On the face of it, there’s plenty for geeks to get excited about on the movie front in 2015. Things have never been better for lovers of spandex-clad heroes, obsessive gamers and sci-fi nuts right?
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Dig a little deeper though and things start to look suspiciously like 2014 with a barrage of sequels, reboots, game adaptations and nostalgia-fueled schlock on the cards. Of course, we don’t actually know that right now given that, for the most part, all we’ve seen of them are trailers. It’s also worth bearing in mind that in amongst the stuff we love to hate are a couple of films that look genuinely intriguing.
In this, our annual list of geeky movies to look forward to in 2015, we can’t pretend to know much about the artistic vision in the films included, but we are fairly certain they’ll produce some serious online enthusiasm.
1. Chappie
Directed by Neil Blomkamp, the man behind District 9 and Elysium, Chappie appears to be a darker version of the 1986 film Short Circuit, with starring roles for Hugh Jackman, Die Antwoord and Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire, The Last Airbender).
2. Avengers: Age of Ultron
Chances are the Avengers sequel will follow the same formula that took the first film to such great heights: a star-studded cast, the thinnest of plots and massively entertaining action sequences. Oh, James Spader as the voice of Ultron should put a few bums in seats too.
3. Terminator Genisys
We’re not even going to attempt to understand the Terminator timeline at this point, but Arnold “The Governator” Schwarzenegger is back for this one and Matt Smith (the 11th doctor) also has a role, so it can’t be all bad right?
4. Mad Max: Fury Road
It’s been 35 years since the release of the first Mad Max film. The latest installment promises plenty of car-chases, gratuitous explosions and, if the trailer is anything to go by, Tom Hardy saying very little.
5. Jurassic World
Don’t think Jurassic World counts as geeky? Well you might want to take that up with the legion of paleontologists who got into the field because of the original Jurassic Park film. The film returns to Isla Nublar, which now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. Adding extra geek kudos to the film is the fact that it stars Chris Prat — yup, Star Lord himself — and some dodgy-looking science, which is sure to get the online world nice and fuming.
6. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens
This one’s a bit of a toss-up. On one hand, people are hoping JJ Abrams will be able to resurrect the franchise in much the same way as he did Star Trek. On the other, there’s the fact that trying to live up to the original trilogy is more or less impossible. The trailer, which has been watched nearly 14-million times came with its own share of controversy, thanks largely to a light saber with cross guards.
7. Ant Man
You have to be a pretty huge Marvel geek to be excited about Ant Man. That said, it looks like it could have a similar tone to Guardians of the Galaxy, which is pretty promising.
8. Jupiter Ascending
The latest sci-fi epic from the Wachowski’s stars Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum and Sean Bean (anyone want to put odds on his character dying?) and includes gorgeous alien cityscapes, high-speed chases and convoluted plot points.
9. Blackhat
It seems more than a little likely that this action thriller was green-lit in the wake of the Edward Snowden revelations. We’ve included it on this list mostly because it’s bound to elicit plenty of online joke fodder about how Hollywood still doesn’t really get hackers.
10. Spectre
Alongside the possible return of Bond’s most consistent foe Henry Blofeld, the latest chapter in the 007 saga looks set to include more gadgets than any of the other Daniel Craig films. And, as far as we’re concerned that’s a good thing.
There’s no trailer as of yet, so we’ve included a picture of the Aston Martin DB10 Bond will be driving instead.
11. Pitch Perfect 2
At some point in the last couple of years, A Capella singing, a pursuit once so geeky that Magic: The Gathering players would’ve laughed at its participants, became cool. Anyone who was a fan of the first Pitch Perfect can expect more of the same, but on a larger scale, from this one.
12. Seventh Son
Based on the novel The Spook’s Apprentice, this fantasy story centers on Thomas Ward, a seventh son of a seventh son, and his adventures as the apprentice of the Spook. The film stars Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore. In a break from fantasy convention, many of the characters have American accents.
13. Ex Machina
This near-future sci-fi thriller looks at what it means to be human in an age of increasingly capable artificial intelligence. Unlike 2014’s romantic drama Her however, Ex Machina looks to have a seriously dark undercurrent.
14. The Phoenix Project
This isn’t a big studio release, so don’t expect to see too much press about it. Shot in just 19 days, the film follows four scientists as they look to build a machine capable of reanimating deceased organisms and looks to contain a fairly substantial twist.
15. Strange Magic
A 3D animated film inspired by a Midsummer Night’s Dream, produced by George Lucas with plenty of sing-along sequences. This may be a kid’s movie, but there’s plenty for geeks to get excited about.
16. Vice
Starring Bruce Willis and Thomas Jane, this Sci-Fi thriller explores what happens when robots are used to cater to the wildest fantasies of humans.
17. Kingsman: The Secret Service
The latest adaptation of a comic book you’ve probably never heard of, Kingsman: The Secret Service stars Colin Firth, Samuel L Jackson and Michael Cane and appears to include more high-speed action scenes than you can shake a furled up umbrella at.
18. Project Almanac
What happens when teenagers start meddling with time travel? Bad things, very bad things.
19. Home
A Dreamworks animated feature, Home stars Rihanna as Tip, a human girl, and Big Bang Theory‘s Jim Parsons as Oh, an alien which appears to at least partially speak in Lolcat.
20. Air
First teased at Comic-Con last year, the Robert Kirkman vehicle stars Norman Reedus of The Walking Dead fame and Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator, Blood Diamond and, most recently, Guardians of the Galaxy) as caretakers of a population of cryogenically frozen population.
21. Tomorrowland
Based on the Disney World theme park ride, Tomorrowland starts Britt Robertson, George Clooney and Hugh Laurie and sees the first two embark on a journey to a place which exists in their collective memory and in which their actions directly affect the world and themselves.
22. Minions
This spin-off from the Despicable Me puts everyone’s favourite characters — the minions themselves front and centre. Leading voice roles are taken by Steve Carrell, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, and Allison Janney.
23. Pan
A gritty Peter Pan origin story, this film stars Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard, Garrett Hedlund as a young Hook, Rooney Mara as Tiger Lilly and Levi Miller as Peter.
24. Hardcore
A mad piece of Russian cinema shot entirely in first person and starring Sharlto Copley, this Indiegogo-funded project takes everything that makes first person shooters so compelling and translates it into film.
25. Ratchet and Clank
Anyone who spent large portions of their youth on the Playstation has to be a little excited for this adaptation.
