June movie preview: 'teenage mutant ninja turtles: out of the shadows'

June Movie Preview: ‘Out of the Shadows’ and Into the Sequels

The big summer sequels keep on coming this month. But there is quite a variety among the titles that will dominate the box office. From pizza loving turtles to absent-minded fish to aliens seeking revenge on Jeff Goldblum. The movie stars are also out with Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Matthew McConaughey, and Daniel Radcliffe among those making appearances. Yeah, so we had all the Marvel movies last month, but these June movies are nothing to scoff at. Here’s our June movie preview.

June 3rdTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Me Before You, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

For my money, no other franchise is as inherently summer as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They’re CGI heavy, kids love them, they have humor mixed with action and they have a concept that sounds ridiculous the first time you hear about it. After the success of the reboot two years ago, this sequel to that reboot has the turtles facing off against characters well-known to fans of the comic book and cartoon series. There are mutated henchmen, Beebop and Rocksteady. Tyler Perry plays mad scientist Baxter Stockman and Stephen Amell, known from Arrow, plays turtle ally Casey Jones. Color me intrigued… and that color is green in this case.

Me Before You is a romance film about a young woman (Emilia Clarke) who grows close to a recently paralyzed man (Sam Claflin). Together they help each other step outside of their comfort zones. The film is sure to be a heartwarming and heartbreaking story, but all I can focus on is how many geektastic stars are in this. Clarke and Charles Dance are from Game of Thrones. Claflin is from The Hunger Games. Jenna Coleman is known for Doctor Who. Matthew Lewis was in Harry Potter and there are probably others I’ve missed too. It’s a pretty impressive group.

Even if you don’t know it, there’s a good chance you’ve had a song by The Lonely Island stuck in your head. From their days on SNL, their digital shorts went viral on a weekly basis. Well they’ve taken those skills to the big screen in the mockumentary concert film, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. The film follows Connor4Real, (Andy Samberg) a former boy band member attempting to stay famous as a solo artist. Apparently the film is mocking all pop stars, but the songs are catchy too. I’m expecting good things from the guys who made the hit songs, “I’m on a Boat” and “Jack Sparrow.”

June 10thThe Conjuring 2, Now You See Me 2, Warcraft

I’ll admit it’s hard to keep track of all of these low-budget horror movies and the evil spirits that plague their characters. Well The Conjuring 2 is looking to reproduce the success of its predecessor. This one has a haunted house and everything that comes along with it. Director James Wan is back behind the camera. With a résumé that includes Saw, Furious 7, and the upcoming Aquaman movie, he’s a name you should probably learn if you haven’t already.

You would think a sequel to Now You See Me would be called, Now You Don’t, but the folks who make those calls opted for Now You See Me 2 instead. The sequel has the illusionist criminals, The Four Horsemen returning to expose an unethical tech giant (Daniel Radcliffe). Most of the original cast is back including Jesse Eisenberg and Mark Ruffalo. The first one was a cool mystery film, so this sequel is definitely worth a watch.

Something tells me gamers will have no problem stepping away from the online Warcraft in order to see the big screen adaptation. But as someone who hasn’t played the game, I’m not going to embarrass myself by trying to explain the plot or characters. But what I can say is that the movie promises big fantasy action, which looks great in the previews.

June 17thCentral Intelligence, Finding Dory

In Central Intelligence, Dwayne Johnson plays a CIA agent who returns home for his high school reunion and encounters the former cool kid in school played by Kevin Hart. There’s a role reversal as Johnson was a bullied teen, but is now a badass special agent and Hart misses his high school glory days. So naturally the odd couple go on a mission together and comedy ensues. The two stars were funny hosting the MTV Movie Awards together. So they should be a good pair on the big screen too.

It’s been 13 years since Marlin and Dory went on a whirlwind journey together while Finding Nemo. Now in Finding Dory, Dory tries to find her family after remembering something from her past. Marlin and Nemo go with her. Plus they’ll get some help from a bunch of new seafaring characters. The story takes place only six months after the original. I imagine the varying life expectancies of different fish played a role in that decision.

June movie preview: 'independence day: resurgence'
‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ (Source: Fox Movies)

June 24thFree State of Jones, Independence Day: Resurgence

In a film significantly more serious than the other entries on the list, Matthew McConaughey stars in the Civil War drama, The Free State of Jones. The film, based on a true story, has a group of farmers and former slaves in the south rebelling against the Confederacy and establishing their own community. As you would expect, the Confederacy and their soldiers didn’t appreciate this initiative.

With an even longer gap between films than Finding Nemo/ Dory, it’s been 20 years since Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith saved the world in Independence Day. For the sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, Will Smith isn’t it, but Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, and some of the other original cast is back with a group of newbies. Among the new cast members are Liam Hemsworth, who plays a fighter pilot, and Jessie Usher, who plays the son of Smith’s deceased character. The aliens have returned 20 years later to finish what they started. But Earth is now all futuristic thanks to technology developed from studying the alien machinery left behind in the first battle.

So there you have it. It’s quite a list. For me, TMNT looks like the movie fans of the 80s/90s cartoon have been waiting for. So I’m excited about that. Plus, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping looks pretty great. Sometimes when commercials for a comedy are so funny, I fear they’ve used up all the funny moments. But something tells me that isn’t the case this time. We’ll see you back next month for another batch of new movies taking over theaters.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *