10. X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST
Watching the post-credits scene for The Wolverine sold me on this movie, but will it deliver? It's the return of Bryan Singer, which could be great or it could be a bit of a disaster considering some of the other movies he's made as of late.
I am curious how this movie will turn out, if not just to see if fail epically. I hope that we get to see some cool moments on-screen. I want to see Sentinals, and other cool stuff. While there's a lot to excite me, there's also a lot to worry me. Still, I am anticipating seeing it all unfold.
9. JUPITER ASCENDING
Cloud Atlas was a good movie I felt, but I have to admit that I enjoyed the sci-fi parts of that a lot more then any other parts. That's because The Wachowski's know sci-fi, and have defined sci-fi with The Matrix for years. I think Jupiter Ascending may be a return to the proper sci-fi form for them, and with a great cast, it could be a surprise hit this year.
8. EXPENDABLES 3
If you seriously hate The Expendables movies it because you take things too seriously. These movies are like a teenage boy after his first beer: loud, dumb, and wants to have a ton of fun. These movies have always been ridiculous in almost every regard, like seriously, how can you take a movie seriously when it has characters named Yin Yang, Hale Ceaser, and Gunner. Kelsey Grammer is playing Bonaparte.
7. 22 JUMP STREET
The first movie was some of the funniest shit I've seen in theatres in a long time and with the sequel I'm hoping for more of the same, and I don't think that's a bad thing.
6. DUMB AND DUMBER TO
While it's easy to write off this sequel as anything else then a smart idea; I think that even moreso, it's the right time to bring Harry and Lloyd back to theaters. With a botched remake, the sequel will fix things by bringing back many of the same cast and crew of the original. While the Farrelly brothers have been hit or miss lately, I have faith they can score a homerun with this one.
5. GODZILLA
While Godzilla is the King of the Monsters, he's also been noticably absent in the last two decades; and after the disaster movie that was the Roland Emmerich remake, I wondered who would have the cajones to pay the King the respect he deserves. What Gareth Edwards is doing looks phenomenal, and with a cast that impresses. All hail the king!
4. THE RAID 2: BERANDAL
The original Raid redefined how action movies should work. It was all style, very little substance; while with any other movie this would be the worst thing possible, The Raid made the movie a simple, and yet enjoyable ride. With the sequel, I'm excited to see them continue the excitement and the engaging ride; only this time with a bit more substance to it.
3. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
In a post-Avengers world, I was a tad worried that going forward, Marvel would have a tough time giving these characters awesome solo stories that will keep the characters interesting without the team dynamic that made The Avengers so popular with critics, fans, and the general audience. With Marvel going with The Winter Soldier storyline, I think it's a great way to keep Cap relevant and interesting in a modern world while still connecting with his past. I'm excited to see how they adapt the Winter Soldier storyline, and what (if any) alterations they make in adapting it to screen.
2. DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
I don't think any movie franchise has grown up alongside me my whole life quite like the Apes franchise. I've seen the original movies more times then I can count, I've watched the cheesy TV series, I watched Tim Burton trow the franchise under the bus like an unwanted pet; and I watched the franchise get the shot in the arm it needed. When the last one came out I thought, 'Wow, for the first time in years, I'm proud to be an Apes fan'.
Where they're taking this new franchise is relatively tested grounds as like the last movie, they seem to be soft remakes of the fourth and fith apes movies respectively. Two movies made cheap but with interesting societal themes and ideas. Remaking these movies is smart, it's cool, and it's a hell of a lot more exciting to me, an Apes fan, then seeing some actor like Channing Tatum yell in front of a CGI Statue of Liberty.
1. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
This one shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who knows me.