Enough has been said in early reviews of why Marvel Studios’ Black Panther is great. It plays the race card right. No clear winners are defined because part of the narrative is about freedom from oppression. This detail is internalized in the conflicts between man vs man. Missing is the spiritual discourse which made me interested in this hero played by Chadwick Boseman when he was introduced in Captain America: Civil War.
Plenty of animated films will be coming in 2018 for the discerning connoisseur to consider. Disney and PIXAR do not dominate the market, and to offer enough international flavour is what makes this list different from others. While a strong anime theme persists, offered here are my picks for the 2018 year. Not every film have a set date; they are confirmed to come out within the year at least.
This list is organized into the most highly anticipated to “least.”
Godzilla: Monster Planet
Anyone living in Japan saw this movie already and the word is that this film is very good. The expectations from fans living elsewhere are high since this work is coming from the studio who birthed Gojira, and the look is epic.
Humanity had to flee the planet in order to survive this beast’s wrath, and now they want it back. Hopefully the advancements in technology can placate the behemoth! No date is given for the global Netflix release. Perhaps this movie will get a limited cinema screening first, where this film deserves to be seen, before heading to the streaming service.
To restart the Spider-Man movie franchise for the third time may seem to some industry observers a crazy attempt by Sony Pictures to keep a hold of this Marvel Comics property. Much like how 20th Century Fox does not want to let go of the Fantastic Four, eventually some give and take must be reached. Thankfully an agreement was reached to bring the hero back to where he truly belongs (perhaps, why the title Homecoming is used). At the same time, to see this character come alive in a recognizable manner reveals plenty of wholehearted fun akin to the race to get home in Ferris Bueller into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
After seeing this movie for the second time, I had to make sure my feelings for this film does not change. Further viewings are needed to pick up on some nuances I noticed in this movie. A few scenes deliberately mimicked moments from another familiar character. The personalities between Spidey and Deadpool are different, but to see these two white spectacled hooligans trying to save the day does need mentioning.
Most of the laughs come from how Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is hoping for another chance to work with the Avengers. After his introduction in Captain America: Civil War, dealing with neighbourhood crime is not the same. When he finds weapons powered by powerful alien tech illegally trafficked, nobody at Avengers Headquarters seems to care. Spider-Man has to investigate and put the criminal ring down himself.
A new teaser trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 is now out, released in part due to Comic Con Experience in Brazil taking place this weekend by James Gunn.
A new teaser trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 is now out, released in part due to Comic Con Experience in Brazil taking place this weekend by James Gunn on Twitter, and people can start this feeling right away. If only fans can ooga-ooga ooga-chaka tickets sooner than later, because everything we adored from the first film is here in the second. All the intense energy, the humour and love had for the first film will no doubt be transferred to second. Baby Groot will easily steal the show, and merchandise sales will no doubt go through the roof for this sapling now a few months older.
No timeline has been established into when the shenanigans resume in-universe. It’s a safe bet a few weeks if not months have passed. When considering the bomb-loving Rocket Raccoon has built a nuke that it will kill everybody in a huge radius, just what this team has done has me curious. Maybe the explosive is meant to kill that huge octopoid like creature? The only “plot” detail known is Kurt Russell plays Peter Quill’s father, a living planet known as Ego.
The montage set to Sweet’s “Fox on the Run” in the trailer may suggest the team is being chased yet again. The threat is uncertain. Until the release date nears, we can all wait for May 5th, 2017 to arrive in bated breath.
I’m sure the numbers of how many people who attended the short preview to Doctor Strange (on a long weekend in North America) is as varied as the response to this film. While I’m excited to catch the end-product come November 4th (the 3D sequences when he’s flying through the multiverse look great), just how many die-hards can accept the movie’s obvious changes will determine its success. I’m okay with the gender-swapping of the Ancient One, and Tilda Swinton is a very respectable actress. With no successor to Mako Iwamatsu’s amazing presence, I’m guessing the producers had make changes lest they do a casting call throughout China / Tibet to find someone just as promising to fill the role.
When the introduction reveals nearly an hours’ worth of scenes are shot with IMAX cameras, the need to tease fans with what is to come is obvious — to spotlight the special effects on a box screen. I will certainly plan to see it again at the National Geographic IMAX Theatre. Sadly this operation plays these movies as a second-run product. Not every cinema has a proper screen to show off this format right.
In what is more in front and centre is Stephen Strange’s ego (Benedict Cumberbatch) which can easily rival Tony Stark’s. When he’s a famous neurosurgeon with some pent up frustrations over who he is required to operate on, the first few minutes works very well to show how conceited he is. That’s until he looks away from where he is driving to a cell phone (showing x-ray scans of his next patient instead of playing Pokémon GO) and winds up over a cliff. The slow-motion scene shows his hands getting crushed.
When X-Men: Days of Future Past (DoFP) introduced a young En Sabah Nur building a pyramid in ancient Egypt after the movie credits, I was very excited for the next film. While I knew the film would not be set entirely in the past, the introduction of this character was all too brief in that past instance and only a few new details are revealed in X-Men: Apocalypse.
He’s the world’s first mutant who has a god complex and he wants to wipe out humanity to forge a new empire. In the comics, he’s out to create a new world order and he is a lot more patient about it. Many months passed in his quest to find his ideal knights. In the film, he’s rushing the end of days and whom he chooses to be the four horsemen are not necessarily those of the biblical version of the four horseman of the apocalypse. The title of which, Nur uses as his codename.
Angel (Ben Hardy) transformed into Archangel and he’s easily recognizable as the Horseman of Death. He’s the only character from the original X-Factor comic book arc when the villain made life tough for the team. Unlike the source, Angel lost his wings (those fragile bones were shattered) and Apocalypse offered to regenerate them at the cost of becoming a servant. Little is known about the character in the film. He’s a slave forced into cage sports. He looked very cool at the start, but once he became evil, the punk look does not suit him well.
By Ed Sum
A new teaser trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 is now out, released in part due to 
By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)