Seven of the exciting movies coming up this holiday season

Star Wars: The Last Jedi  (PG-13)

In the much anticipated sequel of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, Rey (Daisy Ridley) begins her jedi training with an elder Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) guiding her. It is directed and written by Rian Johnson with the help of George Lucas. Will this movie be better worse or the same as the previous film? It should be at least the same, however this movie has no where near as much hype as “The Force Awakens”. Stellar acting, stunning special effects and a solid plot can prove to be a remedy that might make this movie as big and possibly bigger hit than “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.

Justice League (PG-13)

A sequel of “Batman v Superman”, it has improved reviews than its predecessor. It has received a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes while “Batman v Superman” has received a disappointing  score of 27%. This action-packed film directed by Zack Snyder follows the story of Batman (Ben Affleck) as he races to unite a group of heroes before times runs out for earth. With the success with “Wonder Women” and the underappreciated “Suicide Squad”, “Justice League” has a somewhat solid ground. If this movie is a success, then a DC line of movies will emerge that could match, and possibly overtake, the Marvel line of movies.

The Shape of Water (R)

This film, directed by Guillermo del Toro, follows an employee at a high-security government lab during the cold war named Elisa (Sally Hawkins), and her friend Zelda (Octavia Spencer), discover a creature that is being experimented on. This  film has already achieved a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and four awards during the Venice Film festival: CICT-UNESCO C. Smithers Foundation Award, Future Film Festival Digital Award, Golden Lion, and the Soundtrack Stars Award. From watching the trailer, this movie seems to have three different genres colliding with each other. Horror, fantasy, and romance genres don’t normally go together and certainly not all three combined. It doesn’t look to be a good formula for a successful film but maybe this movie will blend the genres to make a wonderful movie

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (PG-13)

This film directed by Jake Kasdan, is set 20 years in the future from the events of the first “Jumanji”, the film follows four high school students. The principal of the school gives them detention and their punishment is to  clean out the basement. While going through junk they discover the game Jumanji not in its traditional form, instead as a video game. Unknowingly the students play and are sucked into the game where they have to complete it in order to escape the game and return home. With a famous cast including Nick Jonas, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson this movie looks to be an exciting one. It is surprising that the movie is rated PG-13 as it may dissuade some parents from letting their kids watch it. However some of the scenes in this movie could be integral and couldn’t be removed. These scenes could be the reason it’s rated PG-13

Pitch Perfect 3 (PG-13)

Directed by Trish Sie, The Bellas have graduated from Barden University and have since gone their separate ways after winning the world championship. Meeting over drinks, they decide to go on one more tour which will be overseas. While overseas, they are pit against other singing groups that play instruments as well as sing. With the first two films being a big success, the third installment looks to follow that path. It will be interesting to watch how the story develops without the setting of Barden University.

Murder on the Orient Express (PG-13)

Directed and produced by Kenneth Branagh, renowned detective, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh), is on the famed Orient Express when a distressed passenger, played by Johnny Depp, comes to Poirot claiming his life is being threatened and that he wants him to find out who is menacing him. Poirot respectfully declines the invitation. The next day the passenger is found dead and everyone’s a suspect. Can Poirot find the killer before they can strike again? It will be interesting to view Kenneth Branagh acting as he is both directing and producing the film.

Downsizing (NR)

Directed by Alexander Payne, the earth has become overpopulated. Norwegian scientists, to combat this, figured out how to shrink someone to five inches tall. Paul and his wife Audrey, played by Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig, decide to go under the irreversible change of downsizing. Since they are shrinking, their money will increase dramatically and will live a life of luxury once downsized. However, after the procedure, Paul finds out that Audrey backed out at the last second, leaving him distraught. Soon he starts a crazy adventure of being five inches tall. Matt Damon previously starred in the dark movie “Suburbicon” which seemed like an interesting movie but turned out to be a disappointment, both review-wise and money-wise. This movie also seems interesting but it has to have a better plot and acting if it wants to avoid the fate of “Suburbicon”.