FEATURE COLUMN

Summer Movies 2003 Recap

By Sara Michelle Fetters

What a summer. Nothing really turned out as expected which, in all honesty, is probably a good thing. That said, much about what was wrong with this summer - too many sequels, too little imagination - are the exact same things that were wrong with summer 2002. Call it the “Summer of Same” as those problems only got worse, major studios churning out heavily promoted films like they were gallons of ready-to-expire milk sitting on a grocery store shelf.

But a strange thing happened. Films that no one even expected to be a blip on the radar screen turned into shining success stories, while monstrously promoted big-budgeted behemoths came and went at the Cineplex like they were last year’s dust-covered stilettos. Even better, while the trend of gigantic opening weekends at the box office only to be followed by a precipitous drop the very next week, audiences seemed to figure out in small measure that what studios have been force-feeding them isn’t what they have to make huge hits out of.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines © Warner Bros.

For me, it wasn’t the fact that “Matrix: Reloaded” was bested at the ticket counter by two Disney movies, it was being able to revel in the disappointing grosses for insipid mass-marketed by-product like “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle,” “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life” and “Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines.” In fact, while two of these did do reasonably well enough to crash through the one-hundred million dollar barrier, that’s not exactly much a feat anymore considering the exorbitant amount these slam-bang spectacles cost and the fact 14 other movies – most at a fraction of their cost – did the very same.

Granted, there are some astonishing numbers put forth by movies released by studios this summer. I mean, five films made over two hundred million this year, with Disney and Pixar’s “Finding Nemo” climbing well over the three hundred million plateau. (At $281-million and climbing, it would not surprise me at all if “Pirates of the Caribbean” also joins the computer animated fish tale in that lofty company.)

What’s all this mean for you and me and what we’re likely to see in coming summers? Not much, really. The major studios aren’t going to change their tune any time soon, as even with plenty of disappointing grosses the majority of this summer’s success stories still followed a tiring pattern of sequels, feel-good comedy, action spectaculars and family-friendly fare. Still, there are few things I learned this summer. Give me a few moments and I’ll point them out.

Finding Nemo © Walt Disney/Pixar

The Little Fish that Could – “Finding Nemo” is, in most respects, the film of the year. Pixar has done it again, and I’m hard pressed not to say this is the best movie I’ve seen in 2003. Filled with sights and sounds the likes of which I’d never experienced, how wonderful is it that a movie this rapturously entertaining for child and grown up alike could prove to be the biggest hit of the year, even out grossing the heavily promoted – and anticipated – “The Matrix Reloaded.” Speaking of…

Just Because There is Hype – that doesn’t mean it’s a winner. Sure “Matrix” Reloaded” wasn’t a dog – it featured some of the best pure action of the summer to be sure – it wasn’t exactly a show pony, either. Almost completely uninteresting in many ways due to a script that lacked focus and cohesion, this was a movie that felt more like a commercial for the (admittedly phenomenal looking) forthcoming final chapter in the trilogy, November’s “Matrix: Revolutions.” Still, a lot of people were let down by this one and I for one am definitely curious to see if audiences turn out en masse for part three.

The Matrix Reloaded © Warner Bros.

Little Movie, Little Movie, We See You – 20th Century Fox had a field day with two of the best little movies of the year, the British imports “Bend It Like Beckham” and “28 Days Later…” These were not only great films; they were also major successes for the studio. Maybe not quite on he scale of last year’s out-of-nowhere smash “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” but quite stunning with their grosses all the same. What was nicest, though, was the fact how both these movies crossed over into all demographics and found admirers amongst young and old, male and female alike.

But, Other Than That… – Fox didn’t exactly have a summer to crow about. Sure, “X2” was a justified hit and those two little independents made some good money, but other than those, summer 2003 has to be seen as an unmitigated disaster for the studio. “The League of Extraordinary Gentleman” made Sean Connery’s performance in “The Avengers” look good (I said almost – I’m not that cruel) and the studio’s “American Idol” confection “From Justin to Kelly…” proved that American audiences are, thankfully, not quite as gullible as we had all feared. And while “Wrong Turn” was a nice little B-grade horror film, its measly grosses were far scarier than the cannibalistic family up on screen. And then there was Peyton Reed’s “Down with Love,” a movie that just couldn’t expand beyond being a clever knock-off of a filmmaking style long gone. Hopefully the studio’s fall slate, led by Peter Weir’s epic-looking “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” starring Russell Crowe, can put Fox back on track.

X2: X-Men United © 20th Century Fox

At Least They Fared Better Than – Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. Granted, I don’t intend to jump on the bash Ben and Jen bandwagon, but Martin Brest’s “Gigli” was pretty darn awful. Still, it was nowhere near as bad as its rep, and there were far, far worse films to come out this summer that somehow did manage to find an audience. Disappointing grosses aside, “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” did make over a hundred mil, as did the execrable “Daddy Day Care” with Eddie Murphy. Luckily, films that defined the definition of awful fared worse than even “Gigli.” Movies like “Marci X,” “Grind,” “Pokémon Heroes” and “Alex & Emma” came and went so fast you’d almost forget they were ever even released.

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