My Top 5 Most Anticipated Summer Movies

Ah, the summer movie season.  A time when Hollywood throws a smorgasbord of fun action, comedy, and horror movies before the Oscar-baits and Star Wars’ dominate the end of the year. I have really come to enjoy summer for the variety that comes to theaters. This year has some returning favorites in the form of sequels, but there also appears to be some incredibly inventive films set to hit theaters this summer.

Number Five: Baby Driver (June 28th)

After Edgar Wright’s departure from the Marvel Cinematic Universe due to creative differences, the writer/director returns to the action-comedy genre with a quirky little movie about a getaway driver working for a crime organization. That may sound innocuous, but the twist comes in the lead’s penchant for listening to a playlist that the audience will hear throughout the film. As the international trailer and extended second trailer spotlight, the audience is in for an exciting heist movie with a great soundtrack and a chance for great character development, due to Baby’s shrouded past. Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, and Jon Hamm headline this comedy-heist adventure due out June 28th.

Number Four: Spider Man: Homecoming (July 7th)

Interrupting the Marvel malaise I have been experiencing since just before Doctor Strange is the third iteration of the Spider-Man character since 2002. The Marvel formula has become abundantly obvious for a while now, but Kevin Feige’s interview with SlashFilm revealed some interesting new tonal tidbits. “Spider Man will be a ‘John Hughes’ movie.” Fans of the Spider Man series have not truly received a realistic high school version of the character, so my hope is that Homecoming can blend what works from the Marvel formula (i.e. snappy quips in dialogue) and the “coming of age” elements that befits the Peter Parker character.

Number Three: Dunkirk (July 21st)

The haunting trailer for this war epic had me hooked from the moment the bass and time bomb like clicking paces as a squad of British soldiers pick up German propaganda being dropped on them by passing German warplanes. Christopher Nolan’s foray into war films has me excited because of the hints of it I have seen in his other films. You might remember the confrontation between police and anarchists in The Dark Knight Rises. The Battle for Gotham is shot like a war film, with police officers advancing as they face an army of tanks and henchmen. In the background, the familiar banging of percussions push the officers’ advance after Batman swoops in and destroys one of the tanks. This feels like a war film that could rival Saving Private Ryan on the realism and dramatic scale.

Number Two: Valerian and the City of the Thousand Planets (July 21st)

Co-Stars Cara Delevingne and Dane DeHann

With such a visually stimulating trailer, Valerian immediately caught my attention. The first thing I though was: “Wow, this looks a lot like ‘The Fifth Element’ from a while back.” The spectacle of the actual “city of a thousand planets” and the diverse species of aliens that inhabit it provide an immensely interesting setting for a sci-fi adventure. Luc Besson’s strength is in his unique art style and science fiction escapism and both look to be on point here. Having heard about the effect that the comic that the movie is based on has had on film, I am eagerly awaiting some visual and story call backs.

Number One: Alien: Covenant (May 19th)

I am a massive fan of the “Alien” franchise, yet I have not enjoyed a single sequel after Aliens. Alien 3, Alien: Resurrection, and Prometheus all missed the mark for me, with the most recent coming the closest to hitting the mark. H.R. Geiger’s iconic design of the creature has always played a role in my love for the series. As a kid, I was terrifyed but also intriqued by the organic, skeletal look. But my wish for the newest iteration of the series is that will regain its humanity. The prologue chapters have given me hope that I will actaully care about these people, rather than see them as typical horror movie dead meat.