Summer 2014 Movie Preview Pt. 3
In Part 1 and Part 2 of our Summer Movie Preview, we looked at all of the releases from the first half of the summer -- and gave you both reasons to look forward and reasons to look twice for each film. Picking up where we left off, Part 3 of our Summer 2014 Preview runs the gamut from lady criminals to ape overlords, talking planes to sci-fi space opera ...
Release: July 2
The Upside: Melissa McCarthy, of course, the comedic live-wire who livened up Bridesmaids and The Heat, here playing a woman wronged who goes on a voyage of discovery that, in McCarthy style, looks suspiciously like a path of destruction at the same time ...
The Downswing: Not to sound churlish, but there's a sneaking suspicion that McCarthy's appeal on film is confined to one volume, while her in-person comedic live improvisational work is a little bit more nuanced; Too much, too soon and too loud could take the bloom off her box-office rose ... or, worse, she'd become Adam Sandler, and do the same thing for the next 20 years.
The Upside: The prior Rise of the Planet of the Apes was an out-of-nowhere surprise the summer it was released; with Cloverfield director Matt Reeves behind the lens, and a cast to die for including Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke and motion-capture maestro Andy Serkis, the sequel may even pass its successor ...
The Downswing: The fact is that Rise of worked in no small part for being smaller, smarter and faster than the average blockbuster; will the desire to protect a franchise lead to a more machine-polished, franchise-friendly film?
Release: July 25
The Upside: The last time director Jake Kasdan worked with Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz, the film was the snappy, snippy Bad Teacher; now, the director is back with the two stars for Sex Tape, about what long-married couple Diaz and Segel do when the title object -- of them and of their making -- goes missing.
The Downside: Hard to see any from this far out, although the premise sounds like it could very easily move from smutty and silly to squeamish and skeevy; it remains to be seen to what degree Kasdan pulls it off this time.
Release: July 18
The Upside: Are you a Disney stockholder? If 'No,' there's nothing about this movie to appreciate.
The Downswing: A spin-off from the awful, imagination-free Cars films, the Planes series continues its journey taking merchandisable characters through hokey plotlines to minimal effect; this time, plane protagonist Dusty (Dane Cook) leaves racing to become a firefighting plane. Your kids will be entertained. You will definitely not.
Release: July 18
The Upside: A big, bold intergalactic sci-fi epic from the creators of The Matrix ...
The Downswing: ...that puts wolf-ears on Channing Tatum and looks way more like The Fifth Element or Flash Gordon than it does Star Wars. There's a lot of widescreen whiz-bang in the trailer, but something here feels a little too kid's-stuffy, a little too silly and spectacular. Of course, I'd love to be proven wrong ...
Release: July 18
The Upside:The Purge was a nifty idea and a cool premise that got damaged by being locked up inside a budget that was smaller than its ambitions. Now, with the first film's writer-director coming back, there's a chance that The Purge will finally get the big canvas it deserves as a B-movie idea ...
The Downswing: None, aside from the fact that without a name-brand star like Ethan Hawke this time, fewer moviegoers might be inclined to check out this latest installment ... which is a pity.
Release July 25
The Upside: The Rock, everyone's favorite action star, in a sandals-and-myth epic about everyone's favorite Greek demi-god? What's not to like?
The Downswing: What's not to like is the presence of director Brett Ratner, Hollywood's worst director of maximum-sized mediocrities like Red Dragon and X-Men: The Last Stand. The Rock has rarely made a bad film; Ratner has never made a good one. The odds are not in Hercules's favor.
Release: July 25
The Upside: The pitch that Get on Up will be a Walk The Line-Style version of James Brown's story doesn't excite me half as much as the name below the title, Chadwick Boseman; Boseman was excellent in the stiff, stilted 42 and does a nice, slightly less constrained supporting turn in Draft Day, but he's never gotten a chance to cut loose; this might well be it.
