17 Movies worth geeking out to in 2012

I have learnt a great many things from movies. Every time I read a book, a comic or a graphic novel, I imagine what it would look like as a movie. The action packed sequences, emotional transitions and character development. I love seeing how a director’s eye interprets the written word. Sometimes they win… sometimes they lose.

I believe 2012 will cater for all geeks movie-wise. Hollywood is bringing its A game and tinseltown clearly has all you geeky movie fanatics out there in mind. The cheesy one liners, the cinematic theme songs, the hyper intense scores, the over extravagant CGI characters, and the battle between good and evil played out in spandex and tights — it’s all coming.

So, like the diligent givers that we are, we’ve put together our favourite upcoming movies for geeks.

Comic books come to life

The Dark Knight Rises
Ok, who has not been looking forward to this? The teaser trailers began last year when Warner Bros planted Easter eggs all over the net for fans to decipher. Said to be the last in the re-imagined franchise, Dark Knight Rises brings back Gotham’s favourite hero, broken by the events of the last movie and back in the shadows. Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, Batman must once again defend Gotham and face his own demons. Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Morgan Freeman — Christopher Nolan is sure to wow us again.

The Avengers
Where all good comic book heroes meet. Famed geek director, Joss Whedon (who created the brilliance that is Firefly), directs a star-studded cast in this upcoming superhero mashup. The story follows the assembling a group of superheroes including Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and the Hulk who are brought together to fight a new enemy that is threatening the safety of the world by the director of S.H.I.E.L.D Nick Fury. Anyone who watched Iron Man 2 and more recently Captain America would have gotten teasers to this movie. It focuses on core Marvel comic heroes. Bring on the cheesy one liners!

The Amazing Spider Man
This is an obligatory addition. The previous Spiderman movies have been so disappointing that I feel the franchise cannot be saved, but I am willing to give Columbia Pictures the benefit of the doubt. Although I don’t think the movie is off to a great start with music video director Marc Webb at the helm. The solution Columbia seems to be opting for is a reboot with the same production team rather than another sequel. Smart move, maybe there is hope after all. The movie follows awkward teen Peter Parker and his discovery of spidey senses. Andrew Garfield of Social Network fame leads the cast with current Hollywood darling Emma Stone at his side.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
I never get tired of listening to Nick Cage’s “I am talking through my nose” voice. Never! I didn’t enjoy the first Ghost Rider but for some reason I have the urge to see this one. Johnny Blaze (love the cheese), is still battling with the curse of being the Ghost Rider, so he decides the best thing to do is hide out in a remote part of Eastern Europe. Poor Johnny, don’t you know you can’t really hide from evil? It always finds you. In this case, it comes knocking when a secret sect of the Catholic Church asks him to save a boy from becoming possessed by Roarke, The Devil himself, who put the curse on Johnny. What will Johnny do? I don’t know but I hope he sets things on fire! The guy has a flaming motorcycle! I have no idea why I am not into this more.

Dredd
If you haven’t heard of Judge Dredd, get the frack out of town! Seriously? And you call yourself a geek. If you have heard of Judge Dredd, you’re elite and probably very excited that they finally made a current movie of the comic book. Dredd’s story takes place on a fictional Earth created as a result of the Atomic Wars. Survivors of this period are currently living in Mega-Cities, which protects its citizens from the Cursed Earth, a radioactive desert environment populated by mutants. Need I say more?

Men in Black 3
The agents are back! I always loved Will Smith as J and I am pleasantly surprised that we get to see more of the men in black. As mind-boggling as the aliens are, nothing is more perplexing to J than the wry agent K. So when K’s life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him. Did I mention it’s also in 3D? Time travel, aliens, and 3D — what more could a person want?

Geeking out with epics and space adventure

Prometheus
Shot entirely in 3D and set in the Alien universe with its own separate storyline, Ridley Scott comes back to the franchise that made him with a vengeance. Even though the film shares “strands of Alien’s DNA, so to speak”, and takes place in the same universe, Prometheus will explore its own mythology and ideas, says Scott. The movie stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, and Charlize Theron. The trailer has just the right amount to spooky to get me super excited!

The Hobbit
I think a significant portion of geekdom has been anticipating this movie since the Lord of the Rings trilogy came to its epic conclusion. Peter Jackson and his New Line Cinema team takes us back to Middle Earth to a time before Frodo’s heroic journey. The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins (a hobbit), who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Honest Abe as a vampire hunter? Hells yes! President Lincoln’s mother was killed by a supernatural creature, which fuels his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers. In 3D, the supernatural action film is based on the 2010 mashup novel of the same name. The film is directed by Timur Bekmambetov and is produced by him and Tim Burton, so we know it will be fun!

Dark Shadow
Tim Burton is awesome, so it is a great pleasure to see that he has put together a vampire offering. The story begins in 1752 when the Collins family sails from Liverpool, England to North America. The son, Barnabas, grows up to be a wealthy playboy but he breaks the heart of a witch, Angelique Bouchard, who turns him into a vampire and buries him alive. Fast forward to 1972 and Barnabas is accidentally freed from his coffin and returns to find his once-magnificent mansion in ruin. The usual Burton cast is here so it’s like coming home.

Gravity
In Earth’s orbit, satellite debris hits a space station, destroying most of it and killing all but two astronauts, Ryan Stone (Bullock) and Matt Kowalsky (Clooney) — the aliens are coming? The remaining astronauts have to fight for survival on a crippled space station, the movie is in 3D and only stars two people. Hmmm…

The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists
Based on the book of the same title, this film is set in 1837, and follows the adventures of “The Pirate Captain” and his crew of unorthodox pirates. They meet a young Charles Darwin and Mister Bobo, a highly trained and sophisticated “man-panzee”, who have been exiled from London by a rival scientist. From the creators of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Columbia Pictures brings you pirates in claymotion.

The Raven
Who doesn’t love the dark workings of Edgar Allan Poe’s mind? Exactamondo! Here’s the gist, it’s 19th century Baltimore a mother and daughter are found brutally murdered and the killer’s M.O is Poe’s own works. Obviously he cannot stand for this so Edgar joins forces with Detective Emmett Fields in a race against time. Horror, yes! It looks amazingly creepy and full or dark scares. Finally John Cusack is back.

Battleship
Based on the classic game by Hasbro, yes I know games too. An international naval fleet at Pearl Harbor find an alien or two who have come to planet Earth on a mission to build a power source in the ocean. We get to the story from the aliens’ perspective, as well as the humans’ so that should be fun.

Fairy retelling

Snow White and the Huntsman and Mirror Mirror
The retelling of fairy tales seems to be in vogue. Tim Burton’s retelling of Alice in Wonderland seems to have opened up a can of fairy tale creatures. Some even have two movies coming out at the same time. Snow White is such a popular girl everyone wants to tell her story. Snow White and the Huntsman is a darker tale of the war between good and evil with Snow rising up again the evil queen. Mirror Mirror is a more humorous and colourful affair with witty lines and exaggerated costumes.

Jack the Giant Killer
From a land far far away come five beans that Jack shouldn’t get wet, in a rainy English town? Yep, good luck with that, Jack. Thanks to Jack, an ancient war is reignited when he unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Now, the giants want to reclaim the land they once lost. Nice work Jack — don’t get the beans wet… remember that?