I wasn’t going to watch Rise of the Planet of the Apes but then I did at the last minute. Pretty decent. I also re-watched Fast Five on the weekend, still easily best movie of the summer. So my final list is as well as my…
1) Fast Five
2) Kung Fu Panda 2
3) Super 8
4) Rise of the Planet of the Apes
5) Thor
6) Bad Teacher
7) Priest
8) Conan the Barbarian
9) X-Men: First Class
10) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
11) Captain America
12) Cowboys and Aliens
13) Transformers: Dark of the Moon
14) Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2
15) The Hangover 2
16) Green Lantern
Then I also watched all 7 of the other Harry Potter films in the theatre leading up to the last one. 2011 was easily the most I’ve ever been in the theatre over one single summer. I watched a total of 23 films. I also think it was one of the worst summers for movies though, nothing really truly stood out for me, aside from my top 3. Fast Five was the first blockbuster movie and also the best. Kung Fu Panda 2 was the only movie you should’ve watched in 3D this summer, if you missed out on the opportunity, well it’s like missing Avatar in 3D. Both were conceived and shot in 3D. Super 8 was like watching old school/personal childhood memories on screen with modern day sensibilities in respect to filming. Really really appreciated this movie.
Apes definitely was a more complete movie compared to everything below it on my list and that’s why it’s number 4 on my list. I look forward to further sequels, there were a lot of hints in this ‘super prequel’ as I call it to completely redo the franchise. It even stands on it’s own to be a true prequel to the original Planet of the Apes, if they don’t continue on.
In the end for the superhero movies, I enjoyed Thor the most based on the casting and despite them still being too much on Earth. It still separated itself better in respect to the worlds it was trying to present versus say… Green Lantern. Which is yes, the worst movie I’ve seen all summer, all year. This movie should never have been made. While I did nitpick Thor, it’s a question of where the sequel takes place next. How it plays out in the Avengers storyline, I’d prefer more Asgard is all.
I really didn’t watch that many comedies this summer. I typically have a 100 min rule for theatre watching, if it’s not over 100 min, forget about it. So with that Bad Teacher makes the top 5. It was an almost R rated comedy and didn’t pretend to be anything it wasn’t. The other comedies like Bridesmaids and Friends with Benefits I’ll rent, and then Horrible Bosses I’ll wait to see on my movie channels. The Change Up I’ll ignore, I’ve seen Freaky Friday, I’ve seen the Freaky Friday remake, I don’t need to see the third remake with dudes.
I did break my 100 min rule with Priest, but the concept for this film as a lover of sci-fi/manga/comics/video games had me intrigued enough. Despite it’s simplicity and predictability, the cinematography and art direction won this movie over for me. Yes Priest was better than Conan. Conan probably earns in spot based on my love for the fantasy genre. You don’t get many movies like this anymore, or at all, and you also absolutely don’t get R rated films like this. So again it actually being made was probably nothing short of a miracle. Whether we sequels or not is dependent on the box office. I know the budget lists it at 90 million and the first weekend take was 10 million, but I read 25 million of that budget was actually just for licensing rights. Who knows really. I’d want more mysticism if they continued on with the franchise, simplify it, keep it focused, keep it continuous and have more ridiculousness put in which probably lends itself to hilarity. I think the directing of this movie was more problematic than anything else. While Nispel had fantasy-esque qualifications with Pathfinder, his Conan just wasn’t fluid enough. The casting was perfect in this film, I enjoyed that, it definitely could’ve taken advantage of the R rating more. The swordplay was fantastic, but definitely something was missing from Conan which really keeps it below average in terms of actually rating it. I’ll still own/buy it but that has more to do with my love for the Conan movies and the genre. I want more movies like this, so I’ll support the cause.
X-Men First Class could’ve been top 5 easily after the first 45 minutes of the movie. Then the rest of the movie happened. It ended extremely cheesy and forced for me. They rushed the Professor X/Magneto relationship too fast and they could’ve done much more with it. I guess part of the problem is are/were they rebooting the X-Men franchise entirely or just trying to slot in a back history. You just don’t know anymore with these constant reboots/remakes that it has even me confused. In some ways Conan could’ve been better if it wasn’t an origin movie for the first 20 minutes. A lot of it really boils down to having the balls to simplify and focus on something new. But there is always a fear in these Hollywood films, that they need to associate past things so the audience can understand. Fact is, if you do it well enough it’ll work itself out just fine. That’s why films like Super 8 work, they’re enclosed but above all else it’s still new, even if it’s playing off of something old. Apes was the same but also did enough to hint at a future. Plan things out, don’t be afraid to save some ideas for later. Also Kevin Bacon kicked ass as the villain in this film.
Pirates 4 was another adventure, it was fun enough but still was bland in some respects. It didn’t pick up until the latter half of the film and even then wasn’t as large scale as the first 3 films. We need more badassery of Jack staring down the Kraken to meet his death scenes. I’m not saying he has to die over and over, but still give me that sense of awesomeness. Keep the adventure continuous as well! Realistically Pirates could be Indiana Jones in adventure, except well… about Pirates. Disney has a winning franchise here, just keep it fresh with adventure.
