Dateline Movies Countdown: Top Seven Most Anticipated Movies of 2017

Well another year has come to an end. And for this very interesting and fruitful year, we at Dateline Movies thank you for your endless support. It is, in fact, that because of your support, we managed to reach a total of two-hundred posts and counting! With 2017 already knocking on our doors, we feel it is best to take a look at what the succeeding year has in store for us, specifically movies. Join us here as we countdown our seven most awaited releases of 2017!

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7. Alien: Covenant (May 19, 2017)

For our first movie, we have the second installment in the Alien prequel film series, Alien: Covenant. Okay, okay, I will admit that the trailer does not particularly scream terror, and some people still have the sour taste left behind by Prometheus, but to be honest, Prometheus is really not that bad once you start to think about it. Sure it left some unanswered questions, but the movie still packed plenty of thrills and chills. And hopefully, the follow-up will be twice as better, and we might get to know a thing or two about the mysterious mythology of the Alien universe. With the original director of the first film, Ridley Scott, returning to helm the project, a screenplay by veteran scribe John Logan, a welcome return for Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace and Guy Pearce, and a warm introduction to newcomers Katherine Waterston, James Franco, Billy Crudup, Demián Bichir, Danny McBride, Jussie Smollett and Carmen Ejogo, as well as bag full of mysteries waiting to be solved, there is no reason why you should miss-out on Alien: Covenant. That is unless you are below sixteen of age, because of obvious reasons.

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6. War for the Planet of the Apes (July 14, 2017)

Tim Burton tried to remake one of the most important science-fiction film series in movie history, to negative results. Upon its release, people came to the conclusion that the Planet of the Apes franchise is simply left as it is at the time, but when Rise of the Planet of the Apes came out, audiences were blown away. When Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was released in cinemas, the expectations of moviegoers everywhere increased, as the films deviated away from the semi-medieval setting of past installments, and quickly embraced a much more contemporary approach, all the while preserving the same amount of thought-provoking social commentary the original films had. With War for the Planet of the Apes, it would appear that the reboot series has finally reached a tipping point. Everything that the previous two entries in the series is building up to this, war. A massive onslaught between the humanly intellectual primates, and the much more menacing human beings. With Andy Serkis returning to his spectacular traditional CGI acting roots, and the addition of Woody Harrelson as the main antagonist, War for the Planet of the Apes looks like a must see!

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5. John Wick: Chapter 2 (February 10, 2017)

In all honesty, the original John Wick lacked in terms of story, and it was pretty much a common case of the usual "style over substance" situation. But what it lacked in compelling storytelling, the movie completely made up in fascinatingly choreographed fight sequences, and a major comeback performance from the one and only Keanu Reeves. And now, it seems that the saga of John Wick is not yet done, as a second chapter is reported to be on the way. Here, John Wick must travel overseas, and instead of having his new dog killed by a bunch of former associates, he must come face-to-face with a multitude of assassins in the middle of a power struggle. The movie is made all the more exciting when you realize that Laurence Fishburne, Keanu Reeves' co-star in The Matrix Trilogy who played Morpheus, is set to reunite with Reeves as the movie's main villain. It is actually funnier when you learn that the movie's directors were once involved in The Matrix Trilogy as fight choreographers. Wait, is John Wick a Matrix spiritual sequel series?

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4. Wonder Woman (July 2, 2017)

After one passable Superman movie in the form of Man of Steel, and two completely debatable entries in both Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, many are already jumping to conclusions that the entire DC Extended Universe is a lost cause. However, while the franchise is admittedly rushing way too much, can we just say that the film series is just trying to find the right path? Yeah, the movies have had troubles with corporate meddling, but we cannot just say that there is no chance in heaven that the DCEU cannot be better. Just take a look at Wonder Woman, the first solo superhero movie to feature a female lead, which will star Gal Gadot as the titular heroine, who you might remember as one of the highlights of Batman v. Superman. With a cast and crew that is clearly passionate, from its director, Patty Jenkins, to the lead actress herself, we can pray that Wonder Woman could be the DCEU's chance to redeem itself. So far, the trailers look good. Let us hope that the movie is good too, and not just all hype like what has transpired for the two DCEU movies of 2016. Also, no more extended cuts, please Warner Bros.? We already payed for the tickets, so can we at least get the complete experience?

