2008 has blessed us with a special summer of blockbusters and comedies. I mean, it sure beat last year with its weak summer films like Spider-Man 3, Transformers, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Was there even a three-quel this summer? Anyway, here are my five favorite films of the summer (which happen to be my favorite films of the year so far):
5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
This is probably the most underrated film of the year thus far. Even though there was a good amount of high praise for this film (especially from Richard Roeper and Peter Travers), the overall response was mediocre. I guess I’m in the minority who loved this movie. If you haven’t figured it out already from my previous posts, I’m a huge Judd Apatow fan. His comedies fall on such a higher level than the rest of mainstream comedies, and this film was no different.
Maybe one of the reasons why people were turned off was because of how it was basically a chick flick, but from a guy’s perspective. Numerous times the main character, played by Jason Segel, would cry and mope over his recent break-up. Boo hoo, right? At first I found it a bit annoying, but the great part of the film was how the characters evolved as the movie progressed. Everything you thought you knew about one character would flip upside-down in an instant. This showed the depth of the screenplay, also written by Jason Segel. Oh, and did I mention the Dracula puppet musical? Who wouldn’t love to see that actually in production?
Even though this film was released in April and the summer season doesn’t start until May, I still count this as a summer movie. I don’t know, maybe it’s because of the Hawaiian setting of the film that made me think of the summer. Nonetheless, it was the first good comedy of the year, and one of my favorites from the Apatown.
4. Tropic Thunder
I consider this the LAST notable film from the summer season, unless The House Bunny is a surprise hit (which I highly doubt). Here you have a controversial film with the funnymen of Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and seemingly outcast Robert Downey Jr. The story mimics Three Amigos in the sense that a number of actors are thrown into a real war situation but think they’re still acting and entertaining. Now that’s funny folks!
The star of the film is Robert Downey Jr. who plays an African American for about 95% of the time. His character mocks those like Colin Farrell and Daniel Day-Lewis who use method acting to completely drown themselves in their roles. I have to say, watching Robert Downey try to play a black guy and seeing how the other characters were reacting was hilarious. He completely stole the show from his better-known comedic co-stars. Man, what a fantastic year Robert Downey Jr. is having.
I’m glad that Ben Stiller finally made a really funny movie instead of the mainstream junk he’s been caught up with recently (The Heartbreak Kid and Night at the Museum). As a writer, the director, and producer of Tropic Thunder, he allowed his all-around talent to lead this superb comedy. In my opinion, this is THE comedy of the year.
3. Iron Man
What a fantastic year Robert Downey Jr. is having. Didn’t I just say that? Anyway, it’s true. The first huge hit of the summer season was this metal man that skyrocketed to the top of the charts. Despite the skepticism and doubt, critics were eager to spread the positive word on this blockbuster and the general public followed in hordes. I admit I was among one of those in doubt that Iron Man could make a serious splash in the box office. You just don’t hear the name Iron Man among the elite of Superman, Spiderman, and Batman. But that still didn’t stop me from attending the midnight showing, and boy was I glad I did.
Prior to Iron Man (and not counting Batman Begins), I think the last superhero film I actually liked was X-2 and that was five years ago, so I was looking forward to the critics’ hype. Robert Downey Jr. and Iron Man delivered one of the most enjoyable superhero films in history. RDJ filled Tony Stark’s shoes with such ease that I began to wonder if he was actually Iron Man… is he? Nah… but maybe?
The supporting cast of the film was excellent as well, especially Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow. And I cannot talk about how great Iron Man was without mentioning the team of screenwriters and the director, Jon Favreau. Favreau took a simplistic approach to the film: Just tell the story. He didn’t get wrapped up with special effects and a good guy vs. bad guy plot, which more superhero stories involve. Instead, the origin story told about the transformation of Tony Stark from once an alcoholic playboy to a respectable figure in the world.
The other thing that separates this film from other superhero genre films is the adult content mixed with the light, comic-book plot. The change of heart Tony Stark goes through from a weapons manufacturer tycoon to understanding the consequences involved in his profits is done very well. With a number of films packing an underlying message in its film, Iron Man is one of the best.
