My Summer of Love (of Movies)

I'm really excited by this summer's crop of Hollywood Blockbusters. As anyone who knows me can attest, I'm a geek of the first degree, and so this years slate of films is tailor made for me. First we had Iron Man, which was simply awesome. I'd rank it second (just behind Batman Begins) in the superhero movie genre. Speaking of Batman Begins, the sequel, The Dark Knight, is due up later this summer. So far, the clips and trailers that have been circulating for that look fantastic. The Incredible Hulk is also due up soon, and it looks like it might be pretty good. I should state for the record, that I'm one of the few who actually liked Ang Lee's Hulk from a few years ago, but I can certainly understand the complaints of those who did not, it was perhaps too little action for a movie featuring the Incredible Hulk. There's also a new animated Star Wars movie that seems to be flying under the radar a bit. I'm not quite sure what to make of this one. I absolutely adored the Clone Wars series the Cartoon Network ran a few years ago, and this seems to be in the same vein, though without the original creative team, but I'm not sure how I feel about the CG animation. I'm taking a wait and see stance on that one.

Of course, the latest of these movies to hit theaters was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I went and saw it yesterday and left the theater completely satisfied. It's not a perfect movie, but its flaws are pretty minor ones and easily ignored. How does it fit in with the other Indiana Jones movies? I'd put it at third. My personal rank is Last Crusade, Raiders, now Crystal Skull, and Temple of Doom. Some would probably take issue with my putting Raiders second. I don't disagree that it's the best movie of the three, but for reasons that I don't fully understand myself, I've always felt more of a personal connection with Last Crusade. That's enough to move it to the lead spot in my list. Temple of Doom remains my least favorite. That's not to say I don't like it, it's an Indiana Jones movie so they'd have had to screw it up pretty badly for me to actually dislike it. I just don't connect to the story of that one like I do the others. I think it might have to do with the bad guys not being quite as much fun. I hate to say it, but I have to wonder if the fact that it's the only one with a story not rooted in western mythology and culture might also be and obstacle to my connecting with it in the same way as the other films.