For film studios, the summer of 2012 has been lucrative. Almost every major studio had a huge hit, leading to box office receipts that dwarf previous year’s results.
But for viewers, the story wasn’t quite the same. While the summer had some great entertainment, some awful, unnecessary flicks reared their ugly heads from time to time.
The Daily Reveille’s entertainment staff has broken the summer movies down by genre to let you know what was great, what was awful and what you can wait to rent.
Comedies: B-
The comedy landscape for the summer of 2012 looks much like it did in 2011. Last year, films like “Horrible Bosses” and “Bridesmaids” stood out as diamonds in the rough. This year, we had the hilarious “Ted” and what was possibly the year’s best film yet, “Moonrise Kingdom.”
Unfortunately, these high points were dragged down by the likes of “The Dictator,” which found Sacha Baron Cohen once again unable to hit the sweet spot he did with “Borat.” Viewers also had to suffer through “The Watch,” a simply unfunny film about a neighborhood watch association that was already at a disadvantage due to the Trayvon Martin shooting.
The recently released and decently funny “The Campaign” helped the ratings of this genre a bit, but not enough to elevate it above its typical mediocrity.
Superheroes: A
Superheroes have ruled the summer season almost every year since the first “Iron Man” was released in 2008. The summer of 2012 was no different. This year, the Marvel heroes were combined into “The Avengers,” a movie that will be held as the standard for popcorn entertainment for the next few years. In addition to being wildly enjoyable, the movie raked in an amazing $1.4 billion worldwide, making it the third-highest grossing film ever.
We also saw the hard-hitting conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s terrific Batman trilogy. “The Dark Knight Rises” may have underperformed a bit at the box office, but it lacked nothing in its ability to bring one of the greatest trilogies of all time to a close.
And for a film that seemed so unnecessary when it was first announced, “The Amazing Spider-Man” was remarkably good. Lead actors Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone turned in far better performances than Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, while director Marc Webb made audiences completely forget about Sam Raimi’s trilogy.
The superhero trend isn’t dying any time soon. Let’s just hope that future summers will be as successful as this one.
Remakes/Reboots: C+
For the past couple of summers, reboots have been everywhere. Most of them have come from Marvel Comic’s studio, but as most superheroes have already been rebooted, this summer’s offering was a bit paltry.
The reboots started off well with “The Amazing Spider-Man,” which silenced the naysayers who said a new Spider-Man film wasn’t necessary. Speaking of unnecessary movies, Columbia Pictures made a huge mess out of a remake for a movie that didn’t even need one.
Of course, we’re talking about “Total Recall.” The Arnold Schwarzenegger version is a 22-year-old sci-fi classic, so why remake it with Colin Farrell in the lead role? The movie did a decent job of creating a creepy futuristic setting, but that wasn’t enough to stand up to the reputation of its source material.
Lastly, Universal did a semi-reboot of the Bourne series with “The Bourne Legacy,” which saw Jeremy Renner taking over for Matt Damon. Renner turned in a terrific performance that rivaled Damon’s, but he was bogged down by the film’s lack of heavy action sequences. The upside is that a full trilogy is in order for Renner, so hopefully the next Bourne film will shine more than “Legacy.”
Big-budget Action Movies: C+
Poor Taylor Kitsch. First, “John Carter,” now, “Battleship.” The guy who was supposed to be America’s newest action star has been a part of two of the biggest box office bombs not only this year, but in Hollywood history. “Battleship” was an overblown mess that came off like a “Transformers” flick at sea, so it’s no wonder that it had awful box office receipts.
Meanwhile, Kristen Stewart attempted to distance herself from the “Twilight” series with “Snow White and the Huntsman.” Though the film boasted a wonderfully dark atmosphere, it was undone by the awful performances from most of its leads. But at least it didn’t flop at the box office like “Battleship.”
But the big-budget genre was somewhat redeemed by “Men in Black III,” which smartly took the series back to its roots of not taking itself too seriously. All three leads turned in great performances and the film wasn’t ashamed to admit its obnoxiousness, making for an entertaining summer movie.
Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” was also impressive, even if it had plot holes big enough to drive a truck through. The movie had top-notch special effects and a great performance from lead actress Noomi Rapace, but it wasn’t what Scott’s fans were expecting, as it was uneven and partially inexplicable. But the movie is set up perfectly for a sequel, so hopefully Scott can deliver the goods next time around. ____ Contact The Daily Reveille’s entertainment staff at [email protected]