Cowboys, pirates and superheroes, oh my! – A summer movie preview – Archive
Written by Crow's Nest Staff, Apr 25, 2011, 0 Comments
The summer movie season is shaping to be an exciting one featuring a green superhero, a thunder god, a returning World War II hero, a continuing swashbuckling franchise, a conclusion to an epic saga to an Old West tale with a sci-fi twist, and two “Hangover” movies.
May could shape to be the best month for the season. Coming May 6,
“Thor”
will continue the establishment of the Marvel Comics’ “Avengers” characters with “Captain America” to follow on July 22. “Thor” stars Chris Hemsworth (“Star Trek”) as the title character who is casted out of the realm of Asgard. Joining him are Natalie Portman as Jane Foster and Anthony Hopkins as Odin. The movie should retain its “epic” feel with Shakespearean extraordinaire Kenneth Branagh at the helm.
“Bridesmaids”
is best described as the “female-version of ‘The Hangover.’” The movie comes out May 13, and stars SNL’s Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph. Wiig plays Annie, a maid of honor who is trying to come to grips with her standing in life. She leads her best friend Lillian (Rudolph) and a group of bridesmaids (Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarty, Windi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper) on a wild romp, including a trip to Las Vegas, leading their way to the altar.
Johnny Depp returns as Capt. Jack Sparrow in
“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”
The popular Disney franchise makes its return to theaters on May 20. Though Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightley won’t be joining him on his journey to the fabled fountain of youth, Geoffrey Rush will make his return as Barbosa. Joining him on this adventure will be Penélope Cruz and Ian McShane as Blackbeard. While the franchise is taking a new direction with Rob Marshall, each new movie in the franchise will be a stand-alone story.
The wolf pack makes its triumphant return in
“The Hangover Part II”
on May 26. While part I had Phil (Bradley Cooper), Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and Stu (Ed Helms) looking for the lost groom in Doug (Justin Bartha) in Las Vegas, part II will have them searching for Stu’s future brother-in-law, Teddy (Mason Lee) in Thailand. Also returning to crash the party are Ken Jeong and former boxing champ Mike Tyson. Liam Neeson and former president Bill Clinton will be making cameos.
Ryan Reynolds puts his ring on as Hal Jordan in the
“Green Lantern.”
The DC Comics movie is scheduled for release on June 17. Joining Reynolds are Blake Lively as Carol Ferris, Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond and Mark Strong as Sinestro. The movie is directed by Bond veteran Martin Campbell (“Goldeneye,” “Casino Royale”). It will be interesting to see if “Green Lantern” will succeed as a franchise since DC has not seen as much movie success lately outside of the “Batman” franchise.
The conclusion to the Harry Potter saga comes July 15 with
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”
Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and friends fights the forces of Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) in a battle to the death. There will be blood, wizard’s blood.
Chris Evans, who is no stranger to superhero movies with his previous stint as the Human Torch in “Fantastic Four,” dons the mask and shield for
“Captain America: The First Avenger.”
Joining Evans are Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Tommy Lee Jones, Stanley Tucci and Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull.
Director Jon Favreau, coming off of the “Iron Man” franchise, shoots with guns blazing in
“Cowboys and Aliens.”
The movie, releasing July 29, stars Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. Jake Lonergan (Craig) wakes up in the middle of the desert wielding a strange alien device attached to his forearm. Much to his chagrin, a bounty is placed on his head. As he is about to be detained in a town run by Col. Dolarhyde (Ford), the invasion starts. It is a race against time for Lonergan to discover his destiny.
By Tom Chang, online editor Spring ’11
