Films for 2016
Written by Jamie Richardson.
There’s no doubt about what the biggest film of 2015 was – Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. The most hotly anticipated film of the year it went on to be a box office smash while appealing to a new generation of viewers as well as to Star Wars diehards who had been distinctly underwhelmed by other sequels like The Phantom Menace.
Other big films of the year included the Oscar-winning The Revenant which saw Leonardo di Caprio doing battle with bears out in the wilds and the latest outing for James Bond in Spectre.
So far this year there have been some big releases including the iconoclastic movie from the Marvel franchise, Deadpool as well as Batman v Superman and the long-awaited sequel to Independence Day. As we move into the second half of the year there are still a number of big movies on the way and here’s just a selection of them.
Star Trek Beyond
The thirteenth film in the Star Trek franchise has been written by, and features, Simon Pegg, best known for British comedies like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. The action happens half way into a 5 year mission for the USS Enterprise when it is attacked and the crew have to abandon ship and seek sanctuary on an unknown planet.
Jason Bourne
Despite having announced in 2007 that he wouldn’t be making any more Bourne films Matt Damon’s has changed his mind for the fans and is back as the amnesiac agent. In Jason Bourne he is reunited with the director of the first film in the series, Paul Greengrass. The world is in peril again – and the CIA, led by Tommy Lee Jones, want to hunt him down again.
Ben Hur
One of the most famous biblical epics of all time is given a distinctly 21st century make-over with Jack Huston in the title role and Morgan Freeman as a sheik who trains him in chariot skills. The original chariot race in the 1959 film was a spectacle but expect it to be even more thrilling when you see this version in 3D.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
The magical vision of JK Rowling returns to the big screen in this tale of a wizard played by Eddie Redmayn as author of the book that gives the film its title. The plot revolves around his arrival in New York in 1926 for a convention where a magical briefcase is opened accidentally releasing many dangerous creatures threatening both the United States and the whole world of wizardry.
Now You See Me 2
The sequel to 2013’s Now You See Me reunites the cast of Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg in a great addition the series. The team are involved in an attempt to use all their magic skills to steal a data-mining device from a tech company for the mysterious Eye organisation.
The film features some of the Las Vegas style of the predecessor. This begs the question whether more film-makers everywhere could be using the glamorous and dramatic backdrop of Las Vegas to add to the winning genre of the gambling and casino movie.