Captain America… oh Captain America. I think Evans played a better Steve Rogers than Captain America which felt too reluctant to me. Again these Marvel movies just feel like the big setup to Avengers so I’ll have to withhold judgment until then. I’ve also learned that the Marvel comics won’t ever reach the realism of Nolan’s Batman, nor should they. I think part of the problem is these films are becoming more of the bigger picture and that’s the Avengers. So we’ll wait and see, but it’s gotten to the point where yes, you have to watch all the movies back to back to back to back. So Ironman 1, 2 and then 3, add some Hulk, throw some Thor sequels in there, Captain America and whatever else. I liked the era setting for Captain America, but they ditched it really quick to place him in the modern world. Which left me wondering more about his integration back into society and needlessly more interested in that. Basically when you know something is going to happen within a film already… it takes away the wonder.
Cowboys and Aliens was a very simple movie. It was the movie that Craig did while MGM dealt with bankruptcy preventing them from filming Bond 23, it was the movie Ford did while Lucas is still jerking off to Star Wars and his 900th release of those films preventing more Indiana Jones. The movie was competent, average, somewhat below average, but just there. It was a fun movie, more fun than say… Transformers Dark of the Moon. But I’ll always remember Cowboys as the movie that came before the next James Bond and Indy film.
Transformers made no sense to me. In the end, Bay made it possible to see my childhood toys on screen, there was awesomeness, stupidness, more stupidness, ridiculousness, what the hell am I watching, that doesn’t make any sense, why are there so many humans on screen, why are there still so many humans on screen and why are the Transformers stationary in their car modes with explosions going on around them. I’ll still buy/own this movie, it’s Transformers. Put it simply I’m Canadian and I made sure to get the US Walmart Transformers 2 exclusive with the extra IMAX scenes. I do think the only way to enjoy the series is to watch them all in succession. Each can be equally terribad, but together they’re still fun in context. In hindsight, I don’t even know if that’s enough. But whatever, I still have the animated movie to remind me of what could’ve been.
Harry Potter! Fucking thank fucking fuck this fucking franchise is over. It was always the movie you had to go see, cause you were so invested already. The films allowed me to visualize Rowling’s imagination as I went through the books. It’s not that you see the actors but you see the world in your mind play out. The films brought quidditch to life, but the films also cut out the best quidditch matches we never got to see. That’s part in the problem with adaptations, something needs to go, creative liberties, decisions to delineate and make things work. Harry Potter is a big overarching story over 8 movies, but when the little things are cut out to help tie the story better together, it’s tough. I’m not saying this as in they cut my favorite parts out of the book! Boohoo! The movies weren’t planned out well enough to really take advantage of engrossing the audience. But what can I say after over 10 years, keeping the same actors, aside from Richard Harris who died, that one Slytherin guy who got cut out because he got arrested for drugs, these films achieved something pretty damn amazing. However still didn’t mean I liked Deathly Hallows Part 2. At one point like Lucas makes me own Star Wars, I’ll have to own Harry Potter in it’s completion. I already unloaded the DVDs I had of movies 1-5 in preparation that one day I’ll just have the one complete blu-ray collection and call it a day. I’m just not in a rush to own these movies at all, because that’s how I feel about the movies. Not quite bargain bin sale, but definitely Amazon hot deal sale.
You know the Hangover 2 should’ve been the worst movie of the summer, but it’s lucky Green Lantern was made. Hangover 2 I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt, if you haven’t seen the first one, you’ll enjoy the second. Mason Lee however still gets the worst acting I’ve seen in my entire life award. I don’t know if he was trolling the audience or what with his self-awareness that yes I am filming a movie and let’s act as unnatural as possible. I still loathed Hangover 2, very much so. It overextended a cameo from Mike Tyson and really was the exact same movie with a new skin in Thailand. I won’t watch the next one in the theatre, that’s for damn sure. In truth the sequel makes up for the cost of admission I didn’t spend by not catching the first one in the theatres. I guess in some ways I tend to discriminate against comedies in the theatres. Except for maybe Harold and Kumar 3 this year… I just might have to watch that on in 3D for the absolute stupidness. But that’s the difference with these films. Hangover 2 is just becoming too self-aware, you don’t say you’re apart of the Wolf Pack when that’s the joke. The other benefit of the doubt I’ll give Hangover 2 is it was a shame they couldn’t get a better cameo in Mel Gibson or Liam Neeson. Mel Gibson would’ve been great, it’s too bad with everything going on about him around the time, that was enough to get him ousted. I mean it was ok to put Mike Tyson back in your movie with a bigger role? But you turn down Braveheart? They basically could’ve approached this as Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder.
Now onto Green Lantern. I’m going to keep this short and sweet. This movie should never ever been made. I don’t even know if it had potential. Reynolds never played a good Hal Jordan I think, Lively looked sexy. But beyond that… so what. For a super power that relies so very much on imagination, this movie was completely unimaginative. Then the setup for the sequel… honestly, I can’t I’m just going to stop here. Never should’ve been made.
In any event that was my summer of movie watching! I would prefer 2 solid movies versus the lot I endured this year, so hopefully Batman and Avengers is that for Summer 2012.
