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From USA Today....
Things that go boom at the box office
In the winter, sleigh bells are ringing. In the summertime, it's ears. USA TODAY takes a look at some of this season's most explosive new films and the havoc they plan to unleash on moviegoers.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May 1)
20th Century Fox
Hugh Jackman returns as everybody's favorite adamantium-clawed mutant in this look back at the snarling, cigar-chomping, Elvis-haired hero and how he came to be through Canada's Weapon X human experiments. (Finally, some Canuck villainy.) Other characters from his Marvel sphere of story lines include Liev Schreiber as Sabertooth, Taylor Kitsch as Gambit and Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool.
Standout scene: A clash of the mutants at none other than nuclear site Three Mile Island, which leads to a much bigger cataclysm than any China Syndrome.
Star Trek (May 8)
Paramount
Captain Kirk, Spock and space surgeon Bones McCoy ("Dammit, Jim! I'm a doctor, not a _!") return in the visages of Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban, respectively, in this big-budget, sexed-up version of the original series, with Lost and Alias' J.J. Abrams at the helm. The film goes where William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy have gone before, sort of. It takes the Enterprise crew on a sleeker adventure, in the hopes of reviving the franchise.
Standout scene: The opening black-hole-adjacent clash between a Federation starship and a thorny, gargantuan Romulan warship, all playing out amid the birth of one of the franchise's main characters. Ever want to see one of those Star Trek ships ram an enemy destroyer at full speed? Hold on to your pointy ears.
Terminator Salvation (May 21)
Warner Bros.
John Connor, chased by robots from the future throughout his childhood, has finally made it to the point in 2018 when he irritates humanity's mechanical overlords enough for them to try to go back and kill him in the past. In this McG-directed fourth installment, Christian Bale stars as Connor, and Anton Yelchin co-stars as fellow refugee fighter Kyle Reese, who grows up to be the Sarah Connor saving/loving hero Michael Biehn played in 1984's original Terminator— who, as everybody now knows, turned out to be Connor's father during that foray into the past. Confused yet? Just remember — it's time travel, so hasta la vista, baby.
Standout scene: A land, air and water firefight chase as the human heroes flee a seemingly deserted gas station while being chased by rolling Moto-Terminators on the roads, flying Hunter-Killer drones in the sky and Hydrobots in the water as the good guys plunge down into a canyon while besieged by rocket fire.
Land of the Lost (June 5)
Universal
You know the story, especially if you grew up in the '70s. Just sing the theme song from the cheesy Sid & Marty Kroft kids show: "Marshall, Will and Holly/ On a routine expedition/ Met the grea-test earthquake/ ever known … " And from there they plunge into a parallel dimension where they are menaced by Sleestak lizard people, a Tyrannosaurus rex named Grumpy and a furry little guy called Chaka, who is supposed to be friendly, but maybe not this time. Expect this version, starring Will Ferrell, Danny McBride and Anna Friel, to have a more overtly comedic sensibility than the very kitschy show.
Standout scene: The earthquake. In the old show it looked pretty lousy, but this one needs to measure up to the old banjo theme song and tear open a hole in the Earth for our heroes to tumble into. Exploding volcanoes, hungry dinosaurs and bizarre glowing crystals add to the rumbling fury.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (June 26)
Paramount/DreamWorks
Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and the remaining earthbound Autobots do battle with a new gang of visiting, villainous Decepticons, here to harness energy and reconnect with their ancient leader The Fallen. Needless to say, those goals also involve annihilating the human race. This time, the villains include Soundwave and the robotic jaguar Ravage, and the Autobots get female Arcee, who takes the form of a pink motorcycle. Michael Bay directs.
