Blog Post #3 - The Blockbuster Film

While I agree with the point made that blockbuster movies are just “slick eye candy” and devoid of artistic merit, I also agree with the other side of the argument that says blockbuster films are “legitimate entertainment”. The reason I agree with both of these statements is because not all summer blockbusters fall into one of the categories; there are films that are horrible vapid mind slush as there are movies that are entertaining and spectacular. Movies like X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen fall into the former while movies such as The Dark Knight and Pirates of the Caribbean fall into the later.

I went to go see X-Men Origins: Wolverine on a date this past summer and while I liked my date and I had fun, it was no thanks to this movie. The first X-Men (2003) was a fantastic movie and X2 was an example of the few times where a sequel surpasses the original. But this is where the problems start. X-Men became a “re-booted” franchise. You could see little Wolverine and Storm’s sunning around on Halloween and merchandise was everywhere. X-Men: The Last Stand, while a commercial hit (grossing $234,362,462) was a terribly reviewed and said to be the worst in the series, that is until Wolverine came along. All Wolverine managed to do was beat an already dying franchise into the ground. Wolverine relied solely on the audience already loving the series and little to no effort was put into the story line. Except for the a few scenes with “Team X” near the beginning of the movie, the acting is wooden, the storyline weak and the special effects mediocre at best. What should have been epic fight sequences were turned into special effect laden stretches of boredom. And after all of that the movie mind-f***** you even more by cramming as many character cameos into an extremely un-realistic mutant escape scene. Lame. And to top it all off they turned Wade Wilson (a.k.a. Deadpool) into a “Weapon XI”. Thank you Marvel, for totally screwing over canon. That was awesome. This movie was just…less than average. Nothing particularly awful, just really not good. Despite horrible critical reception, it did pretty well at the box office and X-Men Origins: Deadpool is currently in pre-production. That just really awesome. Keep beating this franchise into the ground Marvel, we really appreciate it.

What can I say about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that isn’t derogatory? I am not really a fan of this franchise in general (though the first movie isn’t that bad) but this movie is an atrocity. To sum it up it consists of four main elements: random explosions, senseless robot battles, Megan Fox’s ass, and two comic relief robots that are a complete insult to black people. That’s it (other than a gigantic super robot with balls. Yes you heard me, balls). The plot is weak and riddled with plot holes, the acting is non-existent (I imagine it would be extremely difficult to actually act while there are completely unnecessary explosions surrounding you). This movie is all about the CGI and the special effects and lame jokes aimed at hung-over frat boys. It is completely unintelligent and barley a form of entertainment. Even though this movie basically sucked, they’re making a third one. Why they’re making a new movie I will never know as all they need to do is splice together a couple of explosions and fight scenes from the first two movies, create a small segment of Optimus doing some deep and meaningful monologue, toss in some Fox cleavage and BAM you got yourself a hit. This whole franchise takes beloved toys from our childhood and totally messes with them and spawns copycats (G.I. Joe. ‘nuff said). I think it’s all Michael Bay’s fault. He directed a Victoria’s Secret commercial (!) and all there was was hot girls in skimpy clothing and explosions. So basically Transformers without the robots.

While yes, most summer blockbusters are pretty crappy films, every once in awhile you get a genuinely great film out of the summer movie rush. The Dark Knight is the perfect example. After completely re-booting the Batman franchise (which was massacred by Tim Burton, Bat-nipples!) director and screenwriter Christopher Nolan pops out this movie gem and the world is taken by storm. This film follows in the footsteps of other summer blockbusters (t-shirts, Halloween costumes, lunchboxes etc.) it was a legitimately good movie. It’s dark and gritty and twisted and clever. It was so “good” that it even won an Academy award (Best Actor in a Supporting Role awarded to Heath Ledger posthumously). Everybody and their mother has seen this movie and everyone of those people has loved it, turning it into a pop culture phenomenon. This is what summer blockbusters should be, engaging and smart instead of generic and senseless.