What to watch? ~ 2016 movies: April

Zootopia and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice were smash hits at the box-office. I wonder which movies will open big at the box-office next? Usually I will follow the US release dates for my What to Watch post but this time I will include some of the release dates for Malaysia. There are quite a few movies scheduled to be released in April that I'm looking forward to, so let's check them out now.


1) Hardcore Henry

Release date: April 8, 2016 (7 April 2016 for Malaysia)
Cast: Sharlto Copley, Danila Kozlovsky, Haley Bennett, Andrei Dementiev, Tim Roth

This is a very unique film as it is in first person view, like playing a video game! I remember watching a teaser video of the film a few months back but I didn't think it will be released so soon. It looks fascinating and inventive although I'm not sure whether mainstream audience is ready for this type of film. It kind of similar to the handy-cam style of shooting when you think about it so it isn't too out-of-the-box after all and could find its own audience. One thing I'm curious about though; does the main character speak?

Watch Hardcore Henry trailer here!


2) Before I Wake

Release date: April 7, 2016 (Malaysia)
Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Kate Bosworth, Thomas Jane, Annabeth Gish

I'm so happy when I found out that this movie will be released soon. I've read before that the distributor for the film, Relativity Media, had filed for bankruptcy and the film had been pulled from the release schedule. I'm not sure what happened behind the scenes but it seems that things are getting better now and the film is ready to be released, hitting cinemas in Malaysia in April 2016 and scheduled to be released in US in October 2016. Mike Flanagan, the director of the movie, had also directed Oculus before which I absolutely loved, so I'm really looking forward to Before I Wake to see what else he has to offer. In Malaysia, it will be released in the same week as Hardcore Henry, 10 Cloverfield Lane (yup, we got that one late here) and The Jungle Book, so it's quite a competitive release date.

Watch Before I Wake trailer here!

3) Pandemic

Release date: April 14, 2016 (Malaysia)
Cast: Rachel Nichols, Alfie Allen, Danielle Rose Russell, Paul Guilfoyle, Mekhi Phifer, Missi Pyle

Another first-person view film. Two movies in one month? Is this becoming a trend now? Although to be fair, Pandemic looks more like a traditional shaky-cam type of film than Hardcore Henry is, which straight-up looks like a video game. Pandemic seems like your typical zombie movie but then again I love 2008's Quarantine which this movie reminds me of, so I could probably like this one too. The movie will be in limited release in the US on April 1, 2016.

Watch Pandemic trailer here!

4) The Jungle Book

Release date: April 15, 2016 (7 April 2016 for Malaysia)
Cast: Neel Sethi, Ritesh Rajan, Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray, Lupita Nyong'o, Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Walken

This movie looks stunning visually but what really fascinating is the fact that the actor who played Mowgli, Neel Sethi, had to act in sound stages not only pretending to be in a jungle but also have to pretend interacting with all these computer-generated characters. How amazing is that? He is still so young and to be able to do that is very impressive. And I don't think he has ever act in any major movie before. The rest of the voice cast is amazing too. I hope it will be a great movie with a fun and compelling story as well.

Watch The Jungle Book trailer here!


5) The Huntsman: Winter's War

Release date: April 22, 2016 (8 April 2016 for United Kingdom, 14 April 2016 for Malaysia)
Cast: Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, Nick Frost, Colin Morgan, Rob Brydon, Sam Claflin

Although Snow White and the Huntsman was not as good as people hoped it would be, almost everyone can agree that Charlize Theron's Queen Ravenna was great in it and to fans' delight, she will be back in The Huntsman: Winter's War. Not only that, she will also be joined by Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain. The film might be titled The Huntsman, but the title character himself played by Chris Hemsworth might just be overshadowed by these strong female characters. I hope his character will still stands out though.

Watch The Huntsman: Winter's War trailer here!


6) Ratchet and Clank

Release date: April 29, 2016
Cast: James Arnold Taylor, David Kaye, Paul Giamatti, Rosario Dawson, John Goodman, Bella Thorne

I saw very little promotion for this movie which makes me wonder if the movie will be delayed? I'm not sure but so far the release date is set on April 29, 2016 (for the US, I'm not sure when it will be released in my home country). I like the look of the animation and the world the story is set in. There are a few other video-game based movies coming out this year so hopefully Ratchet and Clank will be a good beginning for these type of movies because honestly, they don't typically do well critically or financially.

Watch Ratchet and Clank trailer here!


Although some big movies are coming out early in the year now, May is still going to be the beginning of the big blockbuster season so prepare yourself for so many more movies to come!

Images source from Wikipedia.