Summer of the Unexpected.

It’s been about a month and a half or so since the summer movie season has officially kicked off (with Iron Man), and it’s been a weird summer experience thus far. Movies that were expected to be bad or mediocre at best turned out to be good or the best, while movies that were expected to be good or the best have turned out not so great. And I’m not just talking about box office revenue or critic appraisal or denouncement, but average reception.

For instance, Iron Man didn’t have a whole lot of hype around it before it was released, and it turned out to be the biggest and best movie of the summer so far. Similarly, Speed Racer, while it was a flop at the box office and had a bad reception from professional critics, was mostly loved by the people who actually decided to go see it. On the other side of the spectrum, Narnia: Prince Caspian and Indiana Jones 4 were two sequels that were widely anticipated, and both turned out to be relatively average at best (the latter moreso hated than loved). More recently, Kung Fu Panda was a hit, Zohan was average, The Strangers wasn't scary, and The Happening—which had so much potential—is widely loathed. And now The Incredible Hulk, which had received flak simply because of the 2003 version and was all but ignored by bloggers everywhere, turned out to be just as good as if not better than (but at least compared to the success of) Iron Man.

So what does this say for the rest of summer? Is this a foreshadowing of events that means the movies that look great won’t be, or the movies that look awful will be great? If this is the case, then that means the following:

(Edit: Because more than one person has seemed to not get the joke of this post... the following list is actually the OPPOSITE of what my current feelings are for the movies... because, as mentioned before this point, every other movie has done opposite of what I have expected... so without further ado:)

-Get Smart won’t be funny at all.

-The Love Guru will be the next Austin Powers (oh wait...)

-Wall*E will bore kids and will be terrible.

-Wanted will be boring.

-Hancock will be truly disliked.

-Hellboy II will be one of Guillermo Del Toro’s worst movies.

-The Dark Knight will be like Spider-Man 3 (a lot of money, but widely disliked).

-Step Brothers will actually be funny.

-The X-Files is actually going to have an audience.

-The Mummy 3 will be the best in the series.

-Pineapple Express will be the worst Judd Apatow movie.

-Star Wars: The Clone Wars is going to set Box Office records.

-Tropic Thunder will flop, regardless of Robert Downey Jr.’s recent Iron Man success.

I mean, I’m hoping this is all false, because I’m looking forward to at least half of these films. But the way summer has been panning out recently, regardless of the money paid or the professional critic hatred, movies have been seemingly the opposite of what has been anticipated. So what are your thoughts? Leave me a comment or two, let’s have a discussion!