So this year there's a few movies I'm really looking forward to watching, read on for the list...
#8 - The Hobbit 2: The Desolation of Smaug
The reluctantly courageous Hobbit Bibbo Baggins continues his quest with a band of Dwarfs to avenge their ancestral home against an invading dragon.
Despite the mediocre tone of An Unexpected Journey, I am still anticipating the second of the Hobbit trilogy. I'm pinning my hopes on sticking a little closer to the source material in this round, as the major problem I had with the first movie was the copious unnecessary extras. It didn't come as any great surprise to me, since the studio decision to stretch the originally two movies into three is nothing but a money-grab.
Some of my excitement here may be stemming from my loyalty to the LoTR movies. Let's face facts here... Peter Jackson did them brilliantly. Hands-down one of the best book-to-movie adaptions to date, and Sir Jackson couldn't have picked a more beloved or difficult series to translate to the big screen. He acheived so much greatness with the series, iconic now of the entire fantasy genre. The Hobbit could never really hit the same note as the Lord of the Rings, but it ought to have come a lot closer than it did. Work was needed across the board - in characters, story progression, and a much more careful selection of scource material most of all.
Hopefully Desolation will hold a little more true the wonderful story of the book, and time will tell.
#7 - After Earth
Humans now live on a distant planet, having abandoned Earth to the elements. A father and son duo crashland on our planet while on a peacekeeping mission and have to battle through a now-unfamiliar terrian to safety.
I have mixed feelings about this movie. On one hand, I want to anticipate it if nothing else but for the visuals of Earth as an overgrown wilderness, no logner tamed by mankind. However, you won't find anyone fussier than me when it comes to impressing me with CGI animals. A lifetime of observing animals has tuned me in to how they move and react, and very, VERY few computer generated animals in live action movies have impressed me to date.
It's the story that will make or break this as a great or a so-so movie. On the plus side, it's an original story, and these days you aren't seeing a lot of that, and in itself it can be refreshing to watch a story unfold that isn't estalished already. On the negative, I'm no fan of M. Night Shyamalan's because I find his work tends to be very detached and relies far too much on the supernatural, forgetting to ground itself in real life characters, emotions and settings.
Still, I'll certainly see it, and reserve judgement until after I have.
#6 - Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
The sequel to the 2010 movie sees young Demigod Percy and his buddies take on a quest to find the golden Fleece in order to save their home.
The first of these movies was good without hitting the epic scale. There was nothing really wrong with it - it had a solid storyline, notable casting, and nice effects - but it's not a movie you're likely to watch over and over. I'm expecting much the same sort of tone to be set for Sea of Monsters.
So why am I excited to see it? I'm not going to lie. A large part of my excitement over seeing this sequel stems from the fact Nathan Fillion is playing Hermes. Man is a rock star.
#5 - Riddick
Riddick is back to his old tricks, fighting off hostile aliens and mercanries without batting a genetically enhanced eye.
No surprise here, since most people who know me know that I am a pretty rabid Vindie fan and will watch practically any movie where he appears onscreen. Anti-hero Riddick is one of my favorute characters of his, because he can convey so much with so little. You expect him to be this big tough killer, and make no mistake - he is. Suggest he isn't and you'll wind up hanging by one ankle, tied up with your own shoelaces. But very now and again, Riddick comes out with a line that makes you suspect there's a lot more going on in that skull than kill-or-be-killed.
The direction the third movie as taken seems to have swung away from the grand-scale of number two and instead back to the bare basics of Pitch Black, where we first met Riddick. It'll be interesting to see if he can go back over the same ground without being repetitive, but from the teaser trailers I've been glimpsing of late, I think it's doable. This one goes on the 'definitely don't miss' list.
#4 - Fast and Furious Six
After a sucessful multi-million dollar hiest leaves them all stupidly rich but high up on the wanted list, Dom brings the crew back together for a last-ditch effort to clear their names. Expect fast cars, big explosions, and fistfights galore.
I know right - I'm a fan of these? This is the one franchise that tends to cause surprise when people find out I like them. You'll never meet anyone less interested in cars than I am. The Fast series is probably one of the most obviously guy-orientated, and yet I'm hooked. So what's the draw? It's actually been different for each of the three movies of the series I've enjoyed, namely the first, fourth and fifth. I admit that I barely remember anything about the second and have never gotten around to seeing the third. How I can be such a die-hard fan for the other movies is easy, since they all set very different tones. The first sets the scene and introduces bad-boy Dominic Toretto, his sweet-yet-tough sister Mia, and his unlikely best friend undercover cop Brian. The fourth one brings back Dom as a central character, back on the streets and racing on a quest for revenge, and we see Brian start to question which side he should be on when he reunites with Dom and Mia. The fifth one blew the previous installments out of the water as the gang went global and turned master criminal - it was incredibly over the top, yes, but never over-done.
