It was a summer of disappointments and surprises. It was a summer when pretty much every sequel landed, made $100 million and left town, which meant that everyone saw it - but then never saw it again. It was also a summer when a cult film director and Tobey Maguire released the season's biggest film, Spiderman, and when sure-fire moneymakers like Jerry Bruckheimer and Nicholas Cage choked shortly after opening weekend. And a poorly animated dog made $150 million. Here's a report of how the summer movies fared overall. Sadly for most, there is no curve.
May
<I>Star Wars II: D+
What I said then: A few reasons this will be better than Phantom Menace: 1) George Lucas had someone work with him on the script, cutting out the sillier lines. 2) Samuel L. Jackson gets a fight scene. 3) Yoda gets a fight scene. 4) Ewan McGregor is more prominent. 5) Jar Jar Binks is only in the first five minutes. All of these things point towards a better movie.
Final verdict: 1) George Lucas's silliness of Phantom Menace was replaced by overall dull, tone-deaf dialogue. 2) And? 3) Yes, these characters did have entertaining fight scenes. They were also in the movie simply because George Lucas ran out of ideas, and put in stuff just to please the fans. 4) Ewan McGregor was more prominent, but he was overshadowed by the mind numbing awfulness of Hayden Christianson, or young Anakin "Weenie" Skywalker. And though this intergalactic horse has already been beaten to death, again, Christianson's romance with Natalie Portman ranks as probably the saddest seduction of all time.
The last twenty minutes of this movie, however, were solid excitement. It doesn't excuse the two hours of crap that preceded it. Here's the dirty little secret of the Star Wars films: George Lucas did not direct Episodes 5 or 6, and he only co-wrote them. Now that he's back at the helm and writing the words (and none of his producers or actors want to piss him off,) both of the new films have taken a turn for the worst. George Lucas, the screenwriter and director, is dead. Long live George Lucas, the digital creature/world creator. May his demo reels live long and prosper.
<I>Sum of All Fears: C+
What I said then: Jack Ryan movies range from classic to just watchable. Early reviews indicate that Ben Affleck doesn't screw it up and director Phil Alden Robinson does a good job of keeping the pace.
Final verdict: Both of these factors were true, but they don't change the fact that the villains of this film were Nazis. Nazis, Nazis who are very articulate, love classical music and have platinum-blonde killer assistants. Nazis who apparently have a worldwide network that is able to remain silent and unknown. It's a shame that a movie with so much strength in the small details resorted to James Bond-style silly villains that undermined the gravity of the film. (Note: angry fans tell me that the villains are not Nazis in the book.)
June
<I>Scooby Doo: B
What I said then: Pardon my sarcasm, but this movie smells bad. Tons of money spent to bring a dead concept to life. I hear good things about Matthew Lillard's Shaggy, but not much else. The fact that it's the guy that brought us Drew Barrymore's Never Been Kissed doesn't inspire much hope.
Final verdict: Hello, my name is Taylor Shann. And I liked Scooby Doo. I realize this means that I can't show my face at this paper, this college, or this city ever again as a film reviewer. But as some famous dead white man once said, 'know thyself.' And I found myself genuinely amused by Scooby Doo. All Freddie Prinze Jr had to do as Fred was stand there and look stupid, and he did it quite well. I thought Matthew Lillard was hilarious, the chick playing Thelma was funny, and the badly animated Scooby was endearing. I don't know why.
Admittedly, Sarah Michelle Gellar was miscast and mightily unfunny as Daphne, and Rowan Atkinson was wasted as the owner of 'Spooky Island.' However, the movie had a great laid-back feeling, an air of "Hey! They gave us $50 million! Let's make a movie!" While shallow corporate greed might have made this project come about, the cast and crew had fun making it, and that fun (while dumb) was infectious.
<I>Bad Company: C
What I said then: This is the sort of movie you want to be good. Anthony Hopkins is an amazing actor. Chris Rock is an amazing comedian. I've got nothing against producer Jerry Bruckheimer (The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor) but it doesn't help that the director is Joel Schumacher, responsible for both Batman and Robin and 8mm. Why do they still give this man a job?
Final verdict: The problem essentially came down to Jerry Bruckhemier forgetting how to put together a great action movie. The man really hasn't got his act together since the last collaboration with deceased partner Don Simpson, with whom he produced Top Gun, Crimson Tide, Beverly Hills Cop, Bad Boys and The Rock. While not as wrongheaded as Pearl Harbor or Gone in Sixty Seconds, this film is more along the lines of Pearl Harbor or Armageddon: solid action movies and epics undermined by unnecessary seriousness and sentimentality. While Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins made a likeable enough team, there just wasn't that much reason to care about the infinite car chases and ticking bombs. Watchable, but not worth paying for.
<I>Lilo and Stitch: A
What I said then: Disney movies have been spazzing out lately (the last few years have given us everything from Phil Collins singing to Tarzan to David Spade as a Llama), but the trailers for this movie look... good. Really funny, and in the spirit of The Emperor's New Groove, with the colors and animation of The Lion King. Disney needs a hit - let's hope they got it right.
Final verdict: They did get it right. While not an epic blockbuster like Lion King, Lilo and Stitch was a charmer, filled with original characters and personalities, great voiceover work and wonderful animation. Stich, especially, was one of the best-animated anti-heroes I'm had the privilege to watch on the screen. Special mention also goes to Ving Rhames, and his memorable performance as the very, very serious social worker named Mr. Cobra Bubbles. I loved the film as a semi-adult, and the kids at the matinee loved it too.
<I>Minority Report: A
What I said then: It's been a long time since Spielberg made a movie that was entertaining. (Yes, Saving Private Ryan was good. But I did not have a good time watching it.) The trailer for this movie looks good, but his last outing with sci-fi (Artificial Intelligence) sort of re-defined train wreck. I'm hoping, but not holding my breath.
Final verdict: In spite of Tom Cruise's ego and Spielberg's penchant for indulging in sentimentality, they delivered some of their best work. Cruise was able to fully embrace the everyman personality of Detective Anderson, a hero who actually used both brains and brawn to barrel through some of the most eye-popping special effects this side of Star Wars. The difference is, I actually cared about what was going on. Watch for this film come Oscar time.
Final Notes: I didn't have the heart to go see Mr. Deeds, although apparently Adam Sandler was back in form enough for the movie to bring in well over $100 million. Of course, so did Big Daddy... Bourne Identity was a very solid, well-done thriller, or at least the half that I downloaded on my computer was. I never saw the ending, so I didn't feel like I could review it accurately, but what I saw was surprisingly good... Sunshine State was an amazingly good movie about Florida that approximately five people in Boston saw, of which two were my mother and I. See it if you get the chance...meanwhile, Nicholas Cage sinks his career with Windtalkers, ultimately proving that no one wants to see him soul search anymore... and Spiderman goes on to be the biggest hit of the summer by far.
Coming in Thursday's Daily: XXX, Signs, MIB II, Croc Hunter and more...
@s:'Lilo and Stitch,' 'Minority Report' are two of summer's best
