2018 looks like it’s going to be the year of blockbusters, with Ready Player One on the horizon, another Deadpool flick, another Star Wars movie (obviously) and the return of Super Troopers — Here are my top 10 most anticipated movies of 2018:
#10. Pacific Rim: Uprising
Director: Steven S. DeKnight
Release date: March 22, 2018
Jake Pentecost is a once-promising Jaeger pilot whose legendary father gave his life to secure humanity’s victory against the monstrous Kaiju. Jake has since abandoned his training only to become caught up in a criminal underworld. But when an even more unstoppable threat is unleashed to tear through cities and bring the world to its knees, Jake is given one last chance by his estranged sister, Mako Mori, to live up to his father’s legacy.
This is everything I wanted to have in the Power Rangers movie but didn’t happen. Steven DeKnight is an incredible writer and filmmaker – delivering an astounding amount of action and building wonderful characters in his past television work, including the legendary Spartacus series on Starz. I was a huge fan of the underrated original movie from Guillermo Del Toro and I think the sequel looks even bigger, badder and more fun. You can count me in on opening weekend for this sucker – who needs to wait years for Kong versus Godzilla when you can have this much massive chaos in just one month’s time?
#9. Super Troopers 2
Director: Jay Chandrasekhar
Release date: April 20, 2018
Five wacky troopers must set up a new highway patrol station as the United States and Canada dispute the location of the border.
The Broken Lizard comedy team is always going to make me stop and pay attention, whether it’s a sequel to a cult classic, or just one of their other weird little romps. I named my cat over a decade ago as Pe(e)nelope — after Club Dread. CLUB DREAD – I NAMED MY PET AFTER THEIR HOLIDAY SLASHER SPOOF. Super Troopers is indeed a cult classic and we all know how long awaited sequels to beloved gems have held up in recent years — shit. The answer is shit. But I have faith in Broken Lizard and director Jay Chandrasekhar – not to mention the trailers have been hysterical so far. Fingers crossed that 4:20 is going to be a great day at the theater.
#8. Alita: Battle Angel
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Release date: December 21, 2018
Alita is a futuristic cyborg who wakes up in a doctor’s clinic with no memory of who she is. She must soon use her extraordinary fighting abilities to combat deadly forces while trying to uncover the truth behind her mysterious past.
I’m a sucker for some action sci-fi (I loved last year’s highly underappreciated Ghost in The Shell adaptation) and even though our lead has those big buggy anime eyes, the teaser trailer is probably my favourite movie preview of 2018 so far. The cast is stacked and the film looks gorgeous thanks to James Cameron’s production and Robert Rodriguez’ directorial vision. The combo of these two could be one of the most powerful filmmaking partnerships ever… Or the film could bomb because people hate English live-action adaptations of animated Japanese classic – but screw that. I’m going to stay hype for this one in spite of the haters.
#7. Sicario 2: Soldado
Director: Stefano Sollima
Release date: June 29, 2018
FBI agent Matt Graver teams up with operative Alejandro Gillick to prevent Mexican drug cartels from smuggling terrorists across the U.S. border.
Writer Taylor Sheridan immediately demands my attention whenever he’s involved and the fact that they are continuing the Sicario story is fascinating to me. The first film, helmed by Blade Runner 2049 mastermind Denis Villeneuve was so intense and wonderfully crafted, that it may be impossible to top, but I loved Benicio Del Toro’s mysterious Alejandro so much, that you can consider me sold already even with a different director in charge.
#6. Teen Titans GO to The Movies
Directors: Aaron Horvath, Peter Rida Michail
Release date: July 27, 2018
A villain’s maniacal plan for world domination sidetracks five teenage superheroes who dream of Hollywood stardom.
Teen Titans Go might be one of — if not the only — TV shows that my children love, where I will actually stop and watch with them. I didn’t even push the series onto them like I have with other animated shows I dig. The comedy, brilliant writing and sharp cultural references make Teen Titans Go so damn funny that I’ll laugh just as hard during one of those episodes as I do during any adult oriented project. I’m not sure how they can pull of a feature-length running time when the typical episodes are so damn short, but I do know that I’ll be there opening weekend to see what happens.
#5. You Were Never Really Here
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Release date: April 6, 2018
A contract killer uncovers a conspiracy while trying to save a kidnapped teen from a life of prostitution.
Joaquin Phoenix looks scary good in this violent indie flick from Lynn Ramsay. I love a gritty small film that isn’t afraid to push boundaries and from what I’ve seen so far, this movie looks right up my alley and reminds me of Jeremy Saulnier‘s work (Green Room). Phoenix won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance here and the movie was awarded Best Screenplay, which would indicate that the film is much more than just another violent action romp.
#4. Deadpool 2
Director: David Leitch
Release date: May 18, 2018
Wisecracking mercenary Deadpool battles ninjas, the yakuza and a pack of aggressive canines as he embarks on a new adventure.
The self deprecating humor in the trailers, which feature Ryan Reynolds stopping the movie to tell the audience how bad the quality of the film is DURING the film makes me so excited for an authentic Deadpool experience… Breaking the fourth wall, delivering stunning action set pieces, plus having the merc with a mouth AND Cable onscreen at the same time is a comic book fan’s dream come true. Last year’s Logan was my favourite comic book adaptation because it was gritty and gave no shits about breaking the formula most people use when making a superhero film — Deadpool 2 is doing this too. Just a bit differently. To say the least.
#3. Solo: A Star Wars Story
Director: Ron Howard
Release date: May 25, 2018
Through a series of daring escapades, young Han Solo meets his future co-pilot Chewbacca and encounters the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian.
The fact that this film has suffered so many production issues is frightening to me… It still is — even after the two trailers got me excited to see the origins of Han, Chewie and freaking Lando. Ron Howard had his damn hands full trying to save a damaged project with tons of re-shoots, re-casts, you name it… The list goes on and on about how many problems they faced making this flick but I don’t care… The previews looked like Rogue One and I loved the hell out of Rogue One. Dark, gritty Star Wars movies are my shit and I’ll take them all dammit. LANDO!
#2. Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Release date: October 5, 2018
One of Marvel’s most enigmatic, complex and badass characters comes to the big screen, starring Academy Award® nominated actor Tom Hardy as the lethal protector Venom.
Tom Hardy is going to be bringing my all-time favourite comic book character to life this Fall… I’ve seen the teaser trailer and I still don’t believe that they’re making a Venom movie. Insert joke about Venom not being in the Venom teaser again… I’ll wait. Yeah OK – now that you got that out of your system, I understand that Sony may have gotten a little over-excited by making a trailer just a couple weeks after filming wrapped, but that also means they’re REALLY excited about this movie. Hardy is one of the best actors on the planet and he’s playing VENOM. WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW? NOTHING.
#1. Ready Player One
Director: Steven Spielberg
Release date: March 29, 2018
Based on Ernest Cline’s bestseller of the same name, which has become a worldwide phenomenon. The film is set in 2045, with the world on the brink of chaos and collapse. But the people have found salvation in the OASIS.
I understand that some fans of the book are puzzled by the liberties that Steven Spielberg has taken with the source material by adding more modern pop culture references and game characters, but I DON’T CARE. I didn’t read the book and the film looks like a nerd’s dream buffet – like a Hot Topic, EB Games and four different era’s of Toys R’ Us exploded together and created an alternate universe of fun. The movie looks mind-blowing, the soundtrack of 80’s rock is perfection, Spielberg is back in the blockbuster business and business is a boomin’.
**PS: I didn’t include Avengers: Infinity War on my list because you’re all going to see it regardless of what you read on the internet. I mean – look at it? We’re all going.**