10 Movies Playbomb Reviews is looking forward to in 2019

Op-Bomb Read: ~15 mins

Last week, we shared about some of the video games Playbomb Reviews’ looking forward to get our hands on and play. This week, we’ll be talking about the movies we’re all excited for. Now, we know that the grand majority of us will be stoked for Captain Marvel in March, Avengers: Endgame come April, and Spiderman: Far From Home in July; so let’s just get those out of the way and focus on the other movies that we think might be worth talking about. Here are 10 movies PBRV would be reviewing and talking about in 2019 (In order of stipulated release date in Singapore).

Dumbo

Director / Screenplay: Tim Burton / Ehren Kruger
Genre: Fantasy, Drama
Release Date: 28 March

One of the earliest movies we’re really looking forward to catch is the next quasi-dark, quasi-gothic, quasi-bizarre instalment of Tim Burton. This time, he’ll be retelling the story of a baby elephant that has wings so huge that he can fly. The original screenplay by Walt Disney was a heartwarming, and at the same time tear-jerking tale of an elephant that was constantly bullied by the other animals in a circus. It also tackles subjects of maternal loss and having to find your identity in a world you’re thrown into unwillingly. This year, we heard that Tim Burton might be returning to those roots for themes and even more by introducing a ‘villain-esque’ character into the mix; and we’re excited to see where he would take us with that and his art style.

Hellboy

Director / Screenplay: Neil Marshall / Mike Mignola, Andrew Cosby
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Release Date: 11 April

We’ve been a fan of Hellboy for a long time – Way before Del Toro debuted the character in the big screen. So when we heard there’s going to be this reboot for a franchise and that David Harbour (Jim Hopper in Stanger Things) is going to be playing our badass red-skinned hunk of a beast, we quickly penned down the release date on our calendars and started a countdown. We really enjoyed Del Toro’s adaptation of character, but we’re also happy that the trailer made this new film feel a little more millennial than Del Toro’s dark tone in storytelling.

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu

Director / Screenplay: Rob Letterman / Nicole Perlman, Rob Letterman
Genre: Adventure
Release Date: 9 May

When Ryan Reynolds teased the idea that he would be voicing Pikachu, we thought he was kidding. When the trailer hit the internet, it blew us away. We’re confident that Reynolds would definitely add in to the charm of such an adorable persona, we hope the storytelling would be equally charming for fans and casual movie-goers, children and adults alike.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

Director / Screenplay: Chad Stahelski / Derek Kolstad
Genre: Action, Thriller
Release Date: 16 May

5 years ago, we heard that a Russian gangster had killed the dog of a widowed man (The dog was given by the wife of this man he so dearly loved.). The catch to this occurrence was that this man was known to be called the “Baba Yaga”, something like a boogeyman (but they know him to be worse.). Why, you may ask? Because he is a highly trained and deadly assassin; and this assassin was played by Keanu Reeves. Seriously, the whole tale of a man getting back at a Russian gang mob because they killed his dog has spiralled into a tale of intrigue and edge-of-your-seat gun fights, and we just can’t get enough! If you have not followed through Wick’s story, you’re missing out on a lot of memorable fight scenes – like how he used a pencil to get through a wrestle with a few men who wants him killed for a bounty.

Brightburn

Director / Screenplay: David Yarovesky / Mark Gunn, Brian Gunn
Genre: Horror
Release Date: 23 May

Brightburn already has a special place in our hearts even before the movie hits the big screen. The movie is prepared by 3 out of 5 of the Gunn brothers. Mark and Brian are involved in Screenplay, while James Gunn would be involved in producing the movie. Why is this movie so important to us? For those familiar with Disney, Marvel Studios, and James Gunn, we feel that Brightburn may be a giant hour and a half to two hour revenge note signed off by James Gunn for the Superhero-movie-power-house. It’s sad to hear that Gunn was fired by Disney because of a tweet 10 years ago. People change, but the cruelty of Hollywood and the toxicity of the internet will not. Brightburn is a story of a child who originated like superman; crash landed on earth was adopted by parents who taught him to use his superpowers for good. But instead of being someone like superman, he decides to be a supervillain instead. This movie is one of the two we’re featuring in this article that will be mixing horror elements in a superhero movie and we hope it’ll be a fresh take on a genre that is getting old.

