This is one of my more anticipated flicks of 2018. As longtime readers know, I am a huge fan of Jennifer Yuh Nelson’s Kung Fu Panda 2. It was my pick for the best movie of 2011 and remains my choice for the best DreamWorks Animation movie thus far (relax, the How to Train Your Dragon movies are just a notch underneath).
She was the first non-white female director to get a $100 million+ budget, albeit for an animated film. And up until Wonder Woman, she had the record ($665m worldwide in 2011) for the biggest-grossing movie from a female director. So, while expecting a leap from animation to live-action on par with Brad Bird’s Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol may be a bridge too far, I’m certainly going to be giving Ms. Yuh Nelson the benefit of the doubt this August.
The movie, based on Alexandra Bracken’s YA fantasy novel, concerns a world where most children have been wiped out by contagion. The young survivors are essentially left with superpowers, superpowers that make them a threat to the status quo, with the kids all having different levels of powers, from “I’m super smart” to “I can set you on fire with my mind!” It stars Amandla Stenberg (Everything, Everything) and the likes of Mandy Moore, Gwendoline Christie, Harris Dickinson, Skylan Brooks and Miya Cech.
So, yeah, it almost goes without saying that this is another case of a non-white female filmmaker using her proverbial clout to fill the screen with leading men and women who don’t look like the stereotypical young men and women who tend to headline these kinds of action fantasy flicks. So, will all the folks who (justifiably) wrote “Why A Wrinkle in Time matters!” offer the same relative courtesy to The Darkest Minds? More importantly, will those who champion and fight for onscreen (and offscreen) inclusivity show up in theaters when The Darkest Minds debuts?
I know this is a pet peeve of mine, but at the end of the day seeing a movie in theaters is like voting. It’s the one thing you can do that matters more than anything else and arguably supersedes everything else. If I may end this on a lighter note, the removal of X-Men: Dark Phoenix from the 2018 schedule makes this, by default, one of Fox’s biggest 2018 releases. Especially because you can make the case that this one is not entirely unlike the core X-Men concept.
Heck, not counting Fox Searchlight, Fox’s entire 2018 calendar until November is comprised of Deadpool 2 in May, Darkest Minds in August, The Predator in September and Bad Times at the El Royale. And since Bohemian Rhapsody (November) and Widows (another one on my 2018 must-see list) aren’t going to break records, Fox’s entire 2018 slate will be defined by Deadpool 2, Darkest Minds, Predator and the allegedly very expensive Alita: Battle Angel at Christmas.
Oh, and Darkest Minds will also determine, along with Mortal Engines, if the YA fantasy-lit franchise has any kind of future now that Twilight, Hunger Games and Maze Runner have run their course. But, no pressure or anything.
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This is one of my more anticipated flicks of 2018. As longtime readers know, I am a huge fan of Jennifer Yuh Nelson’s Kung Fu Panda 2. It was my pick for the best movie of 2011 and remains my choice for the best DreamWorks Animation movie thus far (relax, the How to Train Your Dragon movies are just a notch underneath).
She was the first non-white female director to get a $100 million+ budget, albeit for an animated film. And up until Wonder Woman, she had the record ($665m worldwide in 2011) for the biggest-grossing movie from a female director. So, while expecting a leap from animation to live-action on par with Brad Bird’s Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol may be a bridge too far, I’m certainly going to be giving Ms. Yuh Nelson the benefit of the doubt this August.
The movie, based on Alexandra Bracken’s YA fantasy novel, concerns a world where most children have been wiped out by contagion. The young survivors are essentially left with superpowers, superpowers that make them a threat to the status quo, with the kids all having different levels of powers, from “I’m super smart” to “I can set you on fire with my mind!” It stars Amandla Stenberg (Everything, Everything) and the likes of Mandy Moore, Gwendoline Christie, Harris Dickinson, Skylan Brooks and Miya Cech.
So, yeah, it almost goes without saying that this is another case of a non-white female filmmaker using her proverbial clout to fill the screen with leading men and women who don’t look like the stereotypical young men and women who tend to headline these kinds of action fantasy flicks. So, will all the folks who (justifiably) wrote “Why A Wrinkle in Time matters!” offer the same relative courtesy to The Darkest Minds? More importantly, will those who champion and fight for onscreen (and offscreen) inclusivity show up in theaters when The Darkest Minds debuts?
I know this is a pet peeve of mine, but at the end of the day seeing a movie in theaters is like voting. It’s the one thing you can do that matters more than anything else and arguably supersedes everything else. If I may end this on a lighter note, the removal of X-Men: Dark Phoenix from the 2018 schedule makes this, by default, one of Fox’s biggest 2018 releases. Especially because you can make the case that this one is not entirely unlike the core X-Men concept.
Heck, not counting Fox Searchlight, Fox’s entire 2018 calendar until November is comprised of Deadpool 2 in May, Darkest Minds in August, The Predator in September and Bad Times at the El Royale. And since Bohemian Rhapsody (November) and Widows (another one on my 2018 must-see list) aren’t going to break records, Fox’s entire 2018 slate will be defined by Deadpool 2, Darkest Minds, Predator and the allegedly very expensive Alita: Battle Angel at Christmas.
Oh, and Darkest Minds will also determine, along with Mortal Engines, if the YA fantasy-lit franchise has any kind of future now that Twilight, Hunger Games and Maze Runner have run their course. But, no pressure or anything.
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