2. The Dark Knight
What?! The Dark Knight isn’t my number one film of the summer?! Yeah you read correctly, this is no mistake. But before your eyes fall out of your head, let me just make my voice heard by saying The Dark Knight was an outstanding piece of cinema. I will also go on by saying not only is it the best Batman film ever made, but it is the best superhero movie ever made. So how can’t I list this as my number one film of the summer? Because frankly, superhero films suck, so being the best of the superhero genre is like winning the gold medal for track at fat camp.
I’m not trying to put down how great The Dark Knight actually is. It’s a stellar achievement on all cylinders. It’s the best superhero film, a top-notch action film, a deeply complex psychological thriller, and a fine epic pic. The amazing cast (for those two or three people out there who don’t know: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, and Maggie Gyllenhaal) performed to their ability, including the out-of-this-world portrayal of The Joker by the late Ledger who will most certainly be nominated for a Best Supporting Oscar.
And the man behind the machine, Christopher Nolan, MUST be rewarded with praise and worship from his incredible formulation of this historic film. His vision of a real superhero that sacrifices his status to keep hope in Gotham is masterful. There was no doubt in my mind after the cult-following of Memento and the beloved The Prestige, that Nolan would take the Batman franchise by the reigns and ride it to mainstream success… but never did I expect an ovation like the one he’s receiving from The Dark Knight.
There are not enough good things that can be said about The Dark Knight and all it has accomplished, but to me it’s still only my second favorite film of the summer.
1. WALL-E
My favorite film of the summer was Pixar’s latest, and in my opinion their best film to date, WALL-E. There was a lot of skepticism that surrounded this highly talked about, risky film from the King of animation. I mean, when you first heard that the film is about a robot in the future that falls in love with another robot and on top of that the first hour is dialogue-less… no way is this going to work. But what always kept my head above water on this situation was that this was a Pixar film. Never has a studio had a track record as impressive as Pixar has now. The phrase, “all killer and no filler” defines Pixar’s run at creating transcendent features.
But why was WALL-E so special? Just like The Dark Knight, the build up and expectations were insanely high for this lovable, goofy robot that would travel the universe for love. If it only met the expectations it would be considered a great achievement, but surprisingly WALL-E went beyond expectations. To combine elements that make a great children’s film, comedy, romance, and to insert an environmentalist message is almost a miracle. It’s special when you have a family film that can relate to children as much as it can to adults.
With last year’s Ratatouille (which was the most adult-friendly Pixar film to date), I thought they would go back with a movie that aimed directly for kids. And seeing the trailers and advertisements of a cute robot, I could’ve sworn I was right. But Ratatouille was Pixar’s most successful film at the Academy Awards picking up 5 nominations and a win for Best Animated Feature, so it was to their interest to keep a mature-mind for WALL-E. I’m glad they did because I was absolutely stunned at the power that WALL-E had.
I must add that my experience at the theaters watching WALL-E was amazing. I went to a matinee showing and the theater was full of kids and their parents. If you want to receive the full pleasure of WALL-E, watch it with kids. It’s sort of like that scene in Finding Neverland when children are purposely placed into the theater to watch Peter Pan to lighten up the adult crowd so they could just be silly and have fun. Listening to the kids’ comments as WALL-E was playing made me enjoy the movie twice as much. And at the ending when I heard kids whimpering, “Please WALL-E, please remember” that almost broke my heart.
With no dialogue in the beginning, it was a visual piece of artistry, displaying this post-apocalyptic world that sent chills down my spine. The actions of WALL-E, that mimicked those of Charlie Chaplin, provided for more than enough humor and entertainment to keep the audience happy. The romance plot was cute and enduring, always taking center stage but never hogging the screen. And then the emergence of the thick plot plus the universal message of taking care of the Earth was the finishing touch to this monumental movie. This was an outstanding job by Pixar, and to me, was hands down my favorite movie of the summer.
So that’s my list. What do you think? Were there any films I left out that you think should’ve made the cut?
Posted by Rob Eng 
