As always, the summer season is ripe with sequels, prequels or books-to-film; but whether this is good or bad has yet to be revealed. The Clarion hopes to provide a quick and concise chronological list of upcoming movies to help give viewers an idea of must-see and should’ve-skipped films.
june 6:
The first week of June promises two different movies on two completely different ends of the spectrum: “Edge of Tomorrow” and “The Fault in Our Stars.” “Edge of Tomorrow,” based off the sci-fi novel “All You Need is Kill” by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, follows a man who discovers he can roll back time after his death, thereby allowing him to learn from his mistakes; the slogan for the film is “Live. Die. Repeat.” “Edge of Tomorrow” stars Tom Cruise (“Top Gun”) and Emily Blunt (“Looper”). Based off the popular teen novel, “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green, the other film, will chronicle the love story of two young people (Shailene Woodley, “The Descendants,” Ansel Elgort, “Divergent”) who are dealing with cancer and potential remission.
june 13:
From comedic to heart-warming to thrilling, the second week of June is jam-packed. “22 Jump Street” is the sequel to the hilarious “21 Jump Street,” wherein the two main characters (Channing Tatum, “White House Down,” Jonah Hill, “Superbad”) must go undercover as narcs once again—but this time in college. The two buddies will obviously get up to tons of mischief and hilarity, a promise for a relaxing summer afternoon. “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” a sequel as well, finds the city of Berk doing well after the integration of dragons into their society. The main character is not satisfied though, and in his world explorations, he discovers the mother he believed to be dead and another terrifying threat to his village, interspersed with adorable dragon mannerisms. Lastly, “The Signal” follows two hackers who are lured out into the desert—yet when they wake up, they are being held captive and a signal appears to have altered their minds or states of being.
june 20:
Based off the acclaimed Broadway musical, “Jersey Boys” will be coming to theater this June. The film appears to be a sort of musical biography of the 1960s rock group, The Four Seasons. Yet different than other musical films, this one promises to be interesting as it repeatedly breaks the fourth wall, the members of the group turning directly to the camera and providing insight or foreshadowing of the future.
june 27:
Continuing the 2010s saga of dystopian worlds comes the new film “Snowpiercer,” starring Chris Evans (“Captain America”). Based off the French graphic novel “Le Transperceniege,” the world has almost been completely annihilated by cold, except for the few inhabitants of a perpetually moving train—the elite live at the front, the poor inhabit the back end—and those who have been discriminated against begin to consider rebellion. And yes, there will also be another “Transformer” film this summer. This time, the film “Transformers: Age of Extinction” shows a time in which the aliens have almost been completely eradicated by the human race. Mark Wahlberg’s (“The Fighter”) character accidentally discovers a Transformer and must take up his mantle to defend the human race. The film also includes a scene with Optimus Prime riding a Transformer/ dinosaur hybrid, so clearly this is a film not to be missed.
july 2:
Looking to be more “Super 8” than “District 9,” the upcoming film “Earth to Echo” follows a group of young boys who accidentally discover and befriend a little alien, whom they name Echo, while chronicling their story on film. Obviously, things do not go as planned due to government interference, but the film appears to be an endearing look at young friendship in bullied and neglected tweens.
july 11:
“Boyhood,” one of the two films being released this weekend, is probably one of the longest running and most innovative ideas for a film in quite a while. The movie follows a family over the course of twelve years—and the actors as well, so the audience actually sees the family age on screen, time-warping a two hour film into longer than a decade. Also being released is the sequel to the prequel of “Planet of the Apes” entitled “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.” As usually seen in these long running franchises, the last film is typically the best as it closes a lot of plotlines. This one looks to be no different, as the apes and humans each own half the world, but as the first film already showed us, the humans do not win.
july 18:
More action films are abound this weekend. “The Purge: Anarchy” is the sequel to the original movie that depicted the course of one night in the U.S. wherein all crime is legal; “Anarchy” promises the same violence, but hopefully with more character development, like the father attempting to get revenge for his son’s death or the rich who pay to watch people be killed. “Jupiter Ascending,” on the other hand, takes a science fiction approach—a young woman (Mila Kunis, “Black Swan”) on Earth discovers that she is royalty and has a bounty on her head. Good thing Tatum is around to save her in this fantasy epic.
august 1:
Newest in the Marvel universe is “Guardians of the Galaxy,” based off the eponymous comic book series. The new film follows the five allies as they attempt to protect the worlds around them while facing off against several villains. The film will feature Chris Pratt (“Parks and Recreation”), Zoe Saldana (“Star Trek”), Karen Gillan (“Doctor Who”) and more. Additional information can be found about the film and preceding superhero trend here.
august 8:
“Lucy” will definitely end up being one of the better action films of the summer. Scarlett Johansson’s (“Lost in Translation”) character accidentally ingests some kind of powdered drug that rapidly increases her intelligence, physical and supernatural abilities. She joins up with Morgan Freeman (“The Shawshank Redemption”) for help, neither of them sure what will happen once she has fully taken all of the drug running through her bloodstream. “Into the Storm” just looks to be two hours of overused disaster sequences—kind of like “The Day After Tomorrow,” but with less character development, as all the trailer does is emphasize the sound and scale of the film’s production. Last, and probably least, is the live action Michael Bay “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” film. Though it could be applauded that the turtles in the film do look pretty lifelike, it is more horrifying and uncomfortable. This series should have probably stuck to animation.
august 15:
Based off of Lois Lowry’s book of the same name, “The Giver” tells the story of Jonah, a young man in a dystopian civilization, who is one of the few people awakened to its dysfunctions. Since the book has been read for ages by elementary school children to co-eds alike, a wide variety of people will be excited to finally see the book be transferred to film. In contrast, the only driving force for viewers to see “The Expendables 3” is evidenced clearly in their advertising—a listing of all the actors. When going to this film, you know what you are getting: two hours of violence, action and buff celebrities.
august 22:
Also on the comic book-to-film train is the sequel to “Sin City,” called “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.” The movie will be based off the neo-noir comics from Frank Miller, who also wrote the screenplay for the film. In the city of Las Vegas, violence, sex and scandal are abound; Joseph Gordon-Levitt (“Inception”), Eva Green (“Casino Royale”), Bruce Willis (“The Sixth Sense”) and Jessica Alba (“Fantastic Four”) will all be featured. Last is the film “If I Stay,” based off of Gayle Forman’s novel. In a devastating car accident, Chloe Grace-Moretz’s (“(500) Days of Summer”) family is killed while she ends up in a coma. She must decide whether to wake up an orphan—or not wake up at all.
While it has been repeated over and over recently about the vast number of unoriginal movies, the film industry is still churning them out at a fast pace. While this article only covers universal release films, there are a great many exciting and interesting movies put up for limited release this summer, especially in cities such as New York City and Los Angeles. The nearby Mayan, Chez Artiste and Landmark at Greenwood Village all typically show independent films, as well as film festivals all over Colorado. Support the film industry and ensure that the films you like keep getting made!
