Looking Forward - 2014

Looking Forward - 2014

Anticipation is half the fun isn’t it? Well, in the case of some films, it’s all the fun unfortunately. But then sometimes films really exceed expectations and then it’s more than half. So I reckon that it sort of balances out to, “half the fun.”

In that spirit, let me tell you about a few films that I’m looking forward to in 2014. There will be more movies to come that we don’t know about yet for sure. Some on my list will not be good, and those not on my list that we don’t know about yet will likely more than make up for it. That’s the way of things. But at this very moment, these are the films of 2014 that I’m looking forward to in order or release:

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit — January 17, 2014

I fully expect to be completely disappointed by this film. And yet I can’t help but look forward to it. I like Jack Ryan films — The Hunt for Red October for instance is a fantastic film — and the idea of a comprehensive and modern take on the character could be a good one. And yet given the trailers that have come out I have little faith that it will be any good. But hey, I’ve been surprised before and I hope I am again because I want it to be good. Until it comes out, I’ll try to pretend there’s hope that it could be the film I want it to be. Chris Pine as Jack Ryan is certainly a great idea in theory.

Stay tuned as this one is right around the corner and I’ll let you know what my thoughts are just as soon as I’ve seen it.

The LEGO Movie — February 7, 2014

The more I think about it the more I think there’s not a lot that can go wrong here. I hope it has a somewhat decent plot, but really I just expect it to be fun. I mean, my childhood pretty much revolved around 2 things: my bike and my LEGOs. Therefore, it seems to me if you combine two things that I love — LEGO and Movies — into one great flavor, it should be a good thing.

According to all indications, the trailers, and the voice talent involved in this film, I expect it to be both fun and funny.

RoboCop — February 12, 2014

I have not ever seen RoboCop. This seems like a serious deficiency in my education but it’s the truth. I do love the look of this upcoming reboot though. I love that it looks like it will explore making the man a machine, who’s in charge, is the man still in there — all that SciFi stuff.

Noah — March 28, 2014

This is one that I do not expect to be any good, but I still would like to hope that it will be decent. It certainly looks epic either way, but the problem for me as a Christian is that they are dealing with the true story as told by the Bible — and most of those involved are self professed non-believers who do not believe in a literal flood or that the story is anything more than an allegory. The thing too is that there is not a whole lot written about Noah’s life before the flood so obviously some liberties will need to be taken to make a feature length film about Noah. I’m okay with liberties taken about things we don’t know if they aren’t blasphemous or can be deduced from reading between the lines. That’s not the sort of thing I expect though so my hopes are not high.

Still, I hold out a slight amount of hope.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier — April 4, 2014

Not a lot can go wrong with the Marvel machine right now as far as I’m concerned. And of course the first Captain America film is one of my favorite super-hero films ever to exist. It’s funny because I knew nothing about the Steve Rogers character before I saw that first film and really didn’t expect to like him or the film that much. Boy was I wrong. It had everything I want out of a super-hero film. There is just one problem I can foresee with this upcoming Captain America film, and that is I loved the character of Peggy Carter quite a lot as portrayed by Hayley Atwell. With Steve Rogers now being transported many years in the future, we will likely not be seeing her, and that’s a bummer. Still, I expect great things from this film!

Godzilla — May 16, 2014

I’m not necessarily a fan of “monster movies” but I was intrigued by the trailer that recently came out. And I’m certainly willing to give this film a chance. I think monster movies can be good if done well. But so few of them are done well. Perhaps this will be one that is. And hey, I was surprised last year by Pacific Rim, which by all indications before it came out, was just a crazy stupid monster movie. So I’ll hold out a little hope for this film.

X-Men: Days of Future Past — May 23, 2014

Bryan Singer directed the two best X-Men films to date, and doggone good films they were too without evaluating them against other X-Men films. So I’m excited to see him return to the franchise and direct this upcoming film. X-Men: First Class was not a terrible film so I’m excited to see what Singer can do with the characters from that era of X-Men, as well as seeing how this time travel thing and integrating the characters from the first three films works out as well.

Edge of Tomorrow — June 6, 2014

Sign me up for some of that Tom Cruise Sci-Fi action goodness! I mean I always think of Minority Report when I think of Tom Cruise and Sci-Fi, and that was a fantastic film! Plus, Emily Blunt was really good in Looper so it’s good to see her here as well. And the plot of reliving the same day over and over of an alien invasion seems like a sound Sci-Fi plot. I really like the trailer, so here’s to hoping that the film can live up.

Guardians of the Galaxy — August 1, 2014

I have no idea what Guardians of the Galaxy is and I had never heard of it before about a year ago or so when talk of the movie started up. Here’s the thing, it’s a Marvel film and Marvel hasn’t really let me down too much in the last several years. The worst they’ve turned out is Thor, and it’s not like that film is un-watchable or anything. And I hear that Guardians of the Galaxy should be really good and there’s some sort of fan base surrounding Guardians of the Galaxy so based upon that I’m looking forward to it. I mean, even if I only just want to see what it even is.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 — November 21, 2014

The Hunger Games book trilogy was pretty good. The first Hunger Games film directed by Gary Ross was pretty great too. But then Francis Lawrence came in and directed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and let me tell you something, he blew me away! In fact that film made it into my top three for the year. Francis Lawrence is locked in to direct the last two installments into the franchise as well and based on what I’ve seen, they should be magnificent! I’m really looking forward to this film a whole lot.

The Hobbit: There and Back Again — December 17, 2014

Okay, I admit it, I’m looking forward to this film in spite of any problems I have with the whole “one book into three films” thing. The Desolation of Smaug was not too bad — certainly better than the first installment in the film trilogy. Maybe that will be a trend for Peter Jackson.

Night at the Museum 3 — December 25, 2014

Yes, go ahead and laugh and make fun of me. I can take it. See, here’s the thing: I like both of the previous films a lot. I mean a whole lot. I have high hopes for this third installment. I hope they don’t mess it up.


Well, that’s what I’m looking forward to of what I know is coming out this year. If you have any others, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.