ROTTEN TOMATOES: RT's Summer in Review: The Best, The Worst, and Our Favorite Films!

RT's Summer in Review: The Best, The Worst, and Our Favorite Films!

by RT Staff

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Which Studio Came Out on Top?

1. Paramount
Average Tomatometer: 71%
Box office: $966 million

Summer's winner! Paramount is the only major studio to achieve more than one $200 million hit leading to the highest box office total, and it did so with the highest Tomatometer average (four of its five movies hit Certified Fresh status). The critics' influence may be diminished during opening weekend, but here we see good reviews are indicating what summer movies will have positive word-of-mouth and staying power.

Movie	B.O.	Tomatometer
Iron Man	$318m	93%
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull	$316m	77%
Kung Fu Panda	$213m	88%
Tropic Thunder	$87m	83%
The Love Guru	$32m	14%

2. Disney
Average Tomatometer: 67%
Box office: $376 million

Disney has the least amount of movies, with two of them vastly underperforming (Swing Vote was a blip and Prince Caspian's gross is only half of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe's). The silver lining: Wall-E is this year's best-reviewed movie and has a strong chance of remaining so if Pixar's past performance record is any indication.

Movie	B.O.	Tomatometer
Wall-E	$218m	97%
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian	$142m	66%
Swing Vote	$16m	40%

3. Warner Bros.
Average Tomatometer: 56%
Box office: $1.02 billion

The fact that Warner Bros. put out the summer's most notorious bomb (Speed Racer) is easily offset by the enormous success of The Dark Knight. It's become second-highest grossing movie off all time (and Certified Fresh to boot!), pushing WB over the $1 billion mark for the summer.

Movie	B.O.	Tomatometer
The Dark Knight	$504m	94%
Sex and the City	$153m	51%
Get Smart	$129m	52%
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D (New Line)	$96m	61%
Speed Racer	$43m	36%
The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants 2	$41m	63%
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (Picturehouse)	$32m	80%
Star Wars: The Clone Wars	$30m	18%

4. Universal
Average Tomatometer: 53%
Box office: $655 million

Wanted gave Universal a surprise critical and commercial hit and Mamma Mia! has quietly become the highest grossing musical ever. Surprisingly, it was the superheroes that let the studio down, with both The Incredible Hulk and Hellboy falling shy of recovering their reported costs.

Movie	B.O.	Tomatometer
Wanted	$134m	73%
The Incredible Hulk	$134m	67%
Mamma Mia!	$133m	54%
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor	$98m	11%
Hellboy II: The Golden Army	$76m	88%
The Strangers	$52m	42%
Death Race	$25m	40%
Hamlet 2	$3m	61%

5. Sony
Average Tomatometer: 40%
Box office: $581 million

Sony was in classic Hollywood mode this summer, relying on the stars like Will Smith, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell to draw crowds in. Behind the scenes, Judd Apatow proved reliable once more, producing the studio's sole fresh movie.

Movie	B.O.	Tomatometer
Hancock	$227m	38%
You Don't Mess With the Zohan	$100m	34%
Step Brothers	$98m	51%
Pineapple Express	$80m	68%
Made of Honor	$47m	12%
The House Bunny	$29m	40%

6. Fox
Average Tomatometer: 26%
Box office: $250 million

It was a brutal summer for Fox, which lacked a single fresh movie or $100 million success. If Paramount is keeping its audience around with fresh movies, Fox proves the vice versa: resoundingly rotten ones can repel audiences.

Movie	B.O.	Tomatometer
What Happens in Vegas	$80m	27%
The Happening	$65m	19%
Space Chimps	$29m	33%
Mirrors	$25m	21%
The X-Files: I Want to Believe	$21m	33%
Babylon A.D.	$12m	04%
Meet Dave	$12m	20%
The Rocker	$6m	36%

Next: RT's Editors Pick Their Favorite Films of the Summer

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(1-20 of 78 posts) | Reply

Detrs writes:
on Sep 02 2008 12:31 PM

I have nothing but contempt for Babylon AD. I mean, of all the science-fiction (I'm not getting into the sf vs. sci-fi debate here) books to adapt, it's that one? Really?

