With a new year comes a new wave of entertainment and although award season for 2019 films just began, people are already buzzing about this year’s action movie releases which can become next year’s potential winners.
The year 2020 is the year of action movies where we’ll reunite with the world’s favorite Bad Boys, finally get an answer to the classic Hollywood question, ‘Who would win in a battle between Godzilla and King Kong?’ and witness a world of action on the big screen.
The new decade began with what feels like the early 2000s as we are greeted by Detective Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett one last time in the highly anticipated movie “Bad Boys for Life,” released Jan. 17.
The film directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, stars Will Smith as Mike and Martin Marcus as Burnett, where the duo team up to take down the merciless leader of a Miami drug cartel, Armando Armas played by Jacob Scipio.
The duo confront issues like job changes and midlife crises. Although the audience can expect to see a plot similar to the Sony Pictures franchise’s last two movies, one can’t help but wonder what the talkative pair have been up to since.
The same level of adventure can be expected from “Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn” directed by Cathy Yan and starring Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, a psychotic and fearless supervillain the world met back in 2016 as she battled alongside other supervillains in the film “Suicide Squad.”
However, in this film, the audience will see Quinn come into her own as she faces the aftermath of splitting up with the Joker by joining superheroes Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya to save the life of young Cassandra Cain from a crime lord. People can begin to see the battle with Quinn on Feb. 7.
Another battle you won’t want to miss coming to theatres March 27 is the live action adaptation of the 1998 Disney film, “Mulan.”
The film, directed by Niki Caro, stars Liu Yifei as Hua Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honored warrior who steps up to take her ill father’s place when the emperor of China announces one man per family must serve in the Imperial Chinese Army to defend the country’s honor against the Huns.
Disguised as a male warrior, Mulan embraces her true potential alongside Donnie Yen, Gong Li, Jet Li, and Utkarsh Ambudkar, in a battle to save the country and challenge the status quo.
Others who will be unveiling their true potential include the five mutant heroes who we will meet on April 3 in “The New Mutants,” a film directed by Josh Boone, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, Charlie Heaton, Blu Hunt and Henry Zaga.
The movie is said to be the final installment of the X-Men film series as it centers around the story of five young mutants who belong to the first group of graduates from Charles Xavier’s school.
The team must face their past sins and try to save themselves as they begin discovering their abilities while being held in a secret facility against their own will.
The action continues throughout the year as the world joins James Bond, played by Daniel Craig, in the twenty fifth instalment of the James Bond film, “No Time to Die,” set to be released on April 10.
After leaving active service, we are rejoined with 007 in Jamaica, where he is enjoying a tranquil life. That is, until his friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking him for help to rescue a kidnapped scientist. The rescue mission turns out to be more difficult than expected, leading Bond to go on the hunt for a mysterious villain armed with threatening new technology.
Craig is joined on screen with supporting Oscar-winning actors like Rami Malek, Lea Seydoux, Lashana Lynch and Ana de Armas, under the direction of Cary Joji Fukunaga. The action spy movie, contrary to the title, is expected to be a film moviegoers will want to make time for.
A mystery people will also want to uncover is the one Scarlett Johansson is set to bring as she returns to her role as Natasha Romanoff, to tell the superheroine’s story in the anticipated Marvel Studios’ movie, “Black Widow.”
The film, directed by Cate Shortland, is the first full-length film centered around the character. It takes place following the events of “Captain America: Civil War,” as Natasha is on the run from the government after having disobeyed the Sokovia Accords and for helping Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America. With supporting actors like Florence Pugh as Crimson Widow and David Harbour as Red Guardian, Marvel fans can expect to learn more about the avenger’s mysterious past starting May 1.
However, Black Widow isn’t the only superhero the world will be talking about. Wonder Woman played by Gal Gadot is expected to deliver thrilling action on June 4 in DC Extended Universe’s “Wonder Woman 1984.”
Director Patty Jenkins rejoins us with Amazon demi-god, Diana Pierce, after having first met her in “Wonder Woman” where she confronted forces of evil in World War I to end all human conflict.
Unfortunately, the conflict does not end. This time around the superhero faces problems with the Soviet Union during the Cold War in the 1980s and finds two formidable foes by the names of Maxwell Lord and the Cheetah. Joining the action with Wonder Woman, include Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright and Connie Nielson in supporting roles.
One who is also up for action is Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, played by Tom Cruise, who will return in “Top Gun: Maverick,” the sequel to the 1986 film, “Top Gun.”
The film, directed by Joseph Kosinski, is set in the world of drone technology and fifth generation fighters. As one of the Navy’s top aviator’s, Maverick, trains Top Gun graduates for a mission no living pilot has ever seen.
It is then, that Maverick encounters Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw, played by Miles Teller, the son of his late best friend, Lieutenant Nick Bradshaw, also known as Goose. Faced in the adversity of a dangerous mission, while confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick must face his deepest fears and make ultimate sacrifices on June 26.
Other conflicts include the ones Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, and Carrie Coon will try to face on July 10 as the highly anticipated “Ghostbusters: After Life” comes to theatres. The film, directed by Jason Reitman, is set 30 years after Ghostbusters II, as a family moves to a small town and soon discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind.
With the help of friends, the family builds on the legacy by battling supernatural creatures and events happening in the town of Summerville, Oklahoma.
The final top anticipated action film of 2020 brings a battle where no technological weapons as seen in “Bad Boys for Life” or “No Time to Die” could win.
It is a fight between Godzilla and King Kong in a monster film directed by Adam Wingard titled “Godzilla vs. Kong.” The two most powerful forces on earth will collide on Nov. 20, in a battle of the ages as humanity fights for its future. The film stars Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Kyle Chandler, Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry, as they watch the epic battle unfold before their eyes with the audience.
With action films that reunite old faces and present new ones, 2020 is expected to be a promising year for action movies, it is now up to the audience to decide if they too, are up for the adventure.
Anahy Diaz may be reached at [email protected].
