Most Overrated (Captain America: Civil War): I don’t have much to say other than it’s just another safe, going through the motions Marvel movie. The first half is dreadful. The fight at the hanger is entertaining. The last third gets better. The end is a cop out. Those are my views on Captain America: Civil War. Listen to our podcast.
Most Underrated (X-Men: Apocalypse): While I’ve already admitted it’s a cut below some of the other X-flicks, it’s still a damn good movie. X-Men: Apocalypse is one of those cases where everyone felt like they arbitrarily needed to cut it down a peg because everything was going so well for the franchise. A Christopher Nolan Interstellar moment, if you will. If for nothing else, it may still have the best scene of the entire summer with another fantastic Quicksilver sequence.
Most Disappointing Film Not Named Suicide Squad (The Nice Guys): I’m in the minority on this one. Entertaining, but didn’t leave me with a whole lot. Mildly amusing. The two leads carry it. Sloppy direction. And that is the word of the day for this movie – sloppy. While the detective aspects intrigued for the first two-thirds, it completely goes off the rails. This isn’t surprising considering the director is Shane Black. As I said in my review, the movie gets too Shane Black at the end. An honorable mention for Jason Bourne in this category.
Best Performance (Edward Norton, Sausage Party): I could have gone with Michael Fassbender (X-Men: Apocalypse) or Chris Pine (Star Trek Beyond), but I couldn’t help myself. Edward Norton voices a bagel named Sammy Bagel Jr. If you don’t find that funny, I can’t help you. The idea of Edward Norton playing a nebbish bagel is genius. If I didn’t know it was him before I saw the movie, there’s no way in hell I would have guessed it was him. That’s the true mark of a great performance.
Worst Performance (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Suicide Squad): I know the easy answer is to write in Cara Delevingne as Enchantress and call it a day, but I hate Killer Croc that much. This was right out of the Jar Jar Binks playbook. Annoying voice. Annoying dialogue. Annoying everything. He’s not even that bad ass. We’re not exactly talking about a layered Batman villain here, but he’s still a cool character in doses. You want to know what Killer Croc should have been like? Go play Batman: Arkham Asylum. While not all Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s fault, this was a complete poop show. “B…E…T.” I’m done here.
The Lazy Award (Central Intelligence): Suicide Squad easily upset me the most this summer, but Central Intelligence making a lot of money was a close second. Come on, people! This was funny? To quote Will Ferrell in Zoolander, “I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!” Aside from a couple Dwayne Johnson moments, this is a putrid effort that makes me want to punch walls. It boggles my mind that sitcoms like Parks and Rec or How I Met Your Mother are able to conjure up consistent laughs for 15+ episodes on a tight schedule, yet a two-hour movie years in development can’t give me one good belly laugh? I know we’re going to get a sequel, which infuriates me to no end. At least we won’t get one for Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. That’s a win.
The “I’m Confused” Award (Independence Day: Resurgence): If you never liked the first Independence Day and hated this one, I totally get it. If you loved the first movie though, but thought this one sucked, I’m really confused. Aliens arrive. They attack. We fight back. That’s the movie. What were you expecting? Did you really miss Will Smith that much? If you’re like me and saw ID4 growing up, I’m sure you have an amazing memory of the experience If you were expecting to get that same feeling this time around, you’re nuts. You’re not a kid anymore. For me, this was a fun return for a couple hours, and that’s it. If you had high expectations for Independence Day: Resurgence, you only have yourself to blame. It’s a perfectly serviceable movie.
The Movie We All Made a Big Stink About, But Nobody Cares Anymore (Ghostbusters): I’m so sick of talking about this movie. The ironic part is we all made such a big deal about it, but it ultimately resulted in nothing. The movie wasn’t completely terrible, but it also didn’t do well enough to warrant a sequel. It’s like nobody won. The movie came out. We talked about it for a few days. It faded from existence. The only person who won was Kate McKinnon. What are the lasting results of Ghostbusters? Nobody’s career is ruined. It will be a relic of the past that gets summed up in thirty seconds when people sit their kids down to watch the original Ghostbusters. Can we all move on now?
The Director I Have a lot of Respect for (Nicolas Winding Refn, The Neon Demon): I’m not going to sit here and tell you The Neon Demon was a great film, but I respect the hell out of it. When you watch a barrage of stupid summer movies, you appreciate these diamonds in the rough. It’s a little sloppy, but there’s a lot of artistry to appreciate about Refn’s latest nutty opus about modeling gone bad. Really bad. Much like Refn’s last movie (Only God Forgives), the film looks stunning as hell. You can’t take your eyes off it. Cliff Martinez composes a wonderful score. Elle Fanning proves she can be a leading lady. We even get a great performance from Keanu Reeves! Does it get a little coo coo for cocoa puffs at the end? Oh, yes. What separates guys like Nicolas Winding Refn from the Terrence Malicks of the world is that Refn is able to give you the visual artistry, but still tell a cohesive narrative. In my opinion, Refn doesn’t have to make another great film in his career, as his legacy is already cemented with Drive. Refn proves once again that whenever he makes a film, we’re all going to pay attention.
The Worst Movie of the Summer (Suicide Squad): I’m confident in saying I won’t be the only one to peg this masterpiece of garbage as the worst movie of the summer. What else can I possibly say that I haven’t said already in my review and podcast. This movie flat out sucks. The fact we all thought it was going to be awesome certainly adds to its disappointment. While I still maintain David Ayer is the prime suspect to blame, it’s frustrating that the studio clearly changed this film after audiences reacted to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. When are studios going to learn – you can’t cater to the message boards. The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I guess the jokes on me as this movie made serious dough, but there’s no doubt it left a ton of cash on the table. It’s currently going up against zero competition at the box office.
When all said and done, I could have forgiven most of this film had they given us a fantastic Joker. When I look back at the summer of 2016, that’s what I’ll remember most – the worst Joker interpretation in the character’s 75+ year history.
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Daniel Cohen is the Film Editor for Pop-Break. Aside from reviews, Daniel does a weekly box office predictions column, and also contributes monthly Top Tens and Op-Ed’s on all things film. Daniel is a graduate of Bates College with a degree in English, and also studied Screenwriting at UCLA. He can also be read on www.movieshenanigans.com. His movie crush is Jessica Rabbit. Follow him on Twitter @dcohenwriter.
