Over the next year, we are promised an absolutely bumper hel
Over the next year, we are promised an absolutely bumper helping of cinema, with an absolute abundance of big budget potential blockbusters making it to the big screen.
But with so many big names in the line-up, sometimes it can be hard to know where to start, so here are the top ten must-see cinema spectaculars coming soon to a screen near you.
10. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (March 28)
Despite being the stalwart commander of The Avengers, Captain America hasn’t seemed to have gained the same popularity as his comrades, taking a back seat to the ever popular Iron Man and Thor.
In this second solo outing from the Captain, we will get to see a little bit more meat in the character of the clean cut all American hero as he tries to adjust to his new found contemporary lifestyle. But all is not what it seems and Cap must team up with Black Widow to investigate their newfound adversary – The Winter Solider.
Being the second film in the second phase of Marvel Cinematic Universe and building towards Avengers: The Age of Ultron (2015), The Winter Soldier should offer up some more hints about what we can expect to come and an interesting and action-packed look at America’s favourite super soldier.
9. The Amazing Spider Man 2 (April 18)
Andrew Garfield returns as everyone’s favourite web slinger, Spider-Man, in this sequel to the 2012 reboot.
While the reimagining gave a pretty solid take on the Spiderman mythos, it did feel as if it was re-treading the same ground and offering nothing new – being released barely five years after the Sam Rami helmed trilogy wrapped up.
It is questionable whether the sequel will bring anything fresh to the table, but it will offer high energy web swinging action, two previously un-adapted villains, Rhino and Electro, and a heavily teased reappearance of Spider-Man’s nemesis the Green Goblin.
As long the movie doesn’t try to do too much too fast like Spider-Man 3 (2007) did and overload us with villains and go-nowhere sub plots, audiences should be in for a very fun ride.
8. Hercules: The Thracian Wars (August 8)
Starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as the titular character, Hercules: The Thracian Wars tells the adventures of the superhumanly strong demi-god as he steps out into the wilderness in search of a challenge worthy of him.
Based on the graphic novel of the same name produced by Radical Comics and directed by Brett Ratner, the story picks up after Hercules has completed his twelve labours and turned his back on the gods.
The Rock is now a bona fide Hollywood superstar and with his name at the top of the poster this movie is essentially guaranteed to make big bucks, but whether or not it will be any good is another matter.
Promising to deliver a fantasy epic of mythical proportions, this film has the word ‘franchise’ stamped all over it.
7. Guardians of the Galaxy (August 1)
The latest characters to be debuted into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Guardians of the Galaxy are a misfit group of inter-galatic superheroes.
Guardians of the Galaxy promises to be a space opera that answers the unanswered questions from the end of The Avengers (2012), as the team do battle with the forces of the despotic Thanos.
With an all-star cast featuring Vin Diesel as a tree monster, Zoe Saldana as your obligatory green chick, professional wrestler Batista as a super-strong wrecking machine and Bradley Cooper as a genetically engineered, sniper rifle wielding, Racoon, Guardians of the Galaxy promises to be straight up crazy fun.
6. X-Men: Days of Future Past (May 22)
Tying together the two distinct casts from the X-Men Trilogy (2000, 2003, 2006) and X-Men: First Class (2011), Days of Future Past offers up a colossal crossover.
Based on the comic book series of the same name, Days of Future Past tells the story of the X-Men of the future reuniting with their past selves to fight a war to save mutant-kind.
With both Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen playing Magneto, James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart playing Professor X, and Hugh Jackman reprising his role as the always enjoyable Wolverine, Days of Future Past is a must see for any superhero fan, promising to tie together a franchise that has meandered aimlessly since X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).
5. The Lego Movie (February 14)
It is bizarre to think that the first time audiences will get to see Batman and Superman on the big screen together will be in The Lego Movie.
Based entirely around the world’s most famous toy, the movie tells the story of Lego construction worker Emmett as he gets pulled into a fight to save the very world of Lego.
I don’t think anyone can say they dislike Lego, so with an all-star cast, gorgeous looking animation, a good helping of humour and references galore, The Lego Movie looks like one for both kids and adults to enjoy in spades.
4. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (July 17)
Following up on Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Dawn picks up eight years from where the story left off as we re-join Caesar and his band of super-intelligent apes living in red-wood forests of California.
A virus has been unleashed upon the planet and the growing tribe of genetically altered apes finds themselves at odds with the last surviving humans and poised to begin a battle to decide the Earth’s dominant species.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a welcome and well done reboot to the franchise, more than making up for Tim Burton’s abysmal remake Planet of the Apes (2003), so if Dawn can build on that groundwork, audiences will be in for a treat.
3. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (August 29)
Finally stepping out of development hell is the long awaited sequel to Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez’s neo-noir thriller Sin City (2005).
A Dame to Kill For takes us back into the depths of Sin City with another set of gritty, dark and violent stories from its sordid under belly, promising the same style and intrigue that the first film excelled at creating.
With a healthy mix of new and recurring characters, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is long overdue and has a very big reputation to live up to.
2. Godzilla (May 16)
Almost a decade and a half ago, western audiences got an American made reboot of Japan’s most famous monster in the aptly titled – Godzilla (1998). The film featured a doe-eyed and nerdy Matthew Broderick, a giant iguana, bad attempts at humour and countless attempts to rip-off Jurassic Park – needless to say, it sucked.
But in 2014 The King of the Monsters looks like he could finally be treated with the respect he deserves as audiences are getting a big budget reboot to the franchise.
So far the design for Godzilla himself has not been revealed, but the glimpses from the teaser trailer and the posters make him look particularly menacing, much better than the goofy, slack-jawed beast Roland Emmerich gave us in 1998.
There isn’t really much to say about this, the film promises to be Godzilla doing what Godzilla does best, fighting giant monsters, smashing cities and wreaking havoc on the big screen.
1. Interstellar (November 7)
Christopher Nolan, the mastermind behind the successful Batman film The Dark Knight (2008) and Inception (2010), returns to our screens with a sci-fi flick of intergalactic scale.
Interstellar deals with humanity’s expansion into space and followers a group of explorers and scientists as they make use of wormholes to traverse the final frontier.
Not much is known about the plot as of yet, with Nolan and the rest of the production remaining tight lipped on details. However there are rumours that it will involve hopping between dimensions, time travel and plenty to leave you scratching your head.
Nolan seems to have mastered the art of the cerebral blockbuster. He manages to create something grand in scale and spectacular on screen while also making it thought provoking and accessible to all-audiences.
Despite a shaky last outing with The Dark Knight Rises (2012), if Nolan’s previous body of work is anything to go on Interstellar is going to be nothing short of outstanding.
