With the summer well and truly over, it’s time to look forward to the blockbuster movies of 2009.

The line-up features the usual mix of sequels (Terminator Salvation), prequels (Wolverine), remakes (The Taking of Pelham 123), reboots (Star Trek), big screen adaptations (G.I. Joe) and original fare (Public Enemies). But this time it’s notably light on comic book adaptations, which is pretty surprising.

So here’s Movie-Moron’s definite guide to the summer 2009 movies:

Fast And Furious
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriquez, Jordana Brewster
Director: Justin Lin
Release Date: 3rd April 2009

Wait, hasn’t this film already been released? Oh I see, with the absence of the word “the”, this opens up a whole new world of opportunity in the Fast/Furious franchise. The original ‘The Fast And The Furious’ was an under-rated movie from the turn of the century that gave birth to the “flashy street racing” genre, previously populised amongst video games such as Gran Turismo and Need For Speed. Then came sequel ‘2 Fast, 2 Furious’, 2 star, 2 god damn awful. Third film Tokyo Drift was skidding on turds. Now the drifting careers of Paul Walker and Vin Diesel have forced them back for this fourth installment, which plans to return to the format of the first outing - before the series got carried away on thin plots and superficial action scenes. The story here has Diesel and Walker teaming up with the FBI to bring down a heroin importer.

The Hannah Montana Movie
Starring: Miley Cyrus, Heather Locklear, Dolly Parton, Billy Ray Cyrus
Director: Peter Chelsom
Release Date: 10th April 2009

If Disney are good at one thing, other than revolutionary animation, it’s creating iconic fads and making millions off the under 15s. Hannah Montana is the latest carefully calculated phenomena to capture the hearts, minds and fashions of the young and impressionable. After the TV series, live tour and IMAX concert show comes the, somewhat inevitable, movie. In case you’ve been living under a rock, or are over the age of 15, ‘Hannah Montana’ is the alias of a high school girl who lives a duel life as a pop star and a normal teenager. Montana is played by Miley Cyrus, daughter of 90s country sensation Billy Ray Cyrus.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Dominic Monaghan, Danny Huston
Director: Gavin Hood
Release Date: 1st May 2009

Rendition director Gavin Hood takes us back seventeen years before the first X-Men movie, to explore the origins of Wolverine. Didn’t we already do that in X-Men 2? Whatever. The film will cover Wolverine’s discovery of his mutant abilities, and his experiences with the secret Government funded program “Weapon X” – whose aim it is to turn willing and unwilling mutants into weapons. Could this be next summer’s Batman Begins? Or will the bad early buzz build fatal momentum?

Star Trek
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Eric Bana, Winona Ryder, Leonard Nemoy
Director: J.J Abrams
Release Date: 8th May 2009

J.J. Abrams tackles one of the most sensitive areas of sci-fi culture: Star Trek. Recasting all the iconic roles, and doing so on a budget twice that of the previous Star Trek movie, is a massive risk, so expect adoration or crucifixion. Kevin Smith has already seen the movie and loves it. If this reboot works, there will be many more installments to come…

Angels And Demons
Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgård
Director: Ron Howard
Release Date: 15th May 2009

The Da Vinci Code may have received mixed reviews but that hasn’t kept Ron Howard from hitting up the prequel too - Angels And Demons. The plot follows Robert Langdon (Hanks) as he tries to stop a secret society from destroying the Vatican. Avid readers say it’s a better novel than its more famous follow up. But now all the Da Vinci hype has well and truly died down, and anticipation for this seems to be just about zero, Angels And Demons presents one of the most unpredictable prospects of the summer.

Terminator Salvation
Starring: Christian Bale, Helena Bonham Carter, Sam Worthington
Director: Joseph “McG” McGinty Nichol
Release Date: 21st May 2009

It’s now post apocalyptic 2018, the world has been all but destroyed by Skynet and John Connor (Christian Bale) is leading the resistance. When he meets a stranger named Marcus, whose last memory is being on death row, Connor must decide if he has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. Interesting premise. Surely Bale wouldn’t agree to star if this didn’t have some serious character curves… Arnie is rumoured to be back in a small role, using a cgi head on a body double. Should we be worried it’s directed by McG (Charlie’s Angels)?

Night At The Museum 2: Battle Of The Smithsonian
Starring: Ben Stiller, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Owen Wilson
Director: Shawn Levy
Release Date: 22nd May 2009

Night At The Museum was an unexpected box office smash back in Christmas 2006, so some sort of follow up was inevitable. This could have easily been a sloppy spin off with none of the original cast, but instead everyone from the original movie, even the likes of Ricky Gervais and Steve Coogan, have returned for the sequel. This time action shifts to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., where the old museum gems are being housed while their museum is closed for renovations. Expect lots of Ben Stiller being chased up corridors by historical figures.

Pixar’s Up
Starring: Christopher Plummer (voice)
Director: Pete Docter; Bob Petersen
Release Date: 29th May 2009

As much as film critics would love to pretend otherwise, cinemagoers were split on WALL-E. Of course it appealed to reviewers with its beautiful cinematography, mind blowing animation, political messages and elongated arty shots. But for the actual target audience, kids, it was half-on, half-off. Boredom was not uncommon. “Up” is another unconventional plot for an animated feature. From what we can assume, it’s a sweet story of an Old Man who wants to live out his dead wife’s life long dream to explore the mountains. He does this by befriending a young boy who is an exploration enthusiast. I can’t wait to see what Pixar have got ‘up’ their sleeves heh heh heh.

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