| << Back |  |
In Review: Summer Movie Preview
By Mike Sweeney
Summertime is almost here again. That means outrageous temperatures, family vacations and more movies than you can shake a stick at. So hit up Fandango for tickets and grab your popcorn as we run down some of the best summerentertainment your local multiplex has to offer.
Hero Worship
You know the world’s in big trouble when it needs a full squad of superheroes to save the day. Marvel’s greatest icons come together for an unprecedented team up in The Avengers (May 4) as Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk join forces to take down an army of otherworldly baddies led by Thor’s brother, Loki. Geek legend Joss Whedon directs this comic book dream project starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo.
When a diabolical mastermind known as Bane threatens to destroy Gotham City, Batman answers the call in The Dark Knight Rises (July 20), director Christopher Nolan’s conclusion to his epic trilogy. Christian Bale dons the cape and cowl for the final time, facing off against Inception’s Tom Hardy as the ominous villain. Anne Hathaway co-stars as Catwoman, here a mysterious associate of Bane’s who may be both friend and foe to Batman.
Your friendly neighborhood web slinger gets a reboot in The Amazing Spider-Man (July 3) with The Social Network’s Andrew Garfield taking on the role of high school nerd turned wall crawler Peter Parker. We’ll see a new version of Spidey’s origin story, including his romance with first love Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and his battle with scaly green bad guy the Lizard (Rhys Ifans). Martin Sheen and Sally Field co-star as Peter’s Uncle Ben and Aunt May.
To Be Continued…
It wouldn’t be summer without a bumper crop of sequels, and one of the most anticipated this year is Men in Black 3 (May 25) with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones reprising their roles as agents of the alien police force. When Agent K (Jones) mysteriously disappears, Agent J (Smith) travels back to 1969 to stop a young K (Josh Brolin) from being murdered. Chaos ensues with the fate of the world in the balance – all in a day’s work for the MIB.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Bruce Willis join the fight for freedom in G.I. Joe: Retaliation (June 29). When most of their team is wiped out in a sneak attack, the real American heroes strike back against the insidious terrorists of Cobra. This sequel looks to up the ante on the original and breathe new life into the action saga, continuing toy maker Hasbro’s domination of the summer movie season alongside their blockbuster Transformers franchise.
Matt Damon may be gone from the lead role, but the identity of “Jason Bourne” lives on in The Bourne Legacy (August 3) with Jeremy Renner taking over the mysterious alias used by Damon in the smash hit film series. This action packed spy thriller, directed by the original trilogy’s writer Tony Gilroy, examines the consequences of the original Bourne’s actions while pitting Renner’s Aaron Cross up against yet another far reaching CIA conspiracy.
Other Worlds and Alternate Realities
A classic fairy tale gets a new spin in Snow White and the Huntsman (June 1) as the legendary princess (Kristen Stewart) and the hatchet wielding hero (Chris Hemsworth) team up with some resourceful dwarves to start a rebellion and bring down the evil queen (Charlize Theron). With epic battle scenes and sinister villains, this dark fantasy mixes a dose of the Brothers Grimm with a modern action sensibility to give us a new perspective on “the fairest of them all.”
Decades after the success of his sci-fi masterpiece Alien, director Ridley Scott returns to the same universe with Prometheus (June 8), which follows a spaceship crew that sets out to explore an advanced extraterrestrial civilization and uncovers a terrifying mystery. Long in development, with plot details still shrouded in secrecy, this has been one of the most talked about films of the summer with a cast that features Michael Fassbender and Swedish actress Noomi Rapace.
Who else but producer Tim Burton would take on a tale that imagines our 16th president doing battle with hideous monsters? Based on Seth Grahame-Smith’s satirical novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (June 22) follows Honest Abe (Benjamin Walker) through a double life of political upheaval and vampire slaying as he fights to save the Union from an undead plot for dark supremacy and avenge his mother’s death at the hands of blood sucking fiends.
Make ‘Em Laugh
Would you trust some of the biggest names in comedy to keep your subdivision safe? Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill lead the Neighborhood Watch (July 27) as a group of suburban dudes just looking to escape from their hectic family obligations. But when they uncover an alien plot to take over the planet, these slackers are the only ones who can stop it. With a script from the writers of Superbad, this one’s sure to be out of this world.
Sacha Baron Cohen returns to the farcical style he made famous in Borat with his new comedy The Dictator (May 11). This faux documentary follows Admiral General Alladeen, a military dictator from the fictional Republic of Wadiya, whose visit to the U.S. turns into one hilarious disaster after another. Ben Kingsley and Anna Faris co-star in this irreverent romp that highlights Cohen’s flair for improvisation, not to mention his fondness for controversy.
For those that enjoy a little melody with their comedy, Rock of Ages (June 15) adapts the popular Broadway musical about a waitress and a busboy who fall in love during the big hair music era of the 1980s, all set to the tunes of Def Leppard, Foreigner, Posion, Twisted Sister and more. Tom Cruise steps into the black leather pants of rocker Stacee Jaxx, lead singer of Arsenal, with a supporting cast that includes Catherine Zeta Jones, Alec Baldwin and Paul Giamatti.
