Being that Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, it's also the unofficial end of the blockbuster season. I saw more movies this summer than any other summer and I've decided to rank them and provide my reflections on them. They are ranked worst to best, and some may surprise you.
13. The Happening- I nearly left this off my list as this doesn't register as a movie. I went to the theatre so excited for this movie, ready to be freaked out and amazed at the same time. I was not there for the tragedies of Lady in the Water or The Village so I didn't have the previous history; I was just going on what I knew of the trailers and musings online. I didn't want to walk out because I thought there would be a twist at the end to tie everything up, but there wasn't. This movie failed in several ways, most of all it was to provide a plausible scenario, conflict, or story. There was this strained hint of an extramarital affair we neither cared about nor knew about, and before the movie was half over, everyone was forgiven. MNS may never make another movie. The good news is, Mark Walbergh can act, and even with a pitiful script and story, does a remarkable job holding the viewers' attention. Mark Walbergh gets ten points in this review, but loses nine for agreeing to this rubbish even after reading the script. (1/10)
12. Prince Caspian- Sorry CS Lewis that this happened to one of your best stories. I thought it was boring and over produced. As soon as it started I wanted it to be over immediately, and the script sounded like it was written by children, like a bunch of eleven-year olds got bored after school one day, borrowed Mom's video camera, and filmed this out in the woods. (3/10)
11. Babylon AD - Unlike The Happening, even though this was a poor movie, I enjoyed the heck out of it. My first reactions were not good. The story was there, but at no point was I made aware of it. The characters were there cause I could see them on screen, but I just didn't know who they were. I didn't care about any aspect of the movie: the conflict, the progression, the resolution. It was put together terribly, and new elements and characters were introduced all over the place, even in to the climax of the story. Even though it was a futuristic movie, it was unbelievable to the point of lunacy. Then I remembered: it's a Vin Diesel movie. In fact, it's a Vin Diesel movie in which he was actually good. Surprising, I know, but he's obviously not going to be winning awards for the part. I was entertained for the first hour, and then, after Diesel destroys a $3 billion government fighter drone from a $5500 snowmobile, I lost interest. Seven more characters were introduced, none of whom had specific roles like a game of The Sims. The best moment came when the lead female, Melanie Thierry, declares at the end of a poorly written conversation: "We will all die when we get to New York." Then she falls asleep. I laughed and laughed. (4.5/10)
10. Swing Vote- I actually liked this movie, and the fact it's left open at the end only adds to its value in my opinion. It's a very classic setup with Costner playing a dead beat dad whose kid is more of an adult than he is. The whole purpose of the story is to mark his change, and that's successful. The elements surrounding the story were highly convoluted and coincidental. Costner doesn't do well in his role unfortunatly, but has enough help from Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammar, Dennis Hopper (who really should be in more movies), and Stanley Tucci. I laughed at the parts that were funny and generally didn't mind seeing it. It's doubtful, with a script and story like that, it could have been any better. (5/10)
9. Wanted- Just for comparison measures, this was Morgan Freeman's worst movie (not his worst role), and Angelina Jolie's best. I expected this to be early in my rankings, but after comparing it, it moved up. Originality counts for so much when it comes to entertainment. While a bit campy and testosterone driven, the story made sense. The stylized script and camera work didn't get on my nerves too much. I actually appreciated the idea of a no-brainer story made for more intelligent audiences. Overall I enjoyed it, though there were parts that strained my idea of possibility, and the ending really got out of control, but most of the elements were in place. In the end, the good outweighed the bad, and it was successful. (6.5/10)
8. Hancock- I thought it was too conservative and could have been better. It was a superhero movie, but more importantly it was a made up superhero, not from any comic book originally. It also was a vehicle for Will Smith, just something to get him back on the screen. I thought Smith did a good job, but Hancock was played without passion, and the laziness of the character didn't translate well, that is to say, one can never be called a good actor portraying laziness. For that reason, I thought Jason Bateman had a more convincing role and out acted Smith who seems more adept at playing the everyman rather than a larger than life superhero. Think about Independence Day and how he was just a regular guy. Much better at that than this. Hancock also contained one of the poorest written endings all summer (save for numbers 11 and 13). This one was good enough to leave me entertained, but I wouldn't see the sequel. (6.5/10)
