Mackenzie Hurlbert – Managing Editor
I’m not ashamed to admit that I spent a good majority of my sunny afternoons in a movie theater this summer. It was a good season for ticket sales in an array of genres with Guardians of the Galaxy topping the list with over $250 million gross income, followed by Transformers: Age of Extinction and Maleficent.
It seemed to be the summer of remakes and sequels – not many of which I supported. I’ll admit, I am not a fan of the TMNT remake— judging from the trailer, it seems the turtles are no longer the goofy, comical teens we knew so well from the 90’s, and to be honest, any movie with Megan Fox is a buzzkill. She has the acting abilities of a brick. Likewise, the new Transformers movie was not on my list of must-see’s. The series seems tired and withering — to me, a robot dinosaur doesn’t shout Transformers, it screams desperation. While other movies like Oculus, Lucy and Earth to Echo were regretful investments of time and money, most of the movies I saw were worthwhile, and my top picks are listed below.
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: This has got to be my top pick. While the movie ranked fifth in sales, I think it was one of the best films out this summer. The cohesion of Dawn with the rest of the series is smooth and solid, and the character development, even for a group of apes such as these, is captivating. As a sci-fi nerd, of course I had to watch the originals and Rise of the Planet of the Apes before seeing this in theatres, and afterwards, I must say, the movie holds its own in comparison to its predecessors. Plus, let’s be honest, Maurice is a showstopper.
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Guardians was definitely a close second in my list of top picks. Having never followed the comics or storyline, I had no idea what to expect upon entering the theater with my popcorn in hand. I admit, I just wanted to see what all the hype was about and found that it was well-deserved. Like most Marvel movies, Galaxy had a well-balanced mix of humor and action. Plus, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a better soundtrack, and if you’re as in love with it as I am, you can buy “Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Volume 1.”
- X-Men: Days of Future Past: I was waiting for this movie, anticipating it, all winter. Jennifer Lawrence and Hugh Jackman are favorites of mine. I love Peter Dinklage in Game of Thrones, and Lawrence was playing one of my favorite X-Men characters Mystique, so how much more awesomeness could they add?! The movie was good, don’t get me wrong, but not as good as I had hyped it up to be. The plot was unique, the characters were portrayed well but the movie was not especially memorable. Oh well.
- Godzilla: YES! Finally a new Godzilla movie where he doesn’t look like a giant iguana. The movie was entertaining, and Godzilla himself was impressive, even when he knocked himself out with a falling skyscraper. He was monstrously huge, which is exactly how he should be, and he does have a pretty sick kill scene when he shoots his atomic breath down Muto’s throat. I do have complaints, however. There were not enough fight scenes! Many times he and Muto would start to duke it out, a door would close, a scene would change, and the movie viewer would be left shouting, “Wait! Wait! I want to see that!” Also, Muto was kind of a lame monster for Godzilla to destroy – what about King Ghidora or Gigan? Also, I know this may be asking too much, but I’d love to see King Caesar. He’s boss.
- Maleficent: Yeah, ok. I guess Maleficent was in my top five movies for summer. The graphics were awesome, Angelina Jolie was amazing as always, and it did put a new spin on a traditional fairy tale. Also, I can support any movie where women rescue themselves or each other – it’s a refreshing twist to the usual “prince saves helpless maiden” plot. Nevertheless, I went into this movie expecting it to be a more mature version of the tale and discovered it to just be darkened version for the usual younger age groups.
Photo Credit: Janne Moren
