2013 film preview

By Matthew Parkinson

With 2012 winding down and Oscar-bait season in full bloom, now is the perfect time to preview the films of 2013. These are the most noteworthy films due to be released in the first half of next year — some look promising and some really don’t.


In January, the much anticipated Gangster Squad will be released — it was originally scheduled to be out in September 2012. There’s a scene in the movie that has gangsters shooting up a movie theatre, so the release date was pushed back after the Aurora massacre. 


The Last Stand, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s comeback to the screen, is also due to be released in January, and will undoubtedly remind audiences everywhere that he probably should have stuck with politics.


The action movie A Good Day to Die Hard will be the biggest release of February, as it marks the fifth instalment in the incredibly popular Die Hard series. This time around, super-cop John McClane will be travelling to Russia in order to rescue his son, Jack. Bruce Willis returns as McClane despite his old age and has already said that he wants to make at least one more Die Hard film after this one. 


On the other side of the spectrum, Warm Bodies and Beautiful Creatures will be released in February. The films will vie for the attention of the Twilight crowd now that the infamous supernatural romance series has come to an end.


Oz: The Great and Powerful comes out in March, marking another attempt to make money off the Wizard of Oz franchise, this time by being a prequel to the original movie and looking strikingly Tim Burton-esque. Another March release is The Host, another movie based off a book by Stephanie Meyer that will look to reach the same level of success of her Twilight franchise.


April will be a month filled with horror films, or at least parodies of horror films. The first is an Evil Dead remake, which changes things up by adding a female lead. The film looks like it will have a much more serious tone than the overly-campy original, and may unfortunately become just another generic horror movie in the process. A fifth Scary Movie film is also due for release, giving fans of awful comedies something to look forward to.


In May, four hotly anticipated movies are facing off against each other. Iron Man 3 will be released first, and will serve to kick-start Marvel’s newest wave of superhero movies that will culminate with 2015’s The Avengers 2. 
Star Trek Into Darkness, the second part of J. J. Abram’s action-oriented reboot of the sci-fi franchise, is also due to be released. It is truly a great time for a nerd to be alive when Iron Man and Star Trek are two of the most-anticipated films of 2013.


The other two blockbuster movies coming out in May look less promising. Fast Six — the poorly named sixth film in the Fast and the Furious franchise — will be going head to head with The Hangover Part III, the latest sequels in rapidly deteriorating series. Hopefully both mediocre franchises call it quits after these films.


Man of Steel, the Superman reboot that is being helmed by Zack Snyder, is due for release in June. If it is anything like 300 or Watchmen, be prepared for a gorgeous movie that has about a quarter of its running time shot in slow motion. World War Z, the adaptation of the fantastic zombie book, starring Brad Pitt is also due out this month. However, its production has been plagued with multiple script rewrites and problems with filming that it wouldn’t be surprising if the movie turned out sub-par. 


Monsters University, the prequel to Pixar’s Monsters Inc. will also be released in June, as is the ultra-violent Kick-Ass 2. With any luck, both will be as good as their first instalments.

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