With alien invasions, comic book superheroes, pirates and new entries in the Fast and the Furious and Mission: Impossible series, 2011 is looking to be a great year for fans of action and adventure movies. Nicolas Cage, Vin Diesel, Johnny Depp, Daniel Craig and Tom Cruise are just some of the big stars that will be thrilling audiences.
Here are the big movies for action and adventure fans this year...
2011 Action and Adventure Movies From January to March
3D road thrills await in February with Nicolas Cage behind the wheel in action movie Drive Angry. Cage plays Milton, a felon who breaks out of Hell to stop the cult who murdered his daughter from sacrificing her baby under a full moon. As Milton goes on the rampage and the body count rises, not only must he stay one step ahead of the cops but also The Accountant (played by Prison Break's William Fichtner), who's been sent by the Devil to deliver Milton back to Hell. The latest trailer for Drive Angry promises lots of over the top, high octane 3D action with Nicolas Cage in a crowd-pleasing role.
March brings an alien invasion in Battle: Los Angeles, starring Aaron Eckhart from The Dark Knight and Michelle Rodriguez from Avatar. This is a big budget movie with Eckhart playing a Marine who must lead his platoon against the alien menace threatening the city as other attacks take place around the world. Looking like Black Hawk Down meets Independence Day, Sony Pictures will be hoping that audiences don't compare it to last year's flop, Skyline, which also featured an alien attack on the Californian city. Battle: Los Angeles is looking like one of the biggest action movies of 2011.
Next up in March is Sucker Punch from Zak Snyder, the director of 300 and Watchmen. Set in the dream world of a young woman locked away in a mental institution by her stepfather, this action fantasy movie transports audiences to imaginary places filled with dragons, B-52 bombers, samurai, monsters and more. Sucker Punch looks like being one of the most visually stylish movies of the year and is described by the director as "Alice in Wonderland with machine guns".
2011 Action and Adventure Movies From April to June
In April, Paul Walker and Vin Diesel return to the roles that made them famous in Fast Five, the fifth movie in The Fast and the Furious series. This time, the two must join forces on the wrong side of the law in Rio de Janeiro to pull one last job while eluding not only a corrupt businessman who wants them dead but also a Federal Agent, played by Dwayne Johnson. Also featuring some other familiar faces from the previous movies, including Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson, Fast Five promises fast thrills and is the first in the series to also be released in IMAX theatres as well.
Kenneth Branagh's Thor, based upon the Marvel Comics character, strikes in May in an action movie that introduces the character ahead of next year's The Avengers. Chris Hemsworth, who played Kirk's father in 2009's Star Trek, plays the God of Thunder who is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humanity before dark forces threaten the world. Thor also stars Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins and the trailers show a movie that looks like a treat for fans of the character and superhero movies.
Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow in May in the eagerly anticipated 3D adventure Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth movie in the hugely popular Disney franchise, this time without either Orlando Bloom or Kiera Knightley. A woman from Jack's past (played by Penelope Cruz) forces him aboard the ship of the pirate Blackbeard in a quest to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. Rob Marshall is the director of this new Pirates of the Carribean movie which is set to be one of the biggest blockbusters of 2011.
June brings two superhero action movies with X-Men: First Class and Green Lantern. The new X-Men movie is an orign story with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender playing younger versions of Professor X and Magneto, back when they were still friends and had to join forces with other Mutants to battle the deadly Hellfire Club. And Ryan Reynolds stars in Green Lantern, based upon the DC Comics character, about a US Air Force test pilot who becomes the first human enlisted into the Corp and must defend the universe against a new threat.
2011 Action and Adventure Movies From July to September
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the third in the science fiction action series, again directed by Michael Bay, and looks set to dominate the Independence Day weekend. With a reported budget of over $200 million, Shia LaBeouf returns without Megan Fox in a story about an alien spacecraft that was found on the moon in 1969 and could hold the key to the final battle of the 'robots in disguise'. Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the first in the series to be released in 3D and will again feature popular characters like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.
It's back to the world of the comic book superhero later in July with Captain America: The First Avenger, which introduces another character that will appear in The Avengers next year. Directed by Joe Johnston, who did a terrific job with 1991's The Rocketeer, and starring Chris Evans as the super soldier, this Captain America move follows the origin of the superhero and his battle with The Red Skull (played by Hugo Weaving).
And rounding off a very packed month for action movies is Cowboys and Aliens from the director of Iron Man. Based upon the 2006 graphic novel and set in Arizona in 1973, the movie stars Daniel Craig as a loner who wakes up with no memories of who he is but finds out he's a wanted criminal when he enters the town of Absolution, which is ruled by a ruthless colonel played by Harrison Ford. But the two enemies must join forces with Native Americans against a greater threat in the form of an alien invasion. The trailer for Cowboys and Aliens promises a very fun action movie with two great actors, joined also by rising stars Olivia Wilde and Sam Rockwell.
Then it's back to the road in September with Drive, with Ryan Gosling playing a Hollywood Stuntman and getaway driver who finds a contract's been put out on his head after a bank heist goes wrong.
2011 Action and Adventure Movies From October to December
It's Rocky meets I, Robot in October's Real Steel with Hugh Jackman playing former boxer Charlie Kenton in a future world where 8-foot tall robots, not humans, fight in the ring. Directed by the maker of the Night at the Museum movies, this science fiction action movie sees Kenton team up with his son to build and train a new robot champion. Real Steel co-stars Evangeline Lilly from Lost.
In November, Mickey Rourke plays the Titan Hyperion who declares wars on humanity in Immortals. It's up to Theseus, the mythical founder of Athens (played by Henry Cavill from TV show The Tudors), to lead his men into battle against the Titans to save the Olympian Gods.
Finally, December has possibly the biggest action movie of 2011 that doesn't feature either aliens or superhero characters. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol stars Tom Cruise reprising his role as Ethan Hunt after the last movie in 2006. Mission Impossible IV is produced by J. J. Abrams and brings back Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg in another globe-trotting adventure that this time features Dubai and Moscow and will also be released in IMAX. Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner and Lost's Josh Holloway join Ethan's team in Ghost Protocol.
More Action and Adventure in 2012
If audiences can catch their breath at the end of the year, 2012 is looking like another big year for action and adventure movies with The Avengers and the 23rd James Bond movie just some of the treats in store.
Jason Glover - Jason Glover has worked in the marketing teams of major companies for over twenty years, including over ten years in online marketing ...
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