Summer Movie Season 2017!!! My 5 Most Anticipated Summer Blockbusters

Summer is almost upon us and that can only mean one thing… SUMMER MOVIE SEASON BEGINS!!! Every year between the first weekend in May until Labor Day weekend we’re bombarded with every enormous sequel, threequel, prequel, remake, reboot, reimagining, adaptation, tent pole film that Hollywood can throw at us.

And like the suckers we all are, we watch the amazing trailers and see the cool movies posters and think “Man, Van Helsing is going to fucking RULE!” and “Spider-Man 2 was SOOOO good, 3 has to be even better, right? RIGHT?!”.

But I’m the biggest sucker if them all because I fucking LOVE the Summer Movie Season. Because for every “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, “Pixels” and “Transformers: Revenge of The Who Gives A Shit”, every now and again we sit down in that theatre and magic happens. Jaws. Raiders of the Lost Ark. Jurassic Park. The Dark Knight. The Avengers. I could go on and on. Now, I don’t know if the movies below will fall into the “Holy Shit, that was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen!” Or “WHAT THE FUCK WERE THEY THINKING?! Please give me the last 2 1/2 hours of my life back.” categories. Let’s all cross our fingers and hope for the former. Without any further ado here are my picks for my 5 most anticipated movies of summer 2017 (plus an Honorable mention):

Honorable Mention: War for the Planet of the Apes
Opens 7/14
Director: Matt Reeves
These movies are way better than they have any right to be. When “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” came out in 2011, I don’t think anyone predicted it would launch one of the best sci-if franchises of the decade. Though the 2nd film, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”, wasn’t quite as good as “Rise”, it was still a great entry in the series. “War” looks to be where the shit really hits the fan in the war between apes and humans. Plus, seeing Woody Harrelson go full Col. Kurtz is a real draw. This movie is also notable because “The Batman” starring Ben Affleck is “War” director Matt Reeves’ next film. Reeves has already proven himself a more than capable director, but Batman and DC fans will be breathing a little easier if Reeves knocks “War” out of the park.

Also, I can absolutely guarantee it’ll be better that this…

Seriously, can someone please tell me what the fuck is happening there?

War for the Planet of the Apes trailer:

5. Alien: Covenant
Opens 5/19
Director: Ridley Scott
I know I may be in the minority here, but I actually really liked “Prometheus”. So I was definitely thrilled to hear that Ridley Scott would be continuing that story in some fashion. I’ve always been fascinated by sci-fi that plays with ideas like, where we came from, what’s our place in the universe, and who or what created us. There was an existential kind of Lovecraftian horror in “Prometheus”, which I felt set it apart from similar films. At one point, the original title of this movie was “Paradise”, meaning if The Engineers are God, their home planet must be Heaven. This is the planet the crew in “Alien: Covenant” makes the horrific mistake of trying to colonize. I don’t know how much of that made it into the final film, but I really like the idea. In the original “Alien” film, at first Ripley was not necessarily the clear hero of the story. Of course, as we all know Ripley is indeed the hero of the movie which was sort bucking tradition at the time. In the “Alien: Covenant” trailers, Danny McBride’s character seems to be a blue-collar pilot, member of the crew. Presumably in the film for comic relief, he seems to be a cannon fodder character. How cool would it be if he was unexpectedly the hero/sole survivor like Ripley in the original? I doubt it, but it would be cool.

Alien Covenant trailer

4. Spider-Man: Homecoming

Director: Jon Watts
Opens 7/7
Despite the fact that I had big problems with the most recent trailer (see my recent article: Spider-Man: Homecoming and The Lost Art of the Trailer) I’m extremely excited to see this movie and It looks like it’s going to be a blast. This flick has a lot going for it: a FINALLY age appropriate Peter Parker, Spider-Man officially part of the MCU, Michael Keaton as The Vulture. Reportedly these movies will follow something similar to the “Harry Potter” model. Each film taking place during Peter’s Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years in high school. Unfortunately, there have been some recent rumors regarding how Sony may not actually allow Marvel to use Spider-Man as part of their cinematic universe indefinitely. Which, if true, is a real shame. At the very least we know we’ll definitely see Spider-Man kicking ass alongside The Avengers in next years’ “Avengers: Infinity War”.

Check out the trailer:

3. Wonder Woman
Director: Patty Jenkins
Opens 6/2
All I can say, is it’s about damn time we got a Wonder Woman movie. She is arguably one of the top three most iconic superheroes of all time as well as being one of DC’s most interesting characters. Gal Gadot not only looks the part (I love that costume) but she was one of the best things in the last year’s “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice”. The trailers haven’t exactly blown my socks off, but as we all know a trailer is not necessarily a reflection of the quality of a movie, for better or for worse. All the DCEU* films have been met with mixed responses so far (personally I kind of loved Man of Steel and BvS, but Suicide Squad was pretty awful). Hopefully this is the movie fans and critics have been waiting for. A character like Wonder Woman deserves nothing short of greatness in her solo cinematic debut.

*DC Extended Universe

Wonder Woman Trailer:

2. Baby Driver
Director: Edgar Wright
Opens 6/28
Edgar Wright is one of the few filmmakers where, regardless of the subject matter, I’ll be eagerly awaiting one of his films, no questions asked. I could walk into the movie theater to see a new Edgar Wright film without even knowing the title of the movie and I would be excited. That’s a pretty small club that includes people like Guillermo Del Toro, Quentin Tarantino, Joss Whedon, and maybe a few others. Edgar Wright’s track record speaks for itself: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, The World’s End. All excellent films. The premise for this movie is just icing on the cake. It’s a heist/car chase movie about a young getaway driver trying to run away with his girlfriend and get out from under the thumb of his gangster boss. If this plot sounds derivative, watch the trailer I posted below and you’ll see why I think this looks so exciting. Add to that, some great casting which includes Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, and Kevin Spacey and it looks like Wright’s winning streak is safe.

Baby Driver trailer:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2
Director: James Gunn
Opens 5/5
There really was no contest for the number one spot on this list. The first Guardians of the Galaxy is a bona fide modern classic. Later this year, in November, DC’s Justice League opens. I’m a massive fan of those characters and for me seeing the Justice League on the big screen for the first time is an event on par with the first Avengers movie or The Force Awakens. But if you put a gun to my head and made me choose Guardians or Justice League, I may have to go with the Guardians. These were some of the most lovable and charismatic characters we’ve seen on film in a long time and I have complete confidence that director James Gunn is going to deliver a spectacular sequel. This film also sees the introduction of Kurt Russell as Peter Quill’s father which is brilliant casting and I’m happy to see Michael Rooker’s Yondu has been promoted to a full-time Guardians member. The first Guardians film may be the best film Marvel has made to date (depending on which day you asked me, I may have different best film). So I’ve been anxiously awaiting Vol.2. May 5th can’t get here soon enough!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 trailer: