This summer has been a fun one for movies.  I’ve had the opportunity to see four films at the theater so far: Star Trek, Up, Terminator Salvation, and Transformers 2.  Some I’ve seen with family and some I’ve had to go to with a group of manly men on outings my wife has dubbed man-dates.  Here’s my thoughts on the movies I’ve seen thus far this summer…

Star Trek

The first movie I saw this summer was J. J. Abrams’ Star Trek. I really enjoyed the film. J. J. Abrams take on Star Trek’s Original Series is a very polished, exciting thrill ride. There were a few twists to the storyline that deviated from the original that might have left a bad taste in Star Trek purist mouths, but I enjoyed the story.

Leonard Nimoy plays a time-traveler in J. J. Abrams' Star Trek

Leonard Nimoy reprises his role as Spock. He plays an older, time-traveling version of Zachary Quinto. Nimoy is the only star I noticed from the original series to be in the new film. I was pleased with the new actors selected to play the roles of the main characters. Each of the original series characters are represented…including Captain Christopher Pike, who was the Captain of the Enterprise in the 1965 original series pilot. One casting selection we didn’t quite understand was Winona Ryder playing the role of Spock’s mother, a choice that seemed a bit odd considering the fact that Winona is not much older than Zachary Quinto.

Star Trek is as good a sci-fi action film as I’ve seen in several years. I’m looking forward to seeing the next installment.

Up

Disney/Pixar's Up

The next movie I saw this summer was Disney/Pixar’s Up and had me tearing up in the first 10 mins. This is definitely the most “adult” of the Pixar films I’ve seen, but the adult themes are presented in a way that children are unlikely to pick up on. As is always the case with Pixar films, Up is a visual delight. The story is heart-felt and sweet and the characters are dynamic and believable.

You may think from my description thus far that the movie is some sort of animated Steel Magnolias cry fest, but that’s not what the movie is at all.  Sure there are some touching moments that make you fight back tears, but much of the movie is funny and exciting.  Death-defying chase scenes, talking dogs, exotic locations, a zeppelin and a flying house: it’s all in there.  Pixar’s Up is the complete package and my favorite movie of the summer so far.

Terminator: Salvation

The next film I saw this summer was Terminator Salvation.  This terminator film is supposedly the first of three installments and is a follow-up to the first three terminator films.  That is to say that this film comes after Terminator films 1-3 in the timeline and Los Angeles lies in post-apocalyptic ruin.  I was a little nervous going to this movie after seeing that the film received a dismal 32% on RottenTomatoes.com, but after seeing this one, I’m anxious to see the next two.  There’s plenty of action in this one and the story is a good fit for the Terminator universe.

A few special effects and camera sequences really caught my eye.  I recall a sequence in which one of the main characters, John Conner (Christian Bale), flies away in a helicopter, crashes, turns upside down in the chopper, and then crawls out of the wreckage.  The sequence is filmed in one continuous shot and looks pretty slick.

Marcus wants to know what the H is going on

Although Christian Bale receives top billing for this film, I interpreted Sam Worthington’s character Marcus to be the main character and, while I thought Christian Bale did a fine job playing John Conner, I enjoyed Sam Worthington’s Marcus storyline more than John Conner’s.  Marcus is a death row inmate who was executed but awakens in the future to find himself in a post-apocalyptic America.  He begins to seek answers to what has happened both to him and his surroundings.  Sam Worthington does an excellent job.

There were a few “Oh, come on.” moments in the film, and a few more things that didn’t make a whole lot of sense.  Some parts of the movie seemed a bit choppy and disjointed and some of the dialogue left a little to be desired, but all in all I enjoyed the film and am looking forward to how these three newer films will mesh with the storyline of the first three.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

The last movie I saw in the theaters was Transformer 2: Revenge of the Fallen staring Shia Labeouf and Megan Fox.  Nervous again because of the dismally low ratings (20% on the tomatometer!), I braced myself for the worst.  Having done so, I can honestly say the movie was about what I expected.

There were disjointed scenes and some sloppy dialogue, and on more than one occasion the main characters seemed to put themselves through superfluous danger, for no other reason than to make the film 20 minutes longer and contain 35 more explosions.  At one point in the film one of the heroes, a butcher from Manhattan, climbs up one of the pyramids in Egypt with a radio and is following a behemoth robot.  He uses the radio to phone the captain of an aircraft carrier.  After some witty banter (<– sarcasm here) about regulations and going against protocol, our hero requests that a missile be launched; the target being the tip of the pyramid.  The captain of the carrier, effectively says, “No, problemo.” and orders the launch.  Now, I suppose I can get past the fact that a Manhattan butcher just successfully requested a missile launch from a U.S. Naval vessel.  Maybe the butcher and the captain are old buddies and the captain owed the butcher a favor.  Maybe the butcher’s successful missile request lies in the dialogue that I might have missed in the midst of laser and explosion noise, but I still was hung up on the fact that the guy is climbing up the pyramid following this robot with a radio in his hand.  Why did he have to climb up the pyramid?  Why couldn’t he just sit in one of the nice (Autobot) transformer cars and radio in the missile strike.  Again, maybe the reason lies in the dialogue that I missed in the midst of explosions and gun fire.

Optimus Prime trucking through 2+ hours of movie mahem

Transformers 2 is long.  At one point in the film, after this elaborate set of explosions, chasing, fighting and all out mayhem our heroes escape to safety.  You wipe the sweat off your brow, let out a sigh of relief and then realize, “Ah, crap we’re barely halfway through the movie!”  There was a 20 minute portion of the film where the two main characters are just running from point A to point B and dodging explosions, bullets and laser beams the whole way.  During this part of the film I thought to myself, “Shouldn’t there be a transformer with them to help them through this?”

Train wreck or two robots fighting?

Another gripe I have about this movie is that the robot fight scenes are a bit hard to follow.  No doubt the fight scenes between two robots are way cool, but there were moments when I wasn’t perfectly sure what the flip I was watching and it just looked like a bunch of metal pieces flying around on the screen.  “Did Optimus just get the tar beaten out of him or was that the other robot?”

All-in-all though the movie, as I said before, was about what I expected.  It was my least favorite of the movies I’ve seen in the theater this summer.  However, if they make another one I will in all likelihood go see it if I have an opportunity.  Transformers 2, while layered with cheese and goofiness, is a high energy thrill ride full of explosions and impressive action sequences, and it has cool robots that transform into cars and jet planes.

Next Up…

I hope to see a few more movies before the summer’s out.  I’m looking forward to seeing a movie called Moon starring Sam Rockwell.  It’s about a man who is completely alone, living on the far side of the moon.  He is finishing a three year contract to mine Helium 3.  Two weeks from his return to earth and family he seemingly begins to lose his mind.  After seeing the preview, the movie reminded me a bit of the first Alien.  I’d also like to see The Hangover, but that might have to wait till DVD.  I hear it’s pretty funny.  The next Harry Potter film and Judd Apatow’s Funny People also look like possibilities with promise.