Films to watch out for while recovering from sunburn!
This summer, Hollywood flexes it’s muscle of originality, in a string of original content and plot driven films.
Just kidding.
Along with high-waist, stonewashed jeans, vintage cardigans and record players – the past is returning in a big way this summer of sequels, 2015. Although most of us can figure that these films won’t hold a bag of buttered popcorn to the originals, we will reach into our pockets and fork out the money to see them, because let’s face it… we’re cinephiles!
Avengers: Age of Ultron
The summer starts off with a supernova-sized bang in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Seemingly suffering from a hangover from last summer’s binge of comic book films — and realizing that many long time fans are still eating this stuff up. Marvel and Disney are set to release the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Earth’s mightiest heroes team up to defend the world against a monster of their own creation in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Photo Courtesy of Marvel Studios
There is an entire line-up of superhero films being released this summer, but if I were to include them all, you’d stop reading.
If you’re in the know for Marvel films, you realize that they’ve been building up this storyline for quite some time. Tony Stark’s Iron Man (played by Robert Downey Jr., who really is playing himself with a metal suit) has created artificial intelligence to protect the world from alien bad guys. In the process, he has created a new villain who will build his own army to fight against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, The Avengers.
My prediction: This movie will be loud, flashy but above all ¬– entertaining. Add to the record-setting gross income of the film by purchasing your tickets in advance.
Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth
Directed by Joss Whedon
Release Date: May 1, 2015
Mad Max: Fury Road
Director George Miller basically created the image of what a post-apocalyptic earth looks like with his 1979 cult classic, Mad Max. Produced on a minimal budget, the rated R film was an underground hit and introduced the world to Mel Gibson.
It’s Tom Hardy versus the dystopian dead lands of a future Australian outback in a sequel to George Miller’s Mad Max.
Photo Courtesy Warner Bros and Kennedy Miller Productions
After some time (and two Happy Feet movies) Miller returns to his roots in Mad Max: Fury Road. This time with Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, Lawless) as the character “Mad” Max Rockatansky, the film has a higher budget, which means more BOOM!
From the trailer, the film looks like a dusty high-octane ride. Let’s all hope it doesn’t rely solely on the millions poured into the budget, and that the story drives the films as much as the impressive special effects are certain to do.
My Prediction: This movie could go either way. The cinematography could compliment a well-written storyline that makes the film a pleasure to watch or moreover, experience. Or the overuse of computer generated effects could take the humanity right out of the story, rendering it a beautiful mess — see the Star Wars prequel trilogy or Avatar.
Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicolas Hoult
Directed by George Miller
Release Date: May 15, 2015
Jurassic World
The Velociraptors return in the newest installment in the Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World. The technology is newer, the dinosaurs are bigger, and the budget is immense!
Photo Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Life will always find a way. This was the moral of the very first Jurassic Park film based off the Michael Crichton book of the same name.Back in 1993, Stephen Spielberg introduced the world to what dinosaurs might have looked like roaming the earth. Juxtaposed against small fragile humans, as bite-sized snacks for the T-Rex, the film created entire generations of kids who wanted to know everything there was about dinosaurs. Which was a curse, because evidence may have revealed that the T-Rex had feathers —which totally changes the scene with the kids trapped in the upside-down SUV, screaming for their lives in the original Jurassic Park
Anyway, this summer’s continuation of the Jurassic saga has the dinosaur park fully developed with people visiting the herds of dinosaurs in their “natural” habitat. In an attempt to build a new attraction, the park is developing a genetically engineered dinosaur that has never been seen before. Have the scientists learned nothing from the last films?
My prediction: People in their late twenties will be flocking like Gallimimus to see this film because we’ve been waiting forever! But I believe the film will not live up to our expectations: maybe not disappointing overall, but enough to have us come home and throw on the original to remember that the first one will always be the best one.
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio
Directed by Colin Trevorrow
Release Date June 12, 2015
Terminator Genisys
“I’ll be back!” This should be the tagline for the whole summer. Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as the Terminator, in an attempt to re-launch a highly successful film franchise that its producers have tried to resurrect over and over again.
With Arnold’s term as California’s governor over, he returns as the T-800, cybernetic protector of Sarah and John Connor. The film is set to create an alternate timeline in which the hero of the very first film, Kyle Reese (played in this film by Jai Courtney known for his role opposite Bruce Willis in another Die Hard sequel) returns to the past to find Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke of Game of Thrones) raging against the machines and with the aging Terminator (Schwarzenegger) in tow.
My Prediction: It’s difficult to judge sequels without being able to relate it back to the original film. I expect the film will be mildly entertaining, but hard work to recall the context of the the original universe from where the Terminator sprung, and try to keep the timeline straight in your mind while watching Genisys. This sequel is perhaps 20 years too late, and should prove to just another nail in the Terminator movies coffin that should have been buried a long time ago.
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney
Directed by: Alan Taylor
Release Date: July 1, 2015
gbarraza@cjournal.com