Popcorn’s guide to the month’s biggest movies
From badass secret agents to family friendly animations, this month has it all. Here's The Sun's film critic Jamie East with the inside scoop
FINDING DORY Released July 29
Tagline An unforgettable journey she probably won’t remember.
Certificate U
Directed by Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane
Cast Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O’Neill
Plot summary Everyone’s favourite blue tang attempts to reunite with her family, despite only having a 10-second memory. Set a year after Finding Nemo (the 2003 film that Dory damn near stole from her clownfish chums), the plot would seem to be a neat reversal of that first film: this time it’s the child attempting to track down their parents.
Expect a slew of fast, funny jokes, a good chance of tears and a host of superb supporting characters – and get ready for the inevitable marketing barrage. It’s what summer holidays were made for, right?
Excitement level 4
Jamie’s low-down With incredible visuals, colours and performances, Finding Dory has already become the highest-grossing animation on its opening weekend in the US. Everything is pointing to this catching up with runaway hit Zootropolis. Pixar triumphs again!
SUICIDE SQUAD Released August 5
Tagline Worst. Heroes. Ever.
Certificate TBC
Directed by David Ayer
Cast Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Will Smith, Cara Delevingne
Plot summary The latest big-screen adaptation of a much-loved comic franchise comes with a killer twist: our heroes are actually an elite team of supervillains. In this first of what will surely be a series of blockbusters, a secret government agency gives a bunch of incarcerated baddies – including Will Smith’s cool and lethal assassin Deadshot and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn – a chance to redeem themselves by taking on dangerous black-ops missions on their behalf. Jared Leto plays the role of the clown-faced psychopath Joker, and Batman also makes an appearance.
If it’s anything like as smart, funny, violent and sexy as the original comics, it should make for a roller-coaster ride – and could catapult Robbie firmly on to the Hollywood A-list… as well as a billion teenage boys’ bedroom walls. Oh, and look out for Brit Cara Delevingne playing Enchantress – “an ancient evil force”.
Excitement level 5
Jamie’s low-down Every single person I know is salivating over this – I can’t remember a time when so much was riding on one film. After the (slightly unfair) lacklustre response to Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad is carrying a lot on its shoulders. Thankfully, trailers, pictures and titbits released indicate this is going to be the film of the year. I certainly hope so.
STAR TREK BEYOND Released July 22
Certificate 12A
Directed by Justin Lin
Cast Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Idris Elba, Anton Yelchin
Plot summary It’s been 50 years since the original Star Trek series debuted, and in this, the 13th film in the franchise – and the third since its 2009 reboot – our boldly going heroes are in the usual sort of trouble. Halfway into their mission, the USS Enterprise gets attacked and the crew are forced to abandon ship, then find themselves stranded on a mysterious planet with an even more mysterious enemy.
With ChrisPine and Zachary Quinto once again at the helm, Idris Elba joining the cast and Simon Pegg taking over writing duties, it promises all you’d expect from a Star Trek film – and that’s a good thing, isn’t it?
Excitement level 3
Jamie’s low-down While I’m unsure how many times we need to see the Enterprise get destroyed, there’s no doubting the power of this latest incarnation, which, on its third outing, shows no sign of letting up. And this film has added Idris! A fitting tribute to Anton Yelchin (Chekov), who died last month.
GHOSTBUSTERS Out now
Tagline Who you gonna call?
Certificate 12A
Directed by Paul Feig
Cast Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Chris Hemsworth
Plot summary A pair of authors – the brilliant Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy – claim ghosts are real, much to the scorn of their peers, but when Manhattan finds itself in the grip of a full-on supernatural invasion led by a terrifying demon, who do you think they’ll call?
Spoiler: it’s not Dan Ackroyd or Bill Murray (although they do make cameos), but rather Wiig and McCarthy, who join forces with a nuclear engineer played by Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones’ smart-mouthed subway worker to, well, bust dem ghosts. Look out for more of the original cast popping up, plus – perhaps scariest of them all – Ozzy Osbourne, playing himself.
