The 2012 Summer Movie Roundup

So, it's officially October, which means my annual summer movie roundup is about two months too late.  Sorry about that: it's been a crazy couple of months.  Regardless, this was a pretty good summer for movies, although I suppose we're all getting a bit saturated with sequels and reboots.  Anywho, here's my top five:

5. THE BOURNE LEGACY

I'll be the first to admit I was a bit bummed when I heard they were making this movie in the first place, especially since Matt Damon wouldn't be returning.  Furthermore, I can't really explain the appeal of this movie.  As I walked out of the theater, I was less than impressed, but for some reason, it grew on me over the next few days.  I guess there were just enough explosions to move this up to five on the list.

 

 

4. BRAVE

After the somewhat disastrous Cars 2, I had high hopes for a return to form for Pixar, and for the most part I wasn't disappointed.  Although it somewhat descended into the usual theme of "be yourself and it will all work out," I still thought it was pretty funny and very creative.

3. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

There's no way I could leave this one off the list, with all of the hype and anticipation that led up to it.  Although not without some strange plot holes ("Oh, you're back is broken... let me punch you in the spine really hard and you'll be fine in a couple of weeks"), it was still a fantastic wrap-up to Christopher Nolan's trilogy, and I'm sad to see it go.

2. MOONRISE KINGDOM 

At this point, I think everyone in America is required to have a college roommate who is a huge Wes Anderson fan, who claims that you just don't "get his style of humor."  When I finally got around to watching some of his films, I found that they are incredibly strange and bizarrely hilarious.  Moonrise Kingdom is no exception.  Although my top five is usually reserved for movies that explode a lot, this movie had heart and reminded me of my carefree summer days as a strange kid pretending to be Rambo in my backyard.

1. THE AVENGERS

This is perhaps the only movie on this year's list that completely exceeded my expectations.  I wasn't sure how this film would work, especially since all of the previous Marvel films were at least somewhat based in reality (aside from Thor), but they pulled it off.  Even more impressive, they managed to cram six hero back-stories into one film without making it feel rushed.  Well done!