By Chris Kavan - 07/20/17 at 06:39 AM CT
Last weekend Spider-Man: Homecoming was toppled by War for the Planet of the Apes, though the film may have come in a bit under expectations. This weekend sees two new titans vying for control: up front is Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, which looks to be an award-season lock as it tackles a pivotal point in WWII, and has been earning rave reviews. But don't count out Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, which has been on my radar all year as Luc Besson looks to make another memorable sci-fi experience. Also coming out the ensemble comedy Girls Trip that looks to bring in the women and offer up counter-programming to the other two films. It should be an interesting weekend in the heart of summer.
DUNKIRK I have no problem as listing Christopher Nolas as one of my favorite modern directors. He has proven a master storyteller with the twisted Memento, he can handle action and fantasy as proven by his Batman trilogy and he has no problem with mixing sci-fi with drama as proven by Inception and Interstellar. But war? War is a different story. Luckily, it looks like Dunkirk is still in very good hands. Nolan brings his style and flair behind the camera without losing any of the the suspense or emotional heft that comes from bringing a true story to the big screen. In one of the most important events in WWII, British, Belgium, Canadian and French soldiers have been surrounded by the German army - land, sea and air in Dunkirk, France. It seems inevitable that they will be slaughtered as the German army closes in, until a civilian armada comes across the narrow English Channel and begins an evacuation that lasts from May 26- June 04, 1940. A lot of big names, and not-so-big-names, are here: Tom Hardy plays a fighter pilot, Cillian Murphy a frightened soldier rescued from the water, Kenneth Branagh a commander, James D'Arcy as a colonel, Mark Rylance a civilian boat captain along with this son and friend (Barry Keoghan and Tom Glynn-Carney), Fionn Whitehead plays the every-man soldier standing in for the massive army and even Harry Styles gets in on the act. By all accounts, this stands right up there with Saving Private Ryan as a realistic portrayal of war - even if it doesn't get as brutal considering its PG-13 rating. Early reviews are very positive and it's no surprise there is already awards-season buzz surrounding this. While I won't be there opening weekend, my dad's upcoming vacation means this will be on the radar for August, and I'm certain it will still be around to watch.
Even since that first trailer with The Beatles "Because" opening up to a wondrous world populated by interesting aliens and equally enchanting landscapes, Valerian has been one of my more anticipated films of the year. It doesn't hurt that Luc Besson, who showed such talent in The Fifth Element (and a bit less in Lucy), is behind the camera. While co-stars Cara Delevingne and Dane DeHaan (playing Laureline and Valerian) are somewhat untested in big, leading roles, I have faith that the two can be more than pretty faces and carry the film. Speaking of the film, our two are some of the top special agents in the universe and when Alpha, a massive space station housing species from a thousand planets, is targeted by a dark menace, the two will have to work not only to save Alpha, but the future of the universe itself. There's action, there's heart, there's comedy, there's Rihanna playing a costumer-changing entertainer called Bubble and Ethan Hawke playing someone called Jolly the Pimp. What more could you want? Well, it also has Elizabeth Debicki, Clive Owen, John Goodman and Rutger Hauer to lend a hand. I swear, I was even ready to watch this in 3D (but was overruled so regular it is), that's how impressive the visuals looks for this one. Even if the film doesn't break out huge, I have a good feeling about it and hope for the best.
Not feeling like war or sci-fi for your weekend out? Don't sweat it, Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith and Tiffany Haddish are life-long friends our for a Girls Trip. Directed by Malcolm D. Lee (the man behind The Best Man, The Best Man Holiday and Barbershop: The Next Cut among others), Girls Trip follows the four women on their way to the annual Essence Festiva in New Orleans where they look to bring the house down with their antics. Larenz Tate, Mike Colter and Kate Walsh help round out the cast. This is obviously going after a very different audience than either Dunkir or Valerian and that is the one thing that might help this break out a bit more, provided it gets decent reviews and can actually bring in that audience. Counter-programming like this has worked out well in the past, we'll see if the studio has made the right call this time around.
Those are the big three. We'll see how all three contend with the might of Spider-Man: Homecoming and War for the Planet of the Apes. I'll be back Sunday with the results.
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