Let’s look at the title for a moment. The last time we had this bad summer, Will Smith was still amazing in a black suit, and Bruce Willis was keeping a lady covered in toilet paper, safe. The only thing sadder than that was the proven fact that I saw Men in Black, and The Fifth Element, at the theater. While we were in the middle of a good summer wave, this year is a ton of excuses.
Studios throw tons of films every year against the wall, hoping something will stick. Lately, there’s been more caution, because of the high budget fiasco (*cough* whatever Hercules movie *cough*). This summer has the film with full support and anticipation from not only studios, but critics as well. Then one by one, things started happening fast. From Amazing Spider-Man 2 to Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, it isn’t a summer of sequels (excluding ‘Days of Future Past and Winter Soldier). Audiences took more risks, enjoying things like ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (really?), and the astonishing ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. The latter fetched almost $300 million but did not surpass the magic line that had been the standard for almost 15 years.
It’s not really as bleak as it sounds. Marvel had a big summer, and a total of $3.9 billion over four months, supported by comic book films. We have quite a lot of movies coming this fall, and three straight summers coming. I believe it is time we do not make another bad record. Get with Hollywood.
