I thought I'd post a few thoughts about the summer movie season for several reasons, the main one being that "Now Playing", the film review program I co-host and co-produce, is on hiatus for the time being. WOCC-TV 3 is in the midst of a move, and until all of the wires, cameras, record decks, etc. are all set up in their new home, my blog is the only means of conveying my thoughts on current cinema.
The title for this post not only reflects my less than usual attendance at the theatre this summer, due as much to the birth of my beautiful daughter Grace as to the show's summer hiatus, but also the lack of much summer fare that really delivers.
The first three blockbusters for the summer were all third films of trilogies, and all disappointments, in SPIDERMAN 3 (B-), SHREK THE THIRD (C) and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END (D+).
SPIDERMAN 3 (B-) is the only film worth seeing of the bunch, and it's worth a viewing more for its ambition, and the film's strong latter third, than anything else. SHREK THE THIRD and AT WORLD'S END seemed intent on merely mimicing their predecessors. SHREK THE THIRD had very few inspired moments, added only one (and very weak) character and felt more or less like it was spinning its wheels. If SHREK THE THIRD was spinning its wheels, AT WORLD'S END is like a car that's out of control. The film gets tangled in several storylines, double-crosses and mixed motivations, and it's difficult to distinguish the heroes from the villians. Verbinski and co-writers felt that adding a few more Johnny Depps, in the form of several Jack Sparrows, would liven up the bloated seafest, but instead feels contrived and obnoxious.
Not trying to be a contrarian, I found EVAN ALMIGHTY (B) to be much better than Carrey's BRUCE. The first ALMIGHTY was a gimmick film, intent on watching Carrey play God with his newfound powers. Although not as deadset on being a straight comedy, EVAN ALMIGHTY works as solid family entertainment, with enough laughs for the kids, and a family friendly spiritual message that transcends the genre. I don't want to hold director Tom Shadyac to the level of legendary (and one of my all-time favorites) director Frank Capra, but at times EVAN ALMIGHTY provides a taste of Capra's corn. Steve Carrell overdoes it a few times in some of the childish, slapstick moments, but overall provides an everyman performance, which many films have strayed away from presenting. Morgan Freeman is also given more to work with in EVAN, as opposed to BRUCE. One of our best living actors, Freeman is given a couple of scenes to wave his air of wisdom over (with Evan and Evan's wife), and these scenes provide the ground work for the film's message.
Marking a stark contrast from the family film, are two thunderous blockbusters in LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD (C+) and TRANSFORMERS (B-). Although not a big difference grade-wise, TRANSFORMERS earns a recommendation almost entirely based on its eye-popping special effects. In spite of some well-placed humor, and a terrifically quirky performance from Shia LeBeouf, TRANSFORMERS is much like other Michael Bay overly-edited action films with robots instead of humans. In this case, watching robots instead of humans is exactly what makes TRANSFORMERS worth watching. I'm normally not one to give films a pass based on their special effects, but TRANSFORMERS is the first time in 14 years that my jaw has dropped from a mere visual aesthetic. TRANFORMERS executive producer (Steven Spielberg) provided the last one when T-Rex and velociraptors graced the silver screen.
LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD is amazingly more ridiculous than watching giant, alien robots wage war on earth. This fourth DIE HARD installment is a wreck of a script, but the ludicrous action and Willils' playful nature make LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD very watchable. The tech-infused script isn't nearly as engaging as either of the first three DIE HARDs, and the enemy's surveliance techniques make the TV series 24 seem grounded and down to earth. The film is designed to throw lavish action stunts, and they are actual stunts, not CGI, at us continuously. Some stunts don't make any sense, especially when using a sedan as a heat seeking missile, but one is fairly impressed how over-the-top LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD goes.
I'll try to catch up this weekend, but no promises. I'm looking forward to revealing my thoughts on the latest POTTER film, HAIRSPRAY and the much anticipated big screen blow-up of HOMER SIMPSON and crew.
See ya soon...
