Every year the summer period promises a plethora of exciting new films to keep us entertained and 2014 maintained the hype with big name sequels hitting our screens. Our team at The Edge are always eager to view the latest releases, but which films left us feeling a little deflated?
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Following a surprisingly well-handled reboot, Sony’s new-look Spider-Man was just about ready to really wow audiences with a sequel that honestly had a lot of room to do so. Sadly for series-helmer Marc Webb, the studio’s eagerness to kick-start their own universe akin to The Avengers ended up sinking it, with several blatantly rushed late additions to the plot destroying a careful set-up. Garfield and Stone still shine but it’s an overdose of poorly-structured villains that killed this blockbuster.
Words by Ben Robins
Transformers Age of Extinction
Let me start off by saying that I am not a Transformers hater. I am fully aware of the objective faults with the previous films but I’ve always been able to look past them and just enjoy the LOUD NOISES and big things punching each other. That being said, this years Age of Extinction somehow managed to turn what was once a guilty pleasure and take any sense of fun out of the equation. With baffling editing, weirdly cheap looking set pieces and a run time that I can only assume was a joke, the film decided to ensure it would be no fun for anyone by focusing on the human element and conspiracy plot lines that NO ONE wanted to see. And the Dinobots were barely in it.
Words by Harrison Abbott
Guardians of the Galaxy
A contender for one of the most overrated films ever to be made, Guardians of the Galaxy
is an irksome blockbuster, saturated with empty performances and silly prototypical characters. The film is expected in every aspect, with lazy, artless comedy that disallows the film to be taken seriously, where it enters the realm of parody: a parody of the superhero genre it so willingly exploits by indulging in its typicalities. Without a doubt the worst film of the year, with one of the most disastrously, cringe-worthy hero-villain encounters in cinema.
Words by Lewis Taplin
Hercules
Hollywood hotshot Brett Ratner’s angsty new take on the son of Zeus had real potential. Silly? Yes, but with world-beating former wrestler Dwayne Johnson throwing his heart and soul into a role that seemed almost tailor-made for him, and the promise of plenty of over-amped action sequences to boot, Hercules could have very easily been one of the summer’s funnest movies. Instead Ratner aimed higher, relegating his hero to a few quick skirmishes and in the process, sacrificing Johnson’s brainless charm for something muddled and actually, really rather boring.
Words by Ben Robins
Lucy
Luc Benson’s Lucy implied an inception-esque plot line, anticipated to be the best film of the summer. I entered the cinema without a shadow of a doubt that I would be leaving the building 2 hours later with my mind completely blown. However as the credits
flashed and I munched my last piece of popcorn, a deep frown burrowed in my forehead. Not only was the film a complete mishmash of illogical one liners but also made little to no sense. I spent more time trying to figure out what on earth was going than I did watching the sub-par green screen graphics. Maybe it was my measly 10% brain capacity that couldn’t handle the films magnificence- but I highly doubt it.
Words by Sian Blewitt
