Saturday, February 19, 2011

Will Number Four bring back the spark?

It is becoming hard not to a stifle a yawn. I understand the big blockbusters are meant for the Summer period, but the run-in does not necessarily have to be so mediocre. At least this had not been the problem last year. Shutter Island had been released in February, Alice in Wonderland came in March. Things were bright and rosy then! Come to 2011, and the skies seem to have darkened. The first hope of a $100 million movie, The Green Hornet, is still struggling near the finish line. It had reached $92 million by last weekend but the sprint has rapidly become a stroll, and the $100 million mark now seems miles away. On the other hand, Black Swan managed to edge past the $100 million mark in the previous week at the US box office, and deservedly so on on the back of numerous Oscar nominations, making it the 28th movie released in 2010 to do so.

This weekend hopes rest with a young sci-fi flick I Am Number Four. The movie should appeal to the young crowd though a strong storyline would be much needed to make up for the absence of any starpower. Comparisons have been drawn with the immensely successful Twilight series, though I find these to be quite pre-mature. I Am Number Four has not created any buzz of the intensity that hounded the Twilight movies. But on the bright side, included amongst its list of producers are the likes of Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg, and many would agree that these guys usually know what they are doing. Tough to take a call on whether I Am Number Four would revitalise what has otherwise been a drab start to the year, but it would definitely ward off the other releases of the weekend, the thriller Unknown starring Liam Neeson and the comedy Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son starring Martin Lawrence. Even if this weekend does not go well, we have the Oscars to look forward to during the next weekend! (trying to stay positive...)

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