Dan Owen reviews

DAN'S   MOVIE   DIGEST

2 0 0 6   R e t r o s p e c t i v e

P a r t   T w o

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MAY

Not content with creating two of the most successful TV shows in history (Alias and Lost) J.J Abrams set his sights on the movies with Mission Impossible III. Incredibly, MI-III is possibly the best of the three movies in terms of pure popcorn entertainment, but wasn't the expected behemoth at the box-office. Fingers were firmly pointed in the direction of Tom Cruise's wavering star power post-Katie Holmes and sofa-hopping on Oprah...
The summer's biggest disappointment arrived with Tom Hanks, as he took the lead in The Da Vinci Code. The Dan Brown novel has been a remarkable hit for a few years now (I defy anybody not to spot a copy being read while on holiday...) so fans were left deflated by this uninspired adaptation. Or perhaps when the book is translated visually it's easier to see its weaknesses? But audience frustration didn't damage the box-office �- it seemed everyone wanted to see for themselves, and The Da Vinci Code became the second most successful film in 2006!
X-Men 3 was set to be another of 2006's casualties, as original director Bryan Singer jumped ship to Superman. Renowned hack Brett Ratner took charge and produced a competent but emotionally empty vehicle for some impressive action set-pieces. X3 just about saved itself from bombing through pure strength of CGI and audience investment with the characters and ongoing story.

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JUNE

The first notable remake of the year came with Poseidon, courtesy of Wolfgang Petersen (who has a thing with water following Das Boot and The Perfect Storm). Sadly, Poseidon didn't capture imaginations like the classic 70s original, but it remains an enjoyable spectacle for disaster movie fans.
The Omen was the next "why bother?" remake of the year, essentially sticking with the Richard Donner original but altering the cast. Unfortunately, all the scares and foreboding was lacking in this retread. If the intent was to cash-in on the 6/6/6 release date, a reissue of the original would have been preferable.
Pirates Of The Caribbean 2 was the summer's main hit and most lucrative film of the year, with Johnny Depp and the gang returning for more high-octane nautical/supernatural jollity. Pirates 2 was a massive hit (indeed 1 out of every 4 DVDs sold at Christmas was Dead Man's Chest) but it split critics �- with many claiming it to be overlong, convoluted and uninspired.
Another CGI cartoon blew into theatres in the shape of Over The Hedge, another adventure featuring talking animals (all voices by celebs, of course) that did amazing business. In fact, it became the 9th most successful film of the year!

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JULY

Bryan Singer left the X-Men behind to bring The Man Of Steel back to cinemas in Superman Returns. By rights it should have been the hit of the summer, but it disappointed many insiders with its box-office take. Still, by no means a turkey, it gathered strong reviews and general praise for its respectful homage to Richard Donner's original.
Another needless sequel arrived with The Fast & The Furious 3: cars, sexy women, macho men = modest hit. Us Brits attempted to splice home-grown hits Harry Potter and James Bond into Stormbreaker �- a fun if forgettable piece of junior espionage.
Pixar had mixed success with Cars. The CGI movie animation is no longer a novelty in itself, but Pixar can usually be relied upon to provide more story, characterisation and heart than the competition. Cars is easily their weakest movie, although visually it's unsurpassed and... well, even sub-par Pixar is streets ahead of stuff like Ice Age 2.

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AUGUST

Whoever persuaded Bill Murray to return and voice Garfield in a sequel nobody wanted is anybody's guess. I think money had a role to play. Garfield 2 was marginally better than the first one, amazingly, but still a weak adaptation of Jim Davis' iconic comic-strip. Again, 20 years too late, guys...
A big let-down in late-summer was Michael Mann's Miami Vice. This straight update to his '80s cop show was expected to do big business, but got buried despite mostly positive reviews. It seemed people just weren't interested.
Monster House was easily the year's most undervalued CGI animation -� and perhaps the best. It's a classic throwback to the 80s adventures of Spielberg's era, beautifully animated and with a great story. Check it out if you're one of the many millions who missed it at the cinema.
Jack Black had a bad year in 2006. Nacho Libre started the bad penny rolling. It was a one-joke comedy with one laugh: that Black looks kinda funny dressed as a Mexican wrestler. Black is always good value, but the movie is lazy and lacked spark.
My Super Ex-Girlfriend was never going to be a classic, but its super-heroic spin on a relationship break-up was more fun than you'd imagine. Uma Thurman is always good and perfectly cast here, while Luke Wilson finally began to compete against his brother Owen at the movies. Mind you, if you thought Jack Black had an annus horribilis, spare a thought for Wilson, whose other movie, Idiocracy, was swept under the carpet by US distributors and goes unreleased in the UK to this day...
M. Night Shyamalan, that self-proclaimed father of modern horror, retuned, following the critical thrashing afforded The Village, with Lady In The Water. A more savage drubbing ensued. To be honest, the film isn't as bad as you'd expect based on reviews, but there's a pervasive sense that Shyamalan believes his own hype far, far too much. It's time to re-examine The Sixth Sense and get your groove back Night.