Men in Black: International

Director / Screenplay: F. Gary Gray / Matthew Holloway, Art Marcum
Genre: Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Release Date: 13 June

What do Thor and Valkyrie have in common? They’re also agents in a secret organisation to protect earth from hostile aliens and facilitate peaceful coexistence between alien races and humanity. The upcoming Men in Black movie is an exciting one because it’s canon to the previous MIB movies. With Chris Hemsworth as Agent H, and Tessa Thompson as Agent M, we won’t be surprised if the movie pulls a 21 Jump Street on us and cameos Agent Kay and Agent Jay from the previous movies too. We’d love Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith to be back on screen in black suits again, please~

The Lion King

Director / Screenplay: Jon Favreau / Jeff Nathanson
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Release Date: 18 July

Jon Favraeu, what can we say about this actor who is known for his role as Happy in the MCU, and director of wholesome movies like Zathura and the early Disney movie CGI reboot The Jungle Book? We know him to be an amazing actor and an even more amazing director. This time, he’s bringing The Lion King into the table. The Lion King should hold a special place in the hearts of many millennials – We love it because it’s not just about a story of a princess in distress and a prince to come in for romance; The Lion King is a story about kingship, fatherhood, identity, and friendship, and the list goes on! It is no wonder Black Panther adopted the skeleton of the story and ideals of the Lion King and won an Oscar. Yes, we know that (spoiler alert!) we’ll have to experience the death of Mufasa all over again, and this time in full HD CGI glory; but at the same time, we will also experience the scene where Mufasa reminds his son of his identity (and unlike T’challa, we will not hear any “YOU ARE ALL WRONG” lines, but instead hear the roar of a lion instead.). We’re excited to catch this movie and you should be too! Oh, did we mention that the cast of the movie is crazy good? We have Donald Glover as Simba, John Oliver as Zazu, the OG James Earl Jones back as Mufasa. Looking at the casting alone is enough to tell us this is going to be great!

The New Mutants

Director / Screenplay: Josh Boone / Knate Lee
Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Release Date: 1 August

Previously, we mentioned Birghtburn. This one hits closer to home with something a little more familiar. In the X-Men, we have Professor Charles Xavier running a private School for Gifted Youngsters, a school for young people with superpowers to be nurtured and learnt how to control said powers. These people with powers, we call them mutants. X-Men is all about this social commentary on bigotry and hatred for those you consider socially alien. Take this school and bring it to a mental asylum. Now we have mutants in the X-Men universe learning how to control their powers under the abuse of the mental asylum. Now we have youths sprawling around this compound thinking they’re haunted or crazy just because they have superpowers – That’s the mixture of The New Mutants. We’re excited to see where this premise takes us to, and are also excited to share with you if it’s a good idea to run with.

Joker

Director / Screenplay: Todd Philips / Scott Silver
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Release Date: 3 October

There have been many attempts at the titular and iconic villain for Batman. We have the excellent actor, Mark Hamill, who voiced the Joker in the Batman animated series; some of us may love Jack Nicholson’s adaptation of the villain; also we’re quite sure we all love the late Heath Ledger’s version in comparison to the most recent Jared Leto’s. Coming October, we will have Joaqin Phoenix as the Joker. Phoenix is a stellar actor, with movies like Her and The Master under his repertoire, we’re keen to see where he will take the villainy and psychology of this comic book icon to. We will also most probably cover a Limelight article on Phoenix when the time comes – so keep yourself updated in PBRV.

Zombieland: Double Tap

Director / Screenplay: Ruben Fleischer / Dave Callaham, Rhett Reese
Genre: Action, Comedy, Horror
Release Date: 10 October

You know a zombie flick is going to be good when they give rules for a zombie apocalypse. We mean, who wouldn’t love the snippet when the movie mentioned that the first group of people who will die in a zombie apocalypse are the people that are fat? There’s truth to that whether we like it or not. So, that rule drives us to abide to it: “Cardio”. Lose weight so we can survive a zombie apocalypse. More zombieland means more rules that are true and funny, it also hopefully means more of Tallahassee and his quest for Twinkies.

And that is all for the movies we’re looking forward to for the year. We will definitely write reviews for these movies when they’re released. So…

For more movie reviews and opinion pieces, stay tuned to Playbomb Reviews.