The average movie-goer handles the summer blockbuster onslaught in a simple manner: pick and choose a few select hits to see, rarely seeing more than three each month. For most people, that is more than enough to be prepared for any casual movie conversation. Somehow, I knew that wasn't going to be enough this year. It became my mission, as a film student and columnist, to take in as many summer flicks as possible.
When I take on a project like this, I go all out; 13 different movies (and a repeat viewing of \Terminator 3"") during the course of only three days in the month of July. My sacrifices were not slight, for these trips meant waking up before noon to make the journey to Point Cinemas, 7828 Big Sky Dr. What did my 12-hour marathons, filled with lard-drenched popcorn and rude audiences, teach me about the state of Hollywood's current product?
Action sequels abounded, most of them marginally better than their predecessors. Arnold made a strong comeback while Neo and company fell flat with ""Reloaded."" Horror-movie fanatics finally got to see two legendary characters face off in ""Freddy vs. Jason.""
Meanwhile, Danny Boyle's small, relatively unknown horror-thriller ""28 Days Later"" was the second-best film to hit the screens-right behind the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced, based-off-an-amusement-park-ride ""Pirates of the Carribbean.""
Any project coming from Disney, produced by Bruckheimer and based on a ride should be doomed from its very conception, but somehow director Gore Verbinski (""The Ring"") kept the project from running ashore. The action was entertaining but never ridiculous or poorly placed, serving simply as an accentuation to the wonderful fantasy plot.
This is unmistakably Depp's film; his slurred performance not only strengthens the film-it defines the film. Depp manages to make his character walk a thin line by maintaining the believability despite his behavioral ticks and oddities. It's a film that is carried by a delirious, drunken pirate. Summer blockbusters don't get better than that.
