The summer began in spectacular style when the Avengers destroyed box office predictions. The Marvel team up not only stunned audiences with its action set-pieces and incredible cast, but delivered a simple yet great story (9.5/10). The Dark Knight Rises, the summer ‘tent-pole’ movie, didn’t quite equal its predecessor but met our lofty expectations, despite its plot-holes and flaws (9/10).
The Amazing Spider-Man offered enough to leave us wanting more, but took as many steps wrong as it did right. Its retelling of the origin story was unnecessary and didn’t leave the emotional impact of Raimi’s origin (6.5/10). Snow White and the Huntsman’s dark retelling was my guilty pleasure. While it failed to be magical (sorry) it offered an enjoyable enough experience (5/10).
The battle of the animation was the closest it had been in years. Pixar’s Brave felt too much like a typical Disney film. It missed the dizzying heights of previous Pixar efforts but its Scotland and animation looked incredible nonetheless (7.5/10). Ice Age 4 almost beat Pixar, the third sequel was funny, enjoyable and silly, and didn’t alienate older audiences (7/10).
Of all genres I felt comedy had the most lacklustre showing. The Watch, despite its stellar cast, failed to deliver enough belly-laughs (4/10). Dark Shadows was fun but felt like Burton’s worst effort so far. The jokes often fell flat and Depp’s character Barnabus seemed like Captain Jack ‘Vampire’ Sparrow (5/10). Ted, however, offered the light at the end of the tunnel. Whilst it’s often vulgar humour won’t be for everyone it never stopped telling jokes, and they rarely, if ever, fell flat (8.5/10).
Bourne Legacy felt like a needless reboot. As an action-thriller it was enjoyable, despite its needlessly convoluted plot, but it never touched the quality of the Damon trilogy (6/10). The Expendables 2 did everything it said on the tin (7.5/10).
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World was my surprise hit of the summer. The quaint film deserves cult status, always interesting and hitting all the right emotional beats (8/10).
This summer has been exceptional good for films, especially since Battlefield missed the cut-off point. Even the needless reboots had enough life in them to satisfy the crowds. Seeking... had to be my surprise hit but Avengers was the best of the blockbusters, a title I thought Rises would run away with. My score for the summer: 8/10.