Summer Movie Season 2023: Blockbusters and Surprises

After the past wild years full of covid and uncertainty, cinemas have finally returned to their old ways, and with them comes the classic summer movie season, in which individual studios bring out their biggest blockbusters and expensive gems. Since there are really a lot of them this year, we decided to dust off our section of summer cuts and take a look not only at the almost box-office sureties, but also at the dark horses that can really surprise. And, of course, we will start with pictures that should give us the stamp of a big blockbuster event, at least from the commercial side. And in most cases quite possibly even high quality. Because if we skip the bald men playing with toy cars, the following list of summer tutus is full of pieces that could easily appear in our annual tops in some cases. In short, it’s a beautiful sight and a promise of damn interesting things waiting for us in the cinema.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 (CZ premiere: May 4, 2023; US premiere: May 5, 2023)

But we will start unconventionally with a film that has already had its premiere and a significant part of you have probably already seen it. Even so, we have to mention the farewell comic space party by James Gunn. Yes, sales have fallen in comparison to the second part in American cinemas and the Marvel movie will probably not surpass the desired billion again, but even so, it could be one of the most significant blockbusters of the coming months and the only act that will earn the comic book studio serious money in cinemas this year. It is simply necessary to recover from the miserable Ant-Man and to add something to the coffers before The Marvels, from which nice things are not yet expected in the multiplexes.

Yes, Cival with Mr. They do chatter a bit because of hunger, and it is a fact that Gunn could have been much more restrained, especially in terms of the number of characters and over-the-top humor, but otherwise, after a long drought, we finally have an honest Marvel movie that offers not only jokes and excellent action, but especially a strong Rocket story and an effective farewell to old acquaintances. And the audience can hear the gratefully mixed mix (87% on CSFD and 95% of the audience speak clearly), so it is possible that a smaller perennial can emerge from the Guardians and warm up in the cinemas even further than the ultra-boring ant colleague. However, he will have a hard time against the approaching competition.

Fast and Furious 10 (CZ premiere: May 18, 2023; US premiere: May 19, 2023)

Phew. Maybe the last two films will tighten up the once billion-dollar franchise, but… really ugh. Vin Diesel already turned into a parody of himself a few years ago. This smug Mr. Brambora would enthusiastically talk about family even at a national conference on the advantages of living singles and orphans, but unfortunately, his heart saga has no other plot dimension. And it fascinates more with more and more psychedelic non-judgmental overcoming of the laws of physics and plot logic, rather than some thrilling collision of interesting characters.

Ten, i.e. the first part of the megalomaniacal finale, replaces thoughtfulness with quantity, so that not only Jason Statham or Charlize Theron will return, but also the villain Jason Momoa, the vengeful Brie Larson or “the big guy from the Reacher series”. On the other hand, shortly after the start of production, the director Justin Lin, who was obviously very tired of Diesel, left and the French craftsman Louis Letterier (The Incredible Hulk, The Courier, The Pimps) hastily took over the baton in his place. But we probably won’t notice the change in the result. Again, it will be huge, explosive, fluffy, nonjudgmental and terribly, terribly stupid. (cival)

Excitement index: 3/10

Spider-Man: Across Parallel Worlds (CZ premiere: June 1, 2023; US premiere: June 2, 2023)

Tom Holland is still taking a well-deserved break from the Spider-Man costume, but even so, Sony will not suffer commercially. There is still the animated replacement Miles Morales, who will want to build on his almost five-year-old success. Spider-Man: Parallel Worlds not only showed an almost revolutionary animated jacket, but mainly thanks to his sped-up style, love for originals and an enormous amount of creative ideas, he was able to squeeze out Spider-Man’s comic book world in a way that the authors of live action games can only dream of. As a result, the film took almost 400 million in theaters and the creators took home an Oscar. And that counts as hell.

Therefore, even greater things are expected from the second, as well as the subsequent third part, which will arrive in cinemas in a year. And the inflated trailers promise that the creators should deliver them to us without any problems. Although there was a complete change in the director’s chairs, the new names obviously learned a lot from their predecessors, and they also exude self-confidence, ideas and flawless visuals in the demos. Parallel worlds and a universe full of Spider-Mans of all kinds will obviously be exploited here in such a maximum way that the creators of last year’s Doctor Strange should already be sitting quietly in a corner and taking notes. In short, nothing less than the animated gem of the year is expected here.

Excitement index: 8/10

Indiana Jones and the Tool of Fate (CZ premiere: June 29, 2023; US premiere: June 30, 2023)

I have now re-watched the entire tetralogy on SkyShowtime, so I can swear under oath that I was not wrong with the critical review of four and that Indy is, in my eyes, only a trilogy with one fumbling epilogue. This painful late experience can significantly hamper enthusiasm for the fifth Indy, but perhaps switching from the legendary Steven Spielberg to James Mangold (Logan, Ford vs. Ferrari) will help in this case. This directorial reinforcement will hopefully not immerse Jones in embarrassing digital ballast, boring quests and empty attractions.

