The first trailer for Vice is here. Up until last week, everyone had still been referring to this movie as the Dick Cheney biopic, but the marketing campaign kicked off as the studio announced its title, in reference to Cheney's former position as Vice President, and as promised, they've delivered our first good look at the movie. Undoubtedly, there is a lot to unpack in here, but it's Christian Bale's amazing transformation that is sure to have everyone talking.

As for the trailer itself, it's clear that this movie is taking a hard lean. Director Adam McKay is going to focus on Dick Cheney and the power he managed to obtain under the George W. Bush presidency. Not to say that it is or isn't going to be a relatively fair and accurate portrayal of what went down during that period of time at the White House. But it certainly doesn't appear as though this is trying to paint a well-balanced picture. It appears to very much be viewpoint driven.

We open with a conversation between Christian Bale as Dick Cheney who, aside from his voice, is unrecognizable, and Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush, who is approaching Cheney about being his Vice President. Cheney is quick to grab at whatever power he can be afforded and we then cut to various shots of other key players during this political era, such as Lynn Cheney, played by Amy Adams, and Donald Rumsfeld, played by Adam McKay regular Steve Carell. Aside from whatever parallels and importance this movie may hold in the modern political climate, it also looks to be thoroughly entertaining.

This serves as Adam McKay's follow-up to The Big Short, another story that dealt with real-life and the effect that story has on our world now. McKay's movie about the 2008 housing crisis and the lead up to it ultimately went on to earn a Best Picture Oscar nomination and helped cement him as a director who could do a lot more than put together a hilarious comedy. It appears as though he may be looking at another awards season entry with Vice, as this has Oscars written all over it. Christian Bale is already an Academy favorite, but looking at his physical transformation and dedication just in this trailer, it's hard not to think this could put him in contention this year for Best Actor.

Then again, we may be getting ahead of ourselves. We'll have to wait until the critics weigh in to see if this is indeed the movie it looks like it could be. In addition to the trailer, the studio has released a very stylish poster as well, which features a silhouette of the movie's main character set against a yellow background. Moviegoers will be able to check out Vice when it opens on Christmas Day nationwide. Be sure to check out the first trailer from the Annapurna Pictures YouTube channel for yourself below.

Vice poster