It should come as no surprise that 2016 could be a potentially amazing year for Hollywood. I don’t mean the typical making a movie for profit, I mean both the new beginnings and continuations of movie franchises. It goes without saying that companies like Marvel, DC Comics, Disney, and so many others should come to mind. But without further ado, here are MY PICKS for the movies that you should look out for in 2016. I have broken them down into the best of each month. So here are the 12 movies you should see this 2016…
January 22nd, 2016: "The 5th Wave"
With its release this weekend it is expected to do well because of leading actress Chloë Grace Moretz. Moretz will only be 19-years-old on February 10th, 2016, and she has worked alongside actors such as Nicholas Cage, Sasha Barren Cohen, Ben Kingsley, Denzel Washington and many more. The actress has already been confirmed to play Ariel in Disney’s live action "The Little Mermaid" set to release in 2017, as well as in "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising" (2016) this summer.
More on the actual movie "The 5th Wave," Moretz plays a young girl who has survived an alien invasion that has consisted of various waves of torture: Knocking out all power, massive earthquakes, worldwide disease and that the aliens were among the humans on Earth. In "The 5th Wave," Mortez’s younger brother is taken by creatures and she has to go find him. The movie has drawn a lot of attention with its post-apocalyptic fandom.
February 12th, 2016: "Deadpool"
In July 2011, the world thought Ryan Reynolds was about to enter the superhero market with Warner Bros. and DC Comics making a $200 million "Green Lantern," however what we got was a less than two hour disappointment of bad writing, overused CGI, and a lot of criticism (but rightly so). So when I heard Ryan Reynolds was going to play the anti-hero Deadpool I thought two things, “crap” and “wait, Ryan Reynolds?” Here’s the irony: He’s played Wade Wilson/Deadpool before in the Fox 2009 prequel to the X-men movies: X-Men Origins: Wolverine. SPOILERS: His mouth gets sewn shut because he’s an obnoxious guy.
Since the rumors, two red band trailers were released, which lead to an anticipated rating of R by the MPAA “for strong violence and language throughout, sexual content and graphic nudity”. Reynolds has played some strange characters in the past (Voices and see what I mean), but never a guy like Deadpool. So check out the trailers below and see the movie before everyone ruins all the jokes.
March 25th, 2016: "Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice"
In the aftermath of "Man of Steel" (2013), Henry Cavill reprises his role as Superman/ Clark Kent and for the first time, Ben Affleck will be Bruce Wayne/ Batman. Affleck’s Batman is a retired Batman that feels Superman is not being brought to justice for a crime that… has not be made very clear… watch the trailer.
However, the bad guy known as Lex Luthor, who was last played by Kevin Spacey in Superman Returns (2006), will be played by Jesse Eisenberg. Eisenberg is most notably recognized for his role in "Zombieland" (2009) and "The Social Network" (2010), where he portrayed a squeamish little introvert and the guy who created Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, respectively. People are hesitant about the casting choices as well as bringing Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) without a background movie first, as well as making Doomsday, the Frankenstein looking creature, the focus bad guy. Let’s just say that I feel, while I want to see this movie, they are desperately trying to compete with Disney’s golden ticket, "The Avengers" (2012)franchise.
April 15th, 2016: "The Jungle Book"
That’s right, Disney is at it again! With "Cinderella" (2015) costing $95 million and grossing $200 million worldwide in 6 months, Disney struck a bigger diamond mine then the seven dwarfs could have even imagined. Disney is in the process of bringing all of its old animated movies to real life.
This adaptation of "The Jungle Book" will feature the voices of Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray, Christopher Walken and staring for the first time in a major motion picture Neel Sethi (who’s about as old as his IMDb page is long). Sethi, a 12-year-old Indian-American, will be playing Mowgli. This movie will be incredible for audiences, as it is the first time Kaa the Snake (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) will be portrayed by a female and it's Bill Murray’s debut Disney movie. Yet the best part in the whole trailer, in my opinion, is Baloo whistling the classic “The Bare Necessities” at the end. Watch the trailer and get excited for April.
May 6th 2016: "Captain America: Civil War"
Oh yeah! Without a doubt the most anticipated movie since its title was released. The showdown between Iron Man and Captain America. What’s to expect?
You should be excited for Civil War if you have seen: "Iron Man" 1, 2 and 3, "Captain America" 1 & 2, and "The Avengers" 1 & 2. So if you have seen these seven movies, this movie seems to destroy everything Disney/Marvel has worked to create. Or does it? We have Cap and Falcon working against Iron Man and War Machine and the introduction of Black Panther and Spider-man without prequel stand-alone movies for each ("Black Panther"[2/18/2018] and "Untilted Spiderman Reboot" [7/28/2017]).
Well even DC Comics tried to pull a fast one on us with "Batman Begins" (2005) when Liam Neeson was cast as Ducard when he is later revealed to be Ra’s Al Ghul (which IMDb shows is Japanese actor Ken Watanabe). What game is Marvel trying to play? There is only one trailer out now for "Captain America: Civil War," but I’m sure we can expect one in the spring right before its release on the big screen to get more answers.
June 24th, 2016: "Independence Day: Resurgence"
In 1996, Roland Emmerich directed a movie about an alien invasion that brought the world together to celebrate the American Independence Day. So in 2014, rumors spread about a reunion of the characters from the 1996, action, adventure movie, but what started as a “get together” turned into a sequel. A sequel that just so happens to be 20 years in the making.
Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman reprise their roles in this sequel in which the world has profited greatly off of the alien technology over the past 20 years. However, the word resurgence (meaning an increase or revival after a period of little activity) seems to imply that the alien species that visited Earth 20 years ago is back for retribution. Liam Hemsworth and Sela Ward join the cast as Jake Morrison, who seems to be a fighter pilot and President Lanford, the first female president of the U.S.A. Should we be nervous that it has taken 20th Century Fox so long for a sequel? Guess we can find out this summer.
July 22nd, 2016: "Star Trek Beyond"
This is a Star Trek reboot in which time has been altered. In the first movie Vulcan is destroyed and in the second Spock and Kirk met Khan. What could possibly happen in a third installment? Well, watch the trailer.
It should go without saying that J.J. Abrams talent has yielded two amazing Star Trek films, the blockbuster "Super 8" (2011) and the record breaking "Star Wars: The Force Awaken" (2015). However, he will not be directing "Star Trek Beyond." Hold your disappointment. The movie will be directed by Justin Lin who directed the sixth installment of the Fast and the Furious Series: "Fast 6" (2013). He is not the only change to the franchise; Simon Pegg jumped on board when the production team needed a new writer. Pegg’s writing is heavily comedic, so expect more laughs than the previous Star Treks. Head to the theaters this summer to see what kind of Star Trek Lin and Pegg can produce.
September 23rd, 2016: "Storks"
Here’s what Warner Bros. had to say about it:
“Storks deliver babies...or at least they used to. Now they deliver packages for global internet giant Cornerstore.com. Junior, the company's top delivery stork, is about to be promoted when he accidentally activates the Baby Making Machine, producing an adorable and wholly unauthorized baby girl. Desperate to deliver this bundle of trouble before the boss gets wise, Junior and his friend Tulip, the only human on Stork Mountain, race to make their first-ever baby drop - in a wild and revealing journey that could make more than one family whole and restore the storks' true mission in the world.”
I’m not going to lie, I saw this trailer at a Sam’s Club (buy-in-bulk grocery store). I thought the trailer was funny, but to be honest, September is not a good time to release a movie because everyone is heading back to school. This animated movie is definitely a comedy considering the voices will be Andy Samberg, Keegan-Michael Key, and Kelsey Grammer, who narrating in the teaser.
Check it out this September, but until then here’s the teaser.
October 14th, 2016: "A Monster Calls"
From the voice of Aslan himself comes another movie in which Liam Neeson’s voice will be the only part of him that is in it. The movie is about a young boy that is too shy for the real world, and therefore, desires a more fictional realm. However, what is the difference between fiction and reality to a child?
Lewis MacDougall is playing the young boy, Connor, and this is his time starring in a major film. Looking to break out of his insecurity, he calls for some monstrous help. Expect to see Academy Award winning actress Sigourney Weaver play little Connor’s grandmother. That’s all that has been released about this film so far, so we will just have to wait and see.
November 18th, 2016: "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"
When the credits rolled for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," everyone thought that would be the end of it. Well David Yates, director of the 5th-8th Harry Potter movies, is at it again. He has be directing the tale of a young writer named Newt Scamander (Academy Award winning actor Eddie Redmayne) on his quest to discover the beasts of the magical world and his story takes place long before Harry Potter is born.
Redmayne will be joined by a number of talented actors such as Colin Farrell, Ezra Miller, Ron Perlman, Katherine Waterston, and Jon Voight. While the movie is in post-production, we should see a new trailer coming this summer. However, watch this teaser and get excited.
December 16th, 2016: "Rouge One: A Star Wars Story"
While there is no real write-up or even a trailer for this, you can still be excited. If you look on the IMDb page for a list of character names you will be disappointed.
It will be direct by Gareth Edwards who directed the most recent "Godzilla" (2014) and an independent film called "Monsters" (2010) (which I liked). It does include characters from stories written by George Lucas, but it will feature first-time movie writer John Knoll, who up to this point has mainly worked on visual effects. Knoll was nominated for the Academy Award for visual effects for "Star Wars Episode: 1- The Phantom Menace" (1999), "Episode II - Attack of the Clones" (2002), as well as the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films for which he took home the award for "Dead MAn's Chest" (2006). We can expect some great visual effects for this movie, but let’s hope the writing holds up better than some of the scenes in Episodes 1-3 (Crosses fingers).
There is no trailer for this…yet so keep your eyes and ears open.
Your thinking I forgot August, but I didn’t. I saved the best for last.
August 5th, 2016: Suicide Squad
My pride and joy. I wrote the blurb for this movie last because I am more excited for this movie than the other eleven combined. I should preface by saying that The Joker is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time and that I even dressed like him for Halloween in high school all the way down to the hair color and face paint (the picture no longer exists).
"Suicide Squad" is going to be the sequel to "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice," coming out in March and it will include Ben Affleck’s Batman. That’s not the best part. This movie breaks the record for the most “bad guys” in a superhero movie. I’m a Joker fan no doubt, so ignoring him there’s Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Killer Croc, Enchantress, Captain Boomerang, Slipknot, El Diablo, and Katana. Each one in their own right has given Batman (& Robin) trouble in the past both in the comics and video games. Put them all together and it’s a freak show… or an amazing movie (fingers crossed). However, there are a few questions.
What is the bad guy if these guys are the bad guys? Some powerful creature that cannot be stopped by human hands is my guess. Here’s something else, Clint Eastwood’s son, Scott Eastwood, is in both trailers as a marine or soldier of some kind, but IMDb does not give him a real name in the movie. What does this mean? I have no guesses there.
Below are both trailers, the one released back in July 2015 and the most recent one that came out this week. Watch and get as excited as I am.
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So that’s my list. If I have an opportunity to go out and see each of these movies this year expect me to write reviews and post them here on the Odyssey Online. Until then, check out the other movies coming out this years and Happy Viewing.
