2012 was a banner year for genre films, with such films as Avengers, Dark Knight Rises, and The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey hitting theaters. 2013 has a lot of promise as well, and I thought I’d highlight some of the movies that I’m personally looking forward to.
March 1 – Jack the Giant Slayer. I saw a trailer for this in front of the Hobbit, and I’ve gotta say it looks pretty nifty.
March 29: G.I. Joe Retaliation. I know, I know, but it’s not like I’m expecting Casablanca here. But I really liked the first one and the trailer for the second one has me pretty jazzed.
April 26: Lords of Salem. I’m not a fan of Rob Zombie’s remakes of the Halloween films, but this original one (loosely based on one of his songs) looks like it could be great. I saw a trailer at his concert in NYC last year.
May 3: Iron Man 3. Robert Downey Jr. does such a good job in the role of Tony Stark, I look forward to these films just for him. But Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin? This has the makings of awesomeness.
May 17: Star Trek Into Darkness. I didn’t particularly like the first film in the reboot of the Star Trek franchise, but it’s Star Trek, and I’m not going to pass it up. Plus, Benedict Cumberbatch should be great as the villain (Gary Mitchell?).
June 7: After Earth. A thousand years in the future, Will Smith and son are stranded on a world that is totally alien to them, where every life form has specifically evolved to hunt and kill humans; Earth. Again, I saw the trailer for this in front of the Hobbit, and it really looks interesting.
June 14: Man of Steel. It’s supposedly a total reboot of the Superman franchise, so I’m willing to go into it with fresh eyes. I didn’t much care for Superman Returns, but if they can make it more like Superman II, I’ll be happy.
September 6: Riddick. Finally! A finale to the Riddick trilogy. It’s not 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it’s not trying to be. The first two films are fun, and the Necromongers are great villains. Looking forward to seeing where they take the series.
November 1: Ender’s Game. I know absolutely nothing about this movie, but I love the books, so I’m going to see it just on that basis.
November 8: Thor: The Dark Worlds. The first one was good, and this one looks like it’s going to be more interplanetary war against the Frost Giants and less tearing up a small town on Earth, so I’m definitely looking forward to it.
December 13: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The first Hobbit movie wasn’t perfect, but I liked it a lot, and can’t wait to see Smaug the Golden in all his glory amid the ruins of Erebor.
I wholeheartedly agree with most of what you posted here. The only exceptions are: I'm not remotely a fan of the Riddick movies (I'd rather see him do another XxX movie), and I LOVED the Abrams reboot of Trek. 2013 is looking like a good year!
I think another good year ahead for the genre. I would add things like Brave though, Dredd and Looper too (I like Bruce and I'm looking forward to Die Hard in Russia). I'm also looking forward to Oblivion with Tom Cruise. So as you say, a good year for genre movies, and another good year to come.
Harrison Ford is in the Ender's Game movie. I might watch it just because of that.
The only real gripe I have about the new Superman movie is that godawful costume.
I never got the chance to watch Dredd, but it looked good. I agree with the criticism of how Mega-City One looked. It just didn't give me the impression that this was a massive city that covered like the entire east coat of the U.S.
All in all, not a bad year in movies.
Smaug might not be in the second Hobbit film. The first film ends basically at the end of chapter 6. Assuming that the 2nd film covers the next third of the book, then it could end at the end of chapter 11 ("A Warm Welcome"). A lot of the movie could be devoted to the White Council's war against the Necromancer. Then movie #3 would be devoted to Smaug, his death, and the Battle of Five Armies.