Movies you can’t miss in May

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5th)

James Gunn surprised many a filmgoer with Guardians of the Galaxy, a vibrant, energetic, textured and witty affair, with a banging soundtrack. It felt that any attempt to emulate what came before would feel rather forced, but instead, the talented filmmaker has presented a sequel just as good as the first – and that’s high praise indeed. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper and Dave Bautista return, and now Star-Lord is presented with a personal visit from his own past, with the arrival of Kurt Russell’s Ego. The awesome mixtape is excellent, the performances great, and the balancing between comedy and pathos remarkably judged yet again. Despite the ensemble cast, here’s a film that will have invested in every single character – and none more so, than the adorable Baby Groot. Just don’t tell him I said that.

Alien: Covenant (May 19th) 

This sequel to Prometheus – and prequel to the original 1979 Alien movie – has Ridley Scott returning to a phenomenon he himself had kickstarted. Featuring returning cast members such as Noomi Rapace and Guy Pearce – not to mention Michael Fassbender, who is still playing a droid, just now going by the name of Walter, as well as David – it’s expected that Covenant will be creating more of a bridge between the two franchise strands. Katherine Waterston and Billy Crudup join the aforementioned performers, as the colony ship Covenant stumbles upon what the crew believe to be unchartered paradise. Pah, as if. We want Xenomorphs, we want savage facehugs, we want to be scared, exhilarated, compelled and entertained, oh and we want to meet Ripley’s mother. Not too much to ask, is it?

Baywatch (May 25th)

Now it’s fair to say that the prospect of a Baywatch movie wasn’t quite stirring up the excitement within us – but then Dwayne Johnson got involved, and suddenly it all seems rather enticing, as an actor who has a habit of turning up in movies, and making them infinitely better (Fast & Furious, anyone?). The Rock plays devoted lifeguard Mitch Buchanan, teaming up with his new colleague Matt Brody, played by Zac Efron in a gloriously overstated, and deliciously tongue-in-cheek affair, that plays up to the irreverence of the original TV series, and seems all set to ridicule it accordingly. True Detective’s Alexandra Daddario is also on board – but the really important question is, will we see the Hoff in this Seth Gordon comedy?