Despite the heavy auto-theme through the series, they keep the human element relatable the whole way through. It might not be Oscar-winning material, but it sure as hell is entertaining. I expect big things from this one - suspend reality for two hours, and don't forget your seatbelt.
#3 - The Wolverine
Arguably the world's most beloved X-Man is back after the events of X-3, into the fan-favourite setting of Japan. Even if you're not a Marvel Nut, you should know what that means - Mariko, Silver Samuari, and a whole host of fun.
The X-Men trilogy is one of my all-time favourite set of movies. Hugh Jackman is a much-beloved Aussie hero of an actor. However, since this is a follow-up to the Great Big Fat Disappointment, aka, X-men Origins: Wolverine, you wouldn't think I'd have such high hopes for this attempt.
Seriously, I didn't believe it when a X-obsessed friend of mine saw an advance screening of Origins and the overview was: "This movie is nothing but a disappointment. You aren't going to like it." Really, it didn't even compute. Me, not like an X-Men movie? That didn't make any sense at all.
Until I saw Origins, and was witness to the biggest spit-in-eye attitude to any fan of comic-verse Wolverine there could ever be. (I felt like *I* needed an amnesia bullet after watching it.) The best I can say about it is that as always Hugh Jackman delivered a strong performance. I was almost as appalled at the mangling of Remy (That's Gambit, for those of you who aren't on a first name basis with the various X-Men) that was thrown in as an afterthought as I was of Wolverine's character and backstory being butchered.
After the led-down of Origins it might make sense if I was running a mile in the opposite direction at the mention of this movie, but Wolverine has several things in it's favour. Brian Singer is back to direct, who masterfully handled the universe of the first two X-movies before Brett-let's-kill-'em-all-Ratner got his hands on X-3. It's set after the established X-Men movies, not before, making it a lot easier to tie in characters without people scratching their heads and asking 'Shouldn't Scott and Emma be a little less teenage and a little more, um, foetel at this stage of the timeline?' Sure, it could go wrong, but after watching the latest trailer (see below), my hopes are higher than ever. Call me an optimist.
#2 - Thor: The Dark World
Thor takes on a new breed of alien bad-guys, though not without enlisting the aid of his devious brother Loki and human love interest Jane Foster.
I'm not sure I should really take being labeled 'The Marvel Fangirl' by a coworker as a compliment, but that's how it played out. Thor is another of my favourite Marvel heros, and out of the pre-Avengers movies that have come together to create the Marvel Cinematic Universe his was my favourite. Sure, you have the epic first Iron man that blew it all out of the court, and Capetian America is undeniably heart-wrenching. But Thor had the hardest task - to realistically tie the God of Thunder and his entire world of magic into the more practical stories of the others. (And by practical, I do mean getting zapped with gamma radiation and being turned into a giant green rager, being frozen for several decades, and creating a one-man, flying, wearable armoury out of scrap metal).
Thor was a success not only because of Chris Hemsworth's fitting the role so well, but thanks to the contrast of Tom Hiddleston as Loki. The trickster god is every bit as beloved as Thor himself by fans, myself included. Any movie that has the brothers starring is going to be high up on my list.
#1 - Epic
A teenager girl is shrunk down into the world of the Leaf Men, the honorable defenders of the forest.
I remember watching the teaser trailer to this during the last Ice Age movie. I literally watched the entire trailer with my jaw hanging open, instantly blown away by the imagery - the scenery is some of the best computer generated animation I've seen in my life. I never outgrew my love of animated movies, having grown up with The Lion King and 101 Dalmatians. Some of the incredible visuals from Epic match the scale seen in another of my favourite animations, How to Train Your Dragon. I'm hoping this can match up to it story wise as well, since just being pretty is going to impress me, but not rock my world. It could get a bit crowded with too many supporting characters, but in just under a month, I'll see if this one can live up to my expectations.
There's just under a week's wait now for the first of these movies (Fast 6) to be released in Australia, so in the meantime, I think I'll go throw on a DVD while I chop up a weeks' worth of vegetables for my assorted animal pack. Hope everybody is having an excellent weekend, and feel free to shoot me any comments below.
-CWC
