Sci-fi movies coming this year

Here are a few sci-fi movies worth looking out for in 2011:

Apollo 18
Blair Witch meets Paranormal Activity meets - um - Apollo 13. An interesting concept, presenting Apollo 18 as a hushed up moon mission that goes horribly wrong thanks to nasty extra terrestrials. The 'found' video footage tells the horrifying story.
Most people, who know me, know that I'm not a fan of this type of film making but maybe this one will actually be good. As opposed to the Blair Witch Project which was a big pile of animal leavings.

Attack The Block
Aliens meet their match when they land in a South London housing estate. A typically British take on the alien invasion movie, it sees a gang of kids take on the pesky xenomorphs in their own, unique way. I've been hearing a lot of good things about this since they began filming, so it should be a lot of fun!
Cowboys & Aliens
Possibly the most risky crossover movie ever made (apart from Real Steel - see below), this Jon Favreau-helmed actioner has plenty of well-known talent to carry the concept. The trailer looks good – let’s hope it lives up to the hype. The comic was cleverly marketed and very cheap. £3.50 for a full length Graphic Novel. No wonder it sold enough copies to generate a big budget movie.

Super 8
JJ Abrams has gone from strength to strength over the last few years delivering the goods every time. Kids making their own movie on Super 8 witness the arrival of something big and unworldly to their town after a train crash. All heck breaks loose and it's up to the little urchins to save the day. I wasn't a fan of Cloverfield and as a sub genre I don't like found footage in general. However, so far his movies have at least been entertaining.

Real Steel
Another crossover movie, this sees Hugh Jackman taking on the life-affirming coach role to a down-and-out robot wars-esque robo fighter. Whether it has the emotional - ahem - punch to connect with audiences remains to be seen. Jackman is a bankable star at the moment so I'm sure this will pull in reasonable first week grosses.

Contagion
Let's hope this virus movie has learnt from the mistakes of previous dire efforts (most notably Outbreak). An all star cast and high-profile director (Soderbergh) could finally redeem this genre.

Now
In the near future, everyone can live forever - as long as they keep up their insurance payments after they've reached 25! Therein lies an interesting twist on Logan's Run. The surprisingly good Justin Timberlake is the unfortunate protagonist who defaults on his payment and goes on the run.

Rise of the Apes
Monkey madness comes in the form of Andy Serkis' genetically modified CGI ape. Calamity ensues in this Planet of the Apes Reboot / Prequel thing as we witness the Apes wrestle control of the planet from us puny humans. The question is, is this a remake starting at the very beginning (Chronologically) of the story or is it in some way related to the Tim Burton film?

Dredd
To many Dredd fans, the hope of seeing the perp-busting anti-hero from 2000AD appear faithfully on screen were dashed when Sly Stallone stepped into the Judge's boots back in 1995. Now they have a new hope in Karl Urban as Dredd – Directed by Peter Travis and filmed in South Africa. Details are sketchy at best – images appearing on the internet have divided fans already so it’s hard to tell at this stage just how true to the comics this film will be. At least Urban has promised to keep the helmet on this time!