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3. Star Wars Episode VIII (December 15, 2017)

The prequel series nearly put the entire franchise to the grave because of its overuse of CGI, and surprisingly unfulfilling script work from Star Wars creator George Lucas. Last year, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, as well as the two animated versions of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, managed to revived the beloved space opera series with enough cinematic power to reintroduce itself to the more modern audiences. This year's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story continues to keep the fire going, complete with an unexpected grittier tone, and a whole new set of lovable characters. In 2017, we will get another entry in the sequel series in Looper director Rian Johnson's currently untitled eighth episode in the film franchise. The movie is currently covered under a ton of secrecy, save for some official casting confirmations, including the return of Episode VII starring roster, as well as newcomers Benicio Del Toro and Laura Dern. And with a complete lack of concrete information to keep us interested, Star Wars Episode VIII is placed in the third spot of our countdown. Hey, it is the New Year now, can we get an official trailer already? Also, we lost Carrie Fisher this year, including her mother, Debbie Reynolds. I think the best way to honor their memories is to watch Episode VIII, with Carrie Fisher luckily finishing her scenes prior to her sudden, tragic passing.

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2. Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7, 2017)

2016's Captain America: Civil War's inclusion of Spider-Man might have been shoehorned, as a means to keep the ticket sales going no-less, but there is no denying that this newly rebooted version of the wall-crawler, which was a result of a deal done between Marvel Studios and Sony after the failure of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, is a pitch perfect rendition! Marvel's next move is, of course, to push forward a new film series that features this all new, all familiar friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Recently, we have had two trailers, accompanied by particularly stellar casting choices, including Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes, also known as The Vulture, and it seems that Spider-Man: Homecoming is about to deliver the definitive Spider-Man movie! Of course, what movie is without its potential flaws, including its endless number of supervillains, and some slightly unexpected casting decisions, but hey, if it is a good movie, I will most certainly watch it.

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2017 is a year of several potentially fantastic motion features, and most of them are superhero movies, reboots, sequels, prequels, etcetera, etcetera. Because of the large number of fairly interesting movies, it is clear that we need to have some...

Honorable Mentions:

The Lego Batman Movie (February 10, 2017) - The Lego Movie was a particularly fun movie, and one of its best parts was Will Arnett's hilarious parody version of the Caped Crusader. It was pretty clear from then on that a spin-off revolving around this rendition of the Dark Knight was on the way, and when I first saw the trailer during the screening of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, I was laughing out loud with Dad and my sister, Ada. The comedic typing was excellent, the vocal work was awesome, and both mixed well with the tune of Black Eyed Peas' hit, Black and Yellow. I simply cannot wait for more!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5, 2017) - What? You thought we would leave the sequel to one of 2014's funniest superhero adventures out of this countdown of the most anticipated movies of 2017? Heck no! There is no need to explain why this is a must watch, aside from these reasons that others may not know yet. Baby Groot, Kurt Russell as Star-Lord's father (?), Ego, the Living Planet, Baby Groot, Pom Klementieff as Star-Lord's half-sister, Mantis, a Sylvester Stallone cameo, Baby Groot, an awesome mix of 80s best jams, and of course, Baby Groot!

The Mummy (June 9, 2017) - This one, I slightly doubt that it will be a good movie. One reason is that this, which is meant to set-up the forthcoming reboot of the Universal Monsters Cinematic Universe, is more or less another rushed attempt to combat other shared film universes in the industry. Also, the trailer does not look entirely good, especially in the part with the plane crash. (If you listen closely, Tom Cruise's screams are poorly edited) But with terrifying monsters, a pretty interesting premise to follow, Tom Cruise as our hero, teaming-up with Russell Crowe's Dr. Henry Jekyll, there is a chance that The Mummy could be just as good, and just as distinctive as Brendan Fraser's less serious, yet fairly entertaining Mummy movies. Speaking of whom, where is Brendan Fraser? He could use a comeback right now.

