With Avengers: Infinity War’s release in April, summers officially started for all the movie buffs around the world....
COVER STORY
With Avengers: Infinity War’s release in April, summers officially started for all the movie buffs around the world. By now, we are pretty sure half of the world has already seen it or probably watched it more than once. Yes, I meant myself!
With the magic of Avengers: Infinity War still fresh, it’s safe to say that like every summer, this is going to be ‘hotter’ for the cinema screens. (If you live in Karachi, then yeah, pun intended). Let’s take a look at the line-up of some awesome movies that we should be keeping our eyes, minds, hearts and souls out for…
Deadpool 2
Although it has been in the theatres for weeks now, there are chances a lot of you haven’t seen it yet because of Ramazan. In that case, keep it at the top of your list to watch on/post Eid because it might not stay in the theatres for long.
Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson is back as Deadpool who still has a big (read foul) mouth but this time he is not alone. He has a band of soldiers to protect a young mutant from being kidnapped by a time-traveling commando named Cable.
You might not find it as good as the first part but then it was because the first part was a complete surprise and with this, we already have our expectations high. If you love Marvel and loved Deadpool, you just cannot miss it.
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Alden Ehrenreich steps into Harrison Ford’s shoes as the swaggering smuggler Han Solo in the latest standalone spinoff in the Star Wars universe, which depicts the young smuggler years before he met Luke and Leia and helped take down the Empire.
Just one advice: don’t watch it for something spectacular and out of this world, or something that will transport you to the old Star Wars’ world. The movie bombed at the box office and failed to live up to the expectations of the die-hard fans. Yet, if you have seen all of Star Wars movies, then who are we to stop you!
The Incredibles 2
Now, this is something we have all been waiting for since 2004 when The Incredibles was released. We all remember this movie about a family with superpowers, who were banned from doing super things by law. But the current situation forces Elastigirl (voiced by Holly Hunter) to go out on a mission, leaving hubby Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) home with the kids. With Elastigirl in the field and Mr. Incredible taking care of domestic duties, this will be a fun ride for all the animated movies fans.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
In 2015, when Jurassic World was released, critics thought it was a bad idea to touch the 1993 immensely successful Jurassic Park and play around with the concept. The shoes were just too big to fill. Yet, Jurassic World did tremendous business and proved all critics wrong by showing what wonders could genetically-engineered dinosaurs do to the box office.
This summer, Jurassic World is back with Fallen Kingdom and we just can’t wait to watch Chris Pratt as the dino trainer who will help the state deal with a new deadly species of raptor on the loose. Get ready for some nail biting scenes.
Ant Man and the Wasp
Marvel has vowed to keep us hooked through out the year by giving us Black Panther in the start, then keeping us engaged with Avengers and post Avengers plot and predictions, releasing Deadpool 2 within a short period of time and then coming out with Ant Man and the Wasp.
The Paul Rudd starrer 2015 Ant Man may not have done well at the box office but Ant Man is not alone this time around. Wasp, played by Evangeline Lilly, will be supporting him throughout the movie. Wasp is eager to get in her own supersuit invented by Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) since his wife/her mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) needs saving from the Quantum Realm, an alternate dimension.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Releasing in summers is the sixth Mission: Impossible movie in which 55-year-old Tom Cruise, as the intrepid Ethan Hunt, will keep topping himself with stunts other stars would leave to their doubles.
With Christopher McQuarrie as the writer and director, who previously helmed Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, the film follows Ethan Hunt and his IMF tem as they deal with the aftermath of mission gone wrong. Along with Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Michelle Monaghan, Alec Baldwin and Sean Harris will be reprising their roles.
We don’t think it’s necessary to say do watch it because hey, it’s Mission: Impossible. How can you just resist that?
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
This is one animated movie franchise we all absolutely adore. With draculas, vampires and monsters, it has to be the cutest and the sweetest monster movies you have ever seen.
In this third installment of the animated series, Dracula (Adam Sandler) takes his family on a vacation cruise, where he falls in love with the ship’s captain, much to his daughter Mavis’ (Selena Gomez) dismay. The promos reveal how Mavis’ intuitions are right about the captain of the ship but what we need to see is how Dracula is going to cope with the heartbreak, if there is any. Ah! It’s too early to predict.
In any case, Hotel Transylvania 3 is definitely on our ‘Must Watch’ list and way on the top.
Ocean’s 8
Now, now, now… Don’t we all love the Ocean’s series. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, what else can we ask for? But now the situation has changed a bit. The all guy con gang is now an all girls con gang. In Ocean’s 8, Sandra Bullock plays Debbie Ocean (sister to George Clooney’s Danny), who gathers an all-female team for a heist at the famous Met Gala in New York City. She will be sharing the screen with Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna, etc, and we just hope and pray it’s as good, or even better, than the original Ocean’s franchise. After all, this con movie formula hardly ever fails in Hollywood.
