The summer Popcorn Movie season is nearly upon us, with the expected
bombardment of big-budget action spectacles, brash comedies and
family-friendly animation.
And sequels, prequels and reboots galore.
Sure to beat all other comers is the latest (and concluding) chapter of
Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy, but don’t count out a certain
web-slinger newly reborn, or the much-anticipated assembly of “Marvel’s
The Avengers” in the race to the box office stratosphere.
Here are my most anticipated flicks of the summer, in order of release date.
THE AVENGERS (May 4)
Finally!
The longest teaser campaign in movie history gets its highly anticipated payoff, uniting at long last the iconic Marvel superheroes Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Hulk. Having headlined their own separate cinematic adventures, they are corralled by the eye-patch wearing Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. to fend off an intergalactic menace. Or something.
Beyond my general ignorance of the comic book universe, I’ve been staying deliberately spoiler-free on this one, so that’s pretty much all I know going in.
My sole expectation is that director Joss Whedon convinces me that an inter-dimensional god can co-exist in the same relatively grounded universe as a snarky billionaire arms manufacturer clad in a flying iron suit and a pair of muscular geeks borne of scary science.
Director Tim Burton and star Johnny Depp reunite (this project marks their EIGHTH collaboration!) for a nouveau-Goth take on the low-budget cult vampire TV soap opera.
I was holding out hope that this one would be more in the macabre vein of “Sweeney Todd” and less like the ill-conceived Willy Wonka remake, but the forced comic tone of the silly teaser trailer fills me with dread.
I admire Burton and most of his pictures enough to see “Dark Shadows” regardless, but consider my expectations officially lowered. (On the upside, Burton’s animated “Frankenweenie” is poised for release this autumn.)
THE DICTATOR (May 16)
This reunion of Sacha Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles is, thankfully, not a mockumentary like “Borat” or “Bruno” but instead a fictitious plot-driven—and, hopefully, equally un-PC—culture-clash comedy of a mid-east despot touring the U. S. A.
MEN IN BLACK 3 (May 25)
I love the first one.
It’s funny, clever and stylish.
The charmless sequel stinks beyond belief—worse than most other foul Parts Two (considering the vomitous cash-ins to such hits as “Ghostbusters”, “Airplane!”, “Weekend at Bernie’s”, “Highlander”, and “RoboCop”, I trust that’s really saying something). I’m encouraged that this third installment sees the return of director Barry Sonnenfeld, production designer Bo Welch and make-up master Rick Baker, along with Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones.
From the teaser trailer, it looks as though Josh Brolin (playing young Agent K) has completely nailed Jones’ deadpan delivery. Plus, I’ve always been a sucker for time-travel movies.
PROMETHEUS (June 8)
When I heard 20th Century Fox was going forward with a new “Alien” flick, I thought it was a foolhardy move, considering the loony “Alien: Resurrection” and the utter crap-fests that the quasi-canon “Alien vs. Predator” and its spawn “AvP: Requiem” turned out to be.
Anyone could be forgiven for snickering at the notion of a fifth (seventh?) “Alien” movie, but when I read Ridley Scott—the visionary filmmaker who launched the series in 1979—was slated to direct it, I checked my calendar to make sure it wasn’t the first of April. Then I changed my drawers. This was over a year ago. I’ve been following the production with guarded curiosity ever since, but have remained relatively spoiler-free.
For a while, I wasn’t sure if we’re supposed to approach this new film as a sequel, a prequel, a remake, a reboot or, as Sir Ridley has claimed, a stand-alone adventure that “exists in the same universe” as his original classic and is constructed of the same recognizable DNA. Our first peeks at the teaser trailers have revealed that “Prometheus” is indeed more of a direct predecessor to the original “Alien” than we were initially led to believe. I’m confident that with Ridley at the helm, this picture will be truly substantial, vast in scope and gorgeously realized. Even if it ultimately gets neutered by a PG-13. (As of this writing, there no word from the MPAA on the final rating.)
BRAVE (June 22)
One word: Pixar.
’Nuf said.
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (July 3)
Rebooted, and filmed in 3-D. The trailers for this revisitation/embellishment of Spidey’s origin story look pretty solid, and I’m especially jazzed by the photorealism of the visual effects.
But, really, did we NEED a reboot so soon?
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (July 20)
There’s a veritable plethora of comic-book movies looming on the horizon, but of all the superhero adventures in the pipeline, Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy-capper is the only one that really matters.
In fact, it comes with such high expectations it can’t help but be mind-bogglingly awesome or soul-crushingly wretched. First peek at the Prologue and the teaser trailers assure fans we’re in store for something stirring and epic.
THE BOURNE LEGACY (August 3)
A spin-off of the excellent Matt Damon spy thrillers, “Legacy” introduces Jeremy Renner as a contemporary of Jason Bourne. Director Tony Gilroy wrote the “Bourne Identity” trilogy, and the supporting cast includes returning players Joan Allen, Albert Finney and David Strathairn.
Feels like this potential franchise is in good hands.
TOTAL RECALL (August 3)
I’m a big fan of the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger/Paul Verhoeven flick, but its make-up and visual effects, though cutting-edge for its day, have been begging for a remake since the day of its release.
Apparently, this interpretation is closer to Philip K. Dick’s original short story, and even if this remake never gets to Mars, that’s just fine by me.
