The Ups And Downs Of Summer Blockbusters

I know I say this all the time, but I really should post more often. I guess it it just a really easy habit to break. So what have I been up to? Well, with summer here I got to mow my first lawn in almost fifteen years (Oh-the joys of being a new home owner). In that same vein I spent almost two full weeks remodeling our downstairs bathroom which ended up being both more time consuming and expensive than I had originally planned.

On the work front, I did spend some time working on some commercial spots for the 2010 winter Olympics, which while physically grueling ending up being moderately enjoyable and financially worthwhile (in fact, these commercials paid for the bathroom remodel--see how it's all connected). Here are some fun pics from the shoot:


But that's not really why you called. It's summertime, which as we all know is an excellent DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince song (from the hit-album 'Homebase'), but it is also the time for the so-called Summer Blockbusters (By the way; whatever happened to the Fresh Prince? We don't hear from him much anymore).

So far the summer blockbusters have been fairly disappointing. The first one I was looking forward to was the "Wolverine" movie which ended up being a muddled waste of time. Ever since Bryan Singer's second "X-Men" movie I guess I've had pretty high standards for a mutants-with-super-powers film. The movie failed on almost every level. Bad characters, odd pacing, and mindless action sequences may seem like a good formula for a summer blockbuster, but not necessarily for a good summer movie.

What was so great last year about both "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight" was that on top of being comic book movies, they had plots and characters (and casts!) that was on par with any other good movie.



I really liked what I saw in the 'Wolverine' trailer, the spot led me to believe the film was a true origin story. I imagined Wolverine like Christopher Lambert in "The Highlander", wandering through time unable to get hurt or die, falling in love only to have that love taken away. It seemed like it would work.




Unfortunately, every part of the movie that I was looking forward to happened in an opening five minute montage. You're telling me in a montage that indestructible Wolverine fought in all major American wars, but you don't think maybe there is some story there to tell?

Yeah, lets just skip over that real origin stuff and get to car chases and a rehash of things we saw and learned in "X-Men 2". I don't know where people come up with this stuff.

"Terminator Salvation" was also a waste of time. Did anybody involved in this film happen to watch the first two "Terminator" films? In the other Terminators (well, parts One and Two anyway) the stakes always seemed high, and you always believed that at any moment these killer robots would actually kill somebody. Mainly because they did kill people--they were Terminators! But when you make a Terminator film PG-13 instead of R, all of a sudden the unstoppable killing machines can't seem to kill anything.

John Connor can fight off the T-800 model (you know, the one that looks like Arnold) using nothing but his bare hands. Really? Again I say, did you see the first movie? That Arnold Terminator would not be so forgiving in a hand-to-hand fight.


What we had in "Terminator Salvation" is a watered down and boring version of a post-apocalyptic future. Sure there's killer robots, but unlike the other views of this future we have seen in the other films, the sun now comes out and we have some pretty nice-looking days. Gone are the black skies and rain, and endless lines of bleached human skulls being trampled by killing machines. This post "Judgment Day" world seems void of the dread we glimpsed in the other films. Now give me a whole movie set in that world, and I'll want to watch it.

Maybe that's the time travel angle, that this is actually a different future that the one we saw in the other films. In fact, I think the original "Judgment Day" was supposed to happen in 1997, which I guess I would've noticed if it had happened.

Speaking of time travel, if you haven't heard it by now the only movie of the summer so far not to disappoint is "Star Trek". I was really excited for this one and it did not let me down. I've seen it twice already (once on IMAX) and plan to go again soon.

Now I am biased in that I have been a "Star Trek" fan almost all my life and have seen every movie and every incarnation of the TV shows (including Star Trek: The Animated Series). Although I really enjoyed The Next Generation gang, my favorite crew was always the original. And this movie had everything I loved about the original crew.

Kirk was young brash. Spock was logical, and therefore intriguing and endlessly interesting. Scotty was arrogantly funny. McCoy was sardonic. Uhura could speak klingon. And Sulu still fences. Who am I forgetting? Oh yeah, Chekov. Well Chekov is now a seventeen-year old genius, who's accent still makes you smile.

This was a great group. Every character fleshed out to resemble the old characters, yet younger and fresher with a voice of their own. I loved the new "Star Trek".

I really liked the decision to take the characters everybody knows and loves, and then tell a whole new story about them. I hope I'm not giving anything away, but this "Star Trek" takes place in an alternate time-line than what we have seen on the the original TV series and the other films.

Some of the best "Star Trek" episodes and films involve time travel and alternate realities, and this movie incorporated those elements in a fascinating way (remember evil Spock from the episode "Mirror Image", it's like that--only way cooler).

J.J. Abrams new "Star Trek" is so far the movie of the summer (and it doesn't look like it will be beat, judging by the trailers for the "Transformers" sequel and the ridiculous looking "G.I. Joe" film) and what is great about it is it is not just for "Star Trek" fans. It is for anyone who is a fan of good movies. It has great characters, a fun story, and THEN cool special effects and explosions. Which in my opinion is what the best summer films are all about.

Well, that post was longer than I anticipated. I guess I will have to post more often to stop from doing that. There are many other films this summer to see, some cool music that has come out lately, and there are always discussions to be had on the new Fall TV schedule. I hope to continue to share rants and raves until I don't have any left (which will probably be never).