And here we go! With summer moved up a week thanks to you know what moving up a week, this is essentially the last pre-summer frame of the season. All due respect to Amy Schumer’s I Feel Pretty opening this Friday, but this is final lap of what has been a really weird (in ways very good and very bad) first third of 2018.
So with that said, here is the first chunk of what I hope will be a multi-part summer movie preview. This post will be specifically about the mini-deluge of superhero flicks coming our way from April 27 to July 27. So without further ado …
Avengers: Infinity War (April 27):
The only questions surrounding Walt Disney’s much-anticipated summer sequel is whether it will make most of the money or all the money and whether anything else (aside from Black Panther) this year can touch it. It is still possible, if not terribly likely, that the Russo Bros’ epic (it’s the first feature film shot entirely with IMAX cameras) will merely play like a top-tier MCU summer kick-off film, closer to Avengers: Age of Ultron than Black Panther in North America and closer to Captain America: Civil War than The Avengers overseas. Now if the movie is good, and especially if it is notably better than Deadpool 2 and Solo: A Star Wars Story, it will be that much more likely to run the tables and it’ll be that much less significant if it does or doesn’t break records. Biggest movie of the year? Maybe, but that’s not the bar for success.
Deadpool 2 (May 18):
Will Deadpool 2 be a relative breakout sequel, or will the freshness and of-its-moment appeal of the Merc with the Mouth be a onetime thing? This one is (presumably) cheaper than its MCU counterparts, so it need not make to gross a mint to make a mint. The Ryan Reynolds vehicle is adding Josh Brolin’s Cable and Zazie Beetz’s Domino, along with the always endearing Terry Crews. Original director Tim Miller is out, replaced by John Wick/Atomic Blonde director David Leitch, so it will be interesting to see what a presumably more action-focused sequel will look like while hopefully maintaining the original’s shaggy-dog charm and self-aware wit. The hope is that success means an even more narratively transgressive movie. If it hits big again, Reynold’s Deadpool may be the last mutant standing when Disney buys Fox next year.
The Incredibles 2 (June 15):
Consider this one a dark horse contender for the summer domestic box office crown, just as Finding Nemo and Finding Dory swam faster than the competition in 2003 and 2006. Taking place right after the first Incredibles, this Brad Bird sequel is a role reversal drama that sees Mr. Incredible playing Mr. Mom while Elastigirl gets to save the world. Pixar’s Incredibles 2 is playing on several levels, counting on generational nostalgia, the relative popularity of superhero cinema and a new generation of kids who think The Incredibles is pretty awesome. My kids are really excited for this one, which says something considering their general lack-of-enthusiasm for most mainstream pop culture. If it’s exceptional, it may yet undo that whole “Pixar is doomed!” narrative, since it’ll be a kick-ass sequel on the heels of a superb original (Coco).
Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6):
Ant-Man had to prove Marvel’s decision to part ways with Edgar Wright was the right (or not aggressively wrong) call. It was up to Peyton Reed to make a hit out of Marvel’s smallest and potentially least overtly commercial MCU solo film up to that point. Coming off the divisive Age of Ultron made it no easier, but Ant-Man proved to be a kid-friendly blast, earning $519 million worldwide on a $130m budget. Ant-Man and the Wasp arrives with the presumption of success as well as a place as Marvel’s least important movie ever. Bringing Evangeline Lilly’s Wasp into the fold is a guarantee against flopping. But after Black Panther and Infinity War, is anyone going to care if Ant-Man and the Wasp “only” makes $550 million as opposed to $750m? It’s a glorified freebie either way.
Teen Titans GO to the Movies! (July 27):
The second of three animated superhero toons this year, this is a feature-length variation on one of the best superhero comedies ever made. Considering this is Cartoon Network’s most popular show, there is value in proving that Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc. can do better than LEGO Ninjago this time out. For those unaware, this cynical and nihilistic self-satire is one of the best superhero adaptations around, one that exists to win laughs from those on its level and troll the more conventionally passionate fanboy and fangirl comic book superhero fan base. Best movie of the year or not, Teen Titans Go will give Deadpool 2 a run for its money in the self-mockery department. And unlike one summer movie release of note, this show had the moral courage to give us dinosaurs with battle armor and rocket launchers.
