Every summer, it seems, there’s another one of those zillion-dollar, effects-laden, mega-size blockbuster/potential cash cows that opens to tremendous anticipation, sizzles the box office its opening weekend and then just as quickly leaves critics cold and audiences disappointed. Something Green with a Lantern coming to mind? A group of skyscraper-size robots maybe? If any of this summer’s Goliaths made you unhappy, not to worry — there’s a seemingly endless parade of interchangeable cinematic behemoths.
But what of last year’s blockbusters and the ones that came before? The endless sequels and prequels and hoped-for franchise starters that didn’t quite meet expectations as the world moved on? The Hollywood movie graveyard is filled to bursting with these multimillion-dollar babies, and for fans of the genre, each film has a fair amount of redeeming qualities. Keep in mind that even the worst of these mega-budgeted dinosaurs was at one time the Great Movie Hope of its studio, and a lot of care went into making them.
All of these movies — the good, the bad and the sorta good — are readily available, waiting to be explored in the DVD budget bin, in the On Demand section on cable or downloadable on the Web. Here are five guilty-pleasure summer blockbusters worth revisiting:
2010: ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’
Overview: Disney’s kinda bland sword-and-sandal epic, based on a video game, cast a bulked-up Jake Gyllenhaal as the adopted prince of the title who must overcome a severe rupture in family relations, not to mention Sir Ben Kingsley as a conniving pretender to the throne who desperately wants the magical dagger in Jake’s possession. Gemma Arterton played Jake’s spunky love interest, a mysterious princess.
Budget: $200 million (estimated)
Gross: $335+ million (worldwide)
Critical reception: 36 percent favorable on Rotten Tomatoes
Admittedly rank element(s): The simpleton setup (remember, the source material is a video game), multiplied by the dumb dialogue and all that orange (the movie seems shot under a sun lamp).
Guilty-pleasure highlights: The practically perfect diction and the clipped British accents; Alfred Molina hamming it up as a camel salesman; each time the sands of time inside the dagger are released (in other words, the expensive special effects).
2009: ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’
Overview: Talk about bulked up! Hugh Jackman, in his fourth outing as the superhero/mutant with the steel spikes embedded in his hands, created plenty of buzz when stills of his bare bum hit the Internet before the picture opened in this prequel, which revealed just how those spikes got there in the first place. The story is basically the classic Cain vs. Abel tale, superhero style (Liev Schreiber played the bad brother).
Budget: $150 million
Gross: $373+ million (worldwide)
Critical reception: 37 percent favorable on Rotten Tomatoes
Admittedly rank element(s): The bickering brothers, who battle from the Civil War to Vietnam, never once seeming to take note of their surroundings, with the movie following suit — lurching around from one time period to another, leaving the audience dazed and confused.
Guilty-pleasure highlights: Danny Huston presiding over the experiment where Jackman as Logan gets those spikes implanted. Ouch! Also: the climactic battle between Jackman and the equally ripped Ryan Reynolds as the nefarious Deadpool is so over-the-top the screen practically drips testosterone.
2008: “Babylon A.D.”
Overview: In this futuristic science-fiction thriller, Vin Diesel plays a mercenary escorting the gorgeous Melanie Thierry and her guardian Michelle Yeoh (as a protective nun) from Russia to New York City. Big trouble ensues en route. The film was based on a French novel and was slated for release two years before it finally got dumped by Fox at the tail end of the summer.
Budget: $70 million
Gross: $72 million (worldwide)
Critical reception: 7 percent favorable on Rotten Tomatoes
Admittedly rank element(s): Where to begin? The cryptic dialogue (matching Diesel’s acting); the lack of chemistry between the stars; the bad editing hampered by the truncated running time that makes the plot almost indecipherable?
Guilty-pleasure highlights: All of the above (if you’re in a camp mood). And if not, it takes back seat to a series of familiar yet satisfying action sequences set amid the usual, post-apocalyptic wastelands with their resident crazies going one-on-one with Diesel. Also, the camera loves anything Yeoh does.
2007: ‘Spider-Man 3’
Overview: Tobey Maguire returned as Peter Parker, the lovelorn, nice kid turned superhero who swings from buildings, fighting rogue criminals. Kirsten Dunst came back as his stage-struck object of adoration, Mary Jane, and James Franco, who is badly used, kept getting in the way as their rich, confused friend Harry. The picture was one of the first summer blockbusters to truly take advantage of the lure of both Imax and 3-D technology.
Budget: $258 million
Gross: $890+ million (worldwide)
Critical reception: 63 percent favorable on Rotten Tomatoes
Admittedly rank element(s): Having to thread through all those convoluted plot strand: The movie (clocking in at 141 minutes) weaves in two supervillains (Thomas Haden Church and Topher Grace), an evil split personality for young Peter Parker, a romantic triangle and more.
Guilty-pleasure highlights: After being enveloped by black, outer space goo, the nasty side of Peter Parker appears in a nightclub where he — gasp — plays jazz piano (a la Jerry Lewis in “The Nutty Professor”); the transformation scenes of baddies Church (as Sandman) and Grace (as Venom) are special effects highlights; and best, the oddly romantic scene with Peter and Mary Jane lying on a giant web of his construction under the stars.
2006: ‘Superman Returns’
Overview: Nearly 20 years after the previous Superman installment, Warner Bros. attempted to reinvent the iconic franchise. Brandon Routh, a virtual unknown who favored previous Man of Steel Christopher Reeve in both the sweet disposition and brawn department, won the part. Kate Bosworth stepped in for Margot Kidder as ace reporter Lois Lane, while Kevin Spacey took over for Gene Hackman as evil crime mastermind Lex Luthor. James Marsden played Bosworth’s husband.
Budget: $209 million
Gross: $391 million (worldwide)
Critical reception: 76 percent favorable on Rotten Tomatoes
Admittedly rank element(s): Parker Posey as Luthor’s obnoxious gun moll is horribly miscast, and there’s zero chemistry between Routh and Bosworth (who lacks any of Kidder’s chutzpah), which makes the romantic triangle an intruder into the dazzling action set pieces.
Guilty-pleasure highlights: Those dazzling set pieces, many and varied, include everything from an expertly staged, mini-“Titanic” yacht sinking to Superman saving a crashing space shuttle, landing it safely on a baseball field.
Sources: IMDB.com, BoxOfficeMojo.com
