What to Watch This Month: March
When we think of the month of March, we don’t think of big summer blockbuster movies, but that’s not stopping studios from releasing some huge movies this month. Honestly, this March is stacked with huge movies. But which ones do you see? Here’s the movies that I think you should see or skip in March.
See: Beauty and the Beast. March 17th
Disney has gone all-in on their live action remakes, and they’ve been hit or miss. It all started in 2010 when Disney released Alice in Wonderland. The film garnered mixed reviews, but made over one billion dollars worldwide (Box Office Mojo), and opened the floodgates for Disney to start cranking out live action remakes of their classic movies. The first to follow it was Maleficent, and it like Alice in Wonderland made a lot of money while receiving mediocre reviews. However, Disney started to hit their remaking stride with the releases of Cinderella and The Jungle Book. Both continued the pattern of being huge box office draws, while bucking the trend of mixed reviews. Both films were praised for their fresh takes on the old stories. So when it comes to Disney’s live action remakes, they have two misses, two hits, and Pete’s Dragon which wasn’t that popular, but still received good reviews.
Where does that leave Beauty and the Beast? Well it certainly has buzz around it. The trailers look incredible, showing an inspired and fresh take on the 1991 classic. The design of the set looks stunning and the CGI looks excellent. Add in an all-star cast with the likes of Emma Watson who was born to play belle, Dan Stevens who seems to be a great beast, Sir Ian McKellen who always puts forth a classy performance, Oscar-winner Emma Thompson, and an amazing supporting cast of Ewan McGregor, Luke Evens, Josh Gad, and of course Stanley Tucci. This is going to be one biggest movies of not only March, but the whole year, so I wouldn’t miss it.
See: Logan, March 3rd
We’re dead in the middle of a comic book film renaissance. Over the past decade and a half super heroes have dominated cinemas, and when you look at the year’s biggest movies a comic book movie is bound to be on the list (probably a few). Some of the biggest complaints about the tidal wave of comic book movies is that there’s too many, or they’re all the same. However, Logan looks to shake up the genre. After the enormous success of Deadpool, Fox decided to take a chance and make their next X-Men movie, Logan and make it rated R. Reviews are out and the film is being praised for its intense and violent action. Wolverine fans are saying that it’s the action we’ve waiting to see from this super hero for years.
The film follows an older and deteriorating Wolverine as he cares for Charles (Professor X) in a semi-dystopian future where mutants have been wiped out. But along comes a young mutant named Laura who is being pursued by dark forces. Reviewers are saying that it is so much more than a comic book film. Rather, it’s a great character study that even presents commentary on the comic book genre. If you’re not big on comic book movies, don’t worry. Anyone will be able to see Logan and find something to enjoy the film. There’s the action, the great characters, and you don’t need to have seen any of the X-Men films to understand Logan. But Logan’s biggest draw is that this is Hugh Jackman’s last performance as the character he launched into the mainstream. Jackman has been playing Wolverine for 17 years, and now it’s hard to see anyone else play the role but him. If for no other reason, you should see Logan to watch Hugh Jackman hang up the claws.
Skip: Power Rangers, March 24th
I am attempting to put my nostalgia aside for this one because I loved watching Power Rangers as a kid. That said the film doesn’t look too promising. What made the original TV show work was its campy tone, and its ridiculous fight scenes, stories, and characters. The film however looks like it’s taking itself very seriously. This is a problem because it seems that the people involved in making the movie don’t fully understand what made the original Power Rangers show so beloved. It seems that from the trailers they’ve subbed out the campiness in favor of some pretty poor comedy. Other than that, the film looks like Chronicle with Power Rangers, and I just don’t think that’s the right tone for a Power Rangers film.
See: Kong: Skull Island, March 10th
King Kong is a cinema icon, so anytime he’s in a movie it’s a big deal. This version however, is going to be a different take on the legendary beast. This version is said to be man’s first encounter with Kong, as a group of explorers and soldiers set course to an uncharted island that just so happens to be the home of King Kong himself. This film is actually set in the same universe as 2014’s Godzilla, and this will lead to an eventual movie pitting King Kong and Godzilla against each other. Now my biggest problem with 2014’s Godzilla was that it forgot that it was a Godzilla movie. It spent too much time on the humans when their story wasn’t the one that we cared about. Godzilla was barely even in the film. However, that’s not going to be the case for Kong: Skull Island. The director has come out and said that they won’t be hiding Kong like they did in Godzilla. He assured us that Kong will be the front and center of this film. I’m confident in this film because it seems that they’ve learned from the mistakes they’ve made in Godzilla and have worked to fix them in Kong: Skull Island.
Consider seeing: The Belko Experiment, March 17th
This March is a little light on horror movies. The only high-profile horror film this month is The Belko Experiment. I said, “consider seeing” because this film is a hard one to call. The film is about an office building that becomes the center of the world’s worst social experiment. The employees are ordered to kill each other in order to keep themselves alive. The premise is extremely interesting, and the trailer gives off a Cabin in the Woods kind of vibe. However, what concerns me are the reviews that are out. They are very polarizing. The positive reviews claim that the film is fun, exciting, and a self-aware guilty pleasure. On the other hand, the negative reviews state that it is overly violent, and relays on its violence to entertain the audience. If that is a deal breaker for you, then skip The Belko Experiment. If it isn’t and it sounds like your kind of film, you should have fun.
Wait until reviews: Life, March 24th
This also a hard film to call. The trailer, premise, and cast have me interested. It follows a group of astronauts that find life on Mars. Little do they know that the lifeform is dangerous and will attempt to kill them all. It stars Rebecca Ferguson, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Ryan Reynolds who are all just great actors. The trailer looks great too. It shows some potentially terrifying and tense scenes. If the film is good, we could have a great outer space thriller like Alien. However, I could see this film easily falling flat because of the director, Daniel Espinosa. He’s done some mediocre films in the past, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can pull off something great with Life.
