Films to heat up summer

Various venues

Alongside Christmas, the summer hols is traditionally a time when people rush to their local cineplex and get away from all that sunshine falling from the sky in Scotland. As always, there’s a plethora of blockbusters, sequels and family movies to keep everyone snapping up the popcorn. In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (June 6), Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are reunited as they create a dinosaur rescue organisation when a volcanic eruption threatens the creatures’ existence. Naturally, a new danger must emerge and it does so in the terrifying shape of the Indoraptor.

Should your summer film fix require a jolt to the system and a fair degree of jumps, two scary movies should help with that. Hereditary (June 15) stars Toni Collette and Gabriel Byrne as a family unravels some sinister secrets about its ancestry (if this synopsis rings a bell, it may be because it was the movie whose trailer was accidentally shown in a Western Australian cinema before a screening of Peter Rabbit, causing widespread alarm and outrage). Meanwhile, there’s more ‘families in peril’ shenanigans in The Secret of Marrowbone (July 13) which has Scots actor George Mackay, Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton and the all-too aptly named Mia Goth in its cast.

If you’re one of those people who believes a sequel just isn’t worthy of that name unless it has a numerical indicator in its title, there are a few movies satisfying this odd urge. Ocean’s 8 (June 22) follows the Ghostbusters’ remake route by featuring an all-female central cast as Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, Rihanna and Helena Bonham-carter are among those planning an audacious heist on the Met Gala in New York.

Denzel Washington’s Robert Mccall is back to even up another score with The Equalizer 2 (August 17) when he discovers a long-time friend has been murdered, while Sicario 2: Soldado (June 29) offers more crime business as Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro team up to thwart Mexican drug cartels that are in cahoots with jihadi terrorists.

Arguably the most eagerly-anticipated follow-up this summer is The Incredibles 2 (July 13), with the Pixar juggernaut hopefully getting back on the right road after a couple of recent bumps. Some 14 years after the original film, the story picks up where the first movie left off with the introduction of two new villains (The Underminer and Screenslaver) while baby Jack-jack begins to display some handy super-powers.

And for those who like a bit of summer schmaltz, Ewan Mcgregor and Peter Capaldi are both involved in Disney’s Christopher Robin (August 17), while Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (July 20) adds Cher to its cast, which means there might actually be some singing talent on display this time...

Something worth shouting about... Toni Collette stars in Hereditary.