Absorbed at a glance, the list of coming summer blockbusters always seems exciting. That's the point: these are not the year's subtlest or most profound films but they're the loudest, brashest, costliest pulse-quickeners on the annual programme. Trouble is, despite a level of anticipation carefully nurtured by the big studios during winter and spring (posters, billboards, teasers, trailers, tie-ins, tweets, featurettes, adverts, apps – everything but Will Smith himself coming round to scream taglines through the letterbox) the end result is so rarely a good summer's cinema.
There have been magical years. Oh, to go back to '96, with its headlining Independence Day and Mission: Impossible, backed by serviceable romps Twister and The Rock. Or to resummon 1982, when filmgoers must have wandered, happy and bewildered and increasingly hungry, in a never-ending circuit of screens showing E.T., Blade Runner and Poltergeist. Just as memorable, though, are the dark and terrible summers. Cheerless 2001 comes to mind, when A.I. followed Lara Croft: Tomb Raider followed Planet of the Apes followed Pearl Harbor followed The Mummy Returns in a punishing run of May-to-September duds.
At a glance, the list of 2012's coming blockbusters seems exciting. Of course it does! But we have cautious reason to believe this year's crop will actually fulfil the traditional hype and prove exceptional – a vintage summer to rival 1985 (Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Rambo) and not another 2000 (Gone in 60 Seconds, The Patriot, Battlefield Earth).
The season got under way strongly last week with the release of Joss Whedon's Avengers Assemble, a smart, satisfying superhero flick which is currently making tons of money at the box office and has been widely up-thumbed by critics. Soon, though, comes an even higher calibre of superhero movie, when the franchise-leading figures from Marvel and DC Comics, Spider-Man and Batman, headline a tantalising brace of films in July. Factor in the most luscious-looking Pixar animation since Wall-E, Ridley Scott returning to his space-horror roots, a new Bourne, a revised Total Recall, and acting quality from top to bottom, and we're very excited about the approaching months of big-budget cinema.
It might come to nothing. Perhaps, looking back, we'll think of 2012 as just another '99 (Wild Wild West, Inspector Gadget, Chill Factor and – please, please no – Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace). But right now, on the cusp of summer, we're optimistic indeed. Here's a closer look at what's coming.
The Amazing Spider-Man
Out 3 July
Estimated budget £160m
In-cinema gimmicks 2D, 3D, Imax
Why we're excited It's the second attempt to put Marvel Comics' most popular superhero on film (following an average 00s trilogy directed by Sam Raimi) but it looks as if this big-screen adaptation might really work. For starters, its creators have cast an ideal central figure, with spindly British actor Andrew Garfield playing the insecure schoolboy Peter Parker, who develops spider-like powers in the wake of an accident at a local science lab. Apparently unable to conceive of a superhero without the build of a bear-wrestler, Raimi, in the last take on the franchise, made Spider-Man a muscly lunk when (as fans of the comics like to hector) the character should be as slight and lissome as an arachnid. Garfield, all limbs, looks just right. As for tone, director Marc Webb, who scored a hit with indie comedy (500) Days of Summer in 2009, should capture some of the coming-of-age awkwardness that made his debut so memorable, and which has always been crucial to Spider-Man mythology.
The talent Garfield plays opposite real-life girlfriend Emma Stone, a universally adored young actor who's expert at the kind of arch, sassy dialogue that should serve the film very well. Hollywood stalwart Sally Field appears as Spidey's mother figure, while Martin Sheen comes and goes as an expositional uncle and Rhys Ifans terrorises all as a mutant lizard.
Tagline analysis "The untold story." Bold; unlikely.
Footage available A couple of trailers, a teaser, five clips; see theamazingspiderman.com
Other agents of hype A "Daily Bugle" channel on YouTube purports to show news items emanating from the world of the film. Elsewhere, plans explaining Spider-Man's wrist-mounted web shooters were secreted online for fans to root out. See the results on the film's Tumblr (linked to at the above address).
Prometheus
Out 1 June
Estimated budget £65m
In-cinema gimmicks The lot: 2D, 3D, Imax, Imax 3D
Why we're excited Ever since Alien and Blade Runner established his name back in the late 70s and early 80s, Ridley Scott has resisted making a sci-fi film. Prometheus returns the director to the genre from which he came: a moody sci-fi thriller set in the same unpleasant nook of the universe as the unforgettable Alien. Once again we board an interplanetary craft that has unreliable overhead lighting and a cross-gender crew of space navvies. They make unwise investigations. They establish extraterrestrial contact. They regret it. Scott has described the film as "really tough, really nasty. It's the dark side of the moon".
