If the unofficial end of summer arrives with Labor Day Weekend, then all we've got left are a few more days to discuss the summer that was before she rides off into the sunset with her billions in box office dollars and a few more sequels already green-lit. But how does she compare to the summers of the past? A quick glance shows us that, unlike 2008, this summer we didn't get a Dark Knight or an Iron Man ... though we did get a Star Trek and a Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. We didn't get a Wanted, a Hellboy 2 or an Incredible Hulk, but we did get some smaller, smarter sci-fi films like Moon and District 9. Pixar came through yet again, but the rest of this summer's animation slate seemed pretty weak. Same goes for comedies, with the exception of The Hangover, which kinda made up for the disappointing Land of the Lost, Funny People, I Love You, Beth Cooper, I Hate Valentine's Day, The Ugly Truth and The Goods. Sam Raimi returned with a pretty awesome horror flick in Drag Me to Hell, though, and Harry Potter rolled in with what was perhaps his most entertaining installment of the franchise. G.I.: The Rise of Cobra surprised some with its fun, cheesy vibe, and Wolverine did just enough to score himself another go-round in Japan.
I'd say the summer turned out pretty well overall, especially for sci-fi fans. It was full of bold visions, spectacular set pieces and grand stories -- all of it tied together in a wobbly knot and served to us as an escape from the heat, from the office, from the kids, from our parents and from our lives for a little while. But that's my opinion. What's yours?
In honor of school starting up again, get out those number two pencils and let us know how you'd grade the summer of 2009?
1. It would have been a C if not for the great indies that came out.
Posted at 9:41PM on Aug 31st 2009 by Michael Byng