Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
After the hype of the awards season settles down the summer brings the blockbusters that are a great break from the hard hitting drama that we have been watching at the beginning of the year.
But summer 2011 has been a great year for the blockbuster as we have been treated to some really exciting pictures.
So we take a look back at some that have graced the big screen over the past year.
Thor - this summer was an excellent on for Marvel Comic movies as Thor was the first of three that we would get to enjoy.
It’s the first time that we had seen Thor adapted for the big screen and the movie propelled Chris Hemsworth to fame as he took on the title character.
In the hands of actor turned filmmaker Kenneth Branagh the movie was a visual spectacle but the story and the development of the character never played second fiddle to the special effects.
The movie kicked off the summer blockbuster season in fine style as the film grossed $448 million - a sequel is already in the pipeline.
The Green Lantern - while Marvel was having a great time at the box office DC Comic movies weren’t sharing in that success as The Green Lantern was there only release this year.
Martin Campbell was in the director’s chair while Ryan Reynolds was in the title role and while this had potential it really just didn’t hit the mark.
Now I appreciate that it’s always hard to kick off a franchise to introduce characters as well as give backstory and so on in just two hours - but the movie just gets bogged down in all the different characters, relationships and storylines; there is just too much going on.
The movie struggled with both the critics and at the box office - with $219 million it did recover its budget but it would have expected to perform better.
However DC Comic movies will be the talk of next summer as The Dark Knight Rises, the third film in the Batman franchise from Christopher Nolan, will hit the big screen.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2- this summer saw the Harry Potter franchise come to a close as an entire generation who have grown up with these movies said goodbye to the boy wizard.
The movie stormed the box office to become the third grossing movie of all time, behind Avatar and Titanic, and became the first Potter movie to break the $1 billion barrier.
X-Men: First Class - now I have always been a big fan of the X-Men series and I was excited to see the story taken back to the early days of Magneto and Professor X.
Matthew Vaughn was in the director’s chair and young talent such as James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence were on a very exciting cast list.
First Class is a fast paced movie that is brimming with action as well as great and well formed characters - the character do not play second fiddle to the action and the special effects; which is always nice.
It was great to see the friendship between Charles & Erik explored and I hope that the talk of a sequel is more than just that and it really does happen as I would like to see this relationship explored further.
The Rise of the Planet of the Apes - now we all remember how awful the Tim Burton addition to this franchise was but do not fear history was not to repeat itself as this is a corker of a movie.
It’s an origins story that is set in twenty first century America and looks at how the situation in the previous movies possibly came to be.
Director Rupert Wyatt has produced an action packed yet emotional movie that really was one of my favourites of the summer.
The CGI work is superb and it is blended seamlessly with the live action scenes - Andy Serkis has delivered another excellent motion capture performance.
Captain America: The First Avenger - this summer saw Captain America return to the big screen as Chris Evans took on the role of Steve Rogers.
Director Joe Johnston brilliantly blends the action hero movie with the traditional war film throw in some great action sequences and characters that you can’t help but like and you have one of the best movies to hit the big screen this summer.
I really enjoyed Evans’ central performance as Rogers who is patriotic and self less and just wants to fight for his country.
We will be seeing Evans return to this role next summer in The Avengers and I can’t wait to see him go head to head with the selfish Tony Stark aka Iron Man.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 - one of the most anticipated movies of 2011 as Breaking Dawn - Part 1 is the first part of the final instalment.
And while Twilight fever may have once again swept the globe this movie was one of the major disappointments in this genre this year.
The main reason that this is perhaps the worst film in the series so far is that nothing happens until the last 45 minutes. However I will say that I thought the birth scene worked really well.
The saga, thankfully, comes to a close next year and I can’t wait to see Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart to movie away from this franchise and really show us what they are all about!
But next year looks set to be a super exciting year for blockbuster movies with The Avenger, The Amazing Spider Man, The Dark Knight Rises & The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey all set for release.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Thor