Action Takes Centre Stage: Discover the Top 5 New Movies of March 2021 – Hot

We are into the third month of the year, and I have to say it’s been a little quiet on the movie front. There have been some big releases on HBO Max, like The Little Things and Judas and the Black Messiah, but perhaps only the latter might make it to the best movies list at the end of the year. However, March is looking to be a gamechanger.

On the Disney side of things, we are all currently enraptured by WandaVision, which is great for their TV front, but since the premiere of Soul last year on Disney Plus, we haven’t had a Disney offering this year thus far. With so many things on the backburner for Disney (when will we ever see Black Widow?), finally we are seeing some Disney action this month.

While Cherry released was released in theatres last month, it will make its Apple TV plus debut this month, so March is a fantastic month for Tom Holland as well, with another movie of his making its debut this month. There are at least two movies on the list that are blockbuster, heavy-hitter type films, but it remains to be seen if they will live up to the hype, or crash and burn like Icarus for flying too close to the sun. Here are the biggest new movies of March 2021.

 

1. Raya and the Last Dragon | March 5th, 2021

Last year we had the live action version of Mulan, but nothing beats Disney’s animated films, especially now that their female protagonists are more diverse and varied in their desires. The film is centred around Raya, a daughter of a powerful chief, a warrior that is capable of fighting for herself and others. When the evil force of the villainous Druun threatens the peace of their land, Raya and her sidekick Tuk Tuk leave home in search of the last dragon to save them all.

To ensure they are doing justice to the cultures that inspire this film, Disney set up a Southeast Asia Story Trust (they previously set up the Oceanic Story Trust when they did Moana). They have also sent their creative teams to various Southeast Asian countries for research, including Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and more.

No offense to Soul (which was great), but this is the first animated film from Disney that I have been excited for since Moana, and I really do think we’re in for a treat with this one.

 

2. Chaos Walking | March 5th, 2021

With all the hype about the third Spider-Man movie, as well as Holland’s team-up with the Russo brothers for Cherry, it seems like the actor’s name is a frequent buzz point this year, and will probably continue to be considering his many talents and likeability.

The path to Chaos Walking, like its name, was a chaotic one. The movie has been in the works since 2013, but it wasn’t till 2016 that things started moving. Despite the 2019 release date Lionsgate had set for the film, it was decided that reshoots were needed in order to salvage the film. So now, after 5 years in the making, we are finally getting to see the film.

In this dystopian world, Todd Hewitt (Tom Holland) discovers Viola (Daisy Ridley), a mysterious girl who crash lands on his planet, where all the women have disappeared and the men are afflicted by “the Noise” – a force that puts all their thoughts on display. It becomes increasingly clear that a setting like this is dangerous for Viola, and when her life becomes threatened, Todd steps up to protect her, discovering his own inner power in the process.

 

3. Coming 2 America | March 5th, 2021

March 5th does seem like a popular release date, since this is the third movie on the list to have that premiere date. But compared to the other two films, which will have cinematic debuts, Coming 2 America will make its debut on Amazon Prime. Much like Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, I wouldn’t say that the sequel to the original film is necessary, especially considering the amount of time that has passed since the first (30 years to be exact).

But Eddie Murphy has been making quite the creative comeback recently, with Dolemite Is My Name released by Netflix in 2019, so I have high hopes for this one.

Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his trusted confidante Semmi (Arsenio Hall) are back in Queens, New York. This time, they’re tracking down Akeem’s (who is the newly crowned King) son, in order to make him Akeem’s heir, in order to honour the former King’s dying wish. Akeem and Lisa are still together, and his son is the product of a one-night stand he had before he met her. The problem? Akeem has a daughter, and instead of choosing her as his heir, he is bestowing the title on his son, because women aren’t allowed to lead in Zamunda.

While the narrative does sound like The Princess Diaries 2 at the moment, we all know we aren’t watching this movie for the plot, so let’s hope the humour lives up to its predecessor.

 

4. Zack Snyder’s Justice League | March 18th, 2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM-Bja2Gy04

Has there ever been a film more marketed than the Snyder Cut of Justice League? The amount of news about the film each week is staggering, especially since the tidbits come from the man in question himself. We had that blasphemous image of Jared Leto as the Joker (why is he in this?), and news that Batman almost fell in love with Lois Lane in early iterations of the film. At this point, I don’t know whether I want to be excited or am just so ready for it all to be over (I might be leaning towards the latter).

Anyway, the film is basically what you know of Justice League, but extended to include the full breadth of Snyder’s vision. It’s a 4 hour event, my dudes – will you be there for it as it makes its debut on HBO Max?

 

5. Godzilla vs. Kong | March 26th, 2021

Has there been a more hyped film than Godzilla vs. Kong? I mean 65 million views on the trailer alone and the fact that Warner Bros. moved up its release date from May to March does prove that they predict it doing well despite the ongoing pandemic. With cinemas gradually opening up again, it makes sense to move Godzilla vs. Kong up considering the lack of new movies in theatres now, so there is less competition as most will probably turn to this movie for their blockbuster fix.

Like other Warner Bros. films this year, Godzilla vs. Kong will be released on HBO Max and make its cinematic debut concurrently. This will be a follow-up to 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. It was revealed in the movie’s end credits that numerous titans were converging on Skull Island, and we can’t imagine that Kong is going to be happy about that.

While the original version of the movie didn’t establish a victor between the two, director Adam Wingard is promising that this film will have a definite victor, so we don’t walk away debating or feeling unsatisfied because of it ends up a stalemate.

Who do you think will end up the winner in this battle amongst monsters?

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