Summer 2009 box office void of memorable films

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Bryce Bradford

When it comes to summertime, there are a few crucial activities that can make it memorable. For many movie lovers, the summer is considered to be the prime season for blockbuster films hitting the silver screen. This is the time when all the hype-building movie trailers are finally seen in their full splendor.
Movie lovers flock to theaters in bunches,  enjoying midnight showings and random show times throughout the week. Unfortunately, this summer’s résumé of films failed to be as memorable as  that of last summer, where films like “The Dark Knight” and “Iron Man” impacted the box office. Following are the hits and misses of this summer.

Hits

• “Star Trek”: The story line is  about the rise of James T. Kirk and his journies to become captain of the starship Enterprise. This film was an awesome popcorn film for the summer. With the original series and films outdated to many of this generation, it was good to have a movie that all audiences can  enjoy.
• “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”: A sequel to the 2007 hit about the continuing war of the Autobots and Decepticons and the humans caught in the middle. This highly anticipated sequel doubles up on the explosions and robot carnage giving many fans the sequel they were hoping for. The story is more complex than the first,  still delivering eye-popping special effects as the alien robots duke it out for Round 2.
• “Terminator: Salvation”: A story of the war predicted after Judgment Day between the humans and the Skynet machines. This film is awesome because it tells a different Terminator story; the one that was always known about but was never explained.  With great special effects and solid acting, this film takes fans to this futuristic war, and yet still makes them appreciate the work of the past films.

Misses

• “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”: The origin story of Wolverine, depicting how his life progresses to being everyone’s favorite mutant badass. After the atrocity that was “X-Men 3: The Last Stand,” fans of the franchise were looking for this to be a true redemption film. The film ended up being only slightly better than its predecessor. With less focus on good story telling, this film fell extremely short of its potential to be the best film in the franchise.
• “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra”: First feature film of the popular toy brand that introduces Duke and Ripcord into the G.I. Joe program as they try and stop a devious plot by the Cobra organization. This film had much more glamour to it as a trailer. Once you see the film, it becomes a disappointing regret. The entire film seems to be done behind a green screen, which takes away much of the realism it tries to add. Sad to say, the best acting comes from the character Snake Eyes, the mute ninja. This film takes the toys-turned-movie genre a huge step back, leaving “Transformers” to pick up the slack.

Hits/Misses

• “Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince”: A continuing adventure in the series has Harry enter his sixth year at Hogwarts. As good as the other films have been, this is the first film in the franchise that has either a confusing plot or none at all. As entertaining to watch as it still is, it falls short of the bar set by the previous films.

Surprising hits of the summer: “The Hangover” and “District 9.”
Bryce Bradford is an agricultural communications senior.