Scene from Monsters University Photo: CFP

Scene from Crimes of Passion Photo: CFP

While July offered quite a number of exciting action flicks from Man of Steel, Man of Tai Chi, After Earth, White House Down, and Fast & Furious 6, this August seems to be more relaxing and happy with a few comedies and romances lining up to enter the nation's 15,000 theaters.

At the same time, several delayed movies, including Monsters University, Crimes of Passion, and Empires of the Deep, are hoping to capture the audience's attention. 

A bit of action

For those who are loyal action fans, there are still some they can catch during this period: Pacific Rim, Unbeatable and Ray Back.

A typical Hollywood sci-fi action flick, Pacific Rim (set for general release on the Chinese mainland on July 31) follows a formulaic plot, which pits human beings against an alien threat. But unlike what happened in War of the Worlds (2005) and the very recent Man of Steel (2013), where life forms descend from the sky, the giant monsters in Pacific Rim pop up in the middle of the ocean. To defend themselves, humans from around the world create equally giant robots.

Pacific Rim's director, Guillermo del Toro, is famous for his 2007 multiple award-winning film Pan's Labyrinth. Though some accuse the Mexican director of plagiarizing ideas from Japan's Ultraman TV series, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter still satisfies audience expectations. The Hollywood Reporter introduced Del Toro's new work as "everything that monster movies since the beginning of time might have wished they could be."

The other two action movies scheduled for August are both made in China. They may not be as exciting as most Hollywood works, but at least they have comparatively new stories ideas.

In Unbeatable, instead of gun fights the story is about how an ex-boxing champion and a fu er dai (the second generation of a rich family) try to win back their dignity. At last month's Shanghai International Film Festival, Unbeatable won a Golden Goblet for its leading actor, Nick Cheung, and for 10-year-old actress Crystal Lee.

The other domestic action film is Ray Back. In the midst of all their running and hiding, the protagonist and his enemy ultimately find they share the same goal.

Romance and comedy

Among all movie genres, comedies and romantic movies are the ones that can win applause with small and middle investments; therefore, many green-hand directors start from there. Taking a general look at next month's comedies and romantic movies, there are at least 12 that can be categorized into this type, and almost half of them come from directors of little fame.

Here is a brief introduction to a few of the upcoming movies in this category.

The name Jin Yimeng may not that well-known among the Chinese audience, but back in 2009, her film Sophie's Revenge provided a lot of laughter and even set a few fashion trends. Now, the imaginative director is back with the new romantic comedy One Night Surprise. It's her second film with actress Fan Bingbing, and this time, there's no Zhang Ziyi to steal the spotlight.

One Night Surprise is a down to earth story (compared to its promotional music video) about a modern female white-collar manager (Fan Bingbing) who finds herself sharing a romantic relationship with three men of different types. Having set up "goddess-like" images in her previous works, Fan is bound to show some of her funny faces this time.

While One Night Surprise is more light and relaxing, Hong Kong director Babara Wong's The Stolen Years and Taiwan director Lin Hsiao-Chien's A Moment of Love are more serious and thought-provoking.

Starring Bai Baihe (known for Love Is not Blind) and Chang Hsiao-chuan (known for Eternal Summer), The Stolen Years is about a couple who have lost their original passion for each other after five years of marriage. While the heroine in The Stolen Years tries to win back her love by tracing back their shared past, the protagonist in A Moment of Love finds her love while helping an old man look for his long lost love.

As both directors are very experienced in romantic movies - Break Up Club (2010) for Wong and Revenge of the Factory Woman (2011) for Lin - it is likely that these two new works will not let audiences down.

Postponed but not forgotten

When you hear names like Crimes of Passion and Empires of the Deep, some of you may think they sound familiar. And you would be right. About three years ago, these two movies were announced, but for a long time, their production was postponed.

Empires of the Deep, at the moment, is scheduled to be screened in the Chinese mainland sometime in August, while Crimes of Passion is more firmly set for August 9.

Adapted from a novel by Hai Yan (many of whose novels have been adapted into TV dramas), Crimes of Passion tells the story of Chinese policewoman Lü Yueyue (Angelababy) who is investigating a lost national treasure. Along the way, she falls in love with a South Korean mob boss, setting herself in a love triangle between her policeman boyfriend and her new lover who lives on the other side of the law.

The novel was adapted into a TV series in 1997 by Zhao Baogang (known for 1991's popular TV series Stories from the Editorial Board). Now let's see if the director, Gao Qunshu, who is famous for his detective dramas, can add his special touches to the story.

Directed by I. Michael French and Scott Miller, Empires of the Deep, as the title implies, is an adventure story that happens in an imaginary world - a mermaids' world deep down in the ocean. A young man named Atlas (a human) sets out for a journey looking for his father who was taken, along with a temple, by a giant crab. Surprisingly, he discovers the mermaids' world deep under the sea.

Of course, the summer vacation should be a time for family fun, and there are quite a few animations to entertain the whole family.

Besides several domestic animations like I Love Wolffy 2 and Kunta, there are Hollywood productions The Smurfs 2 and Monsters University that are surly worth considering. It's a pity that Despicable Me 2 is not on the schedule for mainland theaters, but there are still plenty of choices in August that will give audiences a summer full of movie-going pleasure.