Now that this has failed, as we knew it would, studios will proclaim that it's because audiences don't want to see science-fiction films.

(Reply to this)

jokerboy1991 writes:
on Sep 02 2008 12:49 PM

My list would be
1-The Dark Knight
2-Vicky Cristina Barcelona
3-Iron Man
4-Tropic Thunder
5-Hellboy 2
6-Wanted
7-Pineapple Express
8-Kung Fu Panda
9-Speed Racer
10-Indiana Jones

Haven't see WALL-E yet, wish I did though... I would definitely say that THE MUMMY 3 was the worst of the summer, man it was so bad!
10-

(Reply to this)

jokerboy1991 writes:
on Sep 02 2008 12:51 PM

Biggest disappoints I would say were INDY, even though I liked it I just thought if your going to be bring Indy back then he should come back to us in greatness. Also X files, great tv show turned into a mediocre movie.

(Reply to this)

arendr writes:
on Sep 02 2008 12:59 PM

The studio breakdown is interesting. Fox really did get owned.

However, I'd like to see that list include the budget for each movie. That would really show who did well and who didn't.

(Reply to this)

MassEffect452 writes:
on Sep 02 2008 01:00 PM

In reply to this comment (#2014505)
I agree, the x-files was a sad attempt to such a great show. TDK and Iron Man are one hell of a 1-2 punch for the comic book world. Let's hope the future comic book movies take note and try to impress as well!

(Reply to this)

enjaysim writes:
on Sep 02 2008 01:01 PM

I'm so sorry but I have an irrational dislike for Pixar movies. I liked the first 25 minutes of Wall-E. The short film before it was imaginative but once it got to that spaceship and introduced the humans, it just got uninteresting. They should've stuck with the robots. Even saying that I just feel there's something a little bit too polished/clinical about the Pixar movies. I know they have to be 'cause they can't afford re-takes(!) but I find them a bit tiresome. I've hang-ups about the Dark Knight but cannot make an argument against its success as a piece of absolutely absorbing cinema. I knew it would be that at least but I've met a lot of people who find it difficult to say whether they actually liked the film or not. It's a curious phenomenon. Indy was sadly a bit dissapointing. I'd have been happy with a knockabout romp built on audience's affections for Mr.Ford but it just didn't hit the spot. Can't wait for the next one though!

(Reply to this)

jokerboy1991 writes:
on Sep 02 2008 01:07 PM

Also I think next summer is going to be way better, I mean I think we only had 2 great movies, next summer I think we will have more then 2. There's Star Trek, T4, Public Enemies, and I think that WATCHMEN is going to be pushed back to summer DAMN FOX!

(Reply to this)

neverwakingworld writes:
on Sep 02 2008 01:43 PM

Speed Racer deserves more respect than it got

(Reply to this)

rh1252 writes:
on Sep 02 2008 01:46 PM

This is a really good article, but it has a few errors.

First off, The Happening should be in the Top 10 Worst Tomatometers list, with only an 18% fresh rating!

Also, you said that Sex & the City was the only film in the top 10 with an overall rotten rating...but what about Hancock at 38%? It stands out as the big "did great but wasnt that great" movie of the summer.

(Reply to this)

CaptainSiberia writes:
on Sep 02 2008 01:52 PM

Space Chimps totally deserved to flop just for being such a piece of product! "Let's give them something we've given them before. Throw a bunch of money into the animation, hire some famous actors to do the voices, and who needs an inspired script? They'll come to see it just because they come to see other cgi animated films that aren't just for kids!" No, they won't.

Speed Racer another deserving loser, for its visual incoherence and its unbalanced mix of heavy plot elements with light characters in a light world. I look at films like these, and I just really feel like I could have done it better. I just see such clear missteps, and I think that if I had been there, I would have caught them and said, "No, don't do that. Do it this way instead."

