1. Godzilla (2014)
Normally, action movies (i.e. 300: Rise of an Empire) never excite me and bring forth my desire to smite the movie producers without prejudice. However, when the planets align, an action film will catch my eye. After fourteen years of absence our favorite fire/lightening breathing city destroyer, Godzilla premiers in the U.S. Japan has continued to make Godzilla films since 2000, but none of them have premiered in the states. The prehistoric tank cruncher hasn’t been represented well on our shores. The 1998 film with Mathew Broderick was awful and Godzilla 2000 was better, but not by much. I saw the extended trailer of Godzilla (2014) and was sold. We see a giant monster which is neither understood nor stopped. While the old movies are fun to watch, Godzilla never instilled fear in me. This shouldn’t be a horror film, but a monster like Godzilla appearing would be terrifying. He represents a force of nature, something human science can’t rationalize or explain. My expectations are high and hopefully Gorjia will get the movie he deserves.
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The first movie didn’t leave a strong impression on me. Similar to Thor, Captain’s first film was setting up. It was saying , “There’s cool stuff in this movie, but you’ll have to wait for super-mega-delicious pie.” Clarification: Captain America’s debut wasn’t bad. As a film, it was rather good. The Avengers gave me a fix of awesome to tide me over until this film. As with Godzilla, the trailer sold me. Bucky looks freakin’ awesome. In addition to an awesome villain, we see Shield evolve past moral ambiguity into depravity. Marvel universes are rarely black and white. Both characters and organizations live in a moral gray. This film seems to explore the negative consequences of having an organization like Shield wielding its power improperly. Captain America’s moral absolutes clash with the gray world he lives in, creating a wonderful dichotomy. Also jonesing for some romance between the Captain and Black Widow.
3. The Muppets: Most Wanted
Muppet movies have always been hit or miss. Some like: The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppet Movie, Muppet Treasure Island are really great, while others like: The Muppets take Manhattan, Muppets from Space and The Muppet’s Wizard of Oz are super bad. Thankfully the Muppets were redeemed in their latest film. I loved it to death and watched it way too much. Most Wanted seems to be cut from he same cloth. The three elements of a successful Muppet film are here: 1) an amusing and interesting story; 2) a boat load of good actors and celebrity cameos; and 3) great, punny humor. The trailer had me laughing through its entirety. My one regret is due to the first film my expectations for Most Wanted are absurdly high.
4. Maleficent
Prequels are tricky. Sometimes they add massive amounts of depth to character or story, other times they ruin the whole franchise. Since Hollywood ran out of ideas years ago, they have to rely on other people’s good stories. As I’ve stated before, Disney villains frustrate me due to their reasonless evil. Their evil has no motivation or story, it only exists. My hope for this film is we see why Maleficent is evil. Why did she put a curse on sleeping beauty? Why does she harbor ill intent towards the people in the kingdom? I don’t want a story about how Maleficent was good and misunderstood. Her wickedness is not a problem. The lack of “why” embodies the root of my discontent. Unfortunately, the Oz prequel was not very good. Hopefully the produces of this film saw Oz and learned from their mistakes. The trailer gives an excellent impression. Angelina is often type-casted and she suits the villain role well. Her performance will make or break this film.
5. Mr. Peabody and Sherman
Technically, this movie is already out. However, I have not seen it, thus its place on the list. This film encourages me to celebrate Hollywood’s lack of creativity. Most kids won’t know where Mr. Peabody comes from which is a little sad. He’s an old dog whose getting a digital upgrade. When I was young, the re-runs of Rocky and Bullwinkle aired on Boomerang (a channel owned by Cartoon Network which shows old cartoons). Out of the shorts in the middle, Mr. Peabody was my favorite. Rocky and Bullwinkle got their movie so let’s get Peabody and Sherman in as well. A movie where his story is expanded needed to happen years ago, but I’m glad it happened at time when studios deliver cutting edge digital animation. High hopes for the dog and boy duo.
6. Enemy
I don’t have much to say about this film because I saw the trailer today. It’s coming out in a couple day and looks exciting. Hollywood loves the doppelganger plot structure, Face Off comes to mind (much to my despair). Thriller/suspense movies intrigue me because they often have the proper elements of horror without all of the nonsense. The trailer gave me a great impression and I’ll see this movie as soon as possible.
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