20 movies you need to see in 2017

2017 is coming, and with it, dozens of amazing movies. Well, hopefully, anyway. After a disappointing 2016 – I’m looking at you, Batman V Superman, Suicide Squad and, um, Now You See Me 2 – fans of good old-fashioned cinema-filling blockbusters are crying out for just a few more actually decent films. Remember them?

To get you ready for what seems like a never-ending parade of BIG MOVIES, here are 20 I’m most excited about next year. Yes, 20. I actually whittled them down from an even bigger number, so bear with me...

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The latest from Damien Chazelle, the man who brought us the incredible drumming movie Whiplash back in 2014, has been enjoying such enthusiastic reviews it seems nigh-on guaranteed to sing and dance its way to the Oscars. Particularly likely to win their own little golden bald man are its stars, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, who are unbelievably charming as two twenty-somethings trying to make it in Los Angeles. Expect properly catchy old school sing-along tunes and tears before bedtime. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is a weepie. Bring tissues.

20 years ago, Danny Boyle and his not-so-merry band of life enthusiasts changed British cinema forever with their darker-than-dark black comedy Trainspotting, and now, 20 years and an Olympic opening ceremony later, they’re back, and it’s nigh-on unbelievable. Rent Boy (Ewan McGregor), Spud (Ewen Bremner), Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) and Begbie (Robert Carlyle) all return to bring novelist Irvine Welsh’s follow-up, Porno, to our screens, and whether it ends up good, bad or just okay, IT IS TRAINSPOTTING 2 AND THAT IS NUTS.

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The best thing about The Lego Movie – “DARKNESS. NO PARENTS.” – gets his very own movie, introducing Lego Robin (Michael Cera) and Lego The Joker (Zach Galifianakis) while he’s at it. Rounding out the cast, there’s Rosario Dawson as Batgirl, Ralph Fiennes as Alfred and Mariah Carey as the Mayor Of Gotham City. Yes, that Mariah Carey. This is going to be amazing.

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Keanu Reeves’ 2014 retro action thriller John Wick was a stylish, brutal, skull-cracking return to form for the action hero, and it feels like we’ve been waiting ages – actually three years – for everyone’s favourite hitman to come back and throw a few goons out of a few windows. “Baba Yaga”, as he’s sometimes known, heads to Rome for the sequel, where he’ll fight yet more highly-trained assassins in even more inventive ways, but don’t worry: fan favourites Ian McShane, Lance Reddick and John Leguizamo all turn up at some point. That’s a promise.

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The Wolverine spin-off movies have been either dreadful (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) or so-so (The Wolverine) but this one promises to be, you know, good. Set in a future where Patrick Stewart’s Professor X is now really old and the once-ageless Wolverine is looking incredibly grizzled, this is Logan’s last hoorah, and with a 15-rating, we’re finally getting the darker, more dangerous, actually bloody Wolverine film. You can thank Deadpool and his massive box office haul for that, by the way.

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It’s easy to be unenthusiastic about yet another live-action reimagining of Disney’s incredible back catalogue but this is Beauty And The Beast… starring Emma Watson. That Emma Watson, supported by such jaw-dropping names as Emma Thompson (as Mrs Potts), Ian McKellen (as Cogsworth) and Ewan McGregor (as Lumiere), not forgetting Dan Stevens as The Beast and Luke Evans as Gaston. With such an incredible cast, such beautiful songs, and the current record for most viewed teaser trailer ever – clocking in at 91.8m views in the first 24 hours of its release – you can expect this one to be a maaaaaaaassive smash.

How do you top Fast And The Furious 7 and its I’m-not-crying-you’re-crying farewell to Paul Walker? It’s not enough to bring back The Rock, or Jason Statham, or Kurt Russell, you’ve got to get a new villain, and they’ve got to be really, really good. Enter Imperator Furiosa herself, Charlise Theron, as the mysterious ‘Cipher’ in this New York-set story that has been called more of a “spy caper” compared to the previous street racing / heist thriller movies. Vin Diesel doing his best James Bond? SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY.

Promising more old school pop, witty one-liners and utterly out-there space-based adventures, the second Guardians sees Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord on a mission to discover who his father really is, all to the tune of songs you won’t be able to get out of your head for months. But who could be Peter Quill’s real dad? It looks like it’s Kurt Russell, playing “an ancient and mysterious cosmic being” who, in the original comics at least, took the form of a planet. Man, The Guardians Of The Galaxy are weird (in the best possible way).

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The best thing about Batman V Superman, ironically, was neither Batman nor Superman, but the wonderful Wonder Woman (as played by Gal Gadot). In this prequel-cum-origin-story, we’ll find out how Princess Diana of Themyscira became the lasso-wielding shield-slinger we know today, bringing in Chris Pine as her amazingly-named love interest, Steve Trevor, in this WWI-set tale.