The Downswing: Maybe -- just maybe -- the real life of the Godfather of Soul is too big to get onscreeen ...
1. Tammy
Release: July 2
The Upside: Melissa McCarthy, of course, the comedic live-wire who livened up Bridesmaids and The Heat, here playing a woman wronged who goes on a voyage of discovery that, in McCarthy style, looks suspiciously like a path of destruction at the same time ...
The Downswing: Not to sound churlish, but there's a sneaking suspicion that McCarthy's appeal on film is confined to one volume, while her in-person comedic live improvisational work is a little bit more nuanced; Too much, too soon and too loud could take the bloom off her box-office rose ... or, worse, she'd become Adam Sandler, and do the same thing for the next 20 years.
2. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Release: July 11The Upside: The prior Rise of the Planet of the Apes was an out-of-nowhere surprise the summer it was released; with Cloverfield director Matt Reeves behind the lens, and a cast to die for including Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke and motion-capture maestro Andy Serkis, the sequel may even pass its successor ...
The Downswing: The fact is that Rise of worked in no small part for being smaller, smarter and faster than the average blockbuster; will the desire to protect a franchise lead to a more machine-polished, franchise-friendly film?
3. Sex Tape
Release: July 25
The Upside: The last time director Jake Kasdan worked with Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz, the film was the snappy, snippy Bad Teacher; now, the director is back with the two stars for Sex Tape, about what long-married couple Diaz and Segel do when the title object -- of them and of their making -- goes missing.
The Downside: Hard to see any from this far out, although the premise sounds like it could very easily move from smutty and silly to squeamish and skeevy; it remains to be seen to what degree Kasdan pulls it off this time.
4. Planes: Fire and Rescue
Release: July 18
The Upside: Are you a Disney stockholder? If 'No,' there's nothing about this movie to appreciate.
The Downswing: A spin-off from the awful, imagination-free Cars films, the Planes series continues its journey taking merchandisable characters through hokey plotlines to minimal effect; this time, plane protagonist Dusty (Dane Cook) leaves racing to become a firefighting plane. Your kids will be entertained. You will definitely not.
5. Jupiter Ascending
Release: July 18
The Upside: A big, bold intergalactic sci-fi epic from the creators of The Matrix ...
The Downswing: ...that puts wolf-ears on Channing Tatum and looks way more like The Fifth Element or Flash Gordon than it does Star Wars. There's a lot of widescreen whiz-bang in the trailer, but something here feels a little too kid's-stuffy, a little too silly and spectacular. Of course, I'd love to be proven wrong ...
6. The Purge: Anarchy
Release: July 18
The Upside:The Purge was a nifty idea and a cool premise that got damaged by being locked up inside a budget that was smaller than its ambitions. Now, with the first film's writer-director coming back, there's a chance that The Purge will finally get the big canvas it deserves as a B-movie idea ...
The Downswing: None, aside from the fact that without a name-brand star like Ethan Hawke this time, fewer moviegoers might be inclined to check out this latest installment ... which is a pity.
7. Hercules
Release July 25
The Upside: The Rock, everyone's favorite action star, in a sandals-and-myth epic about everyone's favorite Greek demi-god? What's not to like?
The Downswing: What's not to like is the presence of director Brett Ratner, Hollywood's worst director of maximum-sized mediocrities like Red Dragon and X-Men: The Last Stand. The Rock has rarely made a bad film; Ratner has never made a good one. The odds are not in Hercules's favor.
8. Get On Up
Release: July 25
The Upside: The pitch that Get on Up will be a Walk The Line-Style version of James Brown's story doesn't excite me half as much as the name below the title, Chadwick Boseman; Boseman was excellent in the stiff, stilted 42 and does a nice, slightly less constrained supporting turn in Draft Day, but he's never gotten a chance to cut loose; this might well be it.
The Downswing: Maybe -- just maybe -- the real life of the Godfather of Soul is too big to get onscreeen ...