It was raining sequels

HOLLYWOOD BIGGIES

While this year hasn’t seen Hollywood at its strongest, it has, however, seen it come up with movies that are visually a treat.

Be it Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey in ‘Interstellar’ or Angelina Jolie in ‘Maleficent’, audiences have not been disappointed with what they have got. The year began with an unexpected surprise in the form of ‘Boyhood’, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

The coming-of-age drama, starring Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater and Ethan Hawke, didn’t release in theatres till July but had the audiences waiting for its arrival. Shot over a period of 12 years, director Richard Linklater showcased the growth of a young boy and his sister.

There were also other releases like ‘RoboCop’, a reboot of a classic, which fared well at the box office and ‘I, Frankenstein’, starring Aaron Eckhart and Bill Nighy, which failed to impress its viewers.

Harsh, a movie-buff, says, “‘Boyhood’ is the greatest movie I have seen till now and I will consider myself lucky if I ever get to see anything better. While there have been similar experiments (Michael Apted, Satyajit Ray and even the Harry Potter films to an extent), watching such growth in the span of a single film is a different experience altogether.”

‘The Lego Movie’ exceeded all expectations when it hit a home run at the box office. While the budget for the movie was a measly $60 million, it earned a whopping $468.1 million. Movies like ‘300: Rise of an Empire’, ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’, ‘Rio 2’ and ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ followed in its  footsteps.

The Marvel Studios film went gone on to become one of the highest grossing films of the year. Yet it was nowhere close to being as popular as ‘The Avengers’, which released in 2012.
 
In the months to follow, films like ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’, ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’, ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’, ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ and ‘Maleficent’ made their way to the screen.

While Andrew Garfield made it clear that he is the new Spidey, people’s love for Tobey Macguire was highlighted as the movie couldn’t break the record held by ‘Spiderman 3’, which is the highest grossing film in the franchise. 

However, ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ and ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’ seem to have hit the right chords with movie-buffs, having outdone their ‘predecessors’.

This year saw many sequels hitting the screens like ‘22 Jump Street’ and ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’. There were films like ‘Horrible Bosses 2’, ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1’ and ‘Annabelle’ which were anticipated by all.

With ‘Horrible Bosses’ being one of the funniest films, the sequel was hardly as infectious. And this installment of ‘The Hunger Games’ series wasn’t as captivating as the first two. Unlike ‘The Conjuring’, ‘Annabelle’ failed to scare anyone, not even the critics!

But the most anticipated of sequel of them all was ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ — after 13 years, Tolkien’s stories would be coming to an end. However, Winona, a student, says she was disappointed with the movie because it was an attempt to cater to the ‘Lord of the Rings’ fans rather than stay true to the books.

Christopher Nolan, who never ceases to amaze, added his contribution in the form of ‘Interstellar’, which left everyone talking about it for days. Another movie that left a mark on people was ‘Gone Girl’. 

There have been some ‘controversial’ movies this year as well, like ‘The Interview’ and ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’, which has been banned in Morocco and Egypt for its ‘historical inaccuracies’.

Overall, the movies have been, “Thrilling and action-packed, with a good storyline. They have been engaging throughout,” ends Winona.