In a few days time, the Summer 2014 movie season begins. And with this year’s lineup, I’m excited for what the movies have to offer because of the anticipation of the sequels, reboots and originals. After a spectacular lineup of the 2013 summer movies such as “Despicable Me 2,” “Star Trek Into Darkness” and “Man of Steel”, box office sales will skyrocket once again for this year’s summer films. The season begins on May 2, the last Friday before finals, but that’s not going to stop me.
MAY:
“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (May 2): Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) returns as he adjusts of being the web-slinging hero at the same time spending time with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). But being the hero comes with a price: only Spidey can protect the citizens of New York from disastrous villains like Electro (Jamie Foxx).
“Neighbors” (May 9): From the guys who brought us “This is The End,” “Neighbors” follows Mac Radner (Seth Rogen), a father who settles down with his wife and a newborn baby in a peaceful and quaint neighborhood. Then 50 brothers from a fraternity called Delta Psi Beta, led by Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron), move in next door and wreak havoc.
“Godzilla” (May 16): The well-known monster returns to the big screen. Judging from the criticism from the last American adaptation, which was directed by Roland Emmerich, the trailer of the reboot shows that the kaiju (Japanese term of giant beast) is not just wrecking what’s in its way but also going to fight another kaiju.
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” (May 23): Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) warps back in time to prevent a catastrophic future for him and the other mutants. This installment of the X-Men franchise includes most of the cast from the original trilogy and from “X-Men: First Class.”
“Maleficent” (May 30): The film dives into the untold story from the classic film “Sleeping Beauty.” The iconic Disney villain (Angelina Jolie), will be shown from her side of the story and her origin.
“A Million Ways to Die in the West” (May 30): Writer and director Seth MacFarlane voiced a Teddy bear from his film “Ted” in 2012. Now he’s Albert in this western comedy film who is a sheep farmer and lives his life while many other citizens meet their death in various ways.
JUNE:
“Edge of Tomorrow” (June 6): Bill Cage (Tom Cruise), a solider who battles in a suicide mission against an alien race to defend the Earth. Each time that Cage dies, he wakes up as if he was dreaming the battle.
“22 Jump Street” (June 13): The sequel to the 2012 film “21 Jump Street,” Jenko and Schmidt (Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill) are back as they go undercover at a college to stop a crime ring at a fraternity.
“How to Train Your Dragon 2” (June 13): Five years after the dragons settled in at the island of Berk, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) explores overseas with his dragon Toothless. Furthermore, a dragon hunter named Drago (Djimon Hounsou) attempts to capture and destroy all dragons. It’s up to Hiccup, Toothless, and the other dragon riders to prevent Drago’s plan.
“Think like a Man Too” (June 20): The cast from the first film reprise its roles as the film goes to Las Vegas. It turns out that there will be a competition between the men and women as which team can have the most fun in Sin City.
“Transformers: Age of Extinction” (June 27): The age of the Transformers is at an end. A government agency seeks out the robotic extraterrestrials and instructs them to leave. At the same time, evil approaches.
JULY:
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (July 11): Ten years after the events of the 2011 film “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” Caesar (Andy Serkis) leads a nation of evolved apes and deals with human survivors. Both of the apes and the humans make peace yet how it plays out depends on both parties working together.
“The Purge: Anarchy” (July 18): Citizens can either kill or be killed since the Purge is an nightly activity where all crime is legal and all police stations, fire stations, and hospitals are force to be closed for 12 hours. A man named Shane (Zach Gilford), and his wife are driving home until their car ran out of gas just as soon as the Purge begins.
AUGUST:
“Guardians of the Galaxy” (August 1): From the studio the brought us “Iron Man,” “Thor,” “Captain America” and “The Avengers,” “Guardians of the Galaxy” sets off in space with five people who band together and fight off evil. Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) leads the guardians.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (August 8): The heroes in the halfshell resurface once again from this Michael Bay-produced reboot. The turtles must help April O’Neil (Megan Fox) in search of her father while battling the Foot soldiers and The Shedder (William Fichtner).
“Let’s be Cops” (August 13): Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr., stars from the series “New Girl,” co-star in this film by going to a costume party dressed up as cops. But they found out that it was a masquerade party instead. People believe that Ryan and Justin (Johnson and Wayans Jr.) are actual cops, so they keep the costumes and enjoy the charade that they are playing.
“The Expendables 3” (August 15): Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, and Arnold Schwarzenegger returns for the ensemble action film. New cast members, such as Wesley Snipes and Mel Gibson, join the cast to do whatever needs to be done.
“The Giver” (August 15): Based on the novel by Lois Lowry, “The Giver” is about a teenager named Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) who becomes the Receiver of Memories and discovers the past of the culture he grew up in.
“Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” (August 22): Directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller make the returning crime thriller film. The sequel stars returning characters such as Jessica Alba and Bruce Willis. New cast members include Eva Green, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Brolin and Lady Gaga.