Most Anticipated Movies of 2012

The Dark Knight Rises

Definitely the most anticipated movie for most mainstream movie fans is ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, the third and final instalment of Christopher Nolan’s faultless Batman trilogy, and the follow up to one of the best movies of the last ten years, ‘The Dark Knight’. Set eight years after the events of that film, Gotham is experiencing peace and Bruce Wayne hasn’t worn the cowl since taking responsibility for Harvey Dent/Two Face’s killing spree. Several new threats arise and so must Batman, with Tom Hardy taking on the role of Bane, who has brains to match his brawn, and Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman. The League of Shadows from ‘Batman Begins’ is somehow linked, as is the late Ra’s Al Ghul, which leaves many details of the movie shrouded in mystery, and the tagline for the movie being ‘The Legend Ends’, we know that Batman really is in grave danger this time around.

Prometheus

Although originally conceived as a direct prequel to the ‘Alien’ franchise, ‘Prometheus’ appears to be a stand alone sci-fi extravaganza, despite it’s obvious links to those classic movies. The trailer is amazing, and I’m incredibly excited to see what secrets come out of this space/horror that follows the crew of a spacecraft that stumble upon an alien civilisation with direct links to the human race. And what makes it so much more exciting is the stellar cast, which includes Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace, Idris Elba, Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce.

Django Unchained

Quentin Tarantino doesn’t seem to be afraid of tackling any historic events with his own brand over over-the-top, ultra violent fiction. After the brilliant ‘Inglourious Basterds’, which depicted a troop of Jewish soldiers taking down Nazis. ‘Django Unchained’ is set in the antebellum Deep South, Django (Jamie Foxx), a slave turned bounty hunter, teams up with his mentor, Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), to rescue his wife from the ruthless Mississippi plantation owner Calvin Candie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio (in his first villain role).

The Avengers

TV nerd-God Joss Whedon (who is responsible for ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Firefly’) has a huge task ahead of him to successfully bring years of studio work to a head by combining the mammoth screen presence of the biggest Marvel heroes of all time. Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk have all had their own movies, but now we have to wait to see if the superpowers and super-personalities can all fit on screen. It will be a different beast to the ‘X-Men’ movies, that’s for sure, and with complete details of the villains the super-team will face not yet clear, expect some big reveals in the coming months before its release on May 4^th. 

World War Z

Brad Pitt stars as a journalist travelling the world looking for answers after a zombie apocalypse, in the adaptation of Max Brooks’ novel of the same name. So far it would seem as though the movie won’t follow exactly the same paths as the book, but expect this to be a unique take on the zombie genre that pushes character studies ahead of the flesh eating monsters to create a believable end of the world situation.

Skyfall

James Bond’s 23^rd outing has had a lot of problems, but now with director Sam Mendes on board and Javier Bardem signed on to play the film’s villain, things are coming together. The cast is growing and although there are not many details know about plot for ‘Skyfall’, Daniel Craig’s edgy violent Bond will be back better than ever.

Looper

Present day hitmen work for future mobs who travel back in time to cover their tracks in Looper, which sounds like a golden premise with a top cast (including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt). Certainly one of the best sounding original stories on this list, and a chance for ‘Brick’ director Rian Johnson to show what he can do with a big budget.

Wettest County

‘Boardwalk Empire’ has given me a taste for prohibition/depression era violent dramas, and that’s exactly what ‘Wettest County’ is. An all-star cast (including Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Gary Oldman and Guy Pearce) appear for the tale of hooch smugglers versus the law with the screenplay written by Nick Cave.

The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey

The long awaited prequel to ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy arrives in late 2012, and it will be the first movie in a two-part story starring Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit that leads a band of dwarves (along with Ian McKellen’s of Gandalf) on a quest to take back the Dwarf Kingdom from menacing dragon Smaug. Peter Jackson is sure to bring his epic vision again to the big screen in this return to the Shire, which will also see a lot of returning characters from ‘The Lord of the Rings.’

The Amazing Spider-Man

Almost ten years after the first Spider-Man movie, director Marc Webb (‘500 Days of Summer’) gives us a reboot of the popular Marvel character, starring Andrew Garfield as the webslinger, Emma Stone as love-interest Gwen Stacy and Rhys Ifans as the central antagonist, Dr Curt Connors (who later becomes The Lizard). From the trailer, it looks like there’s a lot of angst, young love and thoughtful brooding, but I’m interested to see a new take on the character.