It’s that time again, and it’s bigger than ever. Anyone who’s been keeping up with movies knows that nerd movies are taking over! I thought it was going to be a one time thing, since I wrote a blog last year about it, but after seeing some of the summer releases this year, it is going to be better than last year. A lot more movies that are based on some sort of comic, sci-fi series, or some old series that only nerds know are coming out this year, and here I am writing about it. So, here we are:
Evil Dead – The remake of the campy, cult classic comes in April. I know, it’s actually a spring month, but it’s something that every nerd will have to see. The trailers sell it as an actual hardcore horror movie, so it’ll miss some of the campiness the fans grew to love of the original, which might prevent from watching it, but it has some of the same elements such as the necronomicon, the girl in the attic, and the rape tree. Now, what I’m hoping for is that the trailer just wants to sell it as a horror flick to bring in a bigger audience, and it’ll still be a cheesy movie. Either way, it might still be a good horror flick.
Oblivion – The epic sci-fi, post-apocolyptic original starring Tom Cruise is also an April release, but by this time it’ll be so hot it’s summer. This film looks interesting, and I wonder where it goes. We got the cool effects in it, but then there’s the plot of “nothing seems what it seems, and you’ve been lied to”. Hopefully we get a crazy twist, and some hidden symbol built into it.
Iron Man 3 – Robert Downing Jr. returns as Tony Stark in another adventure, only this time the stakes are higher. Not really, it’s hard to beat a bunch of aliens invading New York, but this time, we finally get Iron Man’s comic book number one nemesis, The Mandarin played by Ben Kingsley. The trailers show how great Kingsley can play as a media terrorist that has a confident, cool persona, making him a great threat to the tech genius of Stark. Not only that, it seems we get a combination of story arcs of Armored Wars and Extremis from the comics, which are some of the best Iron Man stories. Then we get all the armors teased in the trailer, which includes the Silver Centurion, Hulkbuster, and Iron Patriot. The plot is definitely darker, with a ton of action, and I’m pretty sure it’ll please both comic fans and just plain moviegoers. It comes out in May, so it’ll be the official start of summer, and the start of Marvel’s Phase Two.
Star Trek: Into Darkness – The sequel to J.J. Abrams successful reboot of the series. I never liked Star Trek until I saw the last movie, and now I’m a fan. This movie will bring more of the relationship between Capt. Kirk and Spock, and some dramatic action that might result the end of the Earth. The trailers are pretty vague in what the whole movie is about, but Abrams never really made a bad movie. He’ll make this film better than the last, and at the end we’ll all be yelling KHAN!!!!!! Once again.
After Earth – M. Night Shyamalan returns as a director in this other sci-fi post-apocalyptic movie. He also has Will Smith starring with his son, Jaden. The movie seems to focus on the relationship between father and son, since Will Smith is a cold soldier, commanding his son who is a cadet, training to be a soldier. The trailer revealed the twist already that the planet they land in is Earth, and now they have to escape it. It looks cool in some ways, but Shyamalan has been losing his skills in the past few movies he made. I’m willing to give him the doubt by watching this movie, but what will make this movie awesome if Will Smith just yells, “Welcome to Earth!”
Man of Steel – Superman returns in a reboot helmed by Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan. I’ve never been excited about a Superman movie until I saw the latest trailer. From what I can judge, the story is roughly based on the comic Superman: Earth One, which is written by one of my favorite writers, J. Michael Stracynski. The story is about Clark finding his place in Metropolis, going to places to use his skills until an alien invasion put him to wear the red and blue tights, and reveal himself to save Metropolis. This movie roughly follows the same plot, but it may be deeper since there was a scene in the trailer where Pa Kent told Clark that he shouldn’t have saved the bus, where Clark said, “Should I have just left them,” and Pa replied, “Maybe.” It’s a really dark moment between father and son, and it also sets the tone of the movie. This will be an excellent reboot, and if it does well, it might set up for a Justice League movie. I’m going to like the movie anyways, since I’m a sucker for Zack Snyder.
World War Z – The hit novel gets its movie adaptation with Brad Pitt as the lead role. The plot is about the start of the zombie infestation, the chaos that it ensues, and it’s up to Brad Pitt to find the cause of the outbreak to find the cure. The trailer shows a ton of action, with fast zombies leaping high above to capture its prey, and climbing on top of each other to reach a helicopter. From what I understand, the novel doesn’t really have much action in it, so maybe this is another way to sell the movie to a larger audience, but I doubt it. It may be fun to watch, but I’m pretty sure it’ll never be as good as the book.
Lone Ranger – The radio drama gets its movie adaptation this summer starring Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp. The Lone Ranger wears a mask, and is revived from the dead, giving it a combination of superhero and mystical elements, some stuff that nerds would be into. The movie looks fun, since Depp seems to provide his quirky comedy along with some great action sequences. It’ll probably play out like Pirates of the Caribbean since they’re both produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. I might be neutral about this movie, mainly because of Bruckheimer.
Pacific Rim – It’s been five years since Guillermo del Toro last directed a film (Hellboy II), but now he’s making a return that makes all nerds cream their pants. He’s doing the impossible and is making a giant mecha movie! It’s about giant robots fighting against giant monsters, an homage to the early mecha animes. Del Toro has yet made a bad movie, so there will be no upset in this one. I mean, giant robots, where can you go wrong?
Red 2 – The sequel to the last comic book movie with the entire original cast returning. I can’t say much about this film, other than it looks funny, but at the same time, uninteresting. The last movie wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t in need of a sequel. I might forget about this movie when it actually comes out.
The Wolverine – Hugh Jackman is back as the legendary X-Man, only this time… It looks good. The last wolverine movie wasn’t that great with a stale plot, and not so awesome action sequences. However, this movie is taken right after the abysmal X-Men 3, where Logan travels the land of Japan, and is offered the chance to be mortal. The stakes will grow if he does take the offer, becoming a man, realizing he needs his healing powers, and fight a ton of ninjas on top of a bullet train. This movie brings much more excitement than the first one, and a much better plot. I think Fox will get this one right.
Kick-Ass 2 – The sequel to the hit comic book movie, and this time it’ll definitely kick ass. Get it? Because the movie is called… Forget it. If anyone like the first one, they won’t be disappointed with the second. We get Hit Girl’s cursing mouth, Kick Ass’ clumsy comedy, a new batch of heroes led by the man himself, Jim Carey, and much more comedic hero awesomeness. This is definitely a great way to end the summer of nerds.
So, there it is, a much bigger summer than last time. The ones I’m most excited about are Man of Steel and Pacific Rim. I would put in Iron Man 3, but I already know that movie is going to be good. We have a reboot, which might set the precedence for all DC movies, and an original that hasn’t been done before. I could go more in depth about these films, but my fingers are getting tired from all the typing. This summer is big, but maybe the next one will be bigger. It’s finally happening my fellow nerds, we are taking over, and in a good way.
1KCrew 