GCE’s 10 Most Anticipated Films of 2014

As 2013 comes to a close, we take a glance at some of our most anticipated films of the upcoming year.

2014 seems to be the year of sequels and remakes, but that isn’t to say they aren’t anticipated either way. With the Guardians of the Galaxy making their first appearance and the final installment of The Hobbit wrapping up, there are all kinds of choices for movie goers in this coming year. Take a look at some of our personal favorites.

RoboCop: A lot of people are really put off by the remake, citing that the 1987 version of the film with Peter Weller will always be the superior, but this remake does look more than a little badass. Joel Kinnaman is the new RoboCop, Alex Murphy and while he has some big shoes to fill, he’s got a great supporting cast behind him including Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earle Haley, Jay Baruchel and Samuel L. Jackson. While the RoboCop suit did get reinvented, director Jose Padilha made sure one of the suits sported by Kinnaman looks like a throwback to the 1987 film. Crime has a new enemy and it’s coming to theatres February 12. Watch the trailer here.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Steve Rogers has just awoken seventy years in the future and is struggling to adapt. While the first Captain America movie wasn’t the best superhero movie out there, Chris Evans did a great job representing the All-American hero, leaving fans anticipating the films release, especially following news that Cap will face off against a new (but somehow familiar) foe from old history: the Soviet assassin known only as The Winter Soldier. There are familiar faces from the Marvel franchise including Scarlett Johannson, Colbie Smulders,Samuel L. Jackson, Dominic Cooper, Sebastian Stan and Hayley Atwell, as well as newcomer Anthony Mackie taking up the role of the hero called Falcon. See the sequel in theatres April 4. Watch the trailer here.

Image Source: IMDb

Godzilla: The Godzilla franchise has been done before as we all know, and it’s a fine line to walk down with film remakes as they can either be a huge success or tank at the box office. Other than Godzilla, the actors are what pull attention to the latest incarnation of the monster film, including the popular Bryan Cranston, fresh from completing his work on Breaking Bad. Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass) and Elizabeth Olsen are also set to star and take on Godzilla as he wreaks havoc on mankind. Storming theatres on May 16. Watch the teaser trailer here.

X-Men: Days of Future Past: Bryan Singer did a fantastic job of rebooting the X-Men franchise that had been damaged by the poor reception of films like “The Last Stand” by showing Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) as they began their young lives in “First Class”. Now the two former best friends have gone their opposing ways and years later a new threat rises; Trask Industries. In order to save their future, the X-Men must return to the past, sending one of their own, Wolverine, back in time to fix it before things get worse and threaten the existence of human and mutant alike. The sequel hits theatres May 23. Watch the trailer here.

Maleficent: Angelina Jolie is set to star as Maleficent, the villain that cursed Aurora in “Sleeping Beauty”. The story is now being told from the villain’s point of view and for the first time we get to see what drove Maleficent to curse Aurora in the first place; an interesting perspective and take on a classic tale that many of us remember from our childhoods. The film is directed by the Oscar winning Robert Steinberg, known for his visual effects work on Alice in Wonderland and Avatar. Evil has a beginning in theatres May 30. Watch the teaser trailer here.

Image Source: IMDb

Edge of Tomorrow: Tom Cruise is back on the big screen in this Doug Liman directed film that seems a little bit like Groundhog Day meets sci-fi. Cruise plays Lt. Col. Bill Cage, a man with little training and no combat experience who is unceremoniously dropped into a suicide mission against an attacking alien race. Cage is killed within moments but soon finds himself back where he began again, stuck in a time loop and forced to die over and over. But, he begins to learn and adapt and soon just may be the worlds best hope for defeating the enemy. In theatres June 6. Watch the trailer here.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: A sequel to 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, we see a growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus that was released ten year prior. The humans and apes manage to come to a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived and as both sides are brought to the brink of war, the result will determine just who is the dominant species. Andy Sirkis returns as the voice of Caesar and the cast includes Judy Greer, Jason Clarke, Keri Russell and Gary Oldman. Coming to theatres July 11. See the teaser trailer here.

Guardians of the Galaxy: One of the most talked about films of 2014 has been Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Having just finalized casting Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot, we are seeing what will be an all-star cast come together for the film including Chris Pratt, John C. Reilly, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Benicio del Toro, Michael Rooker and the voices of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper. A jet pilot gets stranded in space and must unite a diverse team of aliens to form a squad capable of taking care of cosmic threats. Go down swinging with the Guardians in theatres August 1.

Image Source: IMDb

Fury: One of these films is not like the others… we couldn’t leave David Ayer’s new film off the list, not just for him but the great list of actors that will be appearing in the film including Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia LeBeouf and Jon Bernthal. Ayer has written the screenplay and will take up the mantle of directing as well as he has done for some of his past films such as End of Watch. Fury is about a crew of Americans embarking on a brave mission in Nazi Germany near the end of World War II. Expect the film in theatres November 12.

The Hobbit: There and Back Again: The third and final installment in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit films, the company of Thorin may find themselves a bit over their heads as they attempt to reclaim Erebor and it’s treasure from the dragon, Smaug. We see all of the usual faces return to the big screen, including Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Sir Ian McKellen, Lee Pace, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly and Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of Smaug and the Necromancer. See how the journey ends December 17.

What are you most looking forward to? Leave your comments below!