With the end of summer begins a film drought that will last until about winter, when Oscar season starts. Summer 2013 was a film season that was completely hectic and rocky, filled with movies that were good, bad, and downright confusing. I wasn’t able to see all of the big releases this summer (many were nixed out of complete disinterest), but I think I saw a fair enough amount of them to be able to discuss how well the season fared. So, without further ado, the best and worst films (That I was able to see) of summer 2013.
The Worst
Star Trek Into Darkness: Looking back at it, I was far, far, FAR too nice to Star Trek Into Darkness in my initial review. Though thoroughly entertaining, its lack of originality is disgusting, and the fact that it had to steal ideas from the most well-known Star Trek film, did those ideas worse, and somehow still gets regarded well by critics is pretty sickening. The fact of the matter is, Star Trek is meant to be original, to push new ideas into unique stories, and Into Darkness fails on nearly every level in that regard. Did I enjoy Star Trek Into Darkness? Yes, but I was enjoyed the KFC Double Down. When something is bad, it should be acknowledged as such, no matter how much it can be enjoyed for one or two factors.
The Great Gatsby: Yeah, nothing’s changed here. Gatsby is still unbelievably boring for all the over the top moments of fun it had. If all you need for a movie is to look at Leonardo DiCaprio’s face for a few hours, this movie will sate you, but if you’re looking for a good story with engaging characters, stick to Fitzgerald’s novel. I’m just going to forget I saw this thing and hope I will be better for it.
World War Z: Be glad this one didn’t come out while school was in, or else I would have written one of the most unforgiving rants to ever see the light of a school webpage. World War Z is a pathetic Brad Pitt vehicle that pretends to have competence, and in its attempts to make Pitt look like an action hero it makes everyone in the films universe look like an idiot. It manages to mangle how international politics function, how zombies are to be presented if they are expected to be scary, how humans think, and how deadly diseases work. And how about the insult of having zombies, basically the only monster left where practical designs and effects are still completely relevevant being done in CGI, and terrible CGI at that? It doesn’t even look half believable. And don’t even get me started on the boring and stagnant performances most of the actors decide to give throughout the entirety of this mess, because that does not help me get through this mess. This is easily the worst movie of the summer, having absolutely no reason to exist and nothing of worth to offer audiences. F-, stay away, and oh dear was this bad.
The Best-
Iron Man 3- Despite the poor reputation that this film has been given by some comic book fans, I still find this movie to be completely brilliant. The action and the set up is fantastic, and the writing is just spot on. All I can really say about this movie has been said in my review from last school year, but if you haven’t seen it yet, go see it, it should be on DVD soon enough. Its one of Marvel’s best films, and I cannot wait to see more.
The World’s End-The brilliance of Edgar Wright’s work with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in the Cornetto Trilogy (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) is a hard thing to match or surpass, but their work with the 3rd entry may very well be the best one yet. The film is insane, ambitious, and completely original, one of the most inventive comedies of the last 10 years, and may very well be my favorite of the three movies. The film takes science fiction and human commentary on with a great volume of craziness, and manages to produce a comedy that is not only interesting, but well written, with great characters and an ending that is utterly mindblowing. The World’s End is a brilliant and surreal masterpiece, managing to be funny, scary, and heartwarming all at the same time. With the competition being part of the lowest common denominator in the genre, I don’t I’m stretching when I say that The World’s End is the summer’s best comedy. It earns a solid A.
Pacific Rim- Giant Robots + Giant Monsters + Action scenes that rival even the ambitious mecha anime of which this film takes many influences from= one of the best summer movies ever. How this thing didn’t make its budget back in America is infuriatingly disappointing, and it makes me thank the universe that the international box office exists. This movie was pure amazing, and while it had a simple plot and characters, it was filled with a passion for filmmaking that similar films just don’t seem to have anymore. Pacific Rim doesn’t pretend to be a turning around of the genre or a deep film with intricate themes- its just a blockbuster, and really good one at that. Its never stupid, never condescending to its audience, and bothers to give its characters actual…character. That’s something very rare for a movie like this, and its always great to see the extra effort put in. I love this movie, and will quickly buy the dvd, while I pray that it gets some kind of animated spin off. Pacific Rim is easily the summer’s most wonderful movie. An A+ feels like I’m being too harsh on the movie, but unfortunately no higher grade exists.
So that concludes my discussion of the highlights of the summer movie season. Hopefully this year will allow me to talk about even films with even better reviews for you. I’m excited for the year, and hope that you’ll all continue reading.
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