Boy, I wish there were more Tony Wilsons in the world.

Holy ****! Hancock did that much business? It beat Wall-E? How'd that happen? I mean, Ebert liked it. But I never realized so many people went to see that movie!

(Reply to this)

JettaJameson writes:
on Sep 02 2008 02:05 PM

In reply to this comment (#2014507)
Haha, yeah, FOX sucks. Now it's not just their news station.

However, I thought What Happens In Vegas was HILARIOUS.

"YOU KNOW WHY!!!"

Haha!

Congrats to Paramount and Warner Brothers. They deserve the success. Here's hoping this creates a HUGE turnaround in Hollywood. If you take your time with movies and cultivate them, rather then throw them together real quick, audiences will turn out in droves over and over again.

(Reply to this)

CaptainSiberia writes:
on Sep 02 2008 02:06 PM

Oh, I have to go off on a little rant about Ashton Kutcher. Ashton Kutcher is Kelso from That 70s Show and /only/ Kelso from That 70s Show. If he ever wants anyone to see him as anything else, he had better develop a whole lot more range /fast/.

(Reply to this)

JettaJameson writes:
on Sep 02 2008 02:08 PM

In reply to this comment (#2014514)
Don't forget about Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I predict it'll be the #1 movie of 2009.

(Reply to this)

CaptainSiberia writes:
on Sep 02 2008 02:10 PM

In reply to this comment (#2014582)
Not if it sucks like the last movie.

(Reply to this)

arendr writes:
on Sep 02 2008 02:11 PM

In reply to this comment (#2014590)
The last one was far better than 1, 2, and 4.

(Reply to this)

jokerboy1991 writes:
on Sep 02 2008 02:12 PM

In reply to this comment (#2014582)
Oh yeah, I forgot they postponed it...thanks for bringing it up.

(Reply to this)

tidussquall10x writes:
on Sep 02 2008 02:37 PM

In reply to this comment (#2014503)
Wow since you haven't seen Wall-E yet I highly recommend it.
Your list will change a bit

(Reply to this)

dethburger writes:
on Sep 02 2008 03:22 PM

This is based solely on films I've seen...

Best: Space Chimps
Runner Up: TDK
2nd RU: Wall-E

Worst: Wanted
Runner Up: Speed Racer

(Reply to this)

Jen Yamato writes:
on Sep 02 2008 03:37 PM

rh1252, I'd like to thank you for pointing those items out. It turns out there was a bug in our initial database query, which we've now resolved with an update that should take effect immediately. As you'll see, not only does The Happening enter the Bottom 10 of the summer, but it's joined by Made of Honor. X Files and Space Chimps are now in the clear. (Where's tomwaitsjr.?)

Thanks for the catch!

(Reply to this)

bondfreak writes:
on Sep 02 2008 04:06 PM

I must say i was surprised by how many at least decent movies i say over the summer. I mustve seen a movie like every week since may 2nd with iron man. The Dark Knight was the most engrossing film, Pineapple express and tropic thunder tie for most fun, best special effects? Well even though Hellboy II wasnt so great id give it to them. Best Actor? Id say Robert Downey Jr. for Iron Man. Best Supporting Actor? Heath Ledger for the Joker, and Robert Downey Jr. in second for his ingenious performance in Tropic Thunder. Best Director? Chris Nolan kind of a given, Jon Favareau for Iron Man in second and Guillermo del Toro for hellbo 2 in third. Best Actress? Hmmm come to think of it, there rly arent many leading ladies to consider this summer its been all guys lol, maybe Maggie Gylennhaal for The Dark Knight but thats cause theres like no one else. Best Supporting Actress? Who knows :p. Best Picture? The Dark Knight in first, Iron Man in second and Express and Thunder tie for third. These are juss summer opinion not all of these will win oscars of course, its juss the most entertaining stuff from May 2nd - Aug. 29th weekends. Cheers fellow movielovers

(Reply to this)

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