Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Summer Movie Rundown

I have seen a fair amount of movies this summer. The following is my rankings, from best to worst, of the movies I have seen.



  • X-Men: First Class- I did not expect to like this movie as much as I did. As a fan of the world of the X-Men I was not expecting much after the third X-Men and the awfulness of the Wolverine origins movie. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I think the cast does a great job of introducing us to characters that we already know and love.

  • Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Pt. 2- I liked this movie a lot, it seemed like a fitting end to the movies series but at the same time I am sad to see it end. I think the feeling of loss kept this movie from the number 1 spot. The best part of this movie is seeing how much the kids have grown since the first one 10 years ago. Plus this is easily the most action packed of the HP movies and one of the best.

  • Super8- This movie is old school and I mean that in the best way. It is all about story and that story just happens to be a monster movie caught on film by a group of young kids. It is like ET meets Cloverfield. I have yet to talk to any one that didn't enjoy this movie.

  • Captain America- Another movie that reminds me older movies and again I mean that in a good way. This movie seemed like a mash up of The Rocketeer and The Incredibles with a much scarier villain. After X-Men this is my favorite comic book inspired movie of the summer. It took a little bit to get going but there was enough humor and interesting characters to keep you interested until things really picked up. Make sure you stay till the end of the credits to see a sneak peek of next years Avengers.

  • Horrible Bosses- This movie was a good laugher, I think I was laughing through most of the movie. Just know that if rated R movies aren't for you then neither is this movie as it is very rated R in its humor.

  • Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides- This movie felt more like the first Pirates and that is a good thing. We are back to focusing on Captain Jack and his adventures and while I am sad that there was no Elizabeth Swan it is nice to meet some new Pirates to keep things fresh. Plus it is fun to spot the shots where they are hiding Penelope Cruz's baby bump through out the movie.

  • Cars 2- While this movie didn't have the heart of the first one it was a pretty well done James Bond type spy caper that just happens to be told from the point of view of Cars. Had this not been a Cars movie I am sure more people would have liked it. The reviews on this one were more mean then I would have thought over all I thought it was entertaining enough maybe a little to violent for the youngest crowd but still the trailers told you that much.

  • Bridesmaids- This movie was funny, crud and disturbing but funny. It is nice to see an all female cast headline a movie and really you can relate to certain aspects of each character here. Plus it is funny, did I mention that? I only wish the Hangover 2 had been as good as this movie.

  • Thor- If taken as a popcorn movie it is just fine, not great but not horrible. Since Thor is one of the Avengers I look at this more as an origin movie and it that regards it is much better then Wolverine.

  • Friends With Benefits- You know exactly where this movie is going and that is okay. You are most likely seeing this movie because of the cast and they all do a great job surprisingly. Plus there was more heart here then I was expecting predictable out come notwithstanding. This movie doesn't take itself to seriously and that is nice, it reminded me of a grown up Easy A.

  • Kung Fu Panda 2- Pretty disappointed by this one, it wasn't bad but it wasn't all that interesting either.

  • Larry Crowne- If this movie would have been on TV and I just stumbled across it then I am sure I would have liked it a lot better or perhaps if it had come out in the fall when there wasn't much else to see. But in the summer there is just nothing that makes it stand out. Everything about it is just ho-hum. You can wait to rent this one.

  • The Hangover Pt. 2- Sure I laughed in parts but for the most part this is the exact same movie as the first one. The only difference is that instead of Las Vegas it is set in Thailand and....nope that's about the only difference. Just watch the first one with the a/c turned off and it will be just like watching the second on.

Well I think that is most of the movies I have seen this Summer. Did I miss any that you thought were great? Or maybe some that were not great that I don't need to bother seeing, like Green Lantern perhaps? Sound off in the comments section.