2013 Summer Movie Preview
By Bert Ehrmann
February 15, 2013
I cannot describe to you how much this time of year I look forward to the summer movie season. From now until May I almost literally count the days until the first movie premiers. This year, as it has the last seven years, the first film of the summer season will be a movie from Marvel Entertainment; Iron Man 3 on May 3.
Iron Man 3 introduces a new writer and director to the franchise, Shane Black. Black had previously worked with Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark) on the movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2004) which I loved, so I'm really excited about seeing what they can come up with together here. In Iron Man 3, Iron Man must face his fiercest foe yet, The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) and his ten powerful non-Lord of the Rings rings of doom. But hey, if Iron Man gets into too much trouble with the Mandarin he can always call in his The Avengers buddies to help, right?
Another sequel quickly follows Iron Man 3 on May 17, Star Trek Into Darkness. Here, the crew of the Enterprise must face the mysterious and super-powered John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) who is powerful enough to destroy all of Starfleet. Which, didn't Starfleet get destroyed in the first Star Trek (2009)? Are we already retreading old ground just two movies into the franchise?
The Will Smith and son trapped on a future mutated planet Earth with everything out to kill them After Earth opens on June 7. This film looks interesting enough, even if it's directed and co-written by M. Night Shyamalan who's so far created three good movies, two alright ones and two ones so bad they too could destroy all of Starfleet.
DC Entertainment starts what they hope to be their next movie franchise with Man of Steel June 14. This re-reboot of the Superman character features the Man of Steel squaring off against the evil General Zod (Michael Shannon). DC hopes that this darker take on the character will be the start of a series of movies ala the Marvel films that might eventually include Wonder Woman and Justice League films too. Am I the only one wondering why so many other cool Superman villains keep getting passed over for Zod, Lex Luthor and Richard Pryor?
Brad Pitt vs. the zombie apocalypse World War Z and Pixar's Monsters University open June 21. The World War Z movie trailer with its super-charged zombies looks cool enough, but it was originally supposed to be in theaters last fall which doesn't bode well for the movie.
The, dare I say, risky Johnny Deep starring as side-kick Tonto in The Lone Ranger gallops into theaters July 3. I was a fan of the Lone Ranger TV series as a kid, but from the trailers don't really like the looks of this new Ranger. If a giant spider appears at any point in The Lone Ranger the movie will be DOOMED!
The movie I'm most looking forward to this summer is, drumroll please, skyscraper sized robots vs. even bigger monsters Pacific Rim which opens July 21. Here, after a rift opens between the Earth and another planet gargantuan-sized monsters invade the Earth and begin stomping cities. It's up to a group of gigantic robots piloted by Charlie Hunnam and Idris Elba to fight off this invasion.
One Marvel movie that doesn't take place inside the current movie Marvel universe of Iron Man and The Avengers is The Wolverine which skintz into theaters July 26. This is the fifth movie to feature the side-burned character but is supposed to deal with some of my favorite Wolverine comic stories with Logan discovering his true self in Japan.
The arriving about five years too late to get me that excited is the sequel to the swords and pecks epic 300, 300: Rise of an Empire on August 2. Shouldn't this movie be direct to video or the next chapter in Starz Spartacus series?
Ending the summer is the sci fi Elysium, writer/director Neill Blomkamp's follow-up to his very popular District 9 film. Not much is known about Elysium other than it deals with an uprising from the poor people forced to live on a ravaged Earth vs the rich who live in space stations in the sky.