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And here we go! With summer moved up a week thanks to you know what moving up a week, this is essentially the last pre-summer frame of the season. All due respect to Amy Schumer’s I Feel Pretty opening this Friday, but this is final lap of what has been a really weird (in ways very good and very bad) first third of 2018.
So with that said, here is the first chunk of what I hope will be a multi-part summer movie preview. This post will be specifically about the mini-deluge of superhero flicks coming our way from April 27 to July 27. So without further ado …
Avengers: Infinity War (April 27):
The only questions surrounding Walt Disney’s much-anticipated summer sequel is whether it will make most of the money or all the money and whether anything else (aside from Black Panther) this year can touch it. It is still possible, if not terribly likely, that the Russo Bros’ epic (it’s the first feature film shot entirely with IMAX cameras) will merely play like a top-tier MCU summer kick-off film, closer to Avengers: Age of Ultron than Black Panther in North America and closer to Captain America: Civil War than The Avengers overseas. Now if the movie is good, and especially if it is notably better than Deadpool 2 and Solo: A Star Wars Story, it will be that much more likely to run the tables and it’ll be that much less significant if it does or doesn’t break records. Biggest movie of the year? Maybe, but that’s not the bar for success.
Deadpool 2 (May 18):
Will Deadpool 2 be a relative breakout sequel, or will the freshness and of-its-moment appeal of the Merc with the Mouth be a onetime thing? This one is (presumably) cheaper than its MCU counterparts, so it need not make to gross a mint to make a mint. The Ryan Reynolds vehicle is adding Josh Brolin’s Cable and Zazie Beetz’s Domino, along with the always endearing Terry Crews. Original director Tim Miller is out, replaced by John Wick/Atomic Blonde director David Leitch, so it will be interesting to see what a presumably more action-focused sequel will look like while hopefully maintaining the original’s shaggy-dog charm and self-aware wit. The hope is that success means an even more narratively transgressive movie. If it hits big again, Reynold’s Deadpool may be the last mutant standing when Disney buys Fox next year.
The Incredibles 2 (June 15):
Consider this one a dark horse contender for the summer domestic box office crown, just as Finding Nemo and Finding Dory swam faster than the competition in 2003 and 2006. Taking place right after the first Incredibles, this Brad Bird sequel is a role reversal drama that sees Mr. Incredible playing Mr. Mom while Elastigirl gets to save the world. Pixar’s Incredibles 2 is playing on several levels, counting on generational nostalgia, the relative popularity of superhero cinema and a new generation of kids who think The Incredibles is pretty awesome. My kids are really excited for this one, which says something considering their general lack-of-enthusiasm for most mainstream pop culture. If it’s exceptional, it may yet undo that whole “Pixar is doomed!” narrative, since it’ll be a kick-ass sequel on the heels of a superb original (Coco).
Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6):
Ant-Man had to prove Marvel’s decision to part ways with Edgar Wright was the right (or not aggressively wrong) call. It was up to Peyton Reed to make a hit out of Marvel’s smallest and potentially least overtly commercial MCU solo film up to that point. Coming off the divisive Age of Ultron made it no easier, but Ant-Man proved to be a kid-friendly blast, earning $519 million worldwide on a $130m budget. Ant-Man and the Wasp arrives with the presumption of success as well as a place as Marvel’s least important movie ever. Bringing Evangeline Lilly’s Wasp into the fold is a guarantee against flopping. But after Black Panther and Infinity War, is anyone going to care if Ant-Man and the Wasp “only” makes $550 million as opposed to $750m? It’s a glorified freebie either way.
Teen Titans GO to the Movies! (July 27):
The second of three animated superhero toons this year, this is a feature-length variation on one of the best superhero comedies ever made. Considering this is Cartoon Network’s most popular show, there is value in proving that Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc. can do better than LEGO Ninjago this time out. For those unaware, this cynical and nihilistic self-satire is one of the best superhero adaptations around, one that exists to win laughs from those on its level and troll the more conventionally passionate fanboy and fangirl comic book superhero fan base. Best movie of the year or not, Teen Titans Go will give Deadpool 2 a run for its money in the self-mockery department. And unlike one summer movie release of note, this show had the moral courage to give us dinosaurs with battle armor and rocket launchers.
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