Saturday, May 5, 2007

My Guide to the Summer's Big "3's"






With "Spider-Man 3" coming out yesterday, the summer of the "threequels" has officially begun and there sure are a lot of 'em. Being the movie guru I am, here are some of my predictions based on what have seen in the previous films as well as on trailers and general opinions of fellow moviegoers.


Spider-Man 3
With the same stellar cast and crew as the previous two tremendously successful installments, I'm confident that you can expect nothing less but awesome, web-slinging fun for this sequel. My only picky concern is the film featuring perhaps one too many villains, and not enough screen time and character depth for all of them. But I highly doubt that will be a good enough reason for people to turn away from seeing the final part of the trilogy. Or is it?

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Despite a great franchise start with "Curse of the Black Pearl", I personally didn't enjoy "Dead Man's Chest" as much as the first, mostly because the producers tried too hard to top the original with bigger stories and special effects (though impressive!) over good acting. But we love these characters, and the addition of Chow Yun-Fat, Keith Richards, and the return of Geoffrey Rush for the final battles is a big hint that the trilogy will not go out without an effects-laden bang.

The Bourne Ultimatium
Let's see - same director (Paul Greengrass), same screenwriter (Tony Gilroy), and same leads (Matt Damon and Joan Allen) - dude, hook me up! After the amazing work on "Supremacy", you can bet your money that I'm more than ready to see more of the fast-paced, good ol' fashioned action, and well-crafted espionage adventures of Jason Bourne. Don't believe me? Check out the trailer on the official website. You'll be counting the days.

Shrek the Third
Although "2" didn't have the freshness of the original, it had enough funny jokes and lively supporting characters (Puss In Boots, baby!) to make up for it. How the producers can keep this up for the third movie (and the rumored finale, "Shrek 4") will make all the difference. Look for Justin Timberlake to play the spoiled young soon-to-be-King Arthur (get the irony?) as well as even more voice casting that makes you feel like anyone can do it.

Ocean's Thirteen
The appearance of Al Pacino in this ensemble cast-driven caper comedy may be one of the main reasons fans will come back for more. After the successful "Eleven" and mixed letdown of "Twelve", I suppose you can't blame director Steven Soderbergh and co. to return for the last third of the story. Expect a decent cash-in for the studios, and a lot of the same ol' fun camaraderie among the coolest con artists as they make their final score.

Resident Evil: Extinction
How this game-to-movie franchise survive two movies, only to come up with a third is beyond me by biblical proportions. Strong fan base? Attractive female lead? Whatever. Nonetheless, a very mediocre director is helming this bit, making you wonder how "Extinction" will really turn out for viewers waiting. Either that or AVP 2.

Rush Hour 3

The cop-buddy comedy continues - six years (!) after its predecessor. Plenty more of Jackie Chan's kicking and Chris Tucker's screaming would probably be adequate to draw old fans out. But with so much time that has passed as well as having the whole movie serve as "one big outtake" (according to 2-movie, 25-million dollar Tucker), I'm not sure what to make of it. Oh yeah - Roman Polanski will be making an appearance in this third movie. I'm not kidding.


There you go. Take your pick(s) and enjoy your summer!


P.S. A warm thanks to those who left comments on my previous post!! I feel encouraged by your thoughtful words. Wanna catch a movie? =)

3 comments:

Jess Man said...

Hey, I liked AVP! Here's to a long franchise!

Personally, there are few movies that franchise well into the third movie. Producers and consumers have an expectation of bigger and better, instead of playing straight to the integrity of the story.

Anonymous said...

Hey! Remember we saw them filming a car scene for RH3 downtown? It's going to be out that soon??!

Albert said...

Yup yup. Now we can get a chance to see how that scene fits into the story. =)

Post a Comment