Sometimes, everything in the film world is just and given its proper treatment, whether it is high praise or universal derision. For the Summer of 2012, which overall was fairly good despite some dark new stories, the good guys finished first and big, while those expected to be awful were shockingly skipped over even by the normal mainstream audiences. Once the smoke cleared after several humongous duds, the season seemed to show the possible end of the Michael Bay era. Good taste prevailed while the severely blah and barely living or new corporate-friendly franchises died badly. New stars and heartthrobs replaced the former poster childs, whose work looked creaky and sterile.
Of course, I know this good feeling will not last long, maybe not even the end of the year, but it is odd how this summer movie season felt after previous years of disappointment. The fact that my Top 10 Picks list still got a passing grade despite some setbacks and one postponement is a bit astounding.
The most enjoyment of all summer was of course the first shot heard around the world: The Avengers veni, vidi vici the box office and pushed Joss Whedon into being the new Spielberg of the entertainment industry. He, along with some help from Marvel/Disney, accomplished the impossible dream of a making a tentpole comic book movie that keeps continuity in high regard while delivering all the stylish violence and colorful dialogue audiences wanted to watch.
The rest of my Top 5 had some problems, internally and sadly externally, that kept them from being the masterpieces they desperately wanted to attain but were still good at the end of the day. Brave was a nice feature with great visual animation but had a hard time overcoming its very special-like storyline that was practically ripped off a lesser Disney flick. Controversy and audience polarization effected the next two, as The Dark Knight Rises and Prometheus received both hefty intakes and sheer amounts of anger and frustration. Both suffered significantly from plot holes and unanswered questions, with Prometheus far ahead in this area compared to Dark Knight, and bloated running times. Though I was fine with the two, the aftermath of both took away all of their charisma and mystique, whether it was funny nit-picky internet videos or the unfortunate situation in Aurora, Colorado. G.I. Joe 2, on the other hand, skipped town for re-shoots and a healthier landscape for itself in March.
Six and seven ended up being the successful dark horses I wanted and expected them to be. Before being tied up and hurt by a tabloid scandal involving its lead lady, Snow White and the Huntsman was a successful launch for a possible new fairy tale film franchise. It also cemented the year for stars Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron, who, along with a certain other actor, have achieved a stellar run on cinema screens. But it was Beasts of the Southern Wild that won in the magical department, living up to its Sundance acclaim and becoming one of the best times in theaters to enjoy a nice little cry.
The dead last three earned their spots alright, though the one in the tenth spot ended up being more entertaining, whether good or bad, than the preceding two. Battleship is the film I was alluding to earlier as the final sayonara to Bay-tainment. People stayed away in droves for it, even before learning it was more about chicken burritos than battleship warfare. At least it deserves to be called a true guilty pleasure. However, I do feel pretty bad for Taylor Kitsch, who is just having the worst year of his career.
Though others cried foul and made it loud, I was sticking to my picks for Dark Shadows and Total Recall, only to suffer like Daffy Duck. Both films blew up in my face as two clear examples of boring entertainment and how not to do remakes of previous properties. Dark Shadows was vastly unfunny, especially in the case of Johnny Depp, and delivered one of worst scripts bared to witness this year. Meanwhile, Total Recall was dire in all of its PG-13 non-glory. Its interesting art direction was hammered down by eye-rolling callbacks to the original, sheer miscasting, and direction that just sucked all of the energy out of the picture.
There were a few surprises, even for this jaded viewer. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted did not have to prove itself to its detractors, yet its often engaging script and beautiful flow of animation produced a lot of mouths agape. Still, those moments can't make up for the vicious hell spawn that is "Afro Circus". The lovable Ted helped save the rated-R comedy genre, as its tone, raunchy with a side of heart, won over crowds. Later in August, Stallone and his motley action crew crafted the generally awesome The Expendables 2, which brought sheer amounts of 80's-tastic violence and bravado. Also, though I wasn't wowed by it, I do need to give a little mention to Moonrise Kingdom, which had its share of fun idiosyncrasies.
Then, there were the disaster sights, that had many sitting back and basking in the schadenfreude. My prediction of June 15th as America's Skip Weekend ended up being true, as Rock of Ages and That's My Boy both tanked at the box office. Boy sadly ran away from my grip before I could induce pure pain into my cerebral cortex but not Rock of Ages, which was glorious in how truly horrible it was and how much was cut out to achieve a PG-13 rating that did them no favors. Other bombs include another badly made found footage film (Chernobyl Diaries), the other misstep for writer Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), Oliver Stone's latest misfire (Savages), and the next installment in America Hates Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller, Sometimes (Neighborhood Watch).
Despite the crap, and despite that I missed out on some other fairly important releases (The Amazing Spider-Man, where are you?), I am glad that this summer was a pleasurable experience. Maybe doing that overview of the summer releases was a contributing factor. I guess we will see at the end of the year, as coming out early next month, I will go over the films of the fall and winter season.
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