2017 in Film
With 2016 being such a superb year for cinema, one which once again proved that the golden age of film is most definitely still alive and kicking, the onus is most definitely on 2017 to make it even better. Of course, the cinematic schedule of the year is pretty darn obvious in terms of the big-hitters, the blockbusters and the rafter of franchise advancing sequels, but 2017 is arguably the biggest cinematic year in recent memory, with more superhero films than you can shake a stick at amongst those wild, hidden gems which only arise as the great works of art they are until they are sought out and polished by the critical masses. To start the year off with a bang therefore, it wouldn't be the same without a glance into the near future, admiring the masses of movies that are set to grace our screens over the course of the next twelve months whilst making a psychically-charged attempt to pick out the true highlights, the indie-sensations, the money-grabbing cash-ins and of course, the one we have all been waiting for; Power Rangers. Don't lie, you can't wait either.
Straight off the bat on January the 1st we begin the year with the triple header of A Monster Calls, Justin Kurzel's cinematic adaptation of Assassin's Creed, and of course, the new Martin Scorsese flick Silence, a historical drama featuring the acting bravura of Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Kylo Ren himself, Adam Driver, and whilst Scorsese hasn't exactly really hit the lofty heights of movie classics such as Taxi Driver and Goodfellas in recent years, Silence is an interesting, long-awaited personal project for the directorial legend, one of which surely rivals Michael Fassbender's cape wearing assassin for best film to kick off the new year. Mouthwateringly, the entire month of January is destined to include some real winners, no more so than Whiplash director Damien Chazelle's latest Oscar-touted movie La La Land, a much-anticipated romantic drama starring the winning duo of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, whilst films such as Manchester By The Sea, Lion, Jackie and Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge all manage to fit in screen-time before the final preparations for the upcoming Academy Awards embrace our smaller sized screens at home.
Heading into February and March, we witness the beginning of the numerous amount of sequels and franchise expanding releases such as Rings, Fifty Shades Darker, Logan and of course Kong: Skull Island which boasts a staggeringly impressive cast with the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson leading the line against the infamous giant ape. Arguably John Wick: Chapter 2 is the stand-out sequel amongst the many thrown at us this time of year, continuing the tale of the ridiculously entertaining first film starring Keanu Reeves as the titular suave-obsessed hit-man. Elsewhere, Disney gets ready for another hefty pay day with the release of the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast within a two-week period which includes releases of Power Rangers, Ghost In The Shell and an exciting new project from High-Rise director Ben Wheatley in the form of Free Fire which features Cillian Murphy and Brie Larson in leading roles. For Easter however, the respective marketing teams have really got their work cut out with back-to-back releases with Furious 8, yes, the eighth Fast and Furious movie, and of course, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, featuring more retro music and perhaps the coolest character of the year in the form of baby Groot.
Heading into May and through to June, we continue the rafter of greatly anticipated sequels including the likes of Ridley Scott's Alien: Covenant, World War Z 2 as well as the latest in the line of two of the highest grossing franchises of all time in the form of Pirates of the Caribbean 5 and, get ready to feel morbidly ill at the thought of it, the latest Transformers movie from Michael Bay. Budding for the most attention within all of these releases however is the next DC Universe release, this time focusing on the origins of Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman who was used so poorly and sparingly within Batman Vs. Superman. Could this finally be the film which reinvigorates the DC canon? Well for starters Zak Snyder isn't involved in a directorial capacity, instead settling for both writer and producer, (Gulp!) with that honour instead going to Patty Jenkins, director of the Oscar winning Monster, and this alone could be the kick-start DC's respective cinematic universe sorely requires. Aside from flying superheroes, the real stand-out movies of the year both arrive in early summertime with Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk and the hotly anticipated release of The Dark Tower, based upon the annoyingly addictive anthology of novels by Stephen King, being two of the movies that I have my sights well and truly set on.
Following in the footsteps of The Dark Tower, the latest adaptation of Stephen King's It will grace our screens heading into the latter months of the year featuring Bill Skarsgård as the venomous Pennywise the clown whilst the ultra-reliable Denis Villeneuve tackles the long-awaited sequel to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, one of my all-time favourite films, featuring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford who reprises his role as the titular bounty hunter, Rick Deckard. With Villeneuve really hitting his stride in recent years with the likes of Sicario and Arrival, Blade Runner 2049 is in safe hands and something that could potentially become the real masterpiece of the year. The final eight weeks of the year feature two of the big blockbusters in the form of Justice League and of course, Star Wars: Episode VIII which will undoubtedly be a melancholic time for fans of the series after the loss of Princess Leia herself, Carrie Fisher. It will be interesting to see in the cinematic capacity how the film will deal with such a shocking loss, but it also will still be an undoubted success in the hands of Looper director Rian Johnson. 2017 is set to be another supermassive year in the land of cinema and whilst 2016 is a particularly hard act to follow, I look forward to the ambiguity which lies ahead.
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