Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

By John J. Joex

We’re still just under two months away from when the calendar says that Summer starts (somewhere around June 20th), but as far as Hollywood is concerned, it starts on May 1st. The 2008-09 television season is just about over which will quickly turn the Prime Time hours into a wasteland (yeah, yeah, I know , they’re pretty much a wasteland already), and while there are quite a few Prime Time entries of interest coming up later this Summer (more on that in May), let’s take a look at another place that fans of Science Fiction and Fantasy can pass a few hours as the weather starts to get warmer.

Since the box office smashes of such movies as Jaws and Star Wars, Summer has become the blockbuster season. A time when movie studios throw big budget, big name driven “events” at us in hopes of filling seats in the theaters. This Summer has plenty of those along with plenty of familiarity as we get high dollar sequels galore. In our Summer 2009 Science Fiction and Fantasy Movie Preview (which spans from May 1st to mid-September), we currently have 28 entries and of those 12 are either sequels, prequels, re-makes, or spin-offs. What’s more, of the movies bowing during the first three months of the season, 9 out of 17 fall into those categories. Well, whoever said the Hollywood was high on originality.

This weekend kicks off with one super-high profile prequel and another entry that seems to be picking up some steam as its premiere draws closers. X-Men Origins: Wolverine slashes its way into the theaters this weekend as we get a fourth installment in the X-Men theatrical franchise which delves into the roots of the most popular character from that super team. The animated Battle for Terra also makes its bow, providing a space-opera that looks to appeal to young and old alike. Wolverine looks interesting to me, but I’m in no hurry to see it. I’ll probably catch it at some point over the next month, though. Battle for Terra is much higher on my list, though I may hold off a week until the local pandemic fear subsides (schools are closing here locally quite rapidly as more possible cases of the swine flu pop up). Anyway, Battle for Terra might make for a good double feature along with next week’s Star Trek (ain’t no virus keeping me out of the theaters for that one). Also, for those of you on dates this weekend, you have the chick-flick take on the Scrooge tale as an option: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

I expect Wolverine to do big business at the box office this weekend, and Girlfriends could do well as a date movie. Hopefully Battle for Terra will hold its own as well against these other two and the possible fear of the flu that could keep some people (especially those with kids) away from public places over the weekend. For more information on these three movies plus all of the upcoming Science Fiction and Fantasy offerings, check out our Summer 2009 Preview page. And check back with us on Tuesday as we report on how well these movies did at the box office.

See the trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine

See the trailer for Battle for Terra

See the trailer for Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Check Out Our Summer 2009 Science Fiction and Fantasy Movie Preview