2014 was a fantastic year for movies. We got great films like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Hercules, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and The Raid 2. We also some pretty bad movies like I, Frankenstein, Legend of Hercules, Brick Mansions, and The Protector 2. Mostly, the movies were really good, and it looks like the upcoming slate of movies this year is going to be awesome. Let’s dive in, shall we?
The Avengers: Age of Ultron
Wow. I mean, WOW! I’m going to be honest here: I’m biased towards Marvel’s films. I’ve got most of them on Blu-Ray. Starting with Iron Man, a good chunk of Marvel’s movies were heading towards what would end up being one of the most anticipated comic-book movies of all time: The Avengers. The resulting film was an absolute blast. Written and directed by Joss Whedon, The Avengers was the first true ensemble superhero movie of its kind. Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, The Hulk, and Thor came together in one of the most epic movies in the past 5 years. It had great writing with a great sense of humor. It also had some of the most incredible action sequences and visual effects ever seen in a comic book movie. The sequel looks to one-up the original film in every possible way. It also looks like some of the heroes might be in serious jeopardy. This could the Empire Strikes Back of the Marvel Universe. The Avengers: Age of Ultron smashes into theaters May 1st of this year.
Seventh Son
This one definitely looks interesting. Jeff Bridges as a knight fighting demons, dragons and witches? I’m down for it. The visuals look absolutely incredible. There’s a problem, though. This movie was supposed to be released LAST year. But due to some kind of falling out between Legendary Studios and Warner Bros, the rights to the film got sold to Universal Pictures, which delayed the film. It isn’t the first time I’ve seen this happen, but it’s never a good thing. I’m keeping my fingers crossed with this one. I’m still rather intrigued. I love the fantasy genre. So seeing something like this gets me interested. This one actually comes out in less than a month: February 6, I believe. I’m keeping an eye on it.
Chappie
I didn’t even hear about this one until towards the beginning of the month. Directed by Neill Blomkamp, Chappie tells the story of a robot that has been adopted by a fairly dysfunctional family. This movie looks like one of the most compelling movies of the year. I’m honestly excited because Neill Blomkamp is one of my favorite filmmakers. This guy gave us District 9, one of the best science fiction movies I’ve ever seen. It also gave us a new star in Sharlto Copley, who plays the titular character in Chappie. The film also stars Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver. Chappie could very well be the sleeper hit of the year. The movie comes out on March 6. It’s another one that’s worth keeping a lookout for.
The Peanuts Movie
Is there anyone who hasn’t read the Peanuts comic strip? I grew up reading a lot of comic strips and Peanuts is absolutely one of my favorites. I also grew up watching the holiday specials which were absolutely fantastic. When I heard that they were making a movie, I was rather curious how they were going to do it. They could have easily done it in CG, but it looks like stop-motion animation. Granted, this is a teaser trailer, but it looks pretty fun. It seems to maintain the humor and good nature of the comic strip. Count me in. It doesn’t come out until November 6, however. Good grief.
Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer’s Curse
Would somebody please explain to me where the hell this came from? While I try to make it a point to rarely preview direct-to-video movies, there are exceptions. I first got a glimpse of Dragonheart 3 when I was watching the Scorpion King 4 DVD the other day. Don’t judge me. I remember the original Dragonheart with Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis and Pete Postlethwaite. It was a pretty fun romp. Also, the dragon was voiced by Sean Connery. It certainly helped that the dragon was worked on by the same guys who did Jurassic Park. It was a pretty awesome movie. Nobody had expected a sequel, let alone 2. Dragonheart 2: A New Beginning was released 15 years ago and was direct-to-video. It was poorly received, but I didn’t think it was that bad. The third act of the film was pretty lame, though. Looking at the trailer for the third film here, it looks like they actually put some serious effort into the dragon. They also managed to get Sir Ben Kingsley to voice the beast. This one’s coming straight-to-video on February 24. Honestly, I’m not overly surprised. They did make three Scorpion King sequels. I’m just amazed it took them this long. Still, it’s probably going to be better than most of the Sy-Fi channel garbage that they’ve been putting out lately.
Well, that concludes this batch of previews, so I hope everybody gets out to the movies this year and help support your favorite film. So, any thoughts or comments? I would appreciate it. Thanks for reading.