Opinion by Sarah LeBlanc
It’s April and finals are fast approaching. However, there should always be time to sit down and enjoy a movie, to get your mind off of all the things you’re not doing at the moment. I have compiled nine of the must-see movies for this summer, in no particular order of potential greatness or failures.
On May 9, “Neighbors” will be in theaters to lighten the mood right before we plunge into the pits of finals week. With Zac Efron, Seth Rogen and Dave Franco, how could this movie be a bust? Rogen, the husband and father, has a fraternity move in next door. This should make the movie hilarious, along with the rest of this star-studded cast.
“Godzilla” will premiere May 16, and should be an interesting rendition of the 1998 version. With Walter White, I mean, Bryan Cranston, as the nuclear physicist Joe Brody and Aaron Tyler-Johnson as Ford Brody, the movie will have some recognizable characters. The basic plot is similar, with mutant creatures, not to mention Godzilla, terrorizing the world. But there are rumors that the giant monster we know and love could be a good guy, and that’s hard for me to bear. Everyone loves the villain, right? Either way, it’s one I would note as worth seeing, if only for a comparison.
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” will be welcomed into theaters on May 23. I’m guessing this movie will be a giant success and one I will want to see. With Jennifer Lawrence, Hugh Jackman and Ellen Page, the cast is reason enough to see the movie, and the suspenseful plot and action sequences are enough to make you stay.
A new spin on an older fairy tales carries “Maleficent” into theaters on May 30. Angelina Jolie plays the villain in this story, and Elle Fanning and Brenton Thwaites play the unsuspecting princess and prince.
This movie is sure to be a hit, at least in the first weekend, from all the hype it’s received over the past months. I’m still holding my reservations though, and will probably wait until the reviews come out to decide if I will see it in theaters.
And then there’s the movie based on the book that everyone just can’t stop talking about. On June 6, “The Fault in Our Stars,” starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort is coming to theaters. If its reception is anything like that of the book, I’m predicting an immediate box- office hit on the first day. With the chemistry between the two leads already apparent in the trailers, I’m looking forward to a movie that will make me bring tissues in my purse.
On June 13, “22 Jump Street” premieres, and Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill reunite for hopefully another hilarious series of failures that somehow end in busting the bad guy and saving the day. Will they finally show us what college is supposed to be about? Keeping most of the characters and all the craziness of the first “Jump Street” movie, this is one I’ll be first in the theater for.
Also on June 13, “How to Train Your Dragon 2” will come out in theaters. I’m predicting a crash at the box office for this one because animated sequels typically don’t have the best track record for exceeding the hype of the first movie. After all, how many movies about a boy who beats the odds and saves the day can you really sit through without predicting the ending? I’d take the kids I babysit, but I don’t think I would spend my money on it.
On June 27, “Transformers 4: Age of Extinction” comes into theaters. While this movie, starring Mark Wahlberg, looks completely different from the last three, did we need another Transformers movie to finish off the failed saga? I’m going to say no and leave it there.
A hard-hitting action movie bursts into theaters on Aug. 15, “The Expendables 3.” The cast itself should say something about the success of the movie: Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
LeBlanc is a first-year journalism major and can be reached at sarah.leblanc@drake.edu
