It’s that time of year again, May, when Hollywood forgets how the calendar works and declares summer movie season underway a whole month before the kids actually get out of school. For well over a decade now summer movie season has shifted to mean May-July, but I’ll still cover August because I’m a purist. So let’s get on with part 1, featuring the major North American releases of note for May, 2013.



May 3

Iron Man 3

I saw the first Iron Man movie in theaters twice, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of Iron Man 2. I felt it had the problem a lot of comic book sequels do, where they add way too many characters. Still, the Iron Man franchise had to do the bulk of the work setting up the Avengers franchise and that all worked out in the end, so what do I know? If the trailers are any indication, this picks up right where Avengers left off. Original director Jon Favreua is out so that means 3D is in, along with classic action movie writer Shane Black taking over the helm. I’m going to miss Favreua’s style and voice, but at this point I think enough has been established that the film will be fine without him. I think it rebounds from a disappointing Iron Man 2.



May 10

The Great Gatsby 

This will most likely not be able to topple Iron Man 3 from the top of the charts, but definitely fills the counter-programming role that sometimes comes into play during the summer movie season. You see, there are movie goers that can’t stand the big spectacle films full of explosions and such, or parents who drop their kids off at a movie like Iron Man 3 and go see something else, and Hollywood knows this. This time, the classic novel we were all forced to read in high school (and hey some of us even liked) gets the Baz Lurhmann treatment. How much his off-the-wall adaptation techniques will irk fans of the book remains to be seen, but seeing how this was originally slated for last Christmas, I wonder if it can really draw during the summer season anyway.



May 17

Star Trek Into Darkness

It has no colon, so I guess the title is intended to be read all at once, thus hinting that the recently rebooted franchise is about to get its own dash of what made the Dark Knight a billion dollar earning sequel to a rebooted franchise. At least the studio hopes so. It doesn’t have the nostalgia factor that I believe contributed to the first film striking box office gold, so the Star Trek universe is all-in with this alternate reality now. There are some detractors, even on this very network, as Travis Donovan of Under Sedation Live, who was not a fan of the 2009 film, has serious distrust that this will be any better. This film could make or break the franchise because if it flops, and JJ Abrams gets lost in a galaxy far, far away, returning to the traditional timeline may be the only option, if any option remains at all.



May 24

Epic

In the first true bloodbath summer weekend with three major studio releases, this animated feature from the creator of the Ice Age franchise may be the movie they have to scrape off the floor. Even though it’s geared at kids, the recycled FernGully plot as well as generic title and look of the film may actually keep parents away from dropping their kids off to see this. Of course Avatar also just recycled FernGully’s plot, so maybe it will be the highest grossing film of all time instead.

Fast and Furious 6

Featuring car crashes and insane plots, all I ever seem to remember about the Fast & Furious franchise is their always changing naming convention. This time, the team is back to their high speed heists but a character from their past is returning as well. It may be a guilty pleasure for many movie goers, and could again be a hit, but this feels like it would do a lot better as an August release with less competition. One bit of trivia about director Justin Lin: not only did he direct this and the past three entries in the series, but he also directed a few episodes of my favorite show Community, including the classic season 1 paintball episode.

The Hangover: Part III

Had enough sequels yet? Well we’re not even a month in, so you may want to brace yourself. The second film in this series was notoriously panned as a cash grab by recycling the entire plot, beat for beat, of the first movie. They swear it’s different this time, but will it hold up? I think it’ll still be a huge hit just because it’s a solid franchise that doesn’t have a lot of competition in the genre, but I am personally done with these characters after a terrible Part II.



May 31

After Earth

M. Night Shamylan tries to regain the filmmaker credibility he keeps losing movie after movie with this sci-fi showcase featuring Will Smith and his son, movie star in-training, Jaden Smith. Only the movie’s quality will tell if this is more than a feature length demo reel to get Jaden Smith buying his own multi-million dollar mansions instead of leaching off of dad. The premise about a father and son who crash on a long since abandoned planet earth is interesting, but it’s so similar to themes that are being touched on over and over again lately, with movies like the recently released Oblivion and the upcoming Elysium. Hollywood doesn’t have a high opinion of what Earth is going to be like in the future it seems.

Now You See Me

Featuring a star-studded ensemble, this heist film may end up with a decent chance of toppling Will Smith and winning the box office battle this weekend. It’s about a group of magicians who pull off bank heists and give the money away to patrons at their shows. It sounds silly, but if the movie pulls it off and has fun with its Ocean’s Eleven meets The Prestige vibe, it could strike box office gold. And who knew Zuckerberg was such a skilled illusionist?


That pretty much covers May. I did leave out a few movies, most of which were limited release, but if I neglected something you care about, let me know in the comments below and I’ll be happy to discuss it there. 

See you next month when Brad Pitt takes on zombies, along with a few angry book fans. Also, hey is that a sequel to Independence Day? I thought the Will Smith movie was this month! And finally, you will believe a man can fly! At least Warner Brothers hopes you will so they can finally make a Justice League movie.