Summer Movie Preview

I subscribe to Entertainment Weekly and I look forward to their annual Fall and Summer Preview issues. This year's summer issue has Superman on the cover as the main event, although it won't top my list. I'm going to see Iron Man 3 at the drive-in this coming weekend to officially kick off my summer movie season. With that in mind, here is my Top Ten list for this summer -with a few bonus features thrown in at the end...

Top Ten Summer Movies

[1] Iron Man 3 (May 3) Trailer

This is the first Marvel movie after The Avengers, and all of the early reviews indicate that this is the best of the Iron Man series. High praise indeed. Plus, this throws in a new version of the Mandarin and the Extremis storyline. Yep, definitely on top of the list for this comics geek. I really, really hope Robert Downey Jr. can renegotiate with Marvel Studios and continue in this role.

[2] Star Trek Into Darkness (May 17) Trailer

The previous movie hit all the right buttons and rekindled everything that I love about this universe. This one looks like it has plenty of soon-to-be-classic moments mixed with meaningful character arcs for the young heros. Toss in a (hopefully) brilliant villain and we're good to go.

[3] Man Of Steel (June 14) Trailer

I would have been perfectly happy if they continued with the previous incarnation of this series. Even though this is yet another reboot, I'm hoping that they nailed it. Most of my faith lies with the vision of the director, Zach Snyder, who previously did 300 and Watchmen. And I liked the casting of the various supporting roles, too. (And as an aside, I despise the recent version of Superman in the comics. I like both DC and Marvel but DC completely lost me with this pointless reboot.)

[4] The Wolverine (July 26) Trailer

I'm a big fan of Wolverine, especially his Japanese adventures and alt-future stories. This may finally be the version of Wolverine that we all want to see but his last solo movie had a stink that still lingers. We'll see if this one can put together the magic that is found so easily in comicdom.

[5] Pacific Rim (July 12) Trailer

Finally, a movie that can top Transformers! (Heh.) It's a giant toy/monster mash-up directed by Guillermo del Toro. His crazy genius should provide any number of mind-worm images that will never leave.

[6] Elysium (August 9) Trailer

Future sci-fi with Matt Damon and Jodie Foster in her menacing mode. Sign me up.

[7] R.I.P.D. (July 19) Trailer

First thought when I saw this trailer? Men In Black. And that's not a bad thing at all. Waddayaknow, it's also based on comic, though I haven't acquainted myself with that one yet.

[8] RED 2 (July 19) Trailer

Lookee, another comic movie! And yes, I did read this comic. I'm a fan of Bruce Willis and the last movie hit my funny bone just right. Here's hoping for more of the same in this one but kicked up a notch. Sadly, we won't get any more fun cameos with Borgnine.

[9] Fast & Furious 6 (May 24) Trailer

The Rock, Vin Diesel, even some sneakiness from Jason Statham. Sure, the series goes over the top but it's only getting stronger these days. Perfect drive-in movie, right?

[10] Much Ado About Nothing (June 7) Trailer

Joss Whedon and his merry band of players have a little fun with Shakespearean comedy. This is the one that came out of left field in my Top 10 list but I find it so intriguing that I can't let it go. It took me until Grade 12 English to really start appreciating the humour that Shakespeare injected into everything he did, and this looks like it might accentuate the very things I love most about the bard. Plus, you know, it has Nathan Fillion himself.

Honourable Mentions:

[11] The Heat (June 28)  **Will this be the best comedy of the summer?

[12] After Earth (June 7)  **Will Smith and son on an uninhabited Earth.

[13] White House Down (June 28)  **We'll compare this to Olympus Has Fallen.

[14] The Lone Ranger (July 3)  **Disney's big tent-pole picture.

[16] 300: Rise Of An Empire (August 2)  **Parallel story to the first film.

[15] Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain (July 3)  **24/7 Comedy radio made me curious.

[17] Kick-Ass 2 (August 16)  **Read the comics, quite brutal. Jim Carrey = great?

[18] 2 Guns (Aug 2)  **Denzel and Mark Wahlberg as buddy cops?

[19] The Hangover Part III (May 24)  **How about the giraffe in the trailer?

[20] The Great Gatsby (May 10)  **DiCaprio's big summer flick.

Top Cartoons:

[1] Monsters University (June 21)  **Considered this for my Top 10 list.

[2] Despicable Me 2 (July 3)

[3] Epic (May 24)

[4] Turbo (July 17)

[5] Planes (August 9)  **2nd sequel to Pixar's Cars.

End Of The World Stuff:

[1] World War Z (June 21)  **Brad Pitt's troubled production. Super fast zombies.

[2] This Is The End (June 12)  **Alt-version of Hollywood with celeb cameos.

[3] Rapturepalooza (June 7)  **My type of humour, new to me.

[4] The World's End (August 23)  **Simon Pegg's gang teams up again.

[5] Cockneys vs Zombies (August 2)  **Super slow zombies.

[6] Stranded (July 26)  **Low-budget horror sci-fi in space with Christian Slater.

[7] The Purge (May 31)  **Funky, freaky premise.