Summer Blockbusters

Saturday 9th April 2011

Every year, as the season changes from cold and scarf-clad to sweltering heat and scantily-clad, the change in weather brings a few guarantees. Flowers will start to bloom again, at one point you’ll wish you hadn’t seen a fat man with his shirt off, the M&S adverts will be updated showcasing the kind of lifestyle we wish we all led, and most importantly in the world of Cinema-dom, the promise of sun also brings the unstoppable apprehension of Summer Blockbusters.
With every Summer Blockbuster season brings the hundreds of franchises, sequels, superhero movies, and movies that will undoubtedly bring in the dollar. This year is definitely no exception. With the recently released Sucker Punch and Catherine Hardwickes imminent cinema endeavor Red Riding Hood, pre-blockbuster-tasters are already starting to bombard our screens in their full CGI-clad glory, but the question is, once the real deal’s smash onto our big-screen’s, which films will you want to see? This is FAULT’s guide to the Top 3 most anticipated summer movies…

X-Men: First Class (released 30th May)
Directed by Matthew Vaughn
Starring James McAvoy, Kevin Bacon, Nicholas Hoult, Jennifer Lawrence and Michael Fassbender

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8ccSiH4olo

There were people that said that there was no way in hell this could be done. There was no way they could take the gleaming shimmer off Patrick Stewart’s bald head from the original franchise and give him a full head of hair, changing the premise of the series completely by making a prequel.
Not only have they done it, going by the trailer they have succeeded admirably. But this is just going by the trailer, there is still the potential for it to be X-Men Origins: Wolverine (here’s hoping it’s not), but considering the director Matthew Vaughn is the creator of 2010’s superhero-comedy Kick-Ass and writer/director of fantastic Neil Gaiman adaptation Stardust, this gives the movie substantial premise and promise of a genuinely entertaining Summer Blockbuster. If you still have doubts, check out the cast. A movie that can boast the likes of James McAvoy and last years Oscar nominated Jennifer Lawrence is bound to be good. Lets just hope the movie is as exciting as it promises to be.

Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon (released 1st July)

Directed by Michael Bay

Starring Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whitley, John Malkovich, Hugo Weaving, Josh Duhamel, Patrick Dempsey

After, despite the success at the box office, the disappointing second installment of Transformers, director Michael Bay has promised this movie makes up for what the second film lacks. Replacing Megan Fox with supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whitley, jam-packed with CGI galore, and bringing in credible actors such as John Malkovich could be enough to save the franchise, but one thing that is guaranteed is that this film is going to do well at the box office.

The plot sees the Autobots (Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide, Sideswipe and Optimus Prime) take on the evil Decepticons, set on revenge after being defeated in Transformers Revenge of the Fallen, Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky thrown into the fray for a final time to help his robot friends. Expect a fast-paced-Sci-Fi-Action-Adventure with explosions, fast cars, and lots of close ups of Huntington-Whitley’s pout.

Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides (released 18th May)

Directed by Rob Marshall

Starring Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane, Geoffrey Rush, Keith Richards, Judi Dench, Gemma Ward

Our favorite swashbuckling pirate is back, rum and eccentricity in tow as -‘CAPTAIN!’- Jack Sparrow, teaming up with rival Captain Hector Barbossa and embarking on a perilous journey with mermaids, zombies, Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and a beautiful Penelope Cruz as Blackbeard’s daughter on a quest to find the Fountain of Youth.

Again, there were many things about the third film, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End’ that left a lot to be desired. This movie also promises to not only make up for the lag in cinematic excellence, but be even better than the two predecessors before this movie. Replacing the Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) romance aspect of the film with Philip (Sam Claflin) and Syrena- a mermaid (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), it’s heavily implied in the trailer something will happen there, which will definitely appeal to the fans of the will-they-won’t-they aspect of the first film with Will and Elizabeth. Overall, despite the change in director (from Gore Verbinski to Rob Marshall), and major changes to the cast (but, thankfully, keeping the characters that make the first 3 movies so great, like Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa), the film looks set to be one of the biggest blockbusters that is genuinely entertaining and a good film this year.

For the rest of the movies, look no further than these trailers-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAYc3gGjYW8