Summer Movie Fest 2011

It has been a Summer Movie Fest for the Wards this year. We kicked off the summer early by seeing Kung Fu 2 during the last week of school - we couldn't wait for summer to officially be here - because we knew there were so many great movies coming out in summer 2011! Here is a quick run down of all the shows we saw and what we thought of them... Our grading scale is from 1 (not so great) to 5 (we LOVED it!).

Kung Fu 2
5 stars

We LOVED this movie. It was inspirational, entertaining, and 100% family friendly. It also helps that we are huge Jack Black fans around here :)

Super 8
4 stars

Just Jeremy & Jennifer saw this movie. It was so well done - just like every other Speilberg movie. We didn't think it was as fantastic as the critics made it out to be, but still very very good. It was a combination of Goonies and ET. Set in the 70s, lots of language, a sci-fi twist, with a gang of no-name kid actors.

Rango

3 stars

Jeremy took the kids to see this one at the $3 theater. He said there were some super funny bits and that the kids liked it better than Rio.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon
2 stars

Jeremy went to see this movie for a 'guys night out'. He said, "There was a lot of CG action." Autobots battling Decepticons. I say, "What did you expect?"

Cars 2
2 stars

We were SOOO excited for this movie release. Our family LOVED the first Disney/Pixar Cars movie and were highly anticipating the next installment with our favorite characters. As with so many sequels, the film makers try really hard to out do the first movie. It was too much.We were sorely disappointed :( Several time through the movie Jackson (5 years old - should have totally enjoyed this show) put his hands over his ears and said, "I don't like this movie!" The news clip scenes were so long, the social drinking was inappropriate (I know they were drinking 'oil', but for heaven's sake it looked like alcohol!), and they jumped all over the globe - it was hard to keep the story straight. Now that I've killed this movie, let me tell you what we did like: the animation was great, the characters were the same loveable ones we met in Cars 1, and it was great to see Mater have a bigger role.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
5 + stars!

It was certainly a summer of sequels and HP did not disappoint. This movie was the big finnisher of all finneshes. The Grand Finale to a generation of Harry Potter mania. We did not wait outside for hours and hours like so many die-hards did ;) Instead, we bought the double feature tickets that showed HP 7 part 1 at 8:30 and then the premier at midnight. It was the way to go! We got to sit in a comfy theater seat with air conditioning and entertainment while we waited for the midnight showing. We were so happy with this movie. It stayed true to the book, true to the characters, and true to the fans.The story wrapped up so nicely with lots of action, one great kiss, and a super sweet ending.

This photo was taken AFTER we saw the show at about 3:00 am.

I Am Number 4
4 stars

To confess, we did not see this movie in the theater. We got the disc through Netflix and were pleasantly surprised with a fun teen sci-fi flick! So pleased, in fact, that we've watched it several times. Beware some language and some super scary bad guys.

Thor
3 stars

We began our preparation for next years Avengers* movie by taking the kids to see Thor. It was a good fantasy/mythology genre movie. We liked this movie well enough and look forward to seeing Thor's character again in 2012.
*The Avengers movie will star 4 Marvel Comics heroes: Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, and the Hulk. No worries, we have both Hulk movies in our Netflix queue and Iron Man recorded on our DVR. We will be prepared!

Captain America: The First Avenger
4 stars

The boys were most excited to see this movie. They'd seen the trailers on TV and couldn't wait to see a scrawny man transformed into a hero. We were surprised at the PG-13 rating. The 1940s setting was like a breath of fresh air. Clean humor, modest clothes, clean cut hair, and bright red lipstick! The boys most liked Captain America's super human strength, speed, and cool shield. These days, Jackson is especially enamored with anything resembling the American flag.

Those are all the movies we've seen up to this point in our Summer Film Fest. We have been highly entertained and stuffed with lots of FREE popcorn (thank you to Yahoo! and Regal for 1 million free bags of popcorn promo!). Do not fear! We are not done yet! There are still several films we'd like to see before summer officially comes to a close.

'To See' before summer's end:
X-Men First Class
Adjustment Bureau
Green Lantern
The Smurfs
Cowboys vs. Aliens
Pirates of the Caribbean
The Help