The summer season is known for having many blockbuster movies. And since summer is nearly over, I figured I’d write a blog about all the summer movies I’ve seen this year in theaters. Enjoy!

Clash of the Titans

Well, OK, some of these movies were shown more in the springtime, but I didn’t see them until early summer. I just waited until they hit the dollar theater. Such was the case with the first couple of moves on this list (and I think you can get this movie on video now).

I really enjoyed the original Clash of the Titans as a little bitty kid. In fact, I remember me and my friend getting paper plate shields and cardboard tube swords and ‘playing Clash of the Titans’ when we were bored of bashing each other in the head with our toy light sabers ‘playing Star Wars.’

A lot of people complained about the new Clash of the Titans movie, but I didn’t think it was THAT bad. I was entertained and that’s all I expected out of the movie. I think audiences today are too picky about their movies. Yeah, the original was one of the better stop-motion movies of its time, but I never saw it as more than a dopey monster movie. And that’s all the remake is, too. Just a fun and dopey monster movie you can just sit back and enjoy if you don’t think too much. And personally, I think it’s pretty amazing how far we’ve come in special effects over the past 30 years.

How to Train Your Dragon

This is another spring movie I waited until early summer to see. Most DreamWorks CG animated films are mildly entertaining at best, but mostly forgettable. And sometimes they can be downright awful (like Monsters vs. Aliens or Shark Tale). But How to Train Your Dragon was one of DreamWorks better attempts. It had a neat Viking theme, which you don’t see much in movies nowadays. And it did some things with the characters, especially near the end, that kind of surprised me. And of course, it had some cool dragons, too. I would recommend taking your kids to see this movie, but it’s not in theaters anymore so you’ll just have to enjoy it on video.

Iron Man 2

Sometimes the audience in the theater is more entertaining than the movie itself. Such was the case with Iron Man 2. When we went to go see it, there was a row of little boys sitting behind us. I think they were part of a birthday party or something. But they were all talking and cutting up during the previews. And you know what? That’s perfectly OK because you really have to expect to have little boys acting up in a theater about to show a super hero movie. And aside from a couple of kicks to the back of my seat, they DID stay well behaved during the actual movie. But boy, during the previews and commercials beforehand, they really raised a ruckus!

There was one car commercial before the movie that had rapping hamsters driving toasters and washing machines and such. I’m sure you’ve probably seen it. During that whole commercial, the boys behind us were laughing constantly throughout the WHOLE thing. Sure the commercial was cute, but it wasn’t THAT funny! And during the previews at every single explosion or car crash, they were all like, “Awwwwww,” “Whoooaaaaaa,” “Ooooooo!” And you know how kids, especially little boys, think every stupid thing they say is funny? Well, at the end of the previews when they showed the Cinemark movie logo, one of the boys blurted out, “Huh, huh, huh, it looks more like ‘Cinnamon-mark,’” and all the others laughed at that dumb comment. Now every time I refer to that theater, I have to call it Cinnamon-mark. Thanks, kid.

Oh, the Iron Man 2 movie? It was OK I guess. Typical super hero movie and I don’t know much about the character anyway. He was on a bunch of Dr. Pepper cans, I guess that’s what gives him his powers? I have to say that Iron Man 2 was one of the few movies this summer that was NOT shown in 3-D. Which is nice because I’m blind in my left eye (since birth) and can’t see the 3-D effects anyway. So I’m really sick of this 3-D fad, personally. What’s bad for me is it seems to be a fad that a lot of movie makers are spending a lot of money on, and now it’s seeping into the realm of video games, too. Ugh!

Prince of Persia

Most movies based on video games are crap, but this one was surprisingly entertaining. I’ve never played any of the 3-D Prince of Persia games, though, so I don’t know how close the movie was to portraying the games. I only played the original 2-D Prince of Persia game and I hated it. It was too hard and I prefer my video game heroes to be able to jump ten feet high in the air, thank you very much.

Shrek 4

Originally I wasn’t going to see Shrek 4. But after reviewing the video game of it, I kind of got in the mood and I figured since I had seen the other three, I might as well see this one, too. I guess it was better than the third one, but not by much. Some of the ads had the subtitle “The Final Chapter” on it, so maybe this will be the last we’ll see of Shrek. Which is good, because I’m getting a little tired of the green guy, myself.

