Looking Ahead

So in the interest of actually getting something written, I'm gonna talk about some of the movies coming out this year. I probably won't go to see many of these (being as I am, for the most part, a skint student and until I actually have money I can't really do much) but then many of them I'm already marking as "not good".

Let's begin with The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. I thought the first was a very good movie, the book it was based on was a great read, so now I'm wondering what they're thinking throwing out a second movie. This is actually one of the trickiest calls here: based on the quality of the prequel and the sheer star power of the septuagenarian cast, I believe it could be good, but it feels like a cash-grab designed to pull in money based on the prequel's success, especially given that most loose ends were neatly tied up and the character arcs were completed. I guess the point is it's a whole new story, but there's no base for it unlike the first, so I worry that we'll see two-dimensional characters and a flat, clichéd storyline.

Chappie is out early March, and this is one of my watch-list movies. Neill Blomkamp gave us a great movie in District 9 and while his films often feature alien or inhuman protagonists they deal with humanity and powerful human issues in poignant ways without impacting on the action or story. Having seen the trailer I feel like Blomkamp has created another strong hit and he's got the star power to back it up. The fact that he has the ability to write his own films and get them into production is a good marker too; these are his ideas going up onto the screen, and as a result District 9 felt personal, here's hoping he can do the same with Chappie.

Next on Rotten Tomatoes' Upcoming movies list is Avengers: Age of Ultron and I'm beginning to have my reservations. See, aside from the runtime (imdb clocks it at 160 mins) it kinda feels like a rehash of the first Avengers with Ultron instead of Loki - the trailer may show more expansive locations, but it also shows a swarm of inhuman enemies, people getting shot at, explosions... and nothing really new. Avengers worked for me because it was easy. I can sit and watch it and switch my brain off, I don't have to think about crap while it's on. It's kinda mindless fun. But I worry that AoU is gonna be the same sort of thing, and I really don't like the idea of that. I don't want to go to the cinema just to come out and say "ehhh... it was kinda just the Avengers again." 

To be fair, come May things really pick up. Pitch perfect 2 comes out late May, I loved the first one and it's one of my favourite movies, so this is one I'm actually looking forward to. And Mad Max: Fury Road comes out on the same day, so it's safe to say I'll be spending a day in May just watching movies. Fury Road is one I've been anticipating for a long time - it looks like such a beautiful film, and it has Tom Hardy in the lead which, based on the strength and variety of his previous roles, is a recipe for a great film.

So yeah, that's some of the more high-profile films coming out in the next few months. Some good, some bad, but don't disturb me during May because I will be watching awesome films.

Adieu!