Every year, the summer is one of the most looked forward to times of the year. It's when the nice weather rolls in, kids are on break from school, adults take vacation from work and people storm to the theater to catch the latest flick. Year after year, studios try to whip out the best of the best, their best movie and put it on screen between the months of May-September. Not to say that the rest of the year is wasted with bad movies, but usually the cream of the crop is out during the summer months.
Seemingly this year the Summer Movie Season started a bit early. By the end of April we were already looking at the first blockbuster of the year in Fast Five and since then, there have been noteworthy, blockbuster-esque films.
Let's take a look at both what has already made its way to theaters and what is to come for the rest of the summer:
End of April
- Fast Five
- Thor
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- The Hangover Part II
- Kung Fu Panda 2
- X-Men: First Class
- Super 8
- Green Lantern
- Cars 2
- Bad Teacher
- Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon
- Horrible Bosses
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
- Winnie the Pooh
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Friends with Benefits
- Cowboys & Aliens
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- 30 Minutes or Less
- Final Destination 5
- Spy Kids 4: All Around the World
- Our Idiot Brother
Lots of movies to check out this summer, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Let me breakdown, briefly, what makes each of these movies bring to the table.
By now, you've heard about the movies in April and May so I won't spend much time on those months. Fast Five had some star power mixed in with the high speed chases, over the top action that were all accustomed to during our summer. Thor, being the first Marvel film released this year, really set the tone for the 2 other Marvel films coming. Pirates 4 though disappointing, brought in a lot of money and still had that summer movie feel to it. Hangover Part II was the essential summer flick, delivering comedy throughout. Kung fu Panda 2 was a lot deeper than expected but will turn out to be one of the better animated movies of the year.
Now to the movies we haven't seen yet. June! X-Men first class is shaping up to be fantastic. Priority #1 with this film has to be to restore this franchise to its once glorious status among Comic Book adaptations. Looks like First Class will do that with McAvoy and Fassbender playing Professor X and Magneto, and both looking promising. Super 8 confuses the hell out of me. I'm beginning to believe that this isn't a monster movie at all. It just contains a monster, but it will have nothing to do with it. Jury is out on Super 8. Green Lantern is also suspect. Ryan Reynolds is a tremendous actor, but maybe this just wasn't his part. I still think Bradley Cooper should be doing Green Lantern, that's just me. I did not enjoy the first Cars film and the 2nd seems to be just thrown out there just to bring in the cash. Bad Teacher, for me, is my early pick for Comedy of the Year. Cameron Diaz looks enjoyable in this film, Justin Timberlake is a natural when it comes to comedy and acting and Jason Segal is one of the funnier guys around. It's looking good.
Originally, Transformers was supossed to kick off July with a bang. Instead, it slams the door on June in dramatic fashion. Minus Megan Fox, admissions that the 2nd Transformers wasn't exactly the greatest film both indicate good things for Dark Side of the Moon. I am most looking forward to the last Harry Potter film, in what will be a bitter moment for fans. It all comes down to this. We all know the ending but oh how epic it will look on screen. I'm also looking forward to Friends with Benefits and Horrible Bosses. They both have a chance to sneak up on audiences and really break from the pack in terms of quality. Horrible Bosses looks hilarious, with the increasingly popular Jason Sudekis involved. As for Friends with Benefits, it looks to be the more raunchy movie that No Strings Attached could have been. I just see Timberlake and Mila Kunis completely stealing the show and making Friends with Benefits one of the better films of the year. Bold prediction.
Captain America will be the last Marvel film released in the year and it'll pretty much be our last sneak peek of The Avengers until next year. Chris Evans is no rookie when it comes to Comic Book Films so his performance should be good, and it has to be. You can't botch a character like Captain America. You just can't. The action definitely looks like it's there, and of course the famous after credits scene from Marvel should be interesting.
August, normally considered "Dump Month" by most, contains some goodies. 30 Minutes or Less is a B-list comedy that could end up having A list quality. Jesse Eisenberg isn't exactly the shaman of comedy but he's not bad. Rounding out the cast will be Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride and Nick Swardson.
Another Final Destination film to practically close out the summer...again. At this point, watching people die in crazy, exaggerated situations is a bit tiring. But then again, this is coming from the guy would loved every Saw film. It's a toss up.
Finally, Spy Kids 4. Normally this wouldn't make any type of ripple in the news feed. But then you hear that it's in 4D and you stop for a second to think about that. 3D is the fad that most want dead. Could 4D be the idea that trumps 3D? 4D isn't exactly new. It's been done in amusement parks for some of their rides and i'm sure those were some great adventures. A lot of questions come with 4D though. What exactly is 4D? Will it be available in every theater? How much are 4D tickets? Will I need to bring a spare change of underwear?
Well folks, as it gets warmer outside, the theaters will be packed with people looking to stay cool, looking to kill some time and we at The Movie Spot will be joining those people. Stay tuned to The Movie Spot for more previews, trailers and news items regarding all the movies mentioned above and more!
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