Toy Story 3

I took my dad and his family to see this on Father’s Day. Since I have five little brothers on my dad’s side, it was kind of an expensive outing for me, but it was worth it to do something with the whole family aside from staying home. Toy Story 3 was probably the best movie I saw all summer. Pixar’s CG films are always leaps and bounds above the competition, and that tradition continues with this one. And ever since Up and maybe even a couple of Pixar movies before, not only are they good at making timeless classics, but their last few movies had such powerful raw emotional moments in them. While I didn’t cry during any part of Toy Story 3, I can think of a few moments where I might’ve. I think I still like the second Toy Story movie better, but the third one is definitely more powerful emotionally. And I really dug the Totoro cameo. My favorite Pixar movies are Finding Nemo and Up, what are yours?

Despicable Me

While not as good as Pixar’s stuff, I was pleasantly surprised with this movie. At first, the initial previews of it looked very unappealing, but as more were shown over time, it got a lot cuter and more fun. And there was even a bit of dark humor here and there, like the scene with the iron maiden and the juice box. With a little reworking of the characters, they could’ve made this into a Misadventures of Tron Bonne movie, thanks to those cute little minion characters. They even almost look like Servebots! I’m surprised Capcom didn’t sue, but then, I imagine Capcom would be worried about LEGO suing them! The only thing I didn’t like about the movie was the previews showed too many of the funny parts. But, this movie cheered me up when I was feeling a little down and depressed, so I guess it was still good.

Movies I Missed

And that’s all the movies I saw this summer! There were a few that I originally planned to see, but never got around to it. One was the A-Team movie, but I don’t feel too bad about missing it. I can just Netflix it if I want to. It didn’t seem to be in theaters for very long! I wasn’t much of an A-Team fan as a kid anyway. I was more into Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider, and ALF. I know that Mr. T. was really popular when I was a kid. He even had his own cartoon show and breakfast cereal. They made breakfast cereals out of EVERYTHING back then! Brother Jeff didn’t believe me when I told him they even had a Bill & Ted cereal!

My mom wanted to see the Karate Kid remake, because I think she secretly has a crush on Jackie Chan (ha ha, just kidding). I would’ve taken her to see it, but we never got around to it. I remember seeing the original as a kid, but never particularly enjoyed it. Of course I remember the famous parts like catching a fly with chopsticks and ‘wax on, wax off.’ But mostly I remember playing the crappy NES Karate Kid game at my cousins’ house.

And finally, while I never really watched the Avatar cartoon show, I do appreciate Nickelodeon having an action fantasy based cartoon that isn’t anime. So I considered going to see the live action The Last Airbender movie. But after hearing how so many people hated it, I decided not to.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

I think the last ‘big’ movie before summer will be this Scott Pilgrim movie I hear so much about. I really have no interest in the movie. I like silly video games and some silliness in movies, but this just looks WAY too silly, even for me! The previews made me go “Ugh” anyway. And I’ve been corrected on this several times, but the characters in the movie look like awkward teenagers, and I can’t stand teen romance movies (maybe I’m just bitter at the lack of romance in my teen years long ago). I don’t care that it’s based on a comic book I’ve never heard of before. I’m not going to see it.

HOWEVER, the downloadable video game based on this movie looks rather cool, believe it or not! It’s an 8-bit/16-bit styled side scrolling beat ‘em up, and I’m all for that! So while I won’t see the movie, I’ll probably at least try out the game!

Looking Forward

There are a couple of movies I’m looking forward to this December. One is TRON Legacy. I loved the first one as a kid, and while a computer generated film doesn’t have that kind of impact nowadays, I’ll still go see it. And I also can’t wait for the third Narnia movie. It’s based on my favorite book in the series: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Yeah I know these books have Christian overtones and themes, but you know what? I’m a Christian and I like that stuff! So there! Nyeah!

So what movies did YOU see this summer? Like any of my picks? What movies are you looking forward to seeing? Tell me in the comments section! Later! –Cary

Tags: Movies with Children