In a summer movie line up bloated with sequels, large-scale blockbusters, threequels, and action heroes; one truth does remain, and that is the fact that these films felt recycled and tired. It seems that Hollywood was so desperate to make up for lost earnings after the disappointing sales from 2005 and 2006 that they decided to take no true risks with new characters or ideas. They may have succeeded in the financial front, but the actual quality of most of the major studio offerings were severely lacking.
If you start with the film offerings from May, one would find that the two major hits were "Spiderman 3" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," (which also happened to be the third film in the series.) Both films were too plot heavy with too many characters, too many action sequences, and not enough of a solid story to keep the audience interested. I will admit that I expected "At World's End" to be a bomb after the garbage that was "Pirates of the Caribbean 2." But I was genuinely shocked by the mess that was "Spiderman 3."
The first film developed likeable characters and a well-developed villain. Thus the audience cared about the fates of the people on the screen and the story was an easy one to follow. Then the second film only built upon the strong foundations of the first with a perfectly cast Alfred Molina as Doc Ock. The film had emotion and some of the best action sequences on film. So, I expected the same if not better storytelling for the third film and I was left with bad acting, an emo-kid as the "bad" Spiderman and Kirsten Dunst singing not one but two songs badly. This is not to mention the overload poorly developed villains; yes, there were three villains this time. After watching a film with this much to keep up with, you felt exhausted and bored at the same time. It's quite strange really.
Then the month of June brought us "Evan Almighty," "Ocean's Thirteen," and "Ratatouille". When you consider the three movies you only add one point for a good movie with Ratatouille; a sweet film about the joys of cooking and following your dreams. Yes it is a Disney film, but it was original by all definitions and it earned your attention with characters like Remy, a mouse with a dream of becoming a master chef in the food capital of Paris. It doesn't sound promising but the film delivers both laughs and heart.
As for "Evan Almighty", a retooling of "Bruce Almighty" with Steve Carrell as a politician turned Ark-Maker; you become disinterested after the first 20 minutes after you realize that the acting is stiff, the jokes are falling flat (it is one animal gag after the other), and the story is stale. So you are left with two choices, either leave or take a nap; I chose the nap.
And a simple summary of "Ocean's Thirteen" would be that they should have stopped the elevator at eleven (even with Scarface himself, Al Pacino, as the villain.)
The list of films that graced the theater screens in July were a much needed improvement with the fifth Harry Potter outing, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix," the musical adaptation of the John Waters classic "Hairspray," the Michael Bay directed "Transformers," and the film that was 18 years in the making: "The Simpsons Movie." All four of the films were good if not great and gave me hope that good new films still existed in the year 2007.
The fifth Harry Potter with yet another new director, David Yates, was a saving grace in a series of films that suffered a great blow with the disaster that was the "Goblet of Fire." It kept the dark lighting that has become the motif of the films since Prisoner of Azkaban and added Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge, the new dictator, I mean the new High Inquistor of Hogwarts. The film is exciting, comical, and tragic and simply good. And without spoiling the ending for the two people who do not know it already, it treats a certain loved character's death with dignity.
The next film in July's lineup was the wonderfully rowdy "Hairspray" which happens to be peppered with great performances from John Travolta as Edna Turnblad, newcomer Nikki Blonsky as Tracy, as well as Michelle Pheiffer, Queen Latifah, Christopher Walken, and the latest teen heartthrob Zac Efron. The film is an adaptation of an adaptation as the eighties original was a non-musical comedy with Ricki Lake as the lead that was then turned into the hit Broadway musical which then inspired the new musical film. It is the best movie musical since 2002's "Chicago" and one of the best of this year. My only complaint is that they did not shoot the film in Baltimore but rather in more financially inexpensive Toronto, which does authentically look like Baltimore, but it can never be better than the real thing.
As for the long awaited Simpsons movie, the comedy with environmental themes was satisfying in its story and true to the antics of the T.V. series. It was a solid film that was not as bad nor as good as it could have been. I did laugh at the jokes and I connected and paid attention to the story. However, the film seemed to have lost the edge of the series in exchange for a more family-oriented story. I did not regret spending my money on the film nor would I rule out the sequel.
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