Summer Movie July Preview III: Return of the Comic Book Heroes

1 Jul

Summer Movie July Preview III: Return of the Comic Book Heroes

Posted on 2008 under Miscellany of Humor |

The golden month of movies has arrived and with the exception of the first week of July, there are interesting choices every Friday.

Sci-fi and comic book fans will be happy, Will Ferrell fans, not so much.

Hancock
July 2

Unpopular superhero Hancock saves the life of a PR executive who attempts to salvage his public image.

I’m torn on this film. The trailer and clips only show the early parts of the movie. All of the reviews are bad and point to the classic “two-movies-in-one” problem.

But Will Smith is known in Hollywood as a trend-watcher and he’s usually dead-on with a film’s success and how to achieve it. Plus, it’s the only flick slated for the biggest movie opening week of the year.

Did the competition not feel like going up against Smith or is a July Fourth week opening not as much of a big deal anymore? Or perhaps this movie isn’t very good. Not really sure.

The Wackness
July 3

New York, summer 1994, the greatest year in hip-hop, a troubled teenage drug dealer trades pot for therapy sessions with a drug-addled psychiatrist intent on living his life to the fullest. The two form an unlikely friendship, but things get complicated when the kid falls for the doctor’s daughter.

I didn’t even know this movie existed until I saw it in the list for movies coming out this week. It is a limited release but it looks pretty good and wouldn’t you know it, Will Smith shows up. Okay not a cameo, but rather his voice. ‘Summertime’ is used in the soundtrack.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army
July 11

A ruthless leader who treads the world above and the one below defies his bloodline and awakens an unstoppable army of creatures. Now, it’s up to the planet’s toughest, roughest superhero and his buddies to battle the merciless dictator and his marauders.

No army is unstoppable you say? I guess you haven’t seen the price of gold these days.

You can’t go wrong with a Hellboy flick. The first one was kick-ass and I expect more of the same. The only thing I am not a big fan of is the trend to put superheroes into our world where they deal with life like we do. Sure it was funny in The Incredibles but it is being done to death and Hellboy is one more that follows the trend.

Journey to the Center of the Earth
July 11

On an expedition in Iceland, a scientist and his nephew stumble upon a major discovery that launches them on a thrilling journey deep beneath the Earth’s surface.

Brendan Fraiser appears to do a lot of yelling in this completely over-the-top remake of the Jules Verne novel. But people like over-the-top these days.

I think this one will stink because every clip and trailer I have seen leaves that uneasy feeling where the hair stands up on the back of my neck because I’m seeing something so horribly bad.

Meet Dave
July 11

A massive fireball from space hits New York’s Central Park and an ordinary man emerges unscathed. The man turns out to be a spaceship operated by 100 human-looking aliens who are one-quarter inch tall and seeking a way to save their planet.

I applaud Eddie Murphy for what looks like an odd role and movie. I think this one will be like Men in Black, the type of weird sci-fi film that everyone enjoys.

Maybe Will Smith should have been in this one.

The Dark Knight
July 18

The Caped Crusader returns, protecting Gotham City from the mad criminal mastermind, The Joker.

So this series of films is supposed to be a new telling of the tale, something different from the first ones? So how come they are following the same villain path?

Sure they started with Scarecrow but then follow up with Joker and Two-Face. When does Bat Girl make an appearance?

It is too bad that Heath Ledger died because he was really good at playing the Joker. I would even dare to say he surpassed Jack’s performance. Like Arnold and his idea that the Terminator’s eyes should turn and look at something followed by the head, Ledger gave his version of the Joker some habits like slowly blinking and a lot of lip-licking. The makeup department must have had a lot of fun with that last one.

Christian Bale and Michael Caine are also far superior in their roles then their predecessors. I like this series a lot better, it is much truer to the comic and there is way better casting.

The big question is why isn’t this film coming out on the Independence Day week?

Mamma Mia
July 18

Raised on a Greek island by a formerly rebellious mom who never disclosed the identity of her father, a bride-to-be locates three men who might be her father and invites them to her wedding.

This is a musical and any film that needs singing can’t be that good. Yes, I know Sweeney Todd fans you have a point and there are exceptions to everything but have any of you ever seen Hello Dolly starring a singing Walther Matthau? I rest my case your honor.

This film shows how quickly Pierce Brosnan’s career has plummeted. He went from James Bond to singing and dancing in a musical based on ABBA’s greatest hits in the span of a few years.

For Meryl Streep however, this is a renaissance in what looks like two hours of everyone doing karaoke and reciting crappy dialogue.

And the hair is standing up on the back of my neck again.

Step Brothers
July 25

Brennan Huff, a sporadically employed thirty-nine-year-old and Dale Doback, a terminally unemployed forty-year-old become step-brothers and are forced to live together when their parents marry.

Another lame Will Ferrell character vehicle so view at your own risk. Think I’m being too harsh on him? He’s playing Rick Marshall in the remake of Land of the Lost in what is either the worst career choice ever or the worst casting choice ever.

I still say he jumped the shark at Bewitched with the one exception in Talladega Nights.

X-Files II: I Want to Believe
July 25

Scully and Mulder reunite to investigate an old guy with a scraggly beard who is looking for something either in a snow-covered field or a lake.

That is about all you get until you see it because Chris Carter managed to keep the plot a secret. All we do know is that X-Files II will be less like the first one and more like an episode of the television series with a huge budget.

The aliens as a shadow government are also gone but not Mulder’s obsession with finding out what happened to his sister. I am going to guess that the conflict resolution will help him get past this issue and put it behind him once and for all.

And Scully and Mulder make out.