My Two Cents - Top Grossing Movies

Titanic. The Dark Knight. Star Wars. What do these three movies all have in common? Simple...combined, they grossed over one and a half billion dollars at the United States box offices. One and a half billion. And that was just at movie theaters in this country. A better question is - how? Why? What determines if a movie is going to be a box-office smash, or an absolute bomb? If there was a simple answer to that question, Hollywood would be turning out billion-dollar megablockbusters by the truckload. Since they aren't...here's my take on it:

First and foremost, it doesn't hurt that these were three exceptional films. Often, there is a great deal of hype surrounding them...and most of that hype occurs when the movie is already released (the classic "word of mouth"). Unlike most movies, where the hype machine revs up months in advance. Also...most of these movies transcend simple genre descriptions. There is a little bit of something for everyone.

But, in the end...it's an intangible. Sometimes, a movie comes along...and it is just a smash. Consider that in 1977, "Star Wars" was the highest grossing movie in US box office history. It took twenty years before "Titanic" took the crown. And it was another eleven before "Dark Knight" joined the exclusive club of highest grossing movies. In the history of Hollywood, only eight movies have grossed over four hundred million at the US box office: Titanic, Dark Knight, Star Wars, Shrek 2, E.T., Star Wars Episode One - The Phantom Menace, Pirates Of The Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest, and Spider-Man. Eight movies in over eighty years...that's pretty exclusive company.

Will there ever be a movie that out-grosses Titanic? It's impossible to say for certain. Surely no one ever thought Star Wars would be outgrossed. Not only was it outgrossed...but it was outgrossed by over one hundred and forty million dollars. And eleven years after it was outgrossed by Titanic...Dark Knight outgrossed it by seventy-three million. It will take an extraordinary set of circumstances to break Titanic's stranglehold on the top spot. But if life has taught us nothing else...it is that records are made to be broken.

But, that's just my opinion...

Review - Star Trek

The long-anticipated and much-hyped reboot of the "Star Trek" series arrived this summer. As a long-time Trek fan, I walked into the theater with a mixture of anticipation and dread. To my delight...the anticipation and hype were all worth it! To this point, this is hands-down the best film of the summer!
This is not so much a new chapter with the old Star Trek characters...but a reimagining of the old storyline. The same characters from The Original Series...but completely different. A fascinating concept (as Spock might put it), but it works. And what helps the most is an unbelievable cast! I never thought I would live to see the day I said someone out-Spocked Leonard Nimoy...but Zachary Quinto pulls it off! Chris Pine captures the charismatic swagger of Kirk. Karl Urban almost steals the movie as the crusty "Bones" McCoy. My only complaint on the casting goes with Anton Yelchin as Chekov. They seemed to play him more for comic relief than anything else.
Easily, no contest, the best movie of the summer (so far)!!

Review - Terminator: Salvation

The much-anticipated sequel to the first three "Terminator" movies finally arrives! John Connor, now an adult, fights a losing war against Skynet and the machines it controls. The human resistance finally catches a break with a discovered tool that stops the machines in their tracks. But the sudden appearance of a mysterious figure...as well as the capture of John's father, Kyle Reese, complicates matters.
I find it unusual that of all the "Terminator" movies to get a PG-13 rating...they chose this one. I think that this is the one movie of the series that needed an R rating the most. The visions of the future from the first two movies compared to this one seem to have changed drastically as well. In the first movie, mankind was living underground like moles, starving and filthy, poorly equipped. Suddenly, they have planes, helicopters, and a small arsenal at their disposal (including nuclear submarines).
While there is a great deal to nitpick with this movie...there is no denying that it is a far better movie than the third installment (although that isn't saying much). I would even go as far as to put it close to the second movie...but nothing will ever touch the greatness of the original.
In summary - good story, good acting, lots of action. Definitely worth the trip to the theater.

