So It Begins

In terms of fantasy, sci-fi and comic book movies the year 2012 only begins now. Sure we've had the rather lacklustre Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Wrath of the Titans and, dare I add, The Hunger Games to whet our appetites for what is to come, but that's all they were - starters before the main course.

The first of the really big guns has already been rolled out as we speak. Marvel's super team, The Avengers, is assembled and ready to face the threat that Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his goons (such a cool word) pose to the world (by which they mostly mean the US).

When the world faces its greatest threat, as it does on a regular basis, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Director of international peace keeping agency, S.H.I.E.L.D, calls together the world's greatest and most mismatched heroes to kick it in the head: Captain America (Chris Evans), a soldier literally lost in time; 'enormous, green rage monster', The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo); 'genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist' in a suit of armour, Iron Man; hammer wielding god of thunder, Thor and agents, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). That, my furry friends, sets the scene for all sorts of tomfoolery and kick-assery that both those who read Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's The Ultimates and those who didn't are sure to enjoy. Do yourself a favour and go see this one in all three of its glorious dimensions. Joss Whedon has done a great job at the helm of this ship and never steers it wrongly. The Avengers is set to be one of 2012's highlights.

From here on out it's G.I. Joe: Retaliation (29 June 2012), which has The Rock as Roadblock. That alone will result in me watching it but it also looks like it will be a good movie in terms of actual merit. As long as it's nothing like The Rise of Cobra all's well in the world. Marvel takes another jab at the Spider-man franchise with Spidy's latest outing in the form of The Amazing Spider-man (06 July 2012). Christopher Nolan's much-anticipated conclusion to his Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rising hits screens on 20 July 2012 and Peter Jackson takes us back to Middle-earth before Christmas in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (14 December 2012). In between those we'll be seeing titles like The Expendables 2, World War Z, Resident Evil: Retribution, James Bond doing his Bond thing in Skyfall, Prometheus, Jack the Giant Killer and M.I.B 3 to mention a few.

All I can say is save your 3D glasses from The Avengers and expect the remainder of this year to be a great one at the movies.