Standout scene: A climactic battle filmed at the real Pyramids of Giza. Devastator — a giant Decepticon built out of seven other robots — tromps across the ancient monuments as he is barraged with bullets from an international military fighting force. Don't make him angry..
here's a pic of Arcee
The Hurt Locker (June 26)
Summit Entertainment
Jeremy Renner stars as a bomb disarmer in Iraq, who shocks his friends and colleagues with his fearlessness in deadly situations — but that may be a sign of a psychological breakdown and addiction to danger.
Standout scene: The daredevil defuser faces down an Iraqi suicide bomber who has tearfully changed his mind, but there isn't time to get the padlocks off all the explosives strapped to his body. The man is begging to be saved, but if the soldier tries, it'll be an unhappy ending for both of them. It's one of those rare summer explosions aimed at the heart, not to be cheered over.
GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Aug. 7)
Paramount
The fighting squad known as GI Joe, based on the Hasbro toys and comic books, heads into battle against a terrorist organization known as Cobra, which is bent on world domination. Channing Tatum stars as Joe-leader Duke, Rachel Nichols as the flame-haired Scarlet and Ray Park (Darth Maul) as the silent, faceless ninja commando Snake Eyes. Fans will be glad to know that this time the bad guys don't always escape by jumping out of their battle vehicles right before the rocket hits them, like in the after-school cartoon.
Standout scene: Cobra brings the pain. These bad guys don't sit around their lair waiting to be found; they take the fight straight to GI Joe's secret underground fortress and lay waste to the good guys' home base in spectacular crashing-through-the-walls fashion.
Inglourious Basterds (Aug. 21)
The Weinstein Co.
A group of Jewish soldiers (Eli Roth, Samm Levine, B.J. Novak) are commissioned to strike fear in the Nazis by attacking their officers with special brutality and viciousness, collecting scalps for their Southern-fried chief (Brad Pitt). Expect a spectacle of gore; it's Quentin Tarantino's first war saga, and Roth made the brutal Hostel films.
Standout scene: In a key opening sequence, Nazis storm a quiet French farmhouse and cruelly lay waste to dozens of cowering refugees in a firefight that sets off Tarantino's bullet-riddled revenge saga.
In the winter, sleigh bells are ringing. In the summertime, it's ears. USA TODAY takes a look at some of this season's most explosive new films and the havoc they plan to unleash on moviegoers.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May 1)
20th Century Fox
Hugh Jackman returns as everybody's favorite adamantium-clawed mutant in this look back at the snarling, cigar-chomping, Elvis-haired hero and how he came to be through Canada's Weapon X human experiments. (Finally, some Canuck villainy.) Other characters from his Marvel sphere of story lines include Liev Schreiber as Sabertooth, Taylor Kitsch as Gambit and Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool.
Standout scene: A clash of the mutants at none other than nuclear site Three Mile Island, which leads to a much bigger cataclysm than any China Syndrome.
Star Trek (May 8)
Paramount
Captain Kirk, Spock and space surgeon Bones McCoy ("Dammit, Jim! I'm a doctor, not a _!") return in the visages of Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban, respectively, in this big-budget, sexed-up version of the original series, with Lost and Alias' J.J. Abrams at the helm. The film goes where William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy have gone before, sort of. It takes the Enterprise crew on a sleeker adventure, in the hopes of reviving the franchise.
Standout scene: The opening black-hole-adjacent clash between a Federation starship and a thorny, gargantuan Romulan warship, all playing out amid the birth of one of the franchise's main characters. Ever want to see one of those Star Trek ships ram an enemy destroyer at full speed? Hold on to your pointy ears.
Terminator Salvation (May 21)
Warner Bros.
John Connor, chased by robots from the future throughout his childhood, has finally made it to the point in 2018 when he irritates humanity's mechanical overlords enough for them to try to go back and kill him in the past. In this McG-directed fourth installment, Christian Bale stars as Connor, and Anton Yelchin co-stars as fellow refugee fighter Kyle Reese, who grows up to be the Sarah Connor saving/loving hero Michael Biehn played in 1984's original Terminator— who, as everybody now knows, turned out to be Connor's father during that foray into the past. Confused yet? Just remember — it's time travel, so hasta la vista, baby.
