Discover Smith Mountain Lake
SUMMER 2016
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NICFLIX
Summer is here, and that means longer days, warmer weather, and fun on the water. But it also means it’s time for movies
to be bigger, more exciting, and more action-packed. The summer blockbuster season is always an incredible ride for
cinema fans, and this time it aims to be wilder than ever. With a multitude of genres from superheroes, to science fiction, to
animated films, there is no lack of variety this year.
Overall, the 2016 summer movie season has plenty of variety when it comes to its films. There will be
a lot of choices this year and a good amount of competition at the box office to be #1 each weekend.
It’s shaping up to be an exciting summer so when you’re finished being baked in the sun, grab your
popcorn and soda and head to an air-conditioned theater for some fun at the movies!
On June 17th,
Finding
Dory
swims onto the scene.
Finding Nemo
is, without
a doubt, one of the most
popular Pixar films to date,
and its sequel looks to
capture the same elements
of fun, adventure, and heart. Most of the main
cast has returned to lend their voices to the old
characters. Some new faces, such as Idris Elba and
Kaitlin Olsen, will be popping up as brand new
characters. While it’s not certain whether
Finding
Dory
will live up to the highly-praised first film,
it still looks like it will be an enjoyable experience
with some lovable characters.
On June 10th,
Warcraft
storms into cinemas. Based on the
massively popular online multiplayer video game,
Warcraft
is
another attempt to transform a successful video game brand
into a profitable cinematic franchise. However, movies based on
video games have had an infamous reputation of being anything
from sub-par to downright lousy. The
World of Warcraft
video
games have millions of fans around the world, so the target
audience is there from the start.
Warcraft’s
biggest hurdle
will be appealing to mainstream audiences, who may only be
familiar with
Warcraft
by name alone, or not at all. Either way,
anticipation is fairly high for this film.
June 24th marks the return of alien invaders to
Earth with
Independence Day:
Resurgence
. The first Independence
Day has been declared by many
movie fans to be the ultimate
“popcorn film,” in that it’s not
completely logical, but it’s a
whole lot of guilty pleasure fun.
Independence Day: Resurgence
hopes to continue that trend, and
aims to deliver the same thrills as
the first film. With Jeff Goldblum
returning in a lead role, it seems
that the pieces may be in place for
another successful blockbuster.
Moving on to July, on July 1st,
The Purge: Election Year
hits theatres.
The Purge
series has
developed into a sort of underground favorite among horror/thriller fans, in much the same vein
as the
Saw
series. Given that this is indeed an election year, this film has already scored some
points in the marketing department. Whether the film can secure the votes from critics is still up
in the air, but it seems to want to deliver a more brutal and barbaric tone than the previous films.
July 15th sees the return of the
Ghostbusters
to the big
screen, albeit with an all new female ensemble. This film has
had very mixed reactions from fans of the series, due to the big
change in the cast, but the actresses all have great experience
in comedy films. Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy in
particular have proven they can lead a movie, so there’s still
reason to be optimistic for this film.
July 29th is the comeback of
Jason Bourne
, with Matt Damon
once again starring in the main role. It’s been a few years since
the last Bourne movie, so it’s exciting to see what Bourne has
been up to ever since the events of
The Bourne Ultimatum
in
2007. But one thing is for sure;
Jason Bourne
will deliver the
action that fans have come to love over the years. Expectations
are high, but so are the odds that this film will be successful.
On August 5th, say hello to the
worst heroes ever with
Suicide
Squad
. This is a big move for DC
Comics, because it stars a team
of super villains rather than
superheroes, which is something
that hasn’t truly been seen yet.
The cast includes huge stars such
as Will Smith, Margot Robbie,
and Oscar-winner Jared Leto as
the Joker. Needless to say, comic
fans are excited, and mainstream
audiences are intrigued as to what
a movie about a team of bad guys
will be like.
And on August 12th,
Disney’s remake of
Pete’s
Dragon
soars into theaters.
Pete’s Dragon
is considered
to be one of the less popular
Disney films, but is still loved
by a fair number of Disney
fans. This incarnation seems
to be going for a slightly
more serious tone, with
which some may not agree
completely. However, it is
Disney we’re talking about
here. For the most part,
Disney doesn’t usually move forward with a project
unless they have a great amount of confidence in it.
We’ll see if
Pete’s Dragon
still has some fire in it.
Starting off,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
releases in theaters on June
3rd. The first Ninja Turtles movie came out in August of 2014, and was quite successful, making
almost $500 million. The sequel introduces some old, fan-favorite characters from the TV show,
such as Casey Jones, and the mutants BeBop and Rocksteady.
TMNT 2
looks to embrace more
of the zany, off-the-wall, and ridiculous nature of the TV show, which should please younger
audiences as well as older fans looking for a nostalgic experience.
by Nic Barta