The talent Noomi Rapace (breakout star of the Swedish Millennium Trilogy adaptations) here channels her inner Ellen Ripley, sweatily evading deep-space torment just as Sigourney Weaver's central character did in Alien and its many sequels. Alongside Rapace, Michael Fassbender plays a purposeful cyborg whose chances of survival we rate higher than those of supporting players Idris Elba and Charlize Theron. With admirable honesty Theron recently admitted hers was a minor role but said she'd prefer to be "a smaller character in a great film than the lead in a shitty movie"; getting into the spirit, Elba said his was "not a big part, not a small part, just a great part". So, reading between the lines, they probably almost certainly die before the end credits.
Tagline analysis "The search for our beginning could lead to our end." Churchillian.
Footage available Enough to make you think the entire movie has been put online, in chunks. Deep breath: there are three trailers, four teasers, an extra Imax trailer, three video featurettes, and two further viral clips (explained below). For the trailer, see prometheus-movie.co.uk; the rest is best found at comingsoon.net
Other agents of hype Two viral clips have introduced us to Fassbender's robot character and a corporate stooge played by Guy Pearce, providing an idea of the vibe of the piece without revealing much about the plot. A bit of canny Twitter manipulation meant thousands of users, one Sunday night last month, commented on the film's trailer in order to have their Tweets appear on a Channel 4 ad.
Total Recall
Out 22 August
Estimated budget £125m
In-cinema gimmicks No 3D, says director Len Wiseman, for fear of his film looking "overtly futuristic". This one's in plain old two dimensions.
Why we're excited Few do "baffled man in crisis" better than Colin Farrell: see Joel Schumacher's expert 2002 thriller Phone Booth. Here Farrell rather clunkily plays a role that was endearingly chuffed through by Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1990's original Total Recall, a well-liked action thriller that (let's be honest) is as fondly recalled for its hammy failures as its successes. Why not give the story, adapted from a Philip K Dick tale, another whirl? Farrell is Doug Quaid, blue-collar factory worker of the future and self-described "nobody", who one day pays to have false memories drilled into his brain in order to relieve the drabness of his life. From this moment forward (through gunfights, government kidnap, turncoat girlfriends, flying-car chases, electro-lassos) we've no clue whether what we're seeing is actually happening or rather the trippy result of false-memory insertion. Stirring the original concept with elements of Minority Report and Memento, Recall redux could well be the summer's dark-horse hit.
The talent Kate Beckinsale, wife of director Wiseman, takes on the baddie-wife role originally played by Sharon Stone. Jessica Biel, Bill Nighy and Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston pop up in support. With ex-governor Schwarzenegger reportedly planning a return to acting, we wouldn't bet against some sort of cameo here either.
Tagline analysis "What is real?" Enigmatic.
Footage available A trailer and a "behind the scenes" look; see welcometorecall.com
Other agents of hype Now this takes confidence. Ahead of the US television premiere of the Total Recall trailer in March (it screened during a basketball game), Sony put online a short video advertising… the advert. It prompted Business Week to coin the term "trailer trailer", and apparently this was a world first.
Brave
Out 17 August
Estimated budget Unknown
In-cinema gimmicks 2D and 3D and (as ever with Pixar) the feature will come preceded by a freebie animated short.
Why we're excited In what was just about a historical first, Pixar suffered a critical knock last year: their sequel Cars 2 sequel was panned as lazy and derivative. It raises the tantalising prospect of the hit-machine studio actually upping its game. Brave will tell the story of the teenage Merida, royal Scottish redhead and determined 10th-century tomboy who – in the mould of 1998 Disney film Mulan – wants to shun her pampered life as a princess and enlist as a warrior alongside her male peers. Clips released so far make it look stunning, with everything from Merida's Rebekah Brooks-ish mop of hair to the heather-filled highland forest in which she roams to the rippling lochs and misty skies all animated with breathtaking detail. (Seriously: watch online footage of the hair if nothing else. It's ridiculous.) Last month, the first 30 minutes of the film screened for bloggers in California. Tears and cheers were later reported.
The talent Voices only, but Brave boasts a stellar cast. English thesps putting on their best Scottish accents include Emma Thompson and Julie Walters. Scots proper take all the important roles: Billy Connolly as a king, Kevin McKidd and Robbie Coltrane as Celtic warriors and Kelly Macdonald on lead vocals as Merida. Don't worry! John Ratzenberger, a cast member of every Pixar film to date and something of a good-luck charm for the studio, will cameo with whatever accent he can muster.