But Mangold will not have it easy. Harrison Ford has eight crosses on his neck, and the potential passing of the scepter to the British “Monster” Phoebe Waller-Bridge will not only bite traditionalist chauvinists. But there is enough time for culture wars, now it is important to kick the ass of the Nazis and their graves again, both during the Second World War and during the launch of Apollo 11. The greenscreen trailers are showing too much again, but hopefully the feature film will retain the desired charge, dynamics and genuine the adventurous nature of the first three brilliant Indian women. (cival)

Excitement index: 9/10

Mission: Impossible Retribution – Part One (CZ premiere: July 13, 2023; US premiere: July 14, 2023)

I am especially happy that Cruise is still alive and that his parachute did not fail during one of his jumps into the depths of a Norwegian fjord. I’m not at all surprised by the many people around me who can’t think of Tom’s name because of his despicable Scientology background, but even they have to admit that – as imf already wrote in his review of Top Gun: Maverick – Tom Cruise is the last action hero we need. À propos Maverick… You know how in the past years with Mission: Impossible 4, 5 and 6 we were always worried in the back of our minds whether the expensive action movie, which was never seen twice in America, would pay off? Well, this time I think that thanks to the mega-hit return of the ageless pilot, we no longer have to. Although, according to some sources, the budget should have swelled to somewhere around 300 million dollars.

How could it not be, when the madman trains for weeks and months for a single jump into the abyss, again has the centers of the world’s largest metropolises closed and launches a final farewell that did not fit into one episode. We don’t know much about the story yet, but the good pigeons Pegg, Rhames, Ferguson and others are of course returning, and I confess that I’ve seen the single trailer maybe twenty times already. Who would have thought after De Palma’s No. 1 that 27 years later Cruise would still be on top and offer audiences hungry for a spy action with a supremely polished action more than adequate replacement for the absent Bond. (TedGeorge)

Excitement index: 10/10

Barbie (CZ premiere: July 20, 2023; US premiere: July 21, 2023)

The inclusion of Barbie in the summer cuts was preceded by a short, decent and unexcited debate in the editorial office, and I’m glad that it’s here anyway. At first glance, the live-action feature film about one of the most famous toys is a breath-taking bizarreness that Sony has already broken its teeth on, and Warners should have a hundred million reasons to worry. At the second glance, however, one notices the names of the director and screenwriter. The symbiosis of Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach promises everything but infantile indulgence to the littlest girls who tirelessly dress and undress the Mattel doll. After all, this was already indicated by the subversive teaser, which grafts the toy standard of bad taste onto the famous scene from Space Odyssey.

The most interesting thing is that even two months before the premiere, we know almost nothing about the story. Are we in for another Truman Show? Will Barbie and Ken roller skate in their own multiverse of madness? Will the animated toys make it to the real world and hold up a mirror to piggy Trump? Everything is possible. Especially when it is directed by one of the most skillful and interesting female directors of today. Finally, I’ll just quickly thank the Hollywood gods that Margot Robbie played the barbie – not the originally considered Amy Schumer. I have similar strong feelings for the comedian as my colleague Mr. Hlad has for Melissa McCarthy, and I would therefore not see Barbie even if she turned out to be another Matrix. (TedGeorge)

Excitement index: 7/10

Oppenheimer (CZ premiere: July 20, 2023; US premiere: July 21, 2023)

You don’t have to be an Einstein to realize that Nolan seriously didn’t detonate a real nuke during filming. However, I am not surprised by some readers who were confused by the sensational headlines and for a moment believed the fantastic short story that Mr. Perfectionist went so far in his craft that he actually detonated the bomb in the desert. After all, who else would do it than Nolan, who prefers to crash a real Boeing 747 instead of using CGI. However, we can already be almost certain that in mid-July (Oppenheimer opens on the same day as Barbie, by the way) we will not have a dry portrait of the father of the atom bombs, but once again a curling and opulent nolanovka, which once again makes our heads spin. The trailers indicated that Hoyte van Hoytema was unsurprisingly magical behind the camera, the director’s trademark play with time is not missing, and the cast…

Cillian Murphy will hopefully finally be nominated for an Oscar, while he will be seconded by the dream team represented by Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett and, just by the way, Gary Oldman. Perhaps only Michael Caine is missing this time. So the expectations are raised to the maximum, I can’t hear any regrets about the 169-minute footage anywhere, and we can only hope that Oppenheimer will not be the swan song of ambitious dramas outside of the classic Hollywood franchises, which saw a budget of more than 100 million dollars and a theatrical release. You all have to come. I will do so the first possible weekend and something tells me that after leaving the IMAX I will say to myself: “This is cinema”. And I won’t mean it exceptionally ironically. (TedGeorge)

Excitement index: 9/10