7. Step Brothers- There's not much to say regarding a Will Ferrell flick. The story was semi-original and I laughed really hard at it. His funniest since Anchorman, which makes sense considering it was written and directed by the same guy. One doesn't go into a Ferrell movie expecting good direction or acting. I did however laugh more than I thought I would, and because of that surprise, I liked it very much. (7/10)
6. X-Files 2- I'm a fan of the series and the movie was one extra long episode. I was pleased with the simplicity of the story and how easily Billy Connolly made a believable character. Connolly is definitely under utilized. The story didn't attempt to be too much or something it was not and that made it refreshing. There was some backstory Carter pulled up dealing with Fox and Scully's relationship I wasn't familiar with so it made it confusing, possibly distracting. Xzibit was in it, and I didn't fully understand that choice. It was one of the best sci-fi movies I've seen in a while, and I would venture a guess that I liked it more than most everyone else. (7/10)
5. Get Smart- This movie wasn't great, and Carell played more of a clown than I would have liked, but again, the surprise element of a movie I didn't expect to be good goes a long way. It was actually really funny. I nearly giggled through the whole thing. I think the whole cast worked well together and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a sequel. That one I would see. (7.5/10)
4. Traitor- I was really excited to see this movie, and within the first ten minutes knew it would be worth it. I was even more excited when I left the theatre because it was simply an incredible story, with terrific acting, directing, dialouge. This was the whole package. Cheadle soars as the lead which is no surprise and Pearse matches his performance which, again, is no surprise. Jeff Daniels did an excellent job in a serious role, and I didn't have a hard time taking him seriously, probably because I was too involved in the story. The camera work was significant for such an involved story. It was full of politics, suspense, twists, some of which I predicted, others I did not. I suspect it will be nominated for a few awards in various categories: screenplay, best actor, cinematography. (9/10)
3. Wall-E- A lot of people liked Kung-Fu Panda better, probably because it had more dialogue and more action, but I did not see it. Wall-E was not only a great movie, it was beautiful. How often is the word used to describe an animated movie? It was also romantic. Wall-E was such a dynamic character even without speaking. It gave a nice lesson without being preachy which is always appreciated, and the story was so original. I think Pixar has some of the most original ideas in moviemaking today, which I suppose makes sense because they don't have to use human actors. Most people I think found this movie boring and slow because of the lack of dialogue, but I don't think they could appreciate the subtlety of the story and character arc, because a lot of moviegoers are stupid. IMDB users however have voted this the 29th best movie of overall, so someone out there liked it. I wouldn't mind seeing it again, whether in the theatre or DVD. (9.5/10)
2. Iron Man- What worked for Iron Man is it didn't try and tell anymore story than the story of Iron Man. It was simple and well acted: Favreau directed Downey Jr. and Bridges to at least a nomination. It was full of comedic elements which helped make a serious action movie a little more lighthearted and easy to watch. It was devoid of a romantic subplot which distracts in these types of movies. It was like an arrow that stretched from the beginning of the movie and didn't stop until the end. I'm so excited everyone is signed on for a two and three because this could be a very popular franchise. My favorite superhero movie ever, and a very surprising pick. Interestingly, this was the first movie I saw for the summer season, and it just doesn't compare with the others. (9.5/10)
1. The Dark Knight- I'm not going to do a very good job explaining what this movie means to me. It's my favorite movie of all time, and that's saying something because it's a movie about Batman. This movie has everything: romance, violence (the two most important elements producers look for), intelligence, excitement, story lines that cross, twists; and those are just the elements of the story. The actors all gave A+ performances: In my opinion Gary Oldman had the best performance as a man under control amid the chaos of his city around him, even better than Eckhart's which other people seemed to prefer. I'm not going to talk about Ledger's performance because I don't think it's fair to other actors any where. Ledger's performance was otherworldly. One hates to mention the tragedy of it, but if there could be one performance an actor would die for, this was it. He will for sure win the oscar for supporting actor, even though he out acted everyone on the set. Every actor turned in the top performance of his career. The dialogue was perfect, the story was perfect. I've seen it three times and it gets better each time. I get chills at the end cause the ending is so breathtaking. The only sour note was Gyllenhaal's performance, which even for her was sub. Ignore that and we have the most beautiful movie is a very long time. (10/10)
Now here's what we have to look forward to in the fall Oscar season: Righteous Kill, Burn After Reading, Lakeview Terrace, Blindness, Miracle at St. Anna, Choke, Body of Lies, City of Ember, Flash of Genius, The Road.
