Summer 2009 In Review Part I: Movies

The summer movie season is a favorite of mine because studios seem to save the big blockbusters for this time of year. I am sure they figure people want to be in from the heat, or maybe it is because kids are not being "entertained" at school and can spend their money on two hours of big screen fun. As a science fiction/fantasy fan, this summer was going to be especially great for me with X-Men Origin: Wolverine, Star Trek, Transformers 2, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
The first on the list for me was Wolverine. Talk about a disappointment. I love the X-Men films, and as a fan of Hugh Jackman, was stoked to see him in his own movie. It was so incredibly boring and predictable. I was really looking forward to seeing Gambit be a part of the storyline, and he was only in the movie for maybe 10 minutes. Here's the big shocker: Wolverine is so hardened because his girlfriend is murdered. But of course, we have to erase his memory so that it makes sense in the other movies. I think X-Men has officially worn out its coolness-jumped the shark-if you will.
In a not so surprise move, I saw 17 Again with my best friend. Always a sucker for teeny/romantic comedy movies I was pleasantly pleased with this film. I actually thought it would be pretty predictable and did not think Zac Efron could carry a movie. I figured he only had the role because he is the en vogue male star for teens at the moment. Not to mention that Matthew Perry, who used to carry his own films, received very little credit for his part in this film. Talk about something to see. My level of respect for Mr. Efron shot through the roof after the courtroom scene when he professes his love to his wife. Holy cow! He can actually act. Seeing as I had just had a baby and my best friend was still pregnant, this was quite an emotional time in the movie for both of us.
On a whim, my husband and I decided to see The Hangover. Although there was a bit more male nudity than I prefer, I laughed from the minute the movie started until the credits finished rolling. I did not expect much more than crude bathroom humor. It was nice to see that the film actually had a point and some intelligence behind a lot of the dialog and characters. My favorite part being the allusion to Rain Man when two characters came riding down the escalator. The only thing I wondered about was whether or not any of my teenage students had seen Rain Man and would truly appreciate the genius behind that scene.
Never seeing an episode of Star Trek in any of its forms, I was hesitant to see the film. I feared that I would not understand why the origin of the Enterprise was worth making a movie about. I also could not understand why they would cast someone as gorgeous as Chris Pine to play Kirk because William Shatner has never struck me as attractive. The movie immediately made it to my personal top ten favorite films list. It had the perfect balance of action, character development, humor, etc. I also adore Zachary Quinto and loved seeing him play Spock. The Kirk inquiry was also answered when I watched an episode of the original Star Trek. William Shatner was incredibly handsome in his younger days! Who knew?
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen did not make it on our list of must sees after we read a few reviews of the movie. This broke my heart because the first one was so good.
Of course everything led up to the most exciting movie of the summer: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Being an avid fan of the book series, my skeptical eyes were more than pleased with this movie! I absolutely loved it. I saw a lot of my students within the various characters because this film really focuses on being a teenager. For this reason, my husband did not like the film. He wanted a lot more action. However, his cousin made a great point in stating that we need to really feel for the characters now so that what comes in the final installment really hits hard. I totally agree and cannot wait to see the movie again and possibly in 3D.
Well, there are all my opinions on the movies from this summer. Part II will be written tomorrow and focus on daytime television during the summer.