Eighth Grade
Another movie that is getting much attention and has a lot of expectations is Elsie Fisher starrer, Eighth Grade. The movie is about Kayla (Elsie Fisher), a 13-year-old who is about to enter high school. She ignores her dad (Josh Hamilton), wants to be close to her classmates who pretend she doesn’t exist and clings to social media. It’s basically how she makes her way through the last week of middle school—the end of her thus far disastrous eighth grade year before she begins high school.
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!
In 2008, the musical Mamma Mia brought Abba to us and it was one hell of an emotional rollercoaster where we loved the songs, the dances, the situations and everything that gave us “Dance with me”, “Did your mother know that you are out?”, “Dancing Queen”, and of course our very favourite “Mamma Mia”.
After 10 years, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! picks up from where Mamma Mia left. Sophie delves more in depth to find about her mother’s past, and in the meanwhile deals with her pregnancy as well.
Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgard and Julie Walters will be reprising their roles. The movie is all set for a July release and our focus is more on the songs than the storyline which will, actually, be the backbone of this movie, too.
Christopher Robin
Oh! How ready we are for a Winnie the Pooh live action movie! Though the sound of it is a bit weird because watching Winnie live action can be a bit scary. But no sweat. Christopher Robin is more about Christopher’s relation with Pooh and his friends.
In this heartwarming live action adventure, the young boy who loved embarking on adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood with a band of spirited and loveable stuffed animals, has grown up and lost his way. Now it is up to his childhood friends to venture into our world and help Christopher Robin remember the loving and playful boy who is still inside.
Though Pooh doesn’t look as much of “our” Pooh from the animations, watching Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger on big screen is something we just can’t afford to miss.
Mile 22
If your movie watching experience is more about the adrenaline rush than the intriguing storylines then Mile 22 is just the thing for you. Starring Mark Wahlberg and directed by Peter Berg, Mile 22 is one of the most anticipated thrillers of 2018 as it has promised to offer pure adventurous fun to the audiences. We can’t expect anything less since the duo has previously given us movies like Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon and Patriots Day.
In this movie, Mark Wahlberg stars as James Silva, an operative of the CIA’s most highly-prized and least-understood unit. Aided by a top-secret tactical command team, Silva must retrieve and transport an asset who holds life-threatening information to Mile 22 for extraction before the enemy closes in.
Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot
With so many movies released every week, there are a few with a touching storylines and magicians behind the camera. However, it’s also the performers that you hope would breathe life into the story and characters. Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot is one such movie to wait for this summer.
Based on a true story, this poignant, insightful and often funny drama about the healing power of art is adapted from Callahan’s autobiography and directed by two-time Oscar nominee Gus Van Sant.
The story revolves around John Callahan who loves life, is loved by his company and has a drinking problem. When an all-night bender ends in a catastrophic car accident, the last thing he intends to do is give up drinking. But, when he reluctantly enters treatment, with encouragement from his girlfriend (Rooney Mara) and a charismatic sponsor (Jonah Hill), Callahan discovers a gift for drawing edgy, irreverent newspaper cartoons that develop an international following and grant him a new lease on life. Inspirational, huh!
The Meg
Gather around, guys. Another shark movie is hitting the theatres this year. We have to admit; ever since Jaws, Hollywood hasn’t really gotten over the ‘shark genre’. Like how much can you play around with shark movies? Yet, you still enjoy the suspense, the thrill and the nerve-racking hunt and kill game.
Releasing on August 10, The Meg is about a giant, 75-foot-long prehistoric shark – known by experts in such things as Megalodon. Jason Statham, the British actor, is the expert deep-sea rescue diver who will take on the supersized shark as he is charged with saving the crew of a submersible trapped under the Pacific.
We would have skipped it debating that we have seen enough shark movies but hey, have you seen Jason Statham in one before? Well, we would watch it for him more than the shark. Oh btw, did we mention the tagline of the movie? It’s “Pleased to eat you”. Yeah, that’s what you are getting into.
The Spy Who Dumped Me
Did you actually think we will walk through the entire Summers without a chick-flick? Think again. Audrey (Mila Kunis) and Morgan (Kate McKinnon), two thirty-year-old best friends in Los Angeles, are thrust unexpectedly into an international conspiracy when Audrey’s ex-boyfriend (Justin Theroux) shows up at their apartment with a team of deadly assassins on his trail. Surprising even themselves, the duo jump into action, on the run throughout Europe from assassins and a suspicious-but-charming British agent, Sam Heughan, as they hatch a plan to save the world.
Well, we won’t put our bets on this one but from the promos and posters, it seems quite entertaining.
Hereditary
Let’s make the summers a little chilly. Released on June 8, Hereditary is a nerve jangling ghost story that added more laurels to the horror genre with its spine chilling story and performances.
When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter’s family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited.
Toni Colette delivers an award winning performance as an artist haunted by specters of family dysfunction, starting with her dead mother. So, just buckle up and wait for the latest horror classic.