Tagline analysis "Change your fate." Philosophical.
Footage available Four trailers, a teaser and a couple of "character studies"; see disney.co.uk/brave
Other agents of hype A phoney advert appeared on iTunes last week, purporting to promote a luxury brand called "Kilt, by Ruff McLauren". "What makes a man feel like a man?" asks a voiceover. "Is it fighting bears?... Or is it the freedom a man feels when he's wearing a small plaid skirt?"
The Bourne Legacy
Out 17 August
Estimated budget £95m
In-cinema gimmicks Looks as if this one's 2D only.
Why we're excited True: there's no rich history of the fourth instalment in a blockbuster series being great. Terminator Salvation? Middling. Rocky IV? So-bad-it's-good territory. Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol? Mostly a stinker. Yet here comes The Bourne Legacy – a fourth movie based on the spy novels of Robert Ludlum – and we've got high hopes. Why? After the departure of franchise figurehead Matt Damon, the film-makers have pulled a neat swerve and replaced Damon with one of the most exciting American actors around. Breakthrough star of The Hurt Locker (2009) Jeremy Renner– having undergone recent action-movie indoctrination with small roles in the above-mentioned MIGP and last month's Avengers Assemble – now steps up as Bourne's leading man. He plays Aaron Cross, a super agent with the same sort of cutthroat training as Jason Bourne, but now the pet killing machine of an underground American security agency that might not have his best interests at heart...
The talent This will live or die depending on how well Renner takes to the role. But there are promising players elsewhere. Tony Gilroy, chief screenwriter on the first three films, graduates to direct. Joan Allen and Albert Finney return as unsmiling spy-runners; Ed Norton debuts in the series as a suited baddie. Rachel Weisz plays opposite Renner, presumed to be a love interest, which is an intriguing bit of casting. The Bourne franchise exists in playful competition with the reinvigorated James Bond series, and Weisz's husband, Daniel Craig, is of course the incumbent 007.
Tagline analysis "There was never just one ." Requires a lot of thought for minimal reward.
Footage available Two trailers; see thebournelegacy.net
Other agents of hype A softly-softly approach has seen the release of a few posters and pictures of Renner brooding in leather. No iPhone-based chicanery? No ambitious efforts to get people to mass-Tweet something like #IveBoughtTwoDozenTicketsToSeeBourne? Not yet anyway.
The Dark Knight Rises
Out 20 July
Estimated budget £150m
In-cinema gimmicks Director Christopher Nolan is a brave refusenik when it comes to 3D, so this'll only appear in standard 2D as well as in Imax cinemas.
Why we're excited Because Nolan has earned our excitement. His franchise rebooting Batman Begins in 2005 introduced Christian Bale as the violent, gravelly voiced vigilante Batman, creating as well a superbly bleak tone that helped separate this from other, cheesier superhero films. A 2008 sequel, The Dark Knight, was a monster hit: darker, funnier, better still. Now, withThe Dark Knight Rises – and no doubt channelling skills learned from making 2010's superior CGI fest Inception – Nolan is well poised to deliver the finest Batman film yet. Plotwise, eight years have passed since we were last in Gotham city. Batman has been in exile, wanted (as good guys often will be) for crimes he did not commit. Now he must return to his hometown to see off a steroidal baddie called Bane. Teaser posters suggest this particular contest won't necessarily be a case of good trumping evil. The stirring image shows a shattered bat mask lying on the ground with a triumphant-seeming Bane wandering away in the background.
The talent Nolan has made a few canny carry-overs from Inception, bringing in lippy Brit Tom Hardy to play Bane, the babyfaced Joseph Gordon-Levitt for a Gotham copper and Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard. They join arguably the most credible acting roster ever assembled for a superhero film: Bale as Bats, Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred, and Morgan Freeman as techie Lucius Fox. Joining, too, comes inoffensive romcom veteran Anne Hathaway.
Tagline analysis "The legend ends." Spoiler alert?
Footage available Three trailers at thedarkknightrises.com
Other agents of hype Last month fans were tasked to find items of graffiti around the world, take a photograph of it, and tag the results on a social networking site. Every bit of graffiti thus tagged would unlock a frame of a new trailer. It took the global community of Batman fan-boys mere hours to unlock the lot.
