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Preview review: ‘Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps’

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Ever since it was announced that Oliver Stone was finally ready to tackle a sequel to the classic 1987 film ‘Wall Street,’ film fans have questioned how the director will handle a new and arguably more challenging economic climate. While a newly released trailer for ‘Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps’ doesn’t give much away, it does drop us right back into the fast-paced, ‘Greed is good’ world of executive Gordon Gekko.

As seen in the trailer, Michael Douglas’ character -- reprising the role that scored him an Oscar -- emerges from a long stint behind bars. He’s eager to return to his old ways, but the trailer makes clear that it’s not going to be easy for Gekko to immediately get back into the swing of things: As he exits jail, he’s handed his clunky old mobile phone and there’s no limo ready to pick him up.

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Other than flashy aerial shots of New York City, we don’t get to see much of the film’s other players: Gekko’s daughter (Carey Mulligan), whom he’s trying to reconnect with, and her fiance (Shia LaBeouf), whom he befriends. We see the least of Mulligan, who is only shown in a flimsy oversized boyfriend shirt, typing away at a laptop in her swanky apartment. LaBeouf, who plays a character named Jacob, is shown dressed in expensive-looking tailored suits, riding through the city streets on a motorcycle or flying above them in a helicopter. We get the sense LaBeouf’’s character will attempt to serve as some type of moral compass for Gekko, or at least a worthy adversary: ‘No matter how much money you make, Mr. Gekko, you’ll never be rich,’ he tells his soon-to-be father-in-law in the trailer.

By comparison, it’s pretty amusing to watch the trailer for the original 1987 film starring Charlie Sheen, who makes a cameo in the new film. (Check out the old school cellphones and computers!)

So, do you think the new film will be able to live up to the original? Is Shia LaBeouf as charming a leading man as Charlie Sheen was over two decades ago? Will a film about the greed on Wall Street prove to be timely or didactic? Weigh in in our poll below.

-- Amy Kaufman

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