Aside from the really off ending, the first Kingsman was a lot of fun: a knowing, clever, bloody Bond homage that gave Colin Firth a spy umbrella that fired concussion grenades and possibly the most gobsmacking church scene ever seen on the big screen. Naturally, the sequel has to be bigger, better and yet more bonkers. Welcome, then, Julianne Moore as the new Big Bad, alongside Jeff Bridges, Channing Tatum and Halle Berry as American versions of the Kingsmen, not forgetting Elton John and Vinnie Jones in as-yet undisclosed roles. However this ends, up The Golden Circle is going to be something.

The chances of the latest in an increasingly long line of Transformers movies winning over the critics are close to zero, but if you’re a fan of the franchise, The Last Knight has a lot going for it: a time travel element (or so it seems), loads of British locations – no really, the autobots are coming to the UK – and Optimus Prime running around with a huge sword. Sounds good, right?

Some of the best moments in Captain America: Civil War featured Tom Holland’s Spider-Man sparring with his new mentor, Tony Stark, so it’s seriously exciting that not only is Holland getting his own Spider-Man standalone movie, but Downey Jr is coming along for the ride. The rumoured villain is The Vulture, with the one-time Batman Michael Keaton reportedly playing the big bad birdman.

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First it was ‘Rise Of’, then it was ‘Dawn Of’, and now it’s, um, ‘War For’ The Planet Of The Apes, bringing back Andy Serkis' complicated chimpanzee as he faces his biggest challenge yet: defeating the heavily-armed humans led by The Colonel, played by Woody Harrelson. Fans of the legendary sci-fi franchise knows what’s bound to happen – there’s going to be a planet of apes, people – and ‘War For’ looks like we’re very nearly there.

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Christopher Nolan doing a war film? Two tickets please. In Nolan We Trust, after all, and while Interstellar wasn’t for everyone and The Dark Knight Rises didn’t hit all the buttons, this is Christopher Nolan we’re talking about, and any film he makes is worth watching. Set during World War II and telling the story of the Dunkirk evacuation, little is known about the film, other than what was gleaned in the very short teaser trailer seen so far. That, and the fact that Tom Hardy and Harry Styles are in it. Yes, Harry Styles. In a Christopher Nolan movie. Yep.

For those not in the know about Stephen King’s beloved dark fantasy-science fantasy- horror- Western novels, The Dark Tower series is a pretty big deal, and the fact that they’re finally being brought to cinemas – featuring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey in the lead roles – is an even bigger deal. If you enjoy properly full-on fantasy movies, there is nothing more exciting in 2017 than The Dark Tower.

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Most film fans never expected Ridley Scott’s 1982 science fiction classic Blade Runner to ever get a sequel, but here we are, 35 years later, with Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario, Enemy) taking the reins as Harrison Ford returns as no good replicant sympathiser Rick Deckard. Joining him are Ryan Gosling, Robin Wright, Dave Bautista and born-to-play-an-android Oscar winner Jared Leto. Precious little is known about the project, but what’s key is that the incredible cinematographer Roger Deakins will be director of photography, which means whatever happens, it’s going to look stunning.

The third standalone Thor movie continues Marvel’s never-ending quest to gather together ALL of the great actors ALL of the time. Enter Cate Blanchett, Karl Urban and Jeff Goldblum to this particular superhero buddy movie, with Mark Ruffalo’s The Hulk enjoying a love-hate relationship with both Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor as they travel across the nine realms looking for the now-missing Odin.

This is it: the big one. The biggest superhero movie of the year, this is the film that takes DC’s finest – namely Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) – and sets them against the evil Steppenwolf. This is the DC’s Avengers, only it’s not the DC’s Avengers, it’s DC’s Justice League because IT’S THE JUSTICE LEAGUE, PEOPLE.

It’s finally happening. Get excited.

After the colossal success of The Force Awakens, it was only a matter of time before another Episode in the Star Wars saga came along: two years, to be precise. 2016’s standalone spin-off Rogue One is all well and good, but this is what really matters. Remember, this is where we see Luke Skywalker for longer than half a minute, where we find out about the Han Solo fallout, where, presumably, we see Daisy Ridley’s Rey become a Jedi knight. All remains to be seen, and with everything to do with the production tightly under wraps, every grain of information is going to be of great importance. After all, we don’t even know what its actual title is yet…

You’ll struggle to find two films more fun than Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2, so fingers crossed that The Barden Bellas somehow pull it out of the bag one last time for the third and final movie in the singa-longa-series. Quite how the story will carry on after the events of last year’s sequel is still up for debate, but with the whole cast confirmed to return, you know you’re in for a good time, plenty more karaoke favourites, and Fat Amy saying (and doing) something incredibly inappropriate. Again.