What better way to celebrate the summer sun than to head indoors to a giant dark room and watch this year’s biggest flicks? Okay, maybe the cinema isn’t for everyone when the weather is this good, but there’s no denying the awesome range of films coming out in the next few months – more than enough to convince you to swap your sunglasses for 3D ones.
“Finding Dory adds to the long list of Pixar sequels we didn’t need, but nevertheless will be swimming onto our screens on June 17th”
Finding Dory adds to the long list of Pixar sequels we didn’t need, but nevertheless will be swimming onto our screens on June 17th. The thirteen year gap with its predecessor may work to its advantage however, offering us stunning updated animation of the ocean floor, and featuring the same voice cast and creative team as its first underwater adventure. Whether it’s a catch of the day or a dead fairground goldfish is yet to be seen, but it’ll no doubt be worth watching for nostalgia value alone. In other animation, stop-motion company Laika’s latest, Kubo and the Two Strings, features a star-studded cast (Ralph Fiennes and George Takei to name a few) and is a family fantasy journey into ancient Japanese mythology.
After two politically-driven films, Spielberg returns to his roots with his take on Roald Dahl’s beloved The BFG, one of the author’s most prominent novels not yet to receive a major big-screen adaptation. Recent Bridge of Spies Oscar winner Mark Rylance will play the titular ‘Big Friendly Giant’, and the animation alone makes it surpass the previous Dahl adaptation (shudder, Johnny Depp Wonka), with the film hopefully capturing the whimsy of the original book. Speaking of CGI, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 is a surprising improvement to 2014’s Michael Bay catastrophe, featuring fan favourite characters Bebop, Rocksteady, and Casey Jones, and sporting a more upbeat tone and killer soundtrack.
“After two politically-driven films, Spielberg returns to his roots with his take on Roald Dahl’s beloved The BFG”
If a biopic is more of your thing, Michael Keaton, fresh off the success of starring in the past two Best Picture winners, plays McDonald’s creator Ray Kroc in The Founder, releasing August 5th. With director John Lee Hancock (known for The Blind Side and Saving Mr. Banks) at the helm, the film details how the company’s rise was no Happy Meal, and seems like a fun alternative to the cinema superhero saturation. However if you only want a retro aesthetic, look no further than The Nice Guys, set in gorgeous 70s Los Angeles and looking to be the best comedy of the summer. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe seem like a hilarious yet super slick buddy cop duo, but neither will compare to Matt Damon’s triumphant return to the Jason Bourne franchise – another unneeded reboot, but its back-to-basics formula, plus original director Paul Greengrass, are welcomed with open arms.
So although the sun will damage our eyes less than The Angry Birds Movie, the new Ghostbusters, and Kevin Spacey turning into a cat (seriously, it’s called Nine Lives), 2016 is cinema’s strongest year in recent memory, with plenty to look forward to should the real British Summer dampen your plans.