2011 was a great year at the cinema, but 2012 looks like it’s going to be amazing. I’ve collected a list of the fifteen movies that I’m currently looking forward to the most and – to nobody’s great surprise – most of the top ones have turned out to be superhero movies.
I should warn you; this is going to be a long post, so I’ve split it up into three separate pages!
#15. Mirror, Mirror
Lily Collins is Snow White
In fifteenth place comes the movie that will set up Lily Collins as the Snow White of our generation. When I first saw the trailer for the movie, I actually had to rewind and watch it again, because Lily looked so much like the Snow White that Ginnifer Goodwin plays in television series Once Upon a Time.
The Tarsem Singh-directed movie looks like it’s going to be a spectacle of special effects, beautiful scenery, funny midgets dwarves little people and plenty of witty banter to go around, but – and herein lies the rub – the movie seems to be aimed at a demographic quite unlike my own (And yes, I see the problem in making movies based on children’s stories and keeping them aimed at a predominantly 30+ heterosexual white male crowd). Still, I think the movie is looking pretty damned interesting and – as a bonus piece of trivia – I can’t even remember the last time I was actually looking forward to a Julia Roberts movie (The Pelican Brief, maybe, but that’s almost twenty years ago now).
#14. The Hunger Games
Hunger Games
I have to admit that I haven’t read the books by Suzanne Collins, despite hearing amazing things about them. I’m probably going to get around to it eventually (if I could only manage to finish plowing through these humongous stacks of paper which Neal Stephenson calls “books”), but maybe I’ll just see the movie first before adding anything else to my already extensive ‘to read’-list.
The first trailer looks pretty interesting and has catapulted the movie into this top-fifteen list; something that I quite honestly wasn’t expecting it to do. The movie, which seems to be aimed at a slightly more mature teen crowd, stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, a girl who volunteers to take place in a fight to the death on live television, taking her sister’s place. With Lenny Kravitz and Woody Harrelson in supporting roles, this can’t be anything but interesting.
The reason that I’m looking forward to this movie is mainly that it’s aimed at a younger audience while still being a prime example of speculative fiction. If more people could begin to appreciate the wonders of science fiction, fantasy, steampunk and other related genres, maybe we’d start seeing more great books and movies in those genres. There is always hope.
#13. Underworld Awakening
Kate Beckinsale as Selene
I have to admit to not having been a huge fan of the Underworld series, but a lot of that seems to have been due to the directing. With new directors Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein stepping in, this seems to have changed somewhat. In the upcoming movie, Kate Beckinsale‘s character, Selene, will lead the battle against humankind as the war against vampires and werewolves begins in earnest.
To be honest, a large part of the reason that I’m looking forward to this movie is because I’m hoping that it’s going to be good. I’ve spent a fair amount of hours watching the first three movies, and I don’t want those hours to be spent in vain. If this movie is good, then at least it’s some sort of vindication and justification for having sat through the torture that was Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.
#12. The Amazing Spider-Man
Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man
I know what you’re thinking; “Why isn’t he looking forward to that movie more?”, right? It’s because … well … I’m just not. Spider-Man is a great superhero, don’t get me wrong, but this movie hasn’t excited me since the day I first heard it was coming. Andrew Garfield isn’t impressing me as Peter Parker, Emma Stone is an odd pick for Gwen Stacy, Marc Webb wouldn’t have been my first choice to direct (nor my second, third, fourth or fifth choice) and … Need I go on?
It just feels like it’s been done, and all too recently. The dust has hardly settled on Tobey Maguire‘s Spider-Man, and now they feel like they need to reboot the entire story? I’m just not convinced that this is what the movie needs.
Still, it’s a superhero movie, and I’ll see any one of those that comes out.
#11. The Expendables 2
The Expendables 2
The recent release of the first trailer for this movie had me surprisingly interested. I had been of the belief that the first movie had been an interesting curiosity, a funny little thing that gathered a bunch of famous actors from the 80s for a little fun together. Little did I know that the sequel would look this great.
The plot of the movie seems to be “The first movie but bigger, badder, stronger, faster and with more 80s stars”. Chuck Norris has his part to play and Jean-Claude Van Damme joins the cast as – and I’m not kidding here – the villain of the piece, aptly named Jean Vilain. Yes, his name is practically “Villain”. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis also join the cast in more significant roles than last time.
I’m actually looking forward to this movie more than I thought I would. Not top-10 much, but almost.