Review - X-Men Origins - Wolverine

Everyone knows the man. The cigar-smoking, metal-laced, berserker mutant known to some as Logan...and to everyone as Wolverine. In the first big movie of the summer, we explore the background of how Logan became what we know him as today.
This movie spans a great deal of time quickly before the opening credits are through. From Logan's childhood in Canada, to stints in every major war from the Civil War to Vietnam, and finally, Logan's leaving a top-secret military group which features fellow mutants Sabretooth (half-brother Victor Creed), John Wraith, Agent Zero, and Deadpool. We see how Logan has the one true love of his life taken from him...and his joining the now-infamous Weapon X program to avenge her.
On some levels, this movie succeeds greatly. We finally get to see Gambit (played excellently by Taylor Kitsch). Liev Schreiber gives a much better performance as the sadistic Sabretooth, and of course, Hugh Jackman turns in another great turn as Logan. The big problem here is...it's the classic case of Hollywood hype fallen short. As great as this movie could have been, it just wasn't what we were promised. Ideally, this should have been two separate movies (the first one could have lead up to Logan joining Weapon X, the second finishing off the story).
All in all, good, but could have been much better. Decent start to summer 2009.

Review - Cloverfield

"Cloverfield" is a most unusual and heavily hyped sci-fi movie. It takes place over a couple of days in New York City. We begin the movie with a going-away party for a young man who is moving to Japan for a new job. Suddenly, all hell breaks loose. Things begin to explode, people begin to panic...and the characters find themselves in a race against time...and something else.
This movie had been previewed for months...with very little information given about the movie itself. In the back of my mind, I started wondering, "Am I witnessing another "Snakes On A Plane"...or will this movie actually live up to the hype?" The short answer...kind of. Imagine if the people who shot "The Blair Witch Project" made "Godzilla". You now have a pretty decent idea on what "Cloverfield" was like.
I liked the idea of the first-person perspective on the movie...and how there was still interaction between the characters and the surroundings. However...there were times where another characters perspective would have been appreciated. And it leaves the movie-goer with many questions about what actually happened.
All in all...not a great movie...but a good one. The characters were likeable and well played, the story moved along well, and unlike "I Am Legend", the special effects were a lot better.

Review - National Treasure: Book Of Secrets

I was a big fan of the first National Treasure movie, and thus I was quite enthused when word of a sequel reached my ears. And I'm glad to say, that the sophomore jinx didn't hit Book Of Secrets.
The movie is enough that you didn't have to see the original to follow this story...as a matter of fact, this movie barely makes any reference to the original (quite an unusual turn of events). Ben Gates' great-great grandfather has been presented as a possible co-conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. With the assistance of his father, his sidekick Riley, his estranged girlfriend Abigail, and his mother Emily...Ben goes off on another incredible search to protect his family name.
There are some excellent performances in the movie...and with a cast that includes Nicolas Cage, Jon Voight, Ed Harris, and Helen Mirren, that is pretty much a foregone conclusion. The story is entertaining, and carries on at a good pace. The ending of the story almost guaranteed a sequel.
All in all, an excellent movie!

Review - I Am Legend

I'll admit it...when I first saw the trailers...I was intrigued. I had already rented an earlier version of this movie off Netflix (The Omega Man, with Charlton Heston in the title role). Still, I put off seeing this movie.
It wasn't terrible. Granted...we've come to expect so much better from Will Smith...but it wasn't entirely Will's fault this time around. The special effects for such a big-budget film were not very impressive. In fact, they were quite underwhelming. The story is about the same as Omega Man - a military scientist is the last man alive in New York City after a man-made disease wipes out the majority of the human race. Most of those unaffected by the disease are now more animal than human...unable to tolerate sunlight (or any bright light for that matter). It is interesting to see how a person would stand being the only person left on Earth...and what it might do to their psychological state.
Decent characters...decent story...bad special effects. I Am Legend isn't the best movie you could spend money to go see...but it isn't the worst, either.