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2008 Summer Movies

Earlier in the year, I made a list of the ten movies I was looking forward to this summer, movies that were being released between May 2 and July 25. These are those movies. (Box office numbers were taken directly from Box Office Mojo.)

IRON MAN Release Date: May 2
Domestic Box Office (in millions)
Opening weekend: $98.6
To-date: $315.7

IRON MAN Release Date: May 2
Domestic Box Office (in millions)
Opening weekend: $98.6
To-date: $315.7

The summer of the superhero movie started out with a bang. I wasn’t expecting much from Jon Favreau’s flick about a hero I knew little about, but the previews looked fun and Robert Downey, Jr. looked awesome. The movie was much better than I expected, though, crammed full of intelligent action, great effects, and good chuckles. While the final act of the film was disappointing and most of the characters were wooden and one-dimensional, the reason Iron Man did so well was that it didn’t aspire to be anything more than sheer comic book entertainment.

FINAL SCORE:

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN Release Date: May 16
Domestic Box Office (in millions)
Opening weekend: $55.0
To-date: $140.4

I’ll be honest; the first Narnia movie didn’t blow me out of the water when I first saw it. It was cool, and subsequent viewings have improved my opinion, but overall, it felt like a film trying too hard to capitalize on the popularity of The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, without breaking its own cinematic ground. If that is a valid complaint against the first movie, though, it is a much bigger complaint for its sequel, as Prince Caspian is trying to slowly increase its darkness the way the Harry Potter movies have while simultaneously striving to be as intensely violent as The Lord of the Rings. The Narnia books are certainly both dark and violent, but for a film with talking mice and heavy Christian overtones, the addition of beheadings and face stabbings comes across as a bad judgment call, as it alienates a huge segment of the target audience. Despite this, however, I found myself enjoying the movie, recommending it to others, and disappointed that it didn’t do so hot at the box office. Additionally, I’m pleased that Disney hasn’t forsaken the franchise, as the third installment, The Voyage of the Dawn-Treader, is currently in the works.

FINAL SCORE:

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL Release Date: May 22
Domestic Box Office (in millions)
Opening weekend: $100.1
To-date: $314.3

My expectations were not high when I saw this movie, but I was still let down by the ridiculous plot and nonsensically stupid effects sequences of the fourth Indiana Jones flick. The characters were good and the dialogue was snappy, but from the very beginning, when you see gunpowder floating around the air to track down a dead alien body in Area 51, you know the story is going to suck. Don’t get me wrong; I love the X-Files, but this is Indiana Jones! Anyway, I won’t dwell too much on this one, as you can read my full review.

FINAL SCORE:

THE INCREDIBLE HULK Release Date: June 13
Domestic Box Office (in millions)
Opening weekend: $55.4
To-date: $133.3

I’m convinced that the lack of buzz and the slightly disappointing box office numbers for The Incredible Hulk were all due to timing. It was released too soon after Ang Lee’s disastrous Hulk, and only a little over a month after Iron Man. In my opinion, and I’m sure these are fighting words among geeks and fanboys the world over, I thought The Incredible Hulk was a slightly better movie than Iron Man and deserved more of the spotlight than it ultimately received. It’s as entertaining and exhilarating as Iron Man, but it’s also more thoughtful (without being laborious about it) and more artistic (without being hard to watch). And as much as I like Robert Downey, Jr. and Jeff Bridges, they've got nothing on Edward Norton, William Hurt, and Tim Roth. The Incredible Hulk also harkened back to the original television show, a fond memory of my youth, and was careful to avoid the cliché’s of Bruce Banner’s story. It was an impressive and heart-pounding accomplishment, and I’m sad that it didn’t shine any brighter.

FINAL SCORE:

WALL-E Release Date: June 27
Domestic Box Office (in millions)
Opening weekend: $63.1
To-date: $204.2

Pixar’s ability to put out consistently high-quality films is staggering, and Wall-E hasn’t broken their string. I didn’t feel any real hype leading up to this movie, but as soon as I started watching it, I was excited. It’s visually stunning, narratively dense, and gutsy as can be. Still, while I definitely think of it as a five-star picture, Wall-E is not flawless. The message, if you really stop to think about it, is nonsensical, as the underlying problems are never solved. Additionally, anyone who has had to endure hours of children (or, in my case, a mother-in-law and wife) chanting “Wall-E, Eva, Wall-E, Eva!” knows that certain lines of dialogue are far too repetitive. Overall, though, these are incredibly minor complaints in what is yet another Pixar masterpiece and slam-dunk for Best Animated Film of 2008.

