For big genre summer blockbusters, we’ve already been spoiled for choice with Godzilla, Maleficent and the yearly flux of Marvel films. The best may still be yet to come, but so is the worst.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (17th July)Ape Caesar, played by Andy Serkis, leads the ape revolution against the humans. This is the second instalment of the trilogy of prequels to the Planet of the Apes series, which is a clause almost as long as the title of the film. The first film was better than expected, concentrating on ape protagonist Ceasar’s relationship with the wider world. But in particular the trailer unfortunately promises no James Franco, but a lot of Gary Oldman shouting and fire and jumping. A big old genre film with fire, jumping and Gary Oldman? Yes! (I’ll ignore that the Robocop remake exists)
Mark Whalberg finds a deactivated Optimus Prime on his farm. I put this second because I don’t want anyone to think I endorse this franchise. Its Michael Bay doing what Michael Bay does, which is make bad movies. There’s a place for that. Don’t get me wrong; I adore The Room more than is humanly possible, however I have to ask myself if I need another Transformers film and the answer is no. It previews on the 5th of July in Manchester AMC, so if you want to see an advance screening of it, that’s happening, but its 157 minutes that you will never get back.
Chris Pratt leads a group of misfit extraterrestrials that are on the run for theft. This is the last Marvel superhero film to be released this year and the trailer looks funnier than I had initially anticipated. Considering the source is a comic book that the mainstream had no awareness of, and the fact that Parks and Recreation’s Chris Pratt is going to star in it, I’m hopeful that Marvel will effectively make this their guns-blazing all-out comedy film.
Lucy (22nd August)Scarlett Johansson inadvertently accesses the other 90% of her brain, defying all laws of everything. Seriously, the trailer looks great and looks like it should do well with more marketing. I’ve seen something like one bus poster for it, but there’s time. I haven’t got much to say about Lucy other than I’m really excited a female driven kick-butt action film. Not too happy about the killing of swaths of brown people but that’s to be expected in an action film these days…
Four co-existing story lines all based in Sin City. This trailer does what a trailer should do; promises bits of the film –
driving, sex workers and throwing dice. This is the follow up to the first Sin City in 2005, with the same visual style and interlocking stories. If anything, A Dame to Kill For should be totally fine. It has the same writer as Sin City in Frank Miller, who directs alongside Robert Rodriguez, though the notable absence of Quentin Tarantino and with a mostly different cast.
Honorary Mention – Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesThe Turtles fight to save the city. It has Michael Bay’s name on it, as he produced it, and the design of the turtles looks horrible. This is an honorary mention because the film is released in the US in August, but the UK isn’t subjected to it until October. So we have enough time to pretend it never happened. Having said that there is no reason why it can’t be good. Bad CGI in films can make it a cult classic, but Michael Bay produced it…
Sojourner McKenzie is finishing her first year of an English and Film degree and spends most of her time watching films whilst knitting. Follow her on Twitter @runsojrun
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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Review | Humanity Hallows