With the Sci-Fi-London Festival still six months away, what cinematic delights do we have to look forward to over the coming winter months?
Joss Whedon’s sci-fi adventure romp, Serenity, is out in cinemas, as is the darker Russian epic Night Watch. Both are excellent examples of their genre, as has already been stated elsewhere on this site, but not enough to sustain the appetite during the long cold nights ahead.
Although DVDs are great for an instant fix, along with endless reruns of popular shows on cable and satellite and some of the new shows like Lost and The 4400, sometimes you want to see something on a bigger screen than the one in the corner of your room. So what are the studios offering?
In no particular order of preference or release:
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
Probably the most popular of all children’s fantasy books, written by Tolkien’s friend C.S. Lewis (who also wrote some excellent sci-fi stories) gets the Disney treatment. This is the first feature film of the series and judging from the trailers it looks like it won’t disappoint, especially with Tilda Swinton as the White Witch. The BBC have made a fair television series, and the RSC have produced an excellent musical version for the stage, but with some Disney budget behind it, it should get the treatment this classic tale deserves.
Released December 8
Official site
Harry Potter 4
In terms of book sales Harry Potter is the runaway best seller in children’s fantasy, but only time will tell if it has the longevity of Narnia or The Lord of the Rings. It does seem that the movies are heading into Rocky territory as the sequel numbers rack up and the villains become even more diabolical, for the plucky underdog hero. The adult roles in the previous films have all been excellently cast, with the cream of British thesps, and with British director, Mike Newell, on board this could be the best of them so far, depending on how they condense the 600+ pages of The Goblet of Fire into a commercially-viable length film.
Out November 18
Official site
Sky High
More school hi-jinks, only this time its superheroes not wizards – and it’s from Disney. Described as Harry Potter meets The Incredibles, it stars Kurt Russell, who is no stranger to sci-fi or Disney, as the superhero father of a teenager just starting at a school for the gifted. Great fun if you have children, nieces or nephews that need entertaining over half-term.
Released October 21
Official site
The Brothers Grimm
Still in the world of children’s stories, this is Terry Gilliam’s fabulous account of the fraternal storyteller’s own adventures. Being a Gilliam film it is all a bit bizarre and doesn’t bear much resemblance to the truth, but as it looks so much fun, who cares. Starring Matt Damon and Heath Ledger, both of whom have done comedic fantasy roles in the past, Dogma and A Knight’s Tale, respectively, it should be great fun and relatively free from CGI.
Out November 4.
Official site
V for Vendetta
The English do grim (not the aforementioned Grimm) so well, and comics supremo Alan Moore has his own vision of the future that is a bit bleak. One may say his view is more realistic than pessimistic, but either way it is not a happy one. It seems that because of ‘recent events’ the release of this film may be delayed, but given the original story was written back in the 1980’s, as a reaction to the repressive Thatcher government, its prescience makes it all the more relevant. I am sure the people who will be seeing this film are mature and intelligent enough to know it is a work of fiction, and not be swayed by PC anxieties. They may, however, be concerned at the involvement of Joel Silver and the Wachowski Brothers in this very English tale. From the trailer it looks good.
Currently scheduled for March 17 release.
Official site
Aeon Flux
Remaining in a future dystopia, Aeon Flux takes a slightly sunnier view, and has Charlize Theron in a catsuit. This is a live action version of the MTV animated series about a member of a group of rebels, intent on undermining the government of the apparently idyllic walled city. Plenty of action and stunts. Dark Horse have also released a four-part comic of the story.
Out December 30.
Official site
King Kong
This is the big one from Peter Jackson that everyone has been waiting for. A remake of the classic, this uses a CG 3D ape, as opposed to the 3D stop-motion model of the original, much as another gorilla movie, Mighty Joe Young did. (The original Mighty Joe Young was the first feature of animation legend, Ray Harryhausen, while the remake starred the aforementioned Charlize Theron – so how’s that for a segue?) And there is still the big ape/beautiful girl (Naomi Watts) relationship common to both films – and dinosaurs.
Out December 15.
Official site
The Fountain
The on-again-off-again sci-fi spectacular from Pi director, Darren Aronofsky, looks like it could be with us sometime over the winter, although nothing has been confirmed yet. Spanning ten centuries, from the 16th to the 26th, with a sojourn in the present, it is basically a quest for the fountain of youth. But you can be sure that being an Aranofsky film it will be more intelligent than the average sci-fi action adventure.
Release date to be confirmed.
Doom
Computer games to movies have as patchy a history as movies to games, although the latter seems to be a bit more forgiving, or maybe games players are more easily satisfied. Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Brothers are some that didn’t really do that well, Tomb Raider and Resident Evil faired a little better, possibly because of their female leads, and were even entertaining. Whether Doom, a first person shooter, will work on the big screen is yet to be seen. It’s an action movie that uses a lot of POV shots, just like the game, but without the interaction, and a fairly thin story. AVP anyone?
Released October 28
Official site
If horror is you thing then lookout for The Exorcism of Emily Rose (November 4) and the remake of The Fog (February 23).
Of course there are also a lot of excellent movies of other genres showing too, just in case you want some variety.