Excitement level 3
Jamie’s low-down This reboot has had so much written about the fact that women are playing the lead roles, you’d be forgiven for thinking we still live in the dark ages. But I’m going to judge this on its comic merits – it’s Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, for goodness sake. Now, let’s get slimed.
JASON BOURNE Released July 29
Tagline You know his name.
Certificate TBC
Directed by Paul Greengrass
Cast Matt Damon, Alicia Vikander, Julia Stiles, Tommy Lee Jones
Plot summary Still classified, and the trailer relies heavily on scenes from the previous movies, but it’s a fair bet that the fifth film in the franchise will centre around the mysterious Jason Bourne being reluctantly pulled from anonymity once more in order to avenge his past/save the world. Crucially, it’s the return of the ever-excellent Matt Damon in the title role following Jeremy Renner’s 2012 turn in Bourne Legacy.
Oh, and there’s a good chance a group of shadowy government bad guys will be hunting Bourne with the intention of silencing him forever. But who cares if the plot’s a little familiar – Damon’s back as Bourne! That means thrilling action sequences, searing chases and, above all, some very fine acting. “Remembering everything doesn’t mean you know everything,” as Julia Stiles’ Nicky so cryptically puts it.
Excitement level 4
Jamie’s low-down Bourne was responsible for reinventing the secret-agent genre, so it will be interesting to see if it can up its game nine years after the original trilogy ended. Damon is stacked and Alicia Vikander is one of the hottest stars on screen at the moment, so I’m expecting great things here.
THE BFG Released July 12
Tagline The world is more giant than you can imagine.
Certificate PG
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Cast Mark Rylance, Rebecca Hall, Bill Hader
Plot summary If you’ve read the Roald Dahl book, you’ll know lonely Sophie meets a gentle giant ostracised by his kin thanks to a refusal to eat children. Adventures ensue, until only a royal intervention can help them escape the baddies.
What makes this special? Well, not only does Steven Spielberg direct, but with Mark Rylance in the title role plus Disney behind it, everything points to brilliance.
Excitement level 4
Jamie’s low-down Two great storytellers, Dahl and Spielberg, join forces to make us laugh, cry and revisit our childhoods. It can only be good.
ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE Out now
Tagline One small step. One giant mess.
Certificate U
Directed by Mike Thurmeier, Galen T Chu
Cast Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary
Plot summary In the latest thrilling instalment from the people who brought us Ice Age: Continental Drift, Ice Age: Dawn of The Dinosaurs and at least a couple other Ice Age films, Scrat is still looking for that acorn, only now he’s somehow found himself in space and has inadvertently put the entire planet at risk of destruction.
Can his mates save the day? Well, what do you think? There have now been five films in the series, believe it or not… and it’s starting to feel like the actual Ice Age might not have lasted as long. Still, the school holidays are underway and it’s one less afternoon for you to think of something to do with the kids, right?
Excitement level 2
Jamie’s low-down I can’t say I’m salivating too much at the thought of another Ice Age, but admittedly they usually come full of laughs and fun set pieces. Seriously, though, just give the poor sod the acorn so we can all move on.
PETE'S DRAGON Released August 12
Tagline Some secrets are too big to keep.
Certificate PG
Directed by David Lowery
Cast Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, Karl Urban
Plot summary A 10-year-old orphan called Pete (played with assurance by young Oakes Fegley) goes on some fun adventures with his best mate Elliott – who is a bloody big dragon. You can’t imagine the grown-ups being too chuffed with that. Except there’s more to this tale than kids (and dragons) versus the boring adult world.
Look out for Robert Redford giving a twinkly star turn as an old wood carver with a fairly sizeable dragon-related secret of his own and Bryce Dallas Howard as his forest- ranger daughter. Something tells us it’s all going to be OK in the end.
Excitement level 3
Jamie’s low-down A remake of the unfairly overlooked 1970s classic has all the makings of a success, but is its premise too similar to The BFG to find its own space? Although, if kids like dragons as much as us Game-of-Thrones-loving grown-ups, it should be fine.