2024, Wrapping Up The Year in Style!
It’s not that any of the movies coming out here, at the end of the year, look especially great, but there’s sure a lot that looks decent. Which means, these are movies that have potential.
Here’s the list…
NOVEMBER
Here (Nov 7)
This one stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright and is directed by Robert Zemeckis. Now that’s the award winning trio behind Forest Gump. On top of that, Hanks and Zemeckis have been trying to push the boundaries on computer technology together since the days of the Polar Express. With this movie Here, it looks like their gimmick is to use de-aging technology to show the couple at all different stages of their lives. But there are two problems. First, we’ve seen de-aging tech used many times before at this point, sometimes for entire movies (like Scorcese’s The Irishman,) and secondly with Here, we aren’t really told anything of what the story will be. What kinds of problems or conflicts do these people encounter? All the trailers tell us is that the movie takes us through their lifetimes while living all these years in the same house. It’s not enough.
Red One (Nov 15)
Two trackers trying to find a kidnapped Santa Claus. With this likeable cast of Dwayne the Rock Johnson and Chris Evans, it probably would work even if it wasn’t a Christmas-themed movie, and they were just trying to find any target. To some extent, that’s what the Clooney-Pitt movie Wolfs was. But let’s be clear… when I say “would work,” what I mean is look appealing. Will the movie actually be good? Who knows. But the trailers, which show all kinds of creative Christmas creatures, like trolls and snow monsters, definitely make it look like it has potential. If they go more for world building than for telling a generic story, we might have something here.
Gladiator 2 (Nov 22)
Did we need a sequel to the classic sword and sandles action movie? Probably not. Are we happy we’re getting one? Hell yeah! Especially since it’s being brought to us by the same director, Ridley Scott, who specializes in these sorts of epic battle movies. The movie does not feature either stsr of the previous film, (Russell Crowe or Joaquin Phoenix,) but instead seems to be more about telling the next stage in the story of Ancient Rome. With Denzel Washington on board, this one is sure to be fun.
Wicked (Nov 22)
The Broadway musical that has dominated for well over a decade now is finally coming to the big screen. Which means the story can now be appreciated in a whole new way. It’s a prequel of sorts to the Wizard of Oz, telling the story of how the Wicked Witch became the way she is. It should be poppy and cute and colorful, and hopefully a lot of fun.
Moana 2 (Nov 27)
A sequel to one of the better Disney movies of the past few decades. Moana, with its island hopping energy and creativity, was something special. Just think of the Kagamura, little coconut wearing kids who attack her or the crab who collects shiny things and loves to sing about it. It was a true gem. And so, yeah, we’re on board to see what is in store for her next. With no idea where this movie is going (like what her new challenge is,) as long as the movie brings the same kind of free-spirit energy as the first film, we’re all in!
DECEMBER
Kraven the Hunter (Dec 13)
One can’t expect much from this Sony Spiderman-less movie about another one of his villains. At best it will be Venom and at worst it will be Morbius. The cast is fine enough, with Aaron Taylor Johnson and Russell Crowe, but the story about lions blood, is probably pretty lame. The real questions are, what is the tone and how is the action. The addition of the Rhino seems cool, but Sony has burned us with this sort of tease before (The Vulture in Morbius, featured in the trailer yet reserved for the post credits.) And here’s the thing about Kraven… he was never a good enough villain to be featured in any Spider-Man movie before. Probably because he’s too human. Hopefully with his own movie he can be more interesting than he would have, had he ever appeared in a Spider-man movie.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Dec 20)
The first two movies were surprisingly entertaining. Certainly not good, but decent enough, those movies were for kids all the way, and yet featured some enjoyable characters and set pieces. The second movie introduced not one, but two new Sonic-like characters… Tails and Knuckles. Both are back in this third film, as is Jim Carrey playing Dr Robotnick. It certainly won’t be great, but it might be just entertaining enough.
Mufasa: The Lion King (Dec 20)
The Holiday season of kids movies continues. From Red One to Moana to Sonic to this. Mufasa is a sequel to the live action Lion King movie. And while it’s pretty clear that the only reason why it is being made is because that first film made so much money, at least now we have a new story. Disney is clearly out or running out of animated movies to make into live action (they covered the big four… the little mermaid, beauty and the beast, Aladdin, and the Lion King,) as well as some others, like Mulan. So now it’s sequel time. Here’s holding out hope that a fresh new story, and a prequel at that, might be kind of interesting.