Agent Palmer

It’s 2015, Happy New Year! As 2014 came to a close, I coined it the “Year of the Trailer.” With that being the case, there must be movies in 2015 worth seeing.

So, in the interest of maintaining 2014 as the “Year of the Trailer,” here are 15 movies that you should see in 2015. They run the gamut from adult to children’s movies, action and adventure, reboots, continuations, and, of course, comic book movies.

The movies in the following list are in order by their release date.

Blackhat opens on January 16, where Chris Hemsworth trades in his hammer and cape to become a free man, released from prison to help the Americans and Chinese track down and stop a cyber criminal. The trailer doesn’t give much away, but this seems to have the feel of Swordfish. And if it’s remotely close to that, it will start a new question… Who is the better hacker… Wolverine or Thor?

Although, I’m not personally clamoring to see this next movie, any 2015 movie list wouldn’t be complete without Fifty Shades of Grey, which comes out the day before Valentine’s Day on February 13. Based on the best-selling novels by E. L. James, this very sexual charged series will hit the big screen in a huge way. I expect it to do well.

Also coming out February 13 is Kingsman: The Secret Service. Could this be the first movie to spawn the first 11 months of 2015 as the “Year of the Spy” culminating with SPECTRE, the next Bond film? The film is about a veteran agent who takes a young upstart under is wing. One of the two godfathers of the spy film genre is in the film; Michael Caine of the Harry Palmer film series. With a cast that further includes Colin Firth and Taron Egerton, I have high expectations.

What happens when a preternaturally gifted robot prodigy becomes adopted in a dysfunctional family? On March 6, we’ll find out with the release of Chappie. This movie may be science fiction, but computers are getting smarter, so this glimpse into a sort of emotional robot appears to be an interesting “what if” scenario. And as technology advances we could be moving this movie from science fiction to science fact.

Next up is the highly anticipated Avengers: Age of Ultron on May 1. Marvel’s dominance over the box office has been a mainstay since Iron Man, and this followup to the very successful Avengers will be something that further propels the Marvel Cinematic Universe into Marvel’s Phase Three. Honestly, this was one of the three trailers that almost broke the internet and social media in 2014, so I’m not the only one excited for it.

What would a summer be without an Armageddon movie? It seems as though every few years Hollywood decides to destroy the world with some type of natural disaster and this summer is no different. San Andreas comes out May 29, featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and a massive earthquake. The only thing that I’m curious about is how this movie will do on its own. Let’s face it, these movies usually come out in pairs… Armageddon and Deep Impact anyone?

Another trailer that broke the internet in 2014 was the one for Jurassic World, the long awaited return to the island of engineered dinosaurs. What could possibly go wrong? Well, from the trailer we know that plenty can and will go wrong, but we knew that from the book and from the first three movies. Still, I’m excited to go back to Isla Nublar and so are a lot of people. The movie comes out June 12 and I expect it to do very well… It may even break box office records that could be set by Avengers: Age of Ultron, but it will only be on top until December. That’s my guess anyway.

Frank Martin and his rules are back in The Transporter Legacy on June 19. Ed Skrein takes over the title role from Jason Statham and I’m intrigued at the idea of watching a reboot of this series. It was only in 2002 when the first Transporter came out, but the number one technology utilized in the movie, cars, has changed, so it’ll be interesting to see what Frank is driving these days. Just expect great driving, kung fu, and some big guns and you won’t be disappointed.

On a lighter note, those lovable little yellow guys from Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2 are getting their very own movie on July 10 with Minions. I’m not sure what to expect, but your kids and your inner child will probably want to see this movie. And if the writing is as good as it was in the Despicable Me movies, there will be plenty of humor in their for adults in addition to the childish humor of the minions themselves.

Marvel isn’t just releasing one movie in 2015, Avengers will be joined in the Marvel Cinematic releases by Ant-Man on July 17. This is exciting because we will be seeing not one but two future Avengers in Ant-Man and Wasp. I can assume both will play heavily into Phase Three as Civil War comes into play, but it’s still exciting to those fans who actually know that Ant-Man was one of the original Avengers. Also, with Marvel’s post credit track record, this being the final feature film before Captain America: Civil War, the post credit scene will be something to stay in your seat for.

On August 14, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. will reboot a series that hasn’t had a new episode since January 15, 1968 on NBC. Going back to the 1960’s, CIA agent Napoleon Solo and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin will go on a joint mission. With Bond back in top form, it’s only natural other spy thrillers will come back to the big screen, and this is one that is so far underground, many don’t even know of it’s existence. In case you are wondering U.N.C.L.E. is an acronym for United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.

We’re going back to Everest in 2015, with a movie simply titled Everest coming out September 18. If you’ve read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer or you’ve seen the Everest Imax movie, both are good representations of the tragic events on the mountain during the spring of 1996. Everest is going to take us back to relive the tragedy, yet again. I thoroughly enjoyed Krakauer’s book, and I saw the Imax movie years ago, so I’m intrigued as to what new angle or retelling of the tragedy could come from this scripted interpretation.

What do Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds are Forever all have in common? They all feature Spectre or henchmen of the evil organization. So Bond fans were very excited to learn that the next Daniel Craig bond film with be aptly titled Spectre. Coming out November 11, this fourth Daniel Craig James Bond film will be something special, especially since the head of Spectre, Blofeld, is back, and I’m sure his cat will be back with him.

There is a Friday the 13th in November and that is the release day of the next Friday the 13th movie. It’s still in development and not much is known about it, other than the release day and the return of Jason, but let’s face it, a reboot of this series is due. Some of the latter sequels weren’t quite that good, so a reboot may even be overdue.

The long awaited return to a galaxy far far away starts on December 18 with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Whatever broken shards of the Internet remained following the Avengers and Jurassic World trailers were shattered when the Star Wars teaser trailer dropped. It could be pure anticipation, but I think it’s more about the core of returning to the Star Wars universe, with a hopeful trust that this next trilogy will surpass the Prequels. We’ll find out in December.

I’m also looking forward to The Search for General Tso (1/2) about the origins of the popular American Chinese food; Furious 7 (4/3), the next in the Fast and the Furious series; Mad Max’s return in Mad Max: Fury Road (5/15); Spy (5/22), a spy comedy; Pixels (7/24) about gamers recruited by the military to fight 1980’s video game characters; another Fantastic Four (8/7) reboot; and the return of one of our favorite monsters in Victor Frankenstein (10/2).

In conclusion, there is something for everyone at the cinema in 2015. Whether you care or not about the series and franchises that are coming out in 2015, you will be hearing a lot about them. 2016’s slate looks slightly interesting as well. Now, however, is the time for 2015 to shine and it appears Hollywood will be taking 2015 to the bank, with interest.