The summer box office usually gets a sudden boom in July, following June, which tends to lean a little towards slightly less established properties. The Independence Day weekend is famously reliable for making blockbusters, and mid-July has often been when one of the biggest, if not the biggest (depending on how early May went) films of the summer may come out, with the right film earning through into the slow down point of August.
July 3
DESPICABLE ME 2 (ANIMATED/FAMILY) Voices of: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Russell Brand, Benjamin Bratt, Steve Coogan
PG for rude humor and mild action.
The sequel to animation studio Illumination Entertainment's 2010 surprise hit debut has about an average chance of matching the "quality" of the original, given the nature of the type of sequel, plus Illumination's couple films since which have been less warmly received. Personally, I only thought the original was "okay", and I definitely think the Minions are overrated, with their irritating gibberish which just sounds like an adult gabbling to get attention.
See it?: Maybe- For families, the options are pretty slim, so the "worth seeing" factor is far more lenient, so yes for families, but might be a bit embarrassing for anyone over 12 without a little tag-along to shift the blame toward.
THE LONE RANGER (ACTION-ADVENTURE/WESTERN) Starring: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Helena Bonham Carter, William Fichtner, Tom Wilkinson
PG-13 for sequences of intense action and violence, and some suggestive material.
Disney has reunited the team behind their most successful franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean; with writers Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Gore Verbinski (who directed three, but not the most recent) and star Johnny Depp; for a big budget potential franchise starter based on the classic radio/television character, by attempting to revamp the struggling western-adventure genre in a way similar to what they did for the pirate-swashbuckler.
See it?: Yes, with caution. I'm split on this, because my gut says that it looks incredibly awesome and fun, while my brain points out that for the past few years, Disney's big-budget live action movies have been bland and disappointing, and Depp has been struggling as a leading man, when he's better used as a character actor. Either way, I say yes, if only to be sure.
July 12
GROWN UPS 2 (COMEDY) Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Salma Hayek
PG-13 for crude and suggestive content, language and some male rear nudity.
Adam Sandler's obligatory annual appearance at the box office this year is a sequel to his 2010 turkey about a group of old friends (played by an all-star assortment of Happy Madison buffoons) who take part in a feature-length series of immature hijinks.
See it?: No. If for whatever inexplicable reason you're actually an Adam Sandler fan, I guess you might just as well, but the fact that the preview shows a CGI deer peeing on Sandler, should be reason enough not to see it. On the other hand, Rob Schneider couldn't make it to this round, and he's the worst of the worst.
PACIFIC RIM (SCI-FI/ACTION) Starring: Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Charlie Day, Ron Perlman
PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, and brief language.
A premium example of Hollywood high concept filmmaking at its best, this big budget sci-fi/action film from the writer/director of the Hellboy films and PAN'S LABYRINTH is about giant robots fighting giant monsters. More specifically, tremendous, Godzilla-esque creatures called kaiju (Japanese for "strange beast", and the genre in which Godzilla films are included in Japan) invade human world from beneath the sea, and the humans retaliate by building giant robot suits called Jaegers (German for "hunter") to fight back.
See it?: Yes. It may sound brain dead and look like a TRANSFORMERS imitator, but not only is there a definite entertainment factor here, but Guillermo del Toro as director and co-writer is as good as a guarantee that it will be an abnormally sophisticated type of outrageous sci-fi action.
July 17
TURBO (ANIMATED/FAMILY) Voices of: Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Maya Rudolph, Michael Pena, Michelle Rodriguex, Luis Guzman
PG for some mild action and thematic elements.
DreamWorks Animation is trying to bring in some new properties this year after a strong concentration of sequels and spin-offs lately, so following up March's THE CROODS, is this action-comedy about a snail who dreams of racing and becomes the fastest snail alive after an accident results in nitrous oxide fusing with his DNA. The advertising suggests a hybrid of the Fast & Furious franchise, RATATOUILLE and CARS.
See It?: Yes, with possible stipulations. Another family movie that get leniency for being family-friendly, it probably will still depend most on it appeal to children (especially boys, ages five to ten), while DreamWorks will probably throw in a smattering of pop culture references and such ilk to appeal to older audiences.
July 19
THE CONJURING (HORROR/THRILLER) Starring: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Joey King
R for sequences of disturbing violence and terror.
Based on allegedly true events, James Wan's newest fear-fest tells the story of a 1970s haunting of a Rhode Island home, and the investigation by supernatural investigators Ed and Loraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, respectively), most famous for their controversial involvement with the "Amityville Horror" case. It has been proudly touted by the filmmakers as being rated R simply for being, "just so scary," after the MPAA informed them that there simply wasn't anything in particular that could be removed in order to get a PG-13 rating.
See it?: Reportedly, test audience responses were highly positive, thus encouraging the Warner Bros. to move it's early 2013 release date to the summer season (hardly a regular time to release a horror film), and although Wan's direction is sometimes shaky, he clearly has strong potential, as seen in movies like SAW and INSIDIOUS. If you're a horror fan, then you'll almost certainly want to check it out; if you're easily spooked, then it might be too much; for movie fans like myself, I'm interested, but I'm not sure about seeing a horror film in the summer. Either way, it's probably better as a rental.
R.I.P.D. (ACTION/COMEDY/FANTASY) Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker
PG-13 for violence, sci-fi/fantasy action, some sensuality, and language including sex references.
The title acronym stands for "Rest in Peace Depatment"; an afterlife law enforcement agency that recruits deceased law officers to track down and apprehend rogue spirits and demons and such who breach the veil between life and the afterlife. With Jeff Bridges playing his over-the-top schtick as the crusty veteran and Ryan Reynolds as a new recruit, the advertising so far has been suggestive of something very similar to the Men in Black films, while also mixing in some strong HELLBOY and BEETLE JUICE elements.
See It?: Maybe. It doesn't really look like it could be argued for a case of 'required viewing', but it will probably be light, fun, insubstantial fluff.
RED 2 (ACTION/COMEDY) Starring: Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones
PG-13 for pervasive action and violence including frenetic gunplay, and for some language and drug material.
RED was a surprise hit in Fall 2010, based on a DC Comic that apparently no one outside of the business of comics had heard of, and now, Summit Studios (best known for THE TWILIGHT SAGA) is hoping to bring their geriatric ass-kickers up to the franchise level. In this follow-up, Agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), Status: Retired, Extremely Dangerous; is pulled back into action once again, this time thanks to a Cold War-era project that's come back to light in a dangerous way. Joining the returning cast of the first film (including Helen Mirren and John Malkovich) are Catherine Zeta-Jones, G.I. JOE's Byung-hun Lee and Anthony Hopkins.
See It?: The first RED was fun but unremarkable, and this one looks far more bombastic and frenetic, but the previews also suggest a very strong comedic tone (the new director, Dean Parisot, made GALAXY QUEST), so maybe watch for the reviews on this one, then act accordingly.
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