Season of the Summer Blockbuster
Transformers and Harry Potter Lead the Big Budget Charge.
The imminent arrival of such films as Transformers, the fifth Harry Potter and the sequel to the Fantastic Four herald that we are in the thick of the summer movie season
It is that time of the year when the Hollywood studios release the blockbusters films that combine the big stars and the big budgets. A number of the most anticipated productions, Spiderman 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean, have already been released, films that may have earned millions at the box office but ultimately failed to live up to the endless hype. After the disappointment of these two films, are there any summer movies left that are truly worthy of both critical and box office praise? Here is a list of some of the biggest titles the studios are banking on to pull the feat off. And for all the math freaks out there, the list is 7 movies long, which is a prime number. Get your math on!
(7) Rush Hour 3
Jackie Chan, the clown prince of kung fu, teams up yet again with motor-mouth Chris Tucker in the third film in the Rush Hour series. This time the pair is creating havoc on the picturesque streets of Paris. Chan may be getting older and less limber but his special brand of kung fu action has its many fans.
(6) Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
The first Fantastic Four was less than inspiring and reeked of an attempt to cash in on the super hero craze started by X-Men and Spiderman. The creators are hoping that a new CGI character, the Silver Surfer will draw attention away from the fact that the Fantastic Four are boring superheroes to begin with.
(5) Live Free or Die Hard
The problem with sequels is that they always have to be grander in scale than their predecessor. There needs to be a greater amount of pithy one liners delivered with maximum nonchalance, bigger explosions and more villains meeting a grisly end in increasingly spectacular ways. Never was this truer than in the case of Die Hard. After John Maclane saved an office building, an airport and New York City, the United States has now found itself in spot of bother. With a title that was most probably made up by a group of patriotic and drunken frat boys and a less than brilliant director, the audience should not expect too much from this installment of Die Hard.
(4) Ocean’s 13
The cast of every other summer movie pales in comparison to Ocean’s 13, which also adds a young up and coming actor by the name of Al Pacino to the roster. Let’s just hope that a bit of Al will help lift this third effort above the disappointment that was Ocean’s 12.
(3) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
British director David Yates has helmed a number of quality television productions, including The Girl in the Café and Sex Traffic and it will be interesting to see what vision he brings to the Harry Potter series after the sinister, less than child friendly atmosphere created by fellow Brit Mike Newell.
(2) Transformers
What you can expect when watching Transformers : fancy special effects to disguise the lack of plot; plenty of one liners from Shia LaBeouf and Anthony Anderson; some unnecessary shots of Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson with no shirts on, preferably doing some kind of physical labour; voyeuristic and gratuitous shots of heaving cleavage courtesy of Megan Fox; a sequel. If none of these instances occur, e-mail justinbiggar@gmail.com for a full refund of your ticket.
(1) Bourne Ultimatum
Number one goes to the third installment in the Bourne franchise, a film that teams up a great director (Paul Greengrass) and a great cast. Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is still a bit woozy and forgetful from the knock he received on his head in the first film and he hopes his condition will be helped by kung fu chopping, high kicking and pistol whipping his way through an assortment of exotic locales. Hooray for stylized violence.
