Pacific Rim (2013)

Pacific Rim (2013)

[8]

Pacific Rim is good, dumb summer fun. It’s beautiful, sexy, exciting, funny, and it kinda made me feel like a kid again. The premise involves Kaiju and Jägers… scratch that. Let’s call it like it is: this movie is about big fucking robots fighting big fucking monsters. The monsters come from another dimension, entering our world from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The robots, each manned by two psychically linked people (often blood relatives), are humanity’s last hope for survival. The concept sounds like the germ of another big, loud, stupid summer movie — you know, the kind Michael Bay makes. But director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) handily beats Bay at his own game with Pacific Rim, imbuing the film with more style and substance than any of Bay’s Transformers movies ever had.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

[6]

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films are among my very favorites of all time, so The Hobbit is doomed to suffer in comparison. If you’re not a devoted fan of Middle Earth, the first half of An Unexpected Journey will probably feel a bit cumbersome. Jackson should have trimmed 20 or 30 minutes (starting with the oddly wooden cameo performances from Ian Holm and Elijah Wood). But rest assured the pace does pick up and the film does find its action/adventure groove by the end.

The Lone Ranger (2013)

The Lone Ranger (2013)

[5]

Armie Hammer (The Social Network) stars as the legendary masked man while Johnny Depp picks up the mantle of Tonto in this big-budget version of The Lone Ranger from director Gore Verbinski (The Ring) and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. It’s painfully obvious that the creative team is working very hard to rekindle the flame they ignited with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, complete with improbable action set-pieces that rise up out of nowhere and characterizations as broad as the old-fashioned melodramas the film is based on.

Mud (2013)

Mud (2013)

[9]

Two Arkansas boys discover a wanted man (Matthew McConaughey) hiding out on an island who needs their help to find his girlfriend and escape a small army of bounty hunters. There’s a resounding echo of Shane here, with McConaughey putting in another fine performance after his career-turning appearances in Magic Mike and Killer Joe last year. (Welcome back, Matthew!)

This Is The End (2013)

This Is The End (2013)

[7] Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson and Danny McBride play themselves, trapped in Franco's swanky pad during the Apocalypse in this weird little horror comedy written and directed by Rogen and Evan Goldberg (who also…
World War Z (2013)

World War Z (2013)

[7]

Brad Pitt admirably carries this big-budget zombie apocalypse flick that has more in common with Outbreak or Contagion than it does your standard zombie fare — don’t expect blood and gore, horror fans. Director Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, Stranger Than Fiction) succeeds in ratcheting up the tension with a script (based very loosely on Max Brooks’ book) that is essentially one dramatic escape sequence after another.

Man of Steel (2013)

Man of Steel (2013)

[2]

I haven’t wanted to walk out of a movie I paid for in a long, long time, but I damn near walked out of this one. “Man of Steel” is ridiculously awful. At best (if I weren’t a Superman fan), it’d be “Transformers 4”, another busily boring, loud, emotionally bankrupt piece of nauseating, over-indulgent, digital miasma. But if you are a Superman fan, this film is downright offensive and insulting.

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

[5]

It takes a while for Sam Raimi’s Wizard of Oz prequel to pull its shit together and make you care a little about what’s happening, but the final act’s (digital) pyrotechnics and displays of combative sorcery help pull the movie just barely into the safe zone. The casting leaves something to be desired. James Franco, whom I normally like, is surprisingly bland in a role where he desperately needs to carry the film. He gets better as the film goes, finally reaching his stride as Oz the Great and Powerful makes his thundering debut to the citizens of the Emerald City.

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Iron Man 3 (2013)

[6]

I wasn’t a huge fan of the first two Iron Man movies. A little snarky Robert Downy Jr. goes a long way with me. I like him better when he’s part of an ensemble (like in The Avengers). So while it may be faint praise, I did enjoy this third film in the series most of all.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

[7]

Mild Spoilers Ahead!

J.J. Abrams (TV’s Lost and Alias) serves up a second, solid entry in the rebooted Star Trek franchise. Into Darkness is equal parts action and character-driven charm, with an emotional climax and a terrific villainous performance from Benedict Cumberbatch. You don’t have to be a Trekkie to enjoy this flick, but it will add immeasurably to your enjoyment if you’re familiar with the original crew’s feature films, particulary Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. If you want to bring it out for inspection, the film does have something to contribute to a discussion on terrorism, but Abrams’ approach is decidedly less didactic than Gene Roddenberry’s. This Star Trek is just for summer movie entertainment.