This past June was filled with a lot of highly anticipated yet disappointing films. The month opened with Snow White and the Huntsman, which I was excited to see, but the film fell flat mainly because of a poor script and K Stew. A week later Prometheus engaged more of the Alien world, and while it was a step up from Snow White the film used too much exposition. I enjoyed it though. The third week of June fell even flatter with Adam Sandler having his lowest opening in years, and a rock musical that fell sharp. Brave gave a shot of excitement adding a strong female lead to the Pixar repertoire, while most people decided not to find out about Abraham Lincoln's life as a Vampire Hunter. June's most exciting weekend was the last weekend with two R rated films topping the the box office. I have seen Magic Mike, and I do not care what the critics say, this was a bad movie, they must have went in with incredibly low expectations. Ted and Moonrise Kingdom are on my list for this hot summer week.
Now in July the two main films to see involved spiders and bats, both are part of reboots of popular series, while one is beginning the reboot the other closes out the final chapter in a series. There is also a crappy comedy with Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller to dread, and another Oliver Stone flick that looks poorly acted (my how the mighty have fallen.) This month has far fewer releases than June mainly because of Spiderman and Batman fighting crime.
July 6th
The Amazing Spiderman (July 3rd)
Savages
I have heard a lot of debate about this Spiderman reboot. I think it looks like a winner, the director did 500 Days of Summer, Peter Parker is played by the more capable Andrew Garfield, and they are starting with Peter's romance with his first girlfriend Gwen Stacey, played by the amazing Emma Stone. I am there. Then there is the film Savages. I have seen previews for this film for months, and they can't pay me to see this ill contrived film.
July 13th
Ice Age: Continental Drift
This is the fourth film in the series, and unlike Madagascar 3 they do not have the great advertising. I have not see one preview for this film, which means it could be a giant flop. Once these animated films get so far in the series isn't it time to call it quits, and come up with something new?
July 20th
The Dark Knight Rises
I do not even know if I have to sell this film, but I am beyond excited, and with them changing Bane's voice so I can understand him that makes it even better. Sad to see this series end, but excited to watch the final chapter.
July 27th The Watch Step Up Revolution
I will say it until I am blue in the face, Ben Stiller is not funny. The Watch looks contrived, and looks like upstart Jonah Hill is a scene stealer again. Did there need to be a fourth Step Up film? I guess as long as So You Think You Can Exists they will have cheap actors for these films.
In a month with a limited amount of releases....
See: The Amazing Spiderman, and The Dark Knight Rises (and catch up on Beasts of the Southern Wild and Ted)
Skip: Savages, Ice Age, The Watch, and Step Up Revolution
This evening I watched The Bourne Identity, and it made me think about a trend going on in films today. Many successful franchises that have flat lined or started to creatively falter have started to have been remade or taken a new path. Bourne does not follow this pattern. This is a film series that got increasingly better. Not only did the quality increase with the third film The Bourne Ultimatum (which won an Academy Award for Best Film Editing), but the amount of money increased from film to film. The Bourne Identity made 121 million domestically, The Bourne Supremacy made 176 million domestically, and The Bourne Ultimatum made 227 million domestically. Matt Damon is a pretty popular actor, but they are replacing him in the series with actor Jeremy Renner who will play Aaron Cross.
Why replace Damon and change up the successful franchise? I have tried to find an explanation that explains why, but it may be as simple as the film makers in Hollywood are getting smarter than ever before. Damon's Jason Bourne's story seemed complete in the last film. Is this the a story of greedy producers or producers who realize they have a good story on their hands that can evolve throughout time. Robert Ludlum has created numerous books cased on this this character, so there is a lot of story that can be adapted to make many movies for the future. Bourne is the American version of James Bond for the next generation, but even more badass. The latest Bourne movie which is being released this year is being directed and written by Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, Duplicity) an expert in writing political thrillers. This will be his first major action film he had directed. Based on the preview below I am more excited than hesitant about the direction of this new franchise.
Bourne is not the only film franchise reboot this year. The Spiderman franchise unlike the Bourne franchise flatlined in quality with the third film. Spiderman 3 was seen as a massive decline from the first two films. The script was terrible, and with massive uncertainty about a 4th film, director Sam Raimi crammed a lot of plot into one film that did not connect cohesively. Throughout the the franchise history each film in the Spiderman franchise made relatively the same amount of money. the first film made a little over 400 million, the second film made about 377 million, and the third film made 336 million. Throughout the years the franchise did slowly decrease in domestic box office numbers. There was talk back and forth that the original cast would come back to do a fourth film but that was squashed. Then there were rumors that Raimi direct the rebooted series but then that fell through. Spiderman was almost dead in the water but with the success of the rebooted Batman series Columbia decided this film was worth a reboot.
The Amazing Spiderman will be released this summer with Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) as Peter Parker and Emma Stone (Easy A) as his original love interest from the comic books Gwen Stacey. Like with the Batman reboot it feels as though this reboot will be a bit darker, and follow a path more similar to the comic books. The film is being directed by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) and has Harry Potter screenwriter Steven Kloves. The combination of these two men should prove succesful. There are a couple of key ingrediants missing, like J Jonah Jamerson, but I trust that this film series will not be handled with great care than the original. I will be curious if Emma's Gwen Stacey eventually gets the same fate as her character in the comics, if they do that (at some point) I will be impressed.
This trend seemed to take flight with Batman Begins (2005). Most films prior to this kept aiming to continue the pattern of previous films, or tried to be a sequel to other series even without the main character (s). Like the Terminator franchise without Arnold. The last film Batman film prior to this 1997's Batman and Robin. Joel Schumacher had already brought this series down a peg with Batman Forever but this fourth film in the series took the franchise to a whole new low. George Clooney was vetted to play Bruce Wayne; he seemed like a great choice, but he will never be able to live down the focus on the bat nipples. This film is beyond campy, and makes the 1960s television series look like Citizen Kane.
Eight year later Christian Bale takes over as Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan's version of Batman, and fanboys drooled over just how great this film was. Who would have known it could only get better, with the sequel The Dark Knight. This is the only film based on a comic book series to be nominated for and win a major Academy Award (Heath Ledger's posthumous win for playing the Joker). This year the third and final film in the franchise is going to be released, The Dark Knight Rises. There are of course already rumblings that there will be another reboot after Nolan walks away, but I am hoping the series gets a reprieve for a little while.
As this trend continues to work film companies are going continue this pattern, and adapt it as needed. For example X-Men: First Class, which is not really a reboot but more of an origins story. With the popularity of this film don't be surprised if they either reboot the entire X-Men franchise or make a sequel to the film released this past year. As long as the quality of these films remain steady this is one trend I am on board with!
