th.