Summer Movies
In the movie year, nothing spells more promise of hope than the Summer season. It also delivers the most disappointments when the hype extends a viewers expectations far beyond what the movie is capable of delivering. So far, the summer of 2007 has not been spectacular. Not bad, just not memorable.
The signature scene in Spiderman 2 was the subway train fight. Collapsing unconscious in the subway car, and mask completely gone, the citizens of New York see Spiderman for who he really is. Not the menace the papers were making him out to be, but just a guy trying to help. Spiderman 3 never built on this. Visually, it looked great, but it was missing some of the heart that made the first two films the best in Comic Book Cinema.
Pirates of the Caribbean was an unexpected surprise a few summers ago. Really, a movie based on a ride? It actually gave some street credit for the Haunted Mansion movie (for the record, I still have not seen that film). The second movie never appealed to me. Overall, I liked the third installment of Pirates because my expectations were set lower than Davey Jones' locker. But the film suffers from plot complexity. Not that a complex plot is bad, but the filmmakers did not make it easy to keep all the story lines and character motivations straight.
Shrek 3 was, well, Shrek. It was more of the same. It reminds me of why I am glad that Pixar creates new characters instead of recycling existing ones. All though Ratatouille does not seem like it will appeal to me, neither did Cars. And I loved Cars. But, to the point of Shrek, Pixar is not releasing Toy Story 3 this year, they are giving us new characters, new locations and (most importantly) a new story. Shrek 3 gives us more Burp-n-Fart jokes.
So far, my favorite film of May 2007 has been 28 Weeks Later. Like Aliens, it is a sequel that does not demand you see the original. It is a thrill ride from start to finish, with a splattering of gore splashed throughout.
Let's see what June brings us! Until then!
The signature scene in Spiderman 2 was the subway train fight. Collapsing unconscious in the subway car, and mask completely gone, the citizens of New York see Spiderman for who he really is. Not the menace the papers were making him out to be, but just a guy trying to help. Spiderman 3 never built on this. Visually, it looked great, but it was missing some of the heart that made the first two films the best in Comic Book Cinema.
Pirates of the Caribbean was an unexpected surprise a few summers ago. Really, a movie based on a ride? It actually gave some street credit for the Haunted Mansion movie (for the record, I still have not seen that film). The second movie never appealed to me. Overall, I liked the third installment of Pirates because my expectations were set lower than Davey Jones' locker. But the film suffers from plot complexity. Not that a complex plot is bad, but the filmmakers did not make it easy to keep all the story lines and character motivations straight.
Shrek 3 was, well, Shrek. It was more of the same. It reminds me of why I am glad that Pixar creates new characters instead of recycling existing ones. All though Ratatouille does not seem like it will appeal to me, neither did Cars. And I loved Cars. But, to the point of Shrek, Pixar is not releasing Toy Story 3 this year, they are giving us new characters, new locations and (most importantly) a new story. Shrek 3 gives us more Burp-n-Fart jokes.
So far, my favorite film of May 2007 has been 28 Weeks Later. Like Aliens, it is a sequel that does not demand you see the original. It is a thrill ride from start to finish, with a splattering of gore splashed throughout.
Let's see what June brings us! Until then!
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