2012 blockbusters to check out

Batman – The Dark Knight Rises: It is a big surprise that such a commercial movie is on so many lists from worshiping critics. Make a good sequel after Batman – The Dark Knight, the offering that held an amazing plot and made Heath Ledger’s Joker one of the most iconic villains ever, was definitively a huge challenge. But Christopher Nolan and David Goyer kept up with the good work and brought to Batman – The Dark Knight Rises an exciting and strong story, including interesting characters (a.k.a. Catwoman, played by talented Anne Hathaway and Bane, played by the new sensation Tom Hardy). The story happens eight years after Harvey Dent’s death, which Batman is considered guilty for, when Gotham is in a moment of peace. Batman is “retired,” and Bruce Wayne also escaped from society, keeping himself in his house all the time. What brings them back in action is the creepy villain Bane. Looking for a vendetta against Batman, he intends to bring chaos and fear back to the city, and he is very successful. The movie, full of action all the time, also counts on Catwoman, that like in the comics, makes the spectator doubtful about her role as a villain or as a hero, and the cop John Blake, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, that ends up becoming one of the key characters. From the beginning to the end, the story has an abundance of suspense and relevant sequences. One can always expect a lot from Christopher Nolan and his crew, but this movie was outstanding, even superheroic.

Life of Pi: Director Ang Lee comes up with another great production. Life of Pi is a beautiful visual spectacle with a touching story about friendship and faith. It is a strong bet to the Oscars this year. Some wonder if this movie will be as successful as Slumdog Millionaire, since both are Indian. It tells the story of a boy, Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel, whose family owned a zoo in India and decides to go to Canada, sell the animals there, and begin a new life. They go through a big storm during the trip, and the ship where the family and all of the animals were, sinks. Only Pi, a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a tiger called Richard Parker survive. The director made sure not to have well known actors in the cast so the audience will focus only on the story. It got three nominations for the Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture, Best Director and Best Original Score.

Lincoln: It is impossible to ignore such a strong story. The movie, based on the book “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln,” shows President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War fighting against slavery. Steven Spielberg directs it with less melodrama than usual, even with the discussions that the plot offers, which are being compared to a very current topic: same-sex marriage. Though neither a masterpiece nor remarkably faithful to the actual facts, one can notice Spielberg’s good intentions, and the movie is the perfect recipe to win several Academy Awards. Daniel Day-Lewis’s incredible performance definitely makes him the most probable winner for the Best Actor in a Leading Role. For the Golden Globes, it has seven nominations: Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture – Drama, Best Performance By An Actor In A Support Role In a Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Original Score and Best Motion Picture.

Django Unchained: The name behind the movie is already a good reason to check it over. After the great Inglorious Bastards, Quentin Tarantino is back with a whole different plot and another strong story full of his characteristic eccentric sense of humor and, of course, a lot of action. Django is a slave whose dark past with his owners leads him to meet Dr. King Schultz, a German doctor looking for two murderers. Once he finds out that Django is the only person that can actually help him, he buys him under the promise of setting him free after they accomplish the task. Django, on the other hand, is only worried about rescuing his wife, who was bought a long time ago for other people. Both start an entertaining friendship along the sequence, while Schultz teaches Django how to be a free man, for example. As usual in Tarantino productions, the movie carries a strong cast, staring the always surprising Jamie Foxx as Django and Christopher Waltz as the good guy time this time There’s also Leonardo DiCaprio as the villain Calvin Candie and Samuel L. Jackson as Candie’s slave. It has five chances to take a Golden Globe this year, being nominated for Best Motion Picture, Best Performance By An Actor In a Supporting Role for DiCaprio and Waltz, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

The Hobbit: After nine years since his last work with Tolkien’s trilogy, The Lord Of The Rings, Peter Jackson came back to give life to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Without a doubt, it was one of the year’s most expected movies, if not the most. The story that happened before The Lord Of The Rings has Bilbo Baggins as the main character, who is taken by Gandalf the Grey to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Some old character are present too, like Gollum, played by the amazing Andy Serkis, and Galadriel, played by the also always enchanting Cate Blanchett. Like in The Lord Of The Rings, Jackson kept up with the strong visuals effects that gave him the Oscar for the whole trilogy, but he had to drastically reduce the story. This time the movie comes with more humor and adventure, even being a little bit exaggerated, like the character Radagast, played by Sylvester McCoy, who is an important element for the plot, but ends up being grotesque in many ways. In general, The Hobbit works as well as the Lord Of The Rings in the hands of it’s good director, but this time he may not get as many prizes as the he got for the last three movies, which would be a big challenge anyway since The Return of the King is one the most awarded movies of all time, winning the 11 Oscar nominations including Best Picture. It is worth the ticket!