If it's anything about me, I have this knee-jerk reaction to judge movies just by hearing about it being produced. There's a new Ninja Turtles movie coming out that has Michael Bay involved and the guy who directed Battle LA directing the upcoming reptiles in masks movie. Just from knowing that these two guys are involved, I don't exactly have high hopes for the movie, though I still hope it turns out good in the end. Also, whenever I heard of Maleficent, as it tries to be a dark and gritty take over a Disney fairy-tale, just sounds like a bad idea to me all across the board because...well, these things hardly play out to be good(though, I am hearing surprising things about that movie).
Also, I need to give a special mention to Lucy. I mean, the movie does have an interesting sort of concept, even if the whole "You only use 10% of your brain" is complete bullcrap. But, hey, it's got Scarlett Johansson kicking ass with super powers, which makes me think that this alone might be the quickest way to get me to want to see your movie. But, then I see other things in the trailer that involves her taking out an entire room of bad guys with just a wave of her hand. This is probably going to be something saved by the end of the movie, but I can't help but think what kind of tension this breaks when the main character is able to kill everybody with just a snap of her fingers. Unless she turns into the bad guy by the end, to which the movie will probably end with people trying to stop her. And there's a very likely chance of this happening because the movie pretty much advertises its own theme in the trailer by having Johansson's character saying "It's as if all the things that make me human are fading away" while Morgan Freeman talks about her unlocking secrets and knowledge that humanity might not be ready for.
Really?
I mean, really? That's what you're seriously going to do? "Oh, wouldn't it be cool if you were like super smart? But it could come at a cost of ruining humanity, that's why no one should know too much!"
I just really, really don't get it. Instead of coming off as smart and intelligent, which I imagine this movie is trying to do, it comes off as scared because its afraid of not being ignorant.
Anyways, yeah, I think the reason why I wanted to write this was to vent about my thoughts on Lucy, but I will say that it doesn't look like a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. I mean, it looks like it'll be a well-made film, even if I feel like its taking its concept from the wrong angle. It's just kind of weird having things in a movie that would make me want to see it no matter what while also bringing up things in a movie that would make me despise even knowing about its existence. It sort of feels like they're trying to do "God is Not Dead" as a science fiction action thriller.
But, believe it or not, there are movies I am excited for. So, instead of venting and complaining, like I would usually do for upcoming movies, here are movies I'm actually excited to see.
5. Edge of Tomorrow
"Edge of Tomorrow" is a really, really dumb title for a movie. It was originally called "All You Need is Kill," which is a much better title but I'm not sure if it would be fitting for this movie. The premise was enough to peak my curiosity. Tom (Runs) Cruise is playing a character where he lives through the same day over and over again and, because of this, he is able to make better combat decisions the more he learns about the consequences of his decisions. If nothing else, the science fiction setting and look of the movie definitely gives it a unique edge on a lot of other action movies coming out, but with the early reviews coming in where people are actually really, really liking this movie is the one thing I need to confirm my excitement for this movie. Even if the title is still the dumbest thing ever.
4. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
I'm not exactly sure what can really be done with this movie that isn't just treading water until the planet of the apes officially become the planet of the apes. But if there's anything that will get me excited for any kind of movie, it's seeing monkeys horse-back riding. There's really not much I would be able to say about this movie then just me looking forward to seeing some serious ape battles that are going to look really cool, but I'll be damned if seeing monkeys horse-back riding really isn't one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I liked its predecessor quite a bit as it was being a compelling origin story of how this whole monkey business (I regret nothing) started. So, while I am weary of what could be done with a sort of "In between story" with the humans and the apes at conflict with each other, it's probably going to be at least pretty good.
Also, monkeys riding on horses! I mean, hell yeah that's cool!
3. The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies
If anything else, I'm more than a little eager to finally get the Hobbit movies over with so Peter Jackson can finally do the next Tintin movie. But, even with that in mind, having these movies while I wait for my next favorite kind of high-budget, well casted, well acted, well written B-movie isn't exactly the worst kind of place holder. Sure, it might be a bit strenuous to have one book stretched out into three movies, but I've been having a little too much fun with these movies to really even care. I even like the stuff in this movie that gets criticized a lot, which was mostly the stuff that just felt like filler. But, hell, I loved the part in the first movie where it takes about 45 minutes for the adventure to really start. I love the sort of complex class disparity issues that dragged out the second movie to be as long as it was. I love the action scenes, the barrel rides, the heads getting cut off, the giant rock monster battle that came out of nowhere.
There's no doubt that there's going to be a lot more to the last movie than there was in the books as this part of the story happens when the book only had a few pages left. But, whatever they have come up with in order to expand on the story, I'm sure I'll enjoy it. The only part I didn't really like was the action scene with Smaug at the end of the second movie. But everything else has been great!
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
I think I might as well come out and admit that I'm not sure if I'm on board with the new Captain America movie as much as everyone else has been. The movie definitely had everything that I should have liked: Captain America, Captain America punching people, Captain America using his shield as a frisbee, a tight spy thriller story that gets political on recent things the US has done, Captain America punching people, and, while there were some editing and shot choices that made me scratch my head, the action scenes were pretty top notch with the Winter Soldier pretty much stealing every scene he was in. And yet...I just don't know about it. Maybe it's the fact that I felt like this probably went too much into the territory of "You better have seen all of the previous movies, otherwise, you'll be lost" that threw me for a loop, even though a lot of people who aren't into the whole Marvel comics continuity experiment ended up really liking this movie. And, because of that in particular, I feel weird about having this sort of disconnected feeling with the movie.
But, pretty soon, we'll get to see space battles, a talking tree, a green alien space chick, and a raccoon with a space gun. So, I'm hoping things will even out with this movie.
1. Interstellar
What is this movie about? I couldn't tell you. Will it be good? I certainly hope so. Could I predict how this movie will turn out? Probably. Would I want to? I just want to see the movie for myself. But even though this looms over every other movie in my mind just by being something that's mysterious and different, it just makes me want to see this movie more. Trailers have a really bad habit of showing way to much to where they leave almost nothing to surprise the audience when the actual movie comes out(I wouldn't be surprised if the trailer for Lucy has pretty much shown everything). But here? They just give you a small taste, a small glimpse, something that will peak your curiosity and see it just to see what this movie is going to be about
I know that with the previous movies I've mentioned on this list, I'm probably starting to sound like some sort of simpleton who just generates saliva by the thought of lazers, robotic suits, guys getting their heads cut-off, monkey battles, and green alien space chicks, but I'm always up for something as intelligent and interesting looking as Interstellar.
I look forward to Oscar season movies as much as anyone else, they just don't get as much marketing until Oscar season finally does roll around. But a movie that the producers think actually is marketable to a summer movie kind of audience that just teases at what might actually be happening, which probably throw the audience through a loop and make them experience something unlike other movies? I'm a little more than looking forward to seeing how a movie like this turns out. It's not like I think this movie will be too smart for any kind of film-going audience member, rather that I'm surprised that there willing to advertise this movie at all when people are about to see your standard summer action movie. There's nothing in this trailer that doesn't look like something that's out of the normal.
I'm not sure how this movie will turn out or even if its going to be as smart and interesting as it's advertising to be. But with how little they showed and how much they are teasing, I'm really excited about seeing this movie, even if there's a possibility that it'll be crummy. However, knowing which people are behind this movie assures me that this movie will at least be pretty good.
But, if nothing else, it will definitely be the most memorable film-going experience we will have this year!
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