Five Summer Films I Want To See

Plus a few more for good measure

From Tom Cruise’s social media. Note: At the time of writing, I have seen both Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning and Ballerina. Both of which are great action films and worth checking out in the theater.

Like any kid, when I was growing up, I absolutely loved summer. It was the number one season in my book because, well, there was no school. Now that I’m on the other side of that particular equation as a parent, summer is my third, or even least favorite season of the year. I mean, say what you will about winter, but at least kids are in school.

That being said, one of the things that I still love about summer is the movies that come out between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Here are the five movies that I’m most looking forward to seeing on the biggest screen possible this summer.

Superman

If you know me, then this isn’t too big of a surprise. I love Superman. I’m really intrigued by James Gunn’s take on the character. In addition to just absolutely loving Superman, I recently read up on the turmoil of the 70s. In that context, the 1978 Superman film seems like a transgressive reaction to it. If you’ve seen the news lately, we…uh, we are going through it. Could this new cinematic take on the character, with some Silver Age elements, be just what we needed?

I dunno, but it is exactly what I need.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

The Fantastic Four are interesting because in many ways, they are the most pure avatars of the silly and sincere classic Marvel brand, but the hardest to pull off. When they do, though, it’s really…well, fantastic. It seems like Marvel Studios might have done it?

F1

I loved what Joseph Kosinski did with Top Gun: Maverick a few summers ago. The racing footage in the trailer looks incredible on IMAX. This whole movie looks like a throwback to the summer blockbusters we used to get on the regular in the 90s. I'm into it.

Jurassic World: Rebirth

This is a personal one because my son is way into movies with big creatures fighting one another. I took him to see Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire last year, and it was a blast. He recently saw Jurassic Park and loved it. He claims that he is ready for this one and who am I to deny him?

The Naked Gun

Man, it’s been a minute since we got a major studio big-screen comedy. The director, Akiva Schaffer, is from The Lonely Island and has directed some of my favorite comedies over the last few years. The last joke in the trailer has every audience I’ve been with over the last month laughing out loud.

Some other films on my radar:

28 Years Later

The Materialists

Weapons