March Keeps the Movie Momentum

After an amazing February, it’s hard to imagine how Hollywood could keep up with the excitement that “Black Panther” brought to the big screen. That said, March isn’t short on the excitement, and there’s something for just about everyone. Whether you’re a fan of remakes or ready to step into a whole new world, we’ve got the movies to see this month.

Death Wish

March 2

“Hostile” director Eli Roth heads up this remake of the classic revenge film about a war veteran with a one-man vendetta on crime after the brutal murder of his wife. Bruce Willis takes on the role of Paul Kersey, once famously portrayed by Charles Bronson, and headlines the film with a fairly well rounded ensemble. Whether a remake of “Death Wish” can be convincingly pulled off and marketed to the mainstream in today’s climate has yet to be seen, but if nothing else, it would appear that the talent is definitely in place to allow it to happen.

A Wrinkle in Time

March 9

Madeline L’Engle’s 1962 Young Adult science fiction novel receives the big screen treatment courtesy of Disney and “Selma” and “13th” director Ava DuVernay. Meg Murray’s journey across time and space to rescue her father is set to feature a rather unique visual flare that fits with the very surreal nature of the book’s very abstract concepts based in realms of theoretical physics and metaphysics. Although time will tell if the Disney can successfully sell this to the masses beyond the children still reading this book as required school reading today, DuVernay’s track record is nothing to scoff at and was undoubtedly  a major factor in earning her this project; a project that will make her the first African American woman to helm a live action film with a budget over $100 million, as well as being the second woman to do so period after Patty Jenkins’ successful outing with “Wonder Woman” last summer.

Tomb Raider

March 16

Lara Croft is back in a film adaptation taking inspiration from the 2013 reboot of the famous video game adventure series. This installation portrays the titular tomb raider on a mission to discover what her father’s final expedition set out to uncover before his untimely death. While video game movies have had an infamously bad go of things, law of averages would dictate we’ll get one done right eventually. Right?

Pacific Rim: Uprising

March 23

Sequel to 2013’s specific Rim, John Boyega and Scott Eastwood lead a group of you giant robot pilots against a returning invasion of giant monsters to end a coming apocalypse before it gets under way. If ever you were looking to relive days of being a kid waking up to watch Saturday morning cartoons, this may very well be up your alley. The first film was a financial underperformer, leaving “Uprising” with a bit of a chip on its shoulder but it has John Boyega, giant monsters, and weaponized giant robot with sword arms. How badly can this really go wrong?

Ready Player One

March 29

Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ernest Cline’s science fiction novel boasts a multitude of flash special effects and geeky Easter eggs and niche pop culture references that definitely give it a certain vibe of uniqueness over its competition. Will the actual story itself about a Willy Wonka-esque hunt for the inheritance of the ubiquitous virtual reality internet enabled network called the Oasis manage to rise above its gimmicks to make them more than mere pandering? Who’s to say, but Spielberg is definitely a safer roll of the dice than several alternatives.

Acrimony

March 29

Tyler Perry’s 18th directorial outing, separated from the projects related to his Madea character and stage shows, “Acrimony” stars Taraji P. Henson as a woman driven to a breaking point by a crumbling marriage to her husband. While Perry is certainly no stranger to dramatic plots within his work, “Acrimony’s” darker tone akin to that of a thriller stands distinctly from nearly all of his usual work. We’ll find out if this little experiment shows some sort of growth in his craft by the end of the month.

Bonus: Red Sparrow

March 2

You can already check out our review of this movie, because we saw it early, but in case you want to go in with a fresh perspective, This spy thriller follows a Russian spy as she begins to bond with a CIA officer a little bit beyond her training and gets trapped in an internal struggle between her allegiance to her country and her heart’s desire. Director Francis Lawrence of “Hunger Games: Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay” fame reunites with Jennifer Lawrence to lead an ensemble cast in a spy movie based on the novel of the same name by a former CIA operative.