I love going to the movies. I always have. And for the last few years, I have truly loved writing reviews for movies that I see in theaters. I started writing reviews out of boredom one summer and it has since turned into the number one thing I want to do with my life. Ever since then, I've wanted to be a film critic.
There's something magical about going to a darkened theater and watching something on a large silver screen. If you go to as many movies as I do, it probably wouldn't be quite as magical an experience after a while. But it's still fun to go to the movies on the weekends. I won't stop no matter how bad the movies get.
So how was the summer at the movies? Some years, it's a great place to go to beat the heat for a few hours. There's usually something good that's playing that's worth seeing. Sadly, there weren't a whole lot of great movies this summer that made the theaters good places to beat the heat. And now, here are some of my thoughts about this summer's movies.
The Good
The summer is always when most of the year's biggest blockbuster action movies are released. It didn't seem like there were that many action adventure movies this summer, but of the few that were released, they weren't bad. Pacific Rim wasn't quite as good as I had hoped it would be, but being my most anticipated film of the entire summer, it had a lot of expectations to meet. It met most, but not all. The storyline was awesome, the robots were awesome, and watching them fight against those giant monsters was...entertaining, but still awesome! Other than the special effects and Charlie Day being pretty funny, there aren't a whole lot of noteworthy things about this movie.
The Bad
White House Down. This is the second time in 2013 that we've seen people attacking the White House. What is it with this kind of story this year? Olympus Has Fallen was well done and made this story play out really well. White House Down does the exact same thing but with different characters, different actors, and a different day. This movie wasn't done particularly well. Channing Tatum isn't great for the role and it's hard to imagine Jamie Foxx as the president of the United States. If there's anything positive about the film, Jamie Foxx might be a pretty cool president.
The Just OK
Man Of Steel. I didn't expect this movie to be particularly good after seeing all of the trailers. With the exception of Henry Cavill as Clark Kent and especially Michael Shannon as General Zod, the whole movie could be better cast. I'm not a big fan of Lois Lane played by Amy Adams. The special effects are awesome, but at some points, make everything seem a little too overdramatic. The story was too short for a two and a half hour movie. It could have been cut down to about two hours or a little shorter. This film met all of my expectations, which weren't very high in the first place, making it just okay.
The Downright Funny
Todd Phillips and the Wolfpack is back for The Hangover Part III. Similarly to the first two installments in the series, the movie is just downright funny. The laughs don't stop coming and as usual, Zach Galifianakis is the source of most of the comedy. You'll be amazed by what kind of trouble Mr. Chow gets them into this time.
The Why Did I Actually Go See This?
After Earth. Enough said. This movie is easily the worst film of the summer. I knew going into the theater it was going to be bad. M. Night Shyamalan hasn't put a good movie out in a few years and After Earth clearly has continued this bad movie streak. When will it end? Nobody knows. The story was awful. Will Smith was only okay, and so was Jaden Smith. This is one of those movies that makes me wonder why I went to see it in the first place. It's one of those movies that's so bad that it makes me question my decision to become a film critic (the answer only went from I want to be a film critic, to hell yes, I want to be a film critic).
The One That Made It All Worthwhile
My favorite and I think best film of the entire summer, Neill Blomkamp's Elysium. I've been a fan of Neill Blomkamp's since District 9 came out in 2009. I had pretty high expectations for this film and they were all met. The story is pretty cool. Matt Damon does a great job as Max De Costa, the main character, who is dying of radiation exposure and must get to Elysium, a space station where only the privileged live, so that he can get the treatment he needs to survive. This film is action packed and takes audiences on a pretty cool roller coaster ride. And even though she only has a few minutes of screen time, Jodie Foster shows us that her character is not to be messed with.
There are so many other movies that came out this summer and some of them were good, and some of them were bad. Overall, the summer of 2013 could have been a whole lot better, especially in the shadow of last summer, which had the release of films like The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises. But the fall looks to have some truly fantastic films. So, for now, we'll just have to wait and see what movies come next.
There's something magical about going to a darkened theater and watching something on a large silver screen. If you go to as many movies as I do, it probably wouldn't be quite as magical an experience after a while. But it's still fun to go to the movies on the weekends. I won't stop no matter how bad the movies get.
So how was the summer at the movies? Some years, it's a great place to go to beat the heat for a few hours. There's usually something good that's playing that's worth seeing. Sadly, there weren't a whole lot of great movies this summer that made the theaters good places to beat the heat. And now, here are some of my thoughts about this summer's movies.
The Good
The summer is always when most of the year's biggest blockbuster action movies are released. It didn't seem like there were that many action adventure movies this summer, but of the few that were released, they weren't bad. Pacific Rim wasn't quite as good as I had hoped it would be, but being my most anticipated film of the entire summer, it had a lot of expectations to meet. It met most, but not all. The storyline was awesome, the robots were awesome, and watching them fight against those giant monsters was...entertaining, but still awesome! Other than the special effects and Charlie Day being pretty funny, there aren't a whole lot of noteworthy things about this movie.
The Bad
White House Down. This is the second time in 2013 that we've seen people attacking the White House. What is it with this kind of story this year? Olympus Has Fallen was well done and made this story play out really well. White House Down does the exact same thing but with different characters, different actors, and a different day. This movie wasn't done particularly well. Channing Tatum isn't great for the role and it's hard to imagine Jamie Foxx as the president of the United States. If there's anything positive about the film, Jamie Foxx might be a pretty cool president.
The Just OK
Man Of Steel. I didn't expect this movie to be particularly good after seeing all of the trailers. With the exception of Henry Cavill as Clark Kent and especially Michael Shannon as General Zod, the whole movie could be better cast. I'm not a big fan of Lois Lane played by Amy Adams. The special effects are awesome, but at some points, make everything seem a little too overdramatic. The story was too short for a two and a half hour movie. It could have been cut down to about two hours or a little shorter. This film met all of my expectations, which weren't very high in the first place, making it just okay.
The Downright Funny
Todd Phillips and the Wolfpack is back for The Hangover Part III. Similarly to the first two installments in the series, the movie is just downright funny. The laughs don't stop coming and as usual, Zach Galifianakis is the source of most of the comedy. You'll be amazed by what kind of trouble Mr. Chow gets them into this time.
The Why Did I Actually Go See This?
After Earth. Enough said. This movie is easily the worst film of the summer. I knew going into the theater it was going to be bad. M. Night Shyamalan hasn't put a good movie out in a few years and After Earth clearly has continued this bad movie streak. When will it end? Nobody knows. The story was awful. Will Smith was only okay, and so was Jaden Smith. This is one of those movies that makes me wonder why I went to see it in the first place. It's one of those movies that's so bad that it makes me question my decision to become a film critic (the answer only went from I want to be a film critic, to hell yes, I want to be a film critic).
The One That Made It All Worthwhile
My favorite and I think best film of the entire summer, Neill Blomkamp's Elysium. I've been a fan of Neill Blomkamp's since District 9 came out in 2009. I had pretty high expectations for this film and they were all met. The story is pretty cool. Matt Damon does a great job as Max De Costa, the main character, who is dying of radiation exposure and must get to Elysium, a space station where only the privileged live, so that he can get the treatment he needs to survive. This film is action packed and takes audiences on a pretty cool roller coaster ride. And even though she only has a few minutes of screen time, Jodie Foster shows us that her character is not to be messed with.
There are so many other movies that came out this summer and some of them were good, and some of them were bad. Overall, the summer of 2013 could have been a whole lot better, especially in the shadow of last summer, which had the release of films like The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises. But the fall looks to have some truly fantastic films. So, for now, we'll just have to wait and see what movies come next.
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