Summer 2012 Movie Wrap Up

Summer movie season has had different start dates in different years, often journalists and bloggers have decided these numbers based on major box office achievements.  For example last year Fast Five mad a great deal of money in April, however this could be seen as a fluke.  I am going to use the prescribed notion that May (even though the first day of Summer is in June) starts the Summer movie season.

May 

The Avengers (2012) cleaned up!  Not only did the film rake in enough money to become the second highest grossing film of all time, but the movie lived up to its expectations.  Disney made up for the flop that was John Carter, and saved their massive bank.  The Avengers was well reviewed, number one at the box office for several weeks, and started the Summer on a great path.

Little did audiences know that The Avengers incredible start would provide audiences with one of the few watchable films from this month.  May provided numerous box office flops. and all of them were a mess in terms of quality.  Dark Shadows, Battleship, What to Expect When Your Expecting, and The Dictator all were financial failures, and sucked the life out its audiences.  Men in Black III escaped the poor quality of the second film, and while it did out perform the other films had the box office the film did well.

May drummed up some quality films with two small gems in Moonrise Kingdom, and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  Both films had much smaller theatre counts than many of the summer releases, but they both had some pretty solid box offices.  Kingdom is one of the best reviewed films of the year, while Hotel had middling reviews it still was a breath of fresh air compared to the other low brow material.

June 

I was pretty excited about June, there were a lot of films on my radar that may not have looked like Oscar calibre films, they looked like they would still be fun.  Unfortunately I faced a bit of a letdown.

June started with Snow White and the Huntsman, the film was a flop creatively (although Charlize is one of the fairest in the land), but performed solidly at the box office.  Who knew that not long after we would find out how K-Stew got the part, what an awful miscast.

I skipped both animated films from this month, but both Madagascar 3 and Brave performed excellent at the box office.  I heard some mixed things about both films )in regard to the quality.  This is the year of Abraham Lincoln as well, and while I am intrigued to see Daniel Day Lewis portray this former president, I had no desire to see him as a vampire, and most of America did not either.

Prometheus proved to be ethereal, the film pulled me in with the concept of directing a film that tied back to the lore of the Alien films, but could not gain massive audiences once people figured out the film was just as cryptic as Lost.

America and critics did not love rock and roll.  Rock of Ages which could have had mass appeal, was a commercial and critical flop, proving that musicals need more than relate able songs.  Adam Sandler appeal has also been fading as well.  People did not want to watch him player a loser dad to someone who was not much younger than him in real life in That's My Boy.

June had its share of small films released, To Rome with Love, and Beasts of the Southern Wild.  Allen fell flat with a change of location from Paris to Rome, and could not charm audiences or critics with his film.  Meanwhile Beasts has done the exact opposite, and has garnered a lot of buzz which could carry the film to numerous Oscar nominations.  Proving quality wins over the name.

June closed things out with two different things strippers and a teddy bear.  Magic Mike worked magic on audiences and critics (although I thought it was terrible) proving that Channing Tatum to be one of the biggest stars of the year.  Seth MacFarlene took his own magic from television to the big screen with Ted, and had the largest R rated box office of the year (so far).  June had a much more interesting end than beginning.

July 2012

July 2012 proved the theme of the summer was super heroes.  The reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, The Amazing Spider-Man did not match the original series, but made hefty some of money, and bested the quality of the original as well (in my opinion).  The much anticipated conclusion to the reboot of the Batman franchise was finally released 4 years later, and while The Dark Knight Rises was not as good as The Dark Knight, nor will it make as much money, the film was solid, and still will make a massive amount of money.

The rest of films from July feel like a blur to me, while Ice Age made money, the film never floated my boat, skipped.  Oliver Stone's Savages seemed to go up in smoke, get the munchies, and forget where it was.  Step Up should really go with the straight to DVD track like Bring it On.  The biggest failure was The Watch, which was panned by the critics, but their marketing campaign failed them even more, and the film did not fill any seats.

August

August is the month that starts to slow things down with less explosions and hodgepodge of random films.  August is the island of misfit toys for the "ideal summer film."  The Bourne Legacy tried to change this by attempting to change things up with a new story for the the franchise.  The film fell flat on its face with critics (the first time in the franchise), and has not performed well at the box office.  Total Recall tried to capture the fun of the original film , but never quite got there either.  Ironically the film sequel about a bunch of old school action stars has been the film which has had more people talking, and doing better at the box office.