Dunkirk (July 21, 2017) - My little sister Ada wants to watch this, simply because the movie has One Direction member Harry Styles in it. Yeah, she is a Directioner by heart, but if my sister wants to watch the movie, then there is a slim chance that my family would allow us to watch Christopher Nolan's latest war epic. It is not because I listen to One Direction or anything, but given Nolan's amazing filmography so far, I would expect a gripping war drama filled with a human approach that tackles its fact-based story in a brilliantly crafted fashion! Besides, since when has Christopher Nolan disappointed us? Interstellar, maybe, with its confusing ending, but that movie was still great.

Blade Runner 2049 (October 6, 2017) - I just watched Blade Runner last week, as I have read a lot of good things about it recently, and I will say that the movie is a technically astounding motion picture, as the camera work, mixed with a brilliant neo-noir atmosphere, it is kind of short on the story front. But regardless, upon closer inspection, it is more of an artistic expression of science-fiction that is meant to have audiences make their own interpretations, and with that realization, Blade Runner truly is a masterpiece, an albeit slowly paced one at the very least. With a cast including Ryan Gosling, Jared Leto, Mackenzie Davis and Dave Bautista accompanying a returning Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, and Arrival director Denis Villianeuve heading the project, Blade Runner 2049 could be a great sequel!

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (September 29, 2017) - Kingsman: The Secret Service was a very fun movie, from its awesome fight scenes, to its great performances from Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson and fresh blood Taron Egerton, to its catchy music. Given its amazing box office run, and its potential franchise appeal, there was no doubt that a follow-up was clearly in order. Not much is given yet, but with a new cast that comprises of Julianne Moore, Jeff Bridges, Halle Berry and Channing Tatum, why should one dare miss this?

Thor: Ragnarok (November 3, 2017) - All previous Thor movies, as amazing as they are in terms of performances and imagery, have barely made any impact in the overall franchise, namely because both of those two flicks featured some pretty stale storytelling, which is sad since Thor has some pretty good stories if I recall, and it was meant to be the first Marvel movie in the series to tackle magic. With a new cast roster that is pretty much an equivalent of an Oscar-bait movie, as a paraphrase of what an online user said in a website, including Cate Blanchett, Karl Urban, Jeff Goldblum, and Tessa Thompson, and the addition of Mark Ruffalo's Hulk in a superhero team-up, it looks like Thor: Ragnarok might be the best Thor movie yet!

Justice League (November 17, 2017) - For our last honorable mention, we have DC's highly awaited crossover that will unite their mightiest heroes yet, sadly except for Green Lantern, for some reason. While I am excited, as always, to see the feature, there is a certain part of me that remains skeptic, especially since Zack Snyder, the director of both Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, is again returning to direct the movie, and that half of the future team's membership is currently unknown to the audience. Regardless, we are mostly looking forward to the team-up of the legends!

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1. Logan (March 3, 2017)

Okay, this one is a bit of a stretch, because given the recent reception from X-Men: Apocalypse, the critical disappointment of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and the slightly better reception of The Wolverine, there is a probability that it might fail. However, with the unexpected success of Deadpool, the certification of the film being an R-rated feature, and the promise from both cast and crew that this will definitely be a fitting conclusion of Logan's long journey, there is also a huge chance that Logan could end-up being the best X-Men movie that Twentieth Century Fox will make. In fact, this might even be the definitive Wolverine movie that we have all been waiting for. Personally, we feel that Logan deserves its spot to be the most anticipated movie of 2017 mainly because of the previously mentioned reasons. In addition, we feel as if Logan will deliver something that is fresh and interesting to the superhero genre, and from the looks of it, we really might be getting just that!

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And that is where we end our first ever post for the year 2017. Once more, we wish you all a very blessed new year! You know, I find 2016 as a pretty interesting year. We lost a number of good famous people, some of them are gone too soon, such as Anton Yelchin, some of them are just to beloved to let go of, such as Carrie Fisher, David Bowie, Debbie Reynolds, Alan Rickman, and so on and so forth. We experienced rays of tragedy, and even glows of joy. As for me at home and at high school, well, at some parts, life got a tad bit rough, but most of the time, it got smooth eventually. To honor 2016, from its highest ups to its lowest downs, we have a video of "2016: The Movie Trailer" by Friend Dog Studios. Basically it is a horror movie-esque recap of most of the events that have happened last year. Stay tuned for more Dateline Movies!