FINAL SCORE:

WANTED Release Date: June 27
Domestic Box Office (in millions)
Opening weekend: $50.9
To-date: $131.3

As long as you’re expecting a blatantly stylized and highly unrealistic action flick where people can shoot the wings off of flies with a handgun, Wanted will not disappoint you. It’s far from high cinema, but the movie, which is very loosely based on a graphic novel, rocks at a high tempo, is unashamed to be sensationally violent, and is a whole lot of fun. Granted, there are questionable plot points (like the “loom of destiny”), and several things that don’t make a lot of sense, but who cares? Angelina Jolie—who isn’t afraid to show off her naked backside—can curve bullets, Morgan Freeman is the leader of a secret organization of assassins, and there’s an over-the-top action sequence every twenty minutes!

FINAL SCORE:

HANCOCK Release Date: July 2
Domestic Box Office (in millions)
Opening weekend: $62.6
To-date: $216.0

Hancock feels like two movies sutured together to make Frankenstein’s Will Smith summer blockbuster monster. In the first movie—the one the studios advertised—Smith plays a belligerent, drunken, and homeless superhero who incurs the wrath of the city for all the collateral damage he causes while fighting crime. This movie, which also stars Jason Bateman as the public relations idealist who tries to fix Hancock’s image, is excellent, funny, and charmingly original. Had this movie been stretched out to an hour and a half and been released as an action comedy, I’d sing its praises. However, at about the half-way point of Hancock, there’s a fairly sudden plot twist that drastically changes everything about the film, including its tone. The second movie—the one that follows—is a generic, humorless, and talkative exploration of origins and clichés, and isn’t even remotely interesting. While it does strive to answer questions about why Hancock is the way he is, this second film is confusing and full of weird plot holes. In short, it’s a mess, and for a movie with such a long development time, one would think these gigantic wrinkles would have been ironed out before release.

FINAL SCORE:

HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY Release Date: July 11
Domestic Box Office (in millions)
Opening weekend: $34.5
To-date: $71.3

I’m pretty lukewarm about the first Hellboy film; I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. Its sequel, on the other hand, is a much better movie in almost every way. I love its style, and Guillermo del Toro is fast proving how well he can switch from artsy auteur to popcorn entertainer. While the level of cheese and schlock is much higher than I’d want, the rest of the movie is well-balanced between humor and action. The story is pretty basic, but the way in which it is told makes it feel complex and completely original. Also, the climactic battle, by itself, is worth the price of admission.

FINAL SCORE:

THE DARK KNIGHT Release Date: July 18
Domestic Box Office (in millions)
Opening weekend: $158.4
To-date: $394.9

There’s nothing I can say about The Dark Knight that hasn’t already been said. It’s The Godfather, Part II of comic book movies. It’s ridiculously awesome. It’s the best picture I’ve seen so far this year, and possibly the best superhero movie ever made. It’s a movie that taps into our collective unconscious and stirs it up. Sufficed to say, if you haven't seen it yet, then what the heck are you doing reading my blog?! I saw it for the first time in IMAX, and it’s an experience I will likely remember for the rest of my life.

FINAL SCORE:

THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE Release Date: July 25
Domestic Box Office (in millions)
Opening weekend: $10.0
To-date: $17.0

With a release date a mere week after the juggernaut that is The Dark Knight, this movie is doomed to be a flop. It’s also troubled because it’s a more pensive meditation on the cult show’s themes than the first film, it focuses far more heavily on character than on shock value, and it doesn’t have a single alien. Fans of the show looking for a paranormal fix will be disappointed, as will casual audiences going for something thrilling and crazy. The X-Files: I Want to Believe is an unexpectedly mature work, and it is destined to be wildly misunderstood by the vast majority of people who actually see it (at least Richard Roeper gets it right). This movie maintains an unblinking focus on the core messages that the show spent so many years dancing around. It has religious and skeptical overtones (along with a smattering of political ones), a plot that is light on the intensity and scares, and nothing as far out there as people surely expect from this franchise. Still, despite these very real problems—which are certain to render this movie an industry joke for years to come—I absolutely adore it as a boldly poetic reinterpretation of a beloved idea.

FINAL SCORE:

All in all, this has been a great summer for movies, especially if you’re a geek like me or a comic book fanatic. While a few movies were missteps, the vast majority of the summer blockbusters were incredibly entertaining. No doubt The Dark Knight will dominate future discussions of this summer, but let’s not forget the other fantastic films that defined the summer of 2008 as a damn good season.

-e. magill, 08/04/2008

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