Standout scene: A land, air and water firefight chase as the human heroes flee a seemingly deserted gas station while being chased by rolling Moto-Terminators on the roads, flying Hunter-Killer drones in the sky and Hydrobots in the water as the good guys plunge down into a canyon while besieged by rocket fire.
Land of the Lost (June 5)
Universal
You know the story, especially if you grew up in the '70s. Just sing the theme song from the cheesy Sid & Marty Kroft kids show: "Marshall, Will and Holly/ On a routine expedition/ Met the grea-test earthquake/ ever known … " And from there they plunge into a parallel dimension where they are menaced by Sleestak lizard people, a Tyrannosaurus rex named Grumpy and a furry little guy called Chaka, who is supposed to be friendly, but maybe not this time. Expect this version, starring Will Ferrell, Danny McBride and Anna Friel, to have a more overtly comedic sensibility than the very kitschy show.
Standout scene: The earthquake. In the old show it looked pretty lousy, but this one needs to measure up to the old banjo theme song and tear open a hole in the Earth for our heroes to tumble into. Exploding volcanoes, hungry dinosaurs and bizarre glowing crystals add to the rumbling fury.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (June 26)
Paramount/DreamWorks
Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and the remaining earthbound Autobots do battle with a new gang of visiting, villainous Decepticons, here to harness energy and reconnect with their ancient leader The Fallen. Needless to say, those goals also involve annihilating the human race. This time, the villains include Soundwave and the robotic jaguar Ravage, and the Autobots get female Arcee, who takes the form of a pink motorcycle. Michael Bay directs.
Standout scene: A climactic battle filmed at the real Pyramids of Giza. Devastator — a giant Decepticon built out of seven other robots — tromps across the ancient monuments as he is barraged with bullets from an international military fighting force. Don't make him angry..
here's a pic of Arcee
The Hurt Locker (June 26)
Summit Entertainment
Jeremy Renner stars as a bomb disarmer in Iraq, who shocks his friends and colleagues with his fearlessness in deadly situations — but that may be a sign of a psychological breakdown and addiction to danger.
Standout scene: The daredevil defuser faces down an Iraqi suicide bomber who has tearfully changed his mind, but there isn't time to get the padlocks off all the explosives strapped to his body. The man is begging to be saved, but if the soldier tries, it'll be an unhappy ending for both of them. It's one of those rare summer explosions aimed at the heart, not to be cheered over.
GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Aug. 7)
Paramount
The fighting squad known as GI Joe, based on the Hasbro toys and comic books, heads into battle against a terrorist organization known as Cobra, which is bent on world domination. Channing Tatum stars as Joe-leader Duke, Rachel Nichols as the flame-haired Scarlet and Ray Park (Darth Maul) as the silent, faceless ninja commando Snake Eyes. Fans will be glad to know that this time the bad guys don't always escape by jumping out of their battle vehicles right before the rocket hits them, like in the after-school cartoon.
Standout scene: Cobra brings the pain. These bad guys don't sit around their lair waiting to be found; they take the fight straight to GI Joe's secret underground fortress and lay waste to the good guys' home base in spectacular crashing-through-the-walls fashion.
Inglourious Basterds (Aug. 21)
The Weinstein Co.
A group of Jewish soldiers (Eli Roth, Samm Levine, B.J. Novak) are commissioned to strike fear in the Nazis by attacking their officers with special brutality and viciousness, collecting scalps for their Southern-fried chief (Brad Pitt). Expect a spectacle of gore; it's Quentin Tarantino's first war saga, and Roth made the brutal Hostel films.
Standout scene: In a key opening sequence, Nazis storm a quiet French farmhouse and cruelly lay waste to dozens of cowering refugees in a firefight that sets off Tarantino's bullet-riddled revenge saga.