One of my favorite things about summer is going to the movies. Sometimes two hours of escape from a hot afternoon is just about perfect. A lot of the movies that come out in the summer are little more than spectacle, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing when you’re taking two and a half months to try and decompress from a school year. I have a lot I’m looking forward to seeing this year, but I’ll narrow that list down to ten today, and give some reasons why I’m looking forward to them. Then I’ll let summer arrive so I can discover how wrong or right I was.
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 -- It starts tomorrow! The best thing about the first one was how it took the world completely by surprise; unfortunately, that kind of feeling can’t be replicated. It’s only the second movie in the franchise though, so there has to be a lot they can still do with it before it all becomes an overblown mess. Plus there’s Baby Groot, which gives the writers a whole new playground to work with. I’m very optimistic here.
Baywatch -- I never watched more than maybe one or two episodes of the show, but the previews make this look like it could turn out to be the stupidest kind of hilarious. It makes me a little disappointed I have Memorial Day plans and won’t be able to see it right away.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword -- This looks like gritty and well-made adventure epic. The problem I know I’ll have with it is Charlie Hunnam. No matter how much older he is now or what he’s done since, I’m never going to be able to see him as anything except Lloyd from “Undeclared,” grown up and taking on another acting job.
The Mummy -- Say what you will about Tom Cruise, but he has a pretty solid track record with action movies.
Wonder Woman -- I think the crop of DC movies are coming after the conclusion of Christian Bale’s trilogy as Batman have been just shy of bad. Having said that, Wonder Woman was, by far, the best thing about that dour Batman vs. Superman movie. That moment when the big ugly radioactive monster punched her clear across the industrial park and she looked up with a little “bring it on” grin said a lot about how they’re handling the character. I’m looking forward seeing more of that.
Spider-Man: Homecoming -- One of my favorite superhero movie moments is Toby Maguire in “Spider-Man 2” struggling to stop a runaway train. I really hope seeing Spider-Man existing in the same universe as the Avengers will bring a new and truer sensibility to the character. I think the kid they have playing him looks just about perfect for the job.
Dunkirk -- A big serious WWII epic could be just the thing to break up all the summertime action and silliness. The fact that this is coming from Christopher Nolan doesn’t hurt its chances.
The Big Sick -- Kumail Nanjiani is one of the best things about the show “Silicon Valley.” He’s been a reliable scene-stealer in a lot of other movies and television shows leading up to this one, which he co-wrote. Plus it has Zoe Kazan, one of my actress crushes, so yeah, I’m there.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets -- I’m curious about this. A humongous science fiction movie from the same guy who made The Fifth Element, which was very strange, but still something I’ve watched repeatedly. I just hope it’s not too far out there.
The Dark Tower -- I really want this is a good movie. If I’m being honest, I thought the Dark Tower books had too much weird for the sake of being weird going on, and not all of them were great. I’ve read that the movie is meant to cycle away from the novels some (if you know how the series ended, you might understand what that means). I’m hoping it will stick with the premise but not necessarily remain completely loyal to the story. The trailer for this gives me hope that’s the case.
Did I miss any?
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