With only three films containing major action/explosions the rest of August was like a grab bag ranging from Premium Rush (a pseudo action flick) to Hope Springs with Meryl Streep, both which got decent reviews, but under performed at the box office.  The Campaign filled the role of the token comedy, which also had decent reviews, but no one seemed to interested in the schtick.  Lawless tried to be the first serious drama/Oscar contender leading into September, but looking at their opening weekend numbers the film has garnered only solid reviews, and poor box office receipts, which means forget it! How can you forget the kids? August has give us Paranorman, which has not given the same numbers as Ice Age, but seems a shoe in to a major contender for the Animated feature Oscar.

As the Summer drew to a close I was plagued with the concept that year and year out Hollywood rebukes the concept of making the film experience fun by attempting to try and win audiences over with cheap ploys.  Hollywood has started to lose this battle as box office numbers, and film quality go down.  The average audience viewer can't afford to see a terrible film because of a major celebrity, they have to be choosier.  The summer of super heroes has proven that these are bankable enough, but that depth matters as well.  Many of the smaller films paid off for the companies proving that audiences never want to thinking (per say), but they do want something good making them feel like leaving the warm summer sun was worth their time.

'Bourne' does not live up to the Legacy

The Bourne Legacy (1 out of 5 Stars)

Directed by Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, Duplicity)

Written by Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Ultimatum) Dan Gilory (Reel Steel)

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, and Edward Norton

While waiting for the movie with my friend, I had two headlines waiting in the wing 'Bourne' lives up to the legacy, and 'Bourne' does not live up to legacy.  I got to use the latter.  In today's world of reboots, and re-branding of franchises The Bourne Legacy takes the franchise down numerous pegs.

Batman Begins started the popularity of the trend.  Christopher Nolan's version of Batman was a solid start, and its sequels to follow were even better and have made massive amounts of money.  There have been other films, mostly super hero films, which have followed this trend: Superman Returns, X-Men: First Class, The Amazing Spider-Man, and even Casino Royale is proving that James Bond is trying to keep up with the Joneses.  Studios are playing things safe rebooting or re-imagining  franchises for popular characters so that they do not have to take a major financial risk.  Only one problem fan exhaustion is setting in, and people are not showing up in massive numbers to see these films.  Some of these films are better than the original, but Bourne is not one of those films.

Bourne centers on Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) who is one the projects along the line of Jason Bourne from the original series.  Cross has been sent off because he did follow protocol 100 percent, while in the wilderness he stumbles upon another guy who was part of the same experiment.  Aaron is curious about this experiment, but the man will not talk.  As Cross is proving his 'Bourne' like qualities climbing an impossible to climb mountain, the folks at Langley are realizing Jason Bourne has put them under a microscope.  Retired Colonel Eric Bayer (Edward Norton) decides to take control an terminate the project along with the agent; he also goes after the scientists within the lab one of whom is Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz).  Cross and Dr. Shearing manage to escape and somehow end up teaming up and go on the run from Langley.

The plot sounds somewhat interesting and there should be some semblance of a solid story, but this film is a massive misfire in the franchise.  Tony Gilroy the screenwriter of the first three Bourne movies is the culprit of the problem within this film.  Gilroy not only wrote but directed this film in the franchise.  The other films in the franchise were directed by Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass two visionary directors who utilized their script to not only create an action packed world, but a world full of emotional heft for Jason Bourne.  These two men's visionary direction helped catapult this series into more than just a mediocre action franchise.  Gilroy does not have the foresight within this film, especially with his direction; his action sequences prove he was not up to the task.  

Gilroy and his brother Dan Gilroy's script makes the problem even worse.  The script made me feel as though I was trying to prep for my AP Chemistry test from high school.  The film focuses on the technical more than any of the other films did trying to provide a backdrop to the story when all the pair do is convolute the history of the Bourne Legacy, which is something they do not seem to understand.  Who is Aaron Cross?  Why do we care about his past, what he has gone through, or about this project and the agents connect to him from Langley? In this film you do not, and the attempt the edit the story from the first three films into this film miserably.  The Gilroy's mention Jason Bourne several times, mentioning the chaos he has added to the world, but their shoe string connections never hold up to make you care about our protagonist, Aaron Cross.

Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz do their best in this poorly written film, but there is even a lack of chemistry between them, which could have almost saved this movie, but acts as another hinderance.  The characters in the film are one note, and Gilory banks on the cliche.  In the previous films Tony created complex characters, that even faded into the background of Bourne's life.  This film sidesteps explaining any character, especially the antagonists like Edward Norton's one note villain,  There is also an Asian man chasing Aaron and his lady at the end, the man has no name, does not speak, but Aaron Cross recognizes he is about the kill him. How?  Poor writing running a muck, that's how.

I was baffled by how poorly things were setup, and how the writer of the first three quality films in this series could mess up so bad. The Bourne Ultimatum even stunned Oscarologists by winning the Best Editing award at the Academy Awards, an honor typically reserved for Best Picture winners or nominees, but the editing is so poorly done within this film you notice the jarring movement during transitions.

I felt even more jarred when the credits rolled and the end scene Bourne music played signaling it was time to leave the theatre.  Did I just watch a movie connected with the rest of the franchise?  How did the person who wrote the first three construct this monstrosity?  Too many questions posed and no reasonable answers. This film challenged one of the longest running franchises, the James Bond franchise, the change things up, shaking the simplistic nature of the spy thriller action flick, and just ruined the legacy of its own dynasty.

August Movies to See and to Skip

July has been the month of super heroes, namely the Spider-Man reboot, and the final chapter of the Batman reboot.  The Amazing Spider-Man showed promise for a new franchise, while The Dark Knight rises was hit with a real life tragedy the film aptly concluded the films reboot (although there may be more).  Ted which opened at the end of June carried out some big R rated numbers and made audiences laugh all the way to what will be a 200 million dollar domestic gross.  

So what's in store for August?  August is usually the month where Hollywood transitions from the bombastic summer explosions to the real transition month of September.  August always feels like the Summer leftovers, but this month has an interesting array of films that may excite movie fans.

August 3rd

Total Recall (2012)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

Both films seem unnecessary.  Total Recall was fine the first time, and this version with Collin Farrell, Jessica Biel, and Kate Beckinsale gets worse every time I see the preview.  The Wimpy Kid  films get bad reviews and the gross is so small, why are they making another one? Good question, but there is no good answer.  I am glad I am going to San Francisco this weekend.

August 10th

The Bourne Legacy

The Campaign

Hope Springs 

With Matt Damon stepping away from the franchise, or well not being brought back, I was hesitant about the future of these films.  The truth of the matter is that Bourne is the American James Bond; he is interchangeable or well there is a lot to do with this CIA project, and Jeremy Renner, and writer/director Tony Gilroy should meet the challenge (Gilroy wrote Supremacy-the best Bourne film).  The Campaign looks terrible, even punching a baby looks stupid.  Hope Springs will bring out Streeps hardcore mom fans, but the film looks suburban painful.

August 17th

The Expendables 2

ParaNorman

Sparkle

The Odd Life of Timothy Green

Cosmopolis (limited opening NYC/LA)

What a weekend! I have to admit Expendables 2 looks fun!  I am down. Sparkle is also the last film with Whitney Houston, but the marketing has been poor on this film this will be interesting.  ParaNorman looks weird, and not in a good way.  Timothy Green looks like typical Disney films that are so sacrine and sweet it's as if you just ate a lemon.  Cosmopolis looks pretty cool, and who doesn't love a good David Cronenberg flick?

August 24th 

Premium Rush

Hit and Run

Premium rush has my main man JGL (Joseph Gordon Levitt) and a solid cast but the premise never sold me.  Hit and Run looks like one of the worst films I have ever seen.

August 31st

Lawless (Opens 8/29)

The Possession

Lawless look solid, while The Possession looks scary as hell. I am down for Lawless, but the end of August and early September are so crazy for me I will not be sad to miss either of these movies.

Time to Reboot! Film Franchises Getting a Jolt from Bourne to Batman

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!