I saw Mission Impossible 3 this weekend and was happy to finally get into summer movie-watching mode. Before i get started talking about the summer, I must say that i really liked Mi3 for a few reasons:
- The main reason – Great action scenes. The first scene with the helicopter was very cool (7 out of 10), getting into the Vatican was amazing all-around (9) and the bridge scene was one of the best i've ever seen (9).
- Some good humor. Ving was in good form. Just when you think the movie is getting too serious, they break out a good joke. Right off the bat, in the opening scene you see Tom telling a story about how he works for Dept of Transportation and you have some guy start snoring ("boring") and then it pans to two girls who immediately say, "I'd marry him." This is just the lightness needed for an absurd movie. If the dialogue is realistic it keeps us grounded and keeps everything light so we can enjoy the insanity. I aslo like the moments at the very end when the wife is like "What the hell are we doing in China?" Exactly the question i'd ask – good colloquial dialogue in there – it was definitely missing from Mi1, Mi2, and 87% of all other summer movies.
- Tom didn't completely suck. Sure he had his "curiousfury" moments where all he does is run and where it's a Director: "Just smile for us Tom" moment which are almost as painful as Legends of the Fall's I'm-BradPitt-watch-me-ride-a-horse moments. But, all in all, he was fine and didn't kibosh the entire movie.
- Good lookin' babes – always a must for mindless summer fun and this delivers. Tom's wife is smokin', as is the IMF sidekick which won't be named here b/c she wasn't really named in the movie and in both cases it doesn't matter. That scene in the Vatican does a good job of eye candy all around with the cars, art, and babes.
- Great supporting cast – i.e. Philip Seymour rules. I wish he was involved in more of the movie, but he crushes the scenes he's in. Laurence Fishbourne is also really good.
Of course there are some negatives in that we have no idea what the rabbitfoot is, and there are a few dozen too many twists. But it is definitely worth a viewing.
Now, the rest of the summer is almost here. On tap, here's what we've got:
- May 12: Poseidon
- i think it'll be lame. I believe WarnerBros. just needed to make another movie with the monster water tank they built for The Perfect Storm.
- May 19: Da Vinci Code
- Up in the air. Tom Hanks was a bad choice and i don't think they can wedge all the cool code cracking stuff into 2 hours. But Ron Howard is usually pretty awesome so we'll see.
- Also coming out is Over the Hedge which looks pretty funny.
- May 26: X-Men: The Last Stand (trailer)
- Looks awesome! I couldn't be more excited about this one.
- June 2: The Break-Up (trailer)
- This looks really funny because Vince Vaughn in clearly in his comedy prime. I also heard that in the original they actually breakup, but test audiences have so much sympathy for Jennifer Aniston that they wanted her to get the guy at the end so they reshot it so they end up together – which is pretty lame. But, on the other hand they reshot Casablanca 4 times and it ended up pretty good.
- June 6: The Omen – looks scary and i loved the original 1976 Omen, so i'm excited for the latest. (trailer)
- June 9: Cars – Pixar is batting 1.000, can they continue to rock? Everything has to come down sometime and i wouldn't be surprised if this movie is sub-par – the trailers look stupid. But then again, you never know with Pixar they always pull it out somehow. I guess we'll see.
- June 16: Nacho Libre
- This looks so damn funny. Jack Black is fan-tas-tic! Napoleon mixed with Tenacious D. Can't wait. The trailer is hilarious
- June 23: Click – If it wasn't adam sandler, i wouldn't even waste my time writing about it. Chances of this being good: 3%
- June 30: Superman Returns
- This looks really good. I just saw the new trailer: Spacey looks great as Lex, Bosworth is good. I also like how the story now has Clark Kent and Lois once being together and then him ditching her – and then returning. Some good spice there. Matt Lewis had a good point: could be a bad idea to make it retro. Why make it take place in the 50's and 60's? I like superhero movies that are more modern.
- Also coming is Devil Wears Prada – a lame chick-lit book turned into an even lamer chick-movie only without any romance, just an old boss yelling at an assistant – wow, sounds great.
- July 7: Pirates of Caribbean: Dean Man's Chest
- Johnny Depp nails this character and i think this looks like a fun ride. Let's just hope they don't make the plot too screwed up.
- July 14: Pulse – japanese horror movie that will scare the crap out of you – originally done by Kurosawa.
- July 21: Lady In The Water
- This is the latest M. Night Shyswe*an…movie. I liked The Village more than most, and thought Unbreakable was very underrated and, of course, Sixth Sense was awesome. At least he tries to be different and original
- Super Ex-Girlfriend – Uma and Luke Wilson. Uma has super powers. Could be cool, could be Prime. I think it'll be pretty lame. Luke is a great 6th man (Old School, Wes Anderson movies) but can't carry a movie and this just feels too weak for me. Then again, Ivan Reitman is directing and he's done mostly good (Old School, Stripes, Animal House) but also some bad (Beethoven's 2nd, Evolution) flicks.
- July 28: Miami Vice – NOW we're talking. In case you weren't aware, this is
made by Michael Mann who made the amazing movie Heat and did the original Miami Vice tv show. And, it has Jamie Foxx who's probably the coolest actor going right now. I mean how many actors can you think of who were probably the cool kid in high school? That's what i thought. I want the cool kids of my movies to have actually known what it was like to be cool. - August 4: Talladega Nights – Will Farrell being a total Nascar moron. Could rival Nacho Libre as the funniest movie of the summer
- Also coming – Flags of Our Father – Clint Eastwood's latest written by the same guy who did Million Dollar Baby. War movie of Iwo Jima – could be sweet.
- August 18: Snakes on a Plane. I must admit, the hype (and blogs) have totally worked for me. It's absurd, it's stupid – but so am i – and i'll see it. If fact, one of the few movies with a Wikipedia entry
- Also coming – Clerks II. Not sure what i think about this. My guess is that it probably has some funny dialogue but fails pretty hard as a movie.
That's the summer. Should be one of the best in a long time. A few good sequels, a few funny comedies, and some mindless fun. Bring it.
