Summer’s finally right around the corner and that means lots and lots of the usual multiplex fanfare. With March coming to a close with quite the whimper, it looks like April is here to pick up the slack. Oh sure, I was quite excited for a few things in March (namely Rango (2011), Paul) and there was even a genuine surprise, (The Lincoln Lawyer), but now the studios are finally suiting up and breaking out a few of their big guns.
April 1
It’s certainly no April fool’s joke that the month starts off strong. First up there’s Duncan Jones’ anticipated follow-up to his Sundance debut Moon, Source Code. Paired with a writer (Ben Ripley) who’s delved unsuccessfully in sci-fi before, and a top-notch cast (Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan and Vera Farmiga), we’ll see if this train set thriller of body swapping lives up to the expectations of early critical word of mouth.
For the kiddie set, we have Hop with Russell Brand lending his vocal talents to the Easter bunny who just wants to drum in a rock and roll band. With James Marsden, Kaley Cuoco and Gary Cole part of the live-action duties here’s hopping… err, hoping that director Tim Hill (Muppets from Space, the first Alvin and the Chipmunks and Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties) has finally learned a thing or two about the live-action/computer-animated hybrid films with a script from the writers of Despicable Me.
On the flip side of things, James Gunn returns to cinemas for the first time in five years with another swipe at superheroes with the appropriately titled Super. His last feature was the splattacular horror/comedy Slither and now his second outing (he is also the man behind 2000’s The Specials) will hopefully be better rounded that one. Featuring a plethora of cult status A-listers, Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon, Michael Rooker, Linda Cardellini and Nathan Fillion, things are definitely looking super for Super.
Meanwhile, the guys behind the original Saw, director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell, bring us a spooky tale of parents (Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne) trying to keep their comatose child safe from evil spirits in a horror tale made up of some pretty great early buzz. While the original Saw will always continue to be the best of the now run-into-the-ground series, their Dead Silence is definitely underrated and even while dabbling in PG-13 territory lets audiences remember that one of the scariest tales of haunted families is only rated PG: Poltergeist.
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