MAY
Summer begins with a bit of a cheat in Bridge To Terabithia, a lovely family-film
with some great performances and choking twist in its tale, but its marketing
as a Narnia-style adventure was just ridiculous. I hope too many people didn't
feel cheated when the realizes it's actually a very simple, heartfelt, family film.
2007 was known as "The Year Of The Threequels" and Spider-Man 3 set the
ball rolling on that timely phenomenon. After the blockbusting antics of its
predecessors and critical respect for Spider-Man 2, everyone was primed for more
greatness from Sam Raimi. But, while still enjoyable in parts, Spider-Man 3 was
a bloated, unfocused mess. Sure, it's fun to watch at the time, but it fades from
memory very quickly.
With Danny Boyle off in space, the sequel to his surprise horror hit 28 Days Later
(cleverly titled 28 Weeks Later), was similarly misread by the public.
On a wave of impressed reviews, it did mild business and the studio said they'd
only pursue plans for a third movie (28 Months Later) if Weeks sold well on DVD.
Creating a triptych of magician-themed movies (after Prestige and Illusionist),
UK comedy Magicians crashed-and-burned at the box-office. This low-budget
comedy was the brainchild of the writing/acting talent behind hilarious sitcom
Peep Show, but everyone was left stone-faced by the plodding direction, unremarkable
jokes and thin storyline.
The year's best thriller was probably David Fincher's Zodiac, based on
the true life case of the Zodiac Killer, who stalked San Francisco back in the
1970s. It was an accomplished and dramatic film that just didn't really fit into
the summer schedule, and therefore flopped on both sides of the Atlantic.
One film that certainly didn't flop was seafaring fantasy sequel Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End,
which dominated the summer chart and became the year's biggest grossing film.
It's the fifth most successful film ever made, too. Audiences obviously love
Gore Verbinski's everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach to adventure, while
Johnny Depp certainly has his fans. Reviews were very mixed, but it seems most
people just wanted to see how the adventure ended -- with the promise (threat?)
of a fourth film, if you don't know.
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