All blocks busted…

Summer at the cinema is blockbuster season – GDP sized budgets, slow walks away from explosions, maverick cops, and comic strip villains. Big dumb popcorn-chewing fun. Join us on a joyous trailer ride through what’s new and what’s coming soon in the world of summer cinema blockbusters…

The Bikeriders 

Releasing: Out now, book here

Inspired by true events, based around a 1967 photo-book, and starring Jodie ‘Villanelle’ Comer, Austin ‘still sounds like Elvis’ Butler, Tom ‘born in the dark’ Hardy, Michael ‘Zod’ Shannon, and Norman ‘the crossbow’ Reedus, the story shines a light on “the golden age of bikeriders”. A ride-or-die family of chopper throttling ne’er-do-wells that operate criminal rackets with a famously blood-soaked moral code. Directed by Jeff ‘Mud‘ Nichols we’re expecting to see themes of loyalty, brotherhood, and the perilous penalties for rage quitting bike club.

Despicable Me 4

Releasing: Out now, book here

Despicable Me 4 is out in cinemas across the UAE now (book here) and features a returning cast of loveable animated characters. There’s of course, the chief protagonist and bad boy gone good – Gru (voice by Steve Carell), his loving wife Lucy Wilde (Kirsten Wiig), the three ex-orphans – Margot, Edith and the adorable Agnes. And then there are the minions. But chief amongst the new recruits, and following in the footsteps of a distinguished line of Despicable Me villainy – Will Ferrell, who provides the hilariously French-accented vocal backing for arch baddie Maxime. You can check out our interview with the Gru-niverse’s nefarious new anchorman here.

Twisters

Releasing: July, book here

When Twister, a natural disaster-based action thriller written by Michael Crichton, made landfall in 1993, it resulted in more of a bluster, than hurricane forced box office receipts. Which makes it a strange study for a 30 year age gap (stand alone) sequel. But the outlook isn’t all gloomy. The helmsman behind the masterful Minari, Lee Isaac Chung is an intriguingly leftfield choice for director, and cast leads Daisy ‘Crawdads’ Edgar-Jones and Glen ‘Top Gun’ Powell are certainly part of Hollywood’s rising star academy. They play a pair of storm chasers from contrasting orthodoxies (and according to the golden rules of cinema are therefore all but guaranteed a romantic spark), drawn to the eye of the tornado by forces within. And despite the fact CGI will have to do some, quite literal, heavy lifting in the film, Chung’s insistence on realism means we’re in for some epic action sequences. I think audiences could be ready to Twister again.

Deadpool & Wolverine

Releasing: July, book here

This third installment of the Ryan Reynolds Deadpool anti-hero vehicle, will be the first time the titular character appears under the official MCU umbrella. But Disney seem to be quite happy to let much of what led to the success of the two previous movies remain. It has retained its R-Rating (making it the first MCU film with that classification) and so too the humour and violence that necessitate that. Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine has been unretired, and will appear in a yellow and blue suited homage to the classic animated X-Men series, setting up a duel of truly Adamantian proportions. The trailer teases some trademark timeline tinkering, care of the Time Variance Authority (TVA), which means we’re likely to see more rapid fire canon ball cameos from Marvel stars past, present and hypothetical. Response to the early partial screenings is almost universal in its heralding this film as potentially one of the MCU’s best-ever. At a time when it was most needed. An unlikely pair of heroes emerge…

Borderlands

Releasing: August

“Based on a video game”. Five words that used to strike fear into the hearts of film and gaming fans alike. Things have certainly levelled up in recent years with select on-screen adaptations (The Last of Us, Fallout, and Werewolves Within) receiving critical and audience acclaim. The predictable consequence of this, is a production line acceleration of game-to-show reworkings, and the latest conveyor belt drop is Borderlands. A game of such gratuitous, gun-based violence – it could solicit a response of ‘steady on there’ from a section of Second Amendment lobbyists. It’s directed by ‘Splat Pack’ member Eli Roth, and stars Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Ariana Greenblatt, and Jack Black. Expect a big body count, pistol whip comedy, and an outmanned, and outgunned distressed damsel rescue quest.

Alien: Romulus

Releasing: August

The seventh film in the interstellar Giger horror-fest franchise, is set chronologically at some point between Alien and Aliens. Details on the plot are scant, but these films rarely stray too far from the core theme: intrepid explorers inspecting a malfunctioning space station/ship/outpost have their routine maintenance work interrupted by muderous, orally-fixated Xenomorphs. It’s directed by series debutant Fede “Evil Dead” Álvarez, is produced by series sire Ridley Scott, and stars a cast of talented up and comers. Does the title ‘Romulus’ reveal any clues about the plot? If it’s not just the arbitrary name of the space station/ship/outpost, the most famous Romulus was one half of the Mythological pair of brothers who built Rome. He then killed his brother, and lived on as a fabled emperor. Which practically screams ‘we’ve met the queen, now we’re going to meet the alien king’. Sadly, in space, nobody can hear you scream.

Images: MovieStills