By Chris Kavan - 04/05/17 at 10:07 AM CT
A lot of movies with long names in this update, hence the shortened title. But, luckily, those long titles belong to some pretty major movies coming out this year. By far one of my biggest surprises, and what quickly became one of my favorite Marvel films, Guardians of the Galaxy was a lot of fun with a great cast to boot. Now we have a sequel and I hope it will be just as good. Speaking of sequels, we're also getting another Pirates of the Caribbean this year and hopefully it will finally be good news for Johnny Depp, who is in desperate need of a hit. Finally, we have The Circle, which has been ramping up its advertising presence recently and is a thriller about a powerful tech company hiding some dark secrets. A great update this week, and one I am actually excited to talk about.
There have been some excellent films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but none impressed me as much as Guardians of the Galaxy. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the film really did blow away all my expectations, mainly due to a great cast, great fun and, of course, that amazing soundtrack. The gang is back together (with a few new faces) in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Michael Rooker, Vin Diesel (on helium or something) and Karen Gillan all return to their respective roles as one of the most dysfunctional, yet awesome, group of heroes in the solar system. Joining our team is Nathan Fillion, Kurt Russell (as Starlord's father), Sylvester Stallone, Elizabeth Debicki, Pom Klementieff (as Mantis) and Michael Rosenbaum. It looks like another stellar lineup and the early trailer has me just as excited this time around. Plus, Baby Groot - can you get any cuter? While some of the other MCU films can get heavy (Civil War anyone?), the Guardians are all about having fun and kicking ass while doing it. I don't know how they're going to incorporate these guys in the upcoming Infinity War, but I bet it will be amazing. Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and brief suggestive content.
It has been six years since we last saw Captain Jack Sparrow as he last sailed On Stranger Tides hoping to find the fountain of youth. I admit, the break might have been needed, as the series was starting to stagnate. Hopefully those years were spent coming up with a better story, because we're going out to sea once again with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Johnny Depp returns as the swashbuckling Keith Richards impersonator, while, after a brief hiatus, Orlando Bloom is also back while Geoffrey Rush reprises his role as the undead Barbossa. They are joined by many new faces: David Wenham, Kaya Scodelario, Javier Bardem and Brenton Thwaites (apparently playing Bloom's now-grown son) all get on board. Bardem plays the devious Captain Salazar, who has long been trapped in the Devil's Triangle but manages to escape and now seeks vengeance on every living pirate - and Captain Jack Sparrow is at the top of his hit list. Sparrow has but one choice - to find the legendary Trident of Poseidon and use its power to control the sea and stop Salazar for good. The Pirates films have always been fun - some more than others - and we'll see if this puts Depp back into Hollywood's good graces after a string of misfires (not to mention anything about his personal life). The rest were pretty good, I don't see why this one won't be either. Rated PG-13 for sequences of adventure violence, and some suggestive content.
That leaves us with The Circle. Emma Watson, former Hogwarts student and current Beauty (in Beauty and the Beast) certainly has been riding a huge wave this year. We'll see if her name (along with Tom Hanks, John Boyega, Karen Gillan, Patton Oswalt and the late, great Bill Paxton) will be enough for this Circle to stand out. The premise seems grimly possible - Watson plays Mae Holland, a woman who lands a dream job at the world's largest tech company, the social networking giant The Circle. She quickly rises through the ranks and, encouraged by president Eamon Bailey (Hanks) begins work on an experimental project that soon has her questioning her ethics and how far she is willing to go for her new company. Soon everything is at risk: friends, family, her future - her very life as she learns the depths at which The Circle will go to keep their secrets. It looks pretty impressive, but I'm not sure is the star power will be enough to elevate this into blockbuster territory. Rated PG-13 for a sexual situation, brief strong language and some thematic elements including drug use.
Those are the big three, but be sure the check out the full MPAA Ratings Bulletin below:
THE BIG SICK
Rated R for language including some sexual references.
THE CIRCLE
Rated PG-13 for a sexual situation, brief strong language and some thematic elements including drug use.
THE DOMESTICS
Rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout.
GOOD FORTUNE
Rated PG for thematic elements, some language and smoking.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2
Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language, and brief suggestive content.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES
Rated PG-13 for sequences of adventure violence, and some suggestive content.
THE SABBATICAL
Rated R for language, some sexual references and brief drug use.
