Until recently with big-budget super-hero films opening in late March and April, Memorial Day weekend has long been the unofficial beginning of the summer movie season. When you take a look at the top ten box office movies over Memorial Day weekend what you find is a collection of sadly mediocre, and downright awful, films. Seven of the top ten are sequels. Of the six I’ve written full reviews for only two have received a passing rating. Memorial Day may begin the summer movie season, but, as these ten movies show, it’s far from the best summer blockbusters have to offer.
10. Pearl Harbor
Universally derided as a pretty awful film, Michael Bay‘s melodramatic romantic triangle set against the backdrop of the Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor remains on of the top ten biggest box office films released on Memorial Day weekend even though it was released way back in 2001.
One of only two comedies on the list, Jim Carrey‘s stunt as a reporter given the powers of God (Morgan Freeman) wouldn’t rank high in my list of the actor’s best films, but it’s one of the few actually enjoyable movies that you will find on this list.
Roland Emmerich‘s The Day After Tomorrow is one of the three best film’s on this list (and that’s a bit sad). The director knows his disaster porn, and despite being goofy as hell (and refusing to suggest how the characters continue to survive the new Ice Age they find themselves in at the end of the film) The Day After Tomorrow delivers.
7. The Lost World: Jurassic Park III
The series continues to regurgitate themes from the previous two films with something going wrong on the island followed by death by dinosaur and lots and lots of running, but at least this one finally delivers the pterodactyl sequence from Michael Crichton’s first novel which I had been waiting eight years to see on film.
Speaking of lazy sequels, in Jurassic Park tradition The Hangover Part II takes the stars from the first film and puts them, and audiences, through the exact same experiences. Read my full review.
By far the best movie on this list, Brian Singer returns to the franchise to undue the damage caused by another film on this list by adapting one of the most famous X-Men comic storylines and resetting the universe, combining it with that of X-Men: First Class, and setting the stage for future films. Read my full review.
The Fast & Furious franchise may have peaked with Fast Five but the following entry to the franchise is still enjoyable bringing back Dwayane “It’s Okay To Call Me The Rock Again” Johnson and the franchise’s other stars to rescue one of their own (Michelle Rodriguez). Read my full review.
And the reward for the most awful movie on the list goes to X-Men: The Last Stand. Holy crap is this movie horrifically bad. Without question the worst film on this list, read my full review to understand why.
2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
You know you’re dealing with a shitty list when Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, easily the worst entry to its franchise, is one of the better movies to appear. Yeah, that’s pretty fucked up. Read my full review.
1. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
As a fan of the first Pirates film I like to pretend that none of the sequels ever happened. The last film of the franchise to bring back all the original stars is a disappointing end to the adventures of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightley), but at least it’s better than Dead Man’s Chest. Read my full review.