The Best and Worst Films of Summer 2016

​Hello, fellow moviegoers!
   The summer movie season of 2016 wasn’t as good as some people had hoped it would be. In fact, the summer was filled with many disappointing films, but there were a few films that stood out amongst the bunch, for better or for worse.
   Before Awards Season gets here, I thought I would take a second and discuss what summer films of 2016 I really liked, and which ones I really didn’t. There were plenty of very pleasant surprises this summer, but there were also some not-so-pleasant ones. Here’s what I thought…

Worst


Independence Day: Resurgence
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   Independence Day: Resurgence wasn’t just a bad film. It was a terrible film. In fact, I would go as far to say that it’s the worst film I’ve seen in a long time. It’s not even a so-bad-it’s-fun movie. It’s just really, really unpleasant. To make matters worse, it thinks it’s a good film.
   There are almost no redeeming qualities about this movie. The only one I can think of is Jeff Goldblum. That’s it. All the rest of the actors and actresses in Independence Day: Resurgence gave absolutely atrocious performances. Then take into account that the dialogue is painful to hear, and the plot seems to be something a kindergartner came up with during recess, and you almost have an idea of how horrible this film is. I legitimately considered leaving the theater when watching this film. The only reason I stayed was so I could give it a fair review. So, yeah, don’t watch this film. Not even for fun. Just. Don’t.

Free State of Jones
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   Free State of Jones could potentially be the most disappointing film of the year so far. This movie had so much potential! Before seeing it, I believed it looked like it could be one of the year’s best, and then it…wasn’t.
   The plot of the film was what really ruined it, largely due to it being nonexistent. Free State of Jones was a constant struggle. Not between the Union and the Confederacy, but rather between the fifteen different plot directions it’s trying to tackle. This film is a prime example of biting off way more than you can chew. 

Alice Through the Looking Glass
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   Alice Through the Looking Glass is one of those films that leaves you wondering why it exists. This film was so unnecessary. The only possible excuse for this film to be made is money. The first film made over a billion dollars worldwide, but this less than stellar sequel made about a third of that. Granted, that’s still about 300 million dollars, but it’s not nearly as much as they hoped it would’ve.
   The plot itself is just so obviously thrown together to make a quick buck. Why did you feel the need to tell the audience the origin stories for every major character in Wonderland? That’s not what makes them interesting. What makes these characters so interesting is how they are mad, not how they became mad. In fact, telling us their origins kind of paints the characters an unfortunate color. These characters are less intriguing to the audience now that we know where they came from. Alice Through the Looking Glass was just a bad excuse to make money, and it’s painfully obvious.

Best


   Now that we’ve gotten through with those, let’s actually try to enjoy this article a little bit. Picking my three favorite films of the summer was actually very difficult. So, I’ve got some Honorable Mentions here. When deciding these three, I went with which films provided the best in theater experience, not necessarily the best quality film (while that does help). Here are a few films that almost made the cut:
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• Captain Fantastic
• Kubo and the Two Strings
• Pete’s Dragon
• Star Trek Beyond

Captain America: Civil War
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   Captain America: Civil War is a fantastic example of fulfilling all the promises from the marketing campaign. It is another brilliant addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the Russo Brothers, and it’s not only a great superhero film, it’s just a great film. All of the new characters introduced in this film were wonderfully utilized while keeping the focus on the dispute between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark.
   To see these characters that we’ve seen fighting alongside each other face off was such an emotional and exciting experience. The marketing for the film was just as fantastic. Showing both sides of this argument and having people pick a side beforehand made the film much more interesting to watch. The only real complaint I have about Civil War is the length. It’s a little long, but it’s still extremely entertaining the whole way through. 

The Nice Guys
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   The Nice Guys is a fantastic example of a simple, really fun summer film. It mixes just the right amounts of comedy and action and creates a mixture that the audience can’t help but drink up. Both Ryan Gosling and Russel Crowe brought their A-Game to this film, and they worked incredibly well together because of it. The little banters between their characters was always sure to make for an entertaining scene to watch.
   This film hit all of the right notes that it needed to. It’s funny when it needs to be, the action scenes are perfectly placed, the soundtrack was a blast to listen to, and all of the actors gave very good performances. The Nice Guys is one of those films that you can watch and just have a fun time with. If you haven’t seen it, I would strongly suggest you do so. You won’t regret it!

​Don’t Breathe

   Don’t Breathe was probably my biggest surprise of the summer. The trailers looked interesting enough, but I’m not a big fan of horror films. That being said, I loved Don’t Breathe! It was a very simple film without many major twists and turns, but that’s a good thing. It didn’t do the cliché horror movie thing and have some big reveal towards the end. The plot that you see in the trailers is the plot that you get, and the film works wonderfully because of it.
   Director Fede Alvarez masterfully captures such an intense feeling of nervousness and keeps the audience at full attention from the very first shot of the film. The title of the film is more so a command that the audience unknowingly follows voluntarily throughout the film. I would highly recommend Don’t Breathe if you haven’t seen it yet. It’s in theaters now, so go see it!

​   What were your favorite films of the summer? Which films were you most disappointed with? Let me know by commenting on this post! Also, if you enjoyed this article, share it on Facebook and Twitter. It really helps! Don't forget, I post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so check back then for more movie reviews and miscellaneous movie thoughts!
 
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