2024 Summer Movies Ranked
The 2024 summer movie season has officially ended, for me the summer movie season starts May 1st and ends August 31st. It’s now September, so here’s my ranking of 23 I saw in summer 2024. Let’s get started!
23. The Crow: I didn’t go into the movie with particularly high expectations, but this movie still fell short of my expectations and I thought it was bad. There really wasn’t anything in this movie that I thought was good and worked. The romance in the movie didn’t work for me, that’s frustrating since the movie spends so much time focusing on them. The chemistry between the two leads isn’t there, so the romance falls flat. The movie also feels generic, despite having a gothic tone and it never comes together as well as it should. I feel like the gothic tone could have added some more distinct style into the genre, but it didn’t. This is a movie that I didn’t like on any of the levels that it was going for, don’t go see this movie.
22. Borderlands: The movie of the summer that the internet loved to crap on. There’s a lot about this movie that isn’t good and deserves the crap it’s been getting. On paper, this movie should have been better and a lot of fun. It’s sort of a Guardians of the Galaxy type movie, this movie has a fun cast, and is filled with action. This movie didn’t work at all. The backstory and production of this movie makes it very clear why this movie doesn’t work. The studio couldn’t make up their mind what they wanted this movie to be. The characters are incredibly bland, despite being played by great talents. The worst part about this movie, they made me not like Jack Black…that’s when you know a movie doesn’t work.
21. The Idea of You: This isn’t really my type of movie, I heard some good buzz so I decided to check it out and it didn’t fully work for me. There’s chemistry with our two leads, Anne Hathaway is a solid actress. But the basic idea of this movie and the way it plays out didn’t work for me. The idea of Hathaway dating a pop singer that her daughter has had a crush on is weird. This girl’s childhood crush could have been her step-dad, that’s weird. The movie writes the ex-husband to be a total jerk, you’re not supposed to like him. But he’s the character that I was thinking was right, everything he is saying is 100% right. But the movie ignores what he’s saying, because he’s treated as the villain. If you liked the movie, cool. This wasn’t really for me.
20. Unfrosted: The latest film written, directed, and starring Jerry Seinfeld. He’s never been one of those comedians that I’ve loved. I’ve seen episodes of Seinfeld, but not the entire show. Some people were more disappointed by this movie than I was, I thought it had some funny moments. I wasn’t necessarily bored with the movie, I also didn’t find the movie very good. It felt too much like a style of substances, it was going for all of these gags and cameos but very few of them worked. It is a comedy, some of the jokes landed, some of the jokes really didn’t land. I feel like there’s a version of this movie that was really good, there’s an idea here that could have made for a good movie, the ingredients here didn’t make for a good movie.
19. Am I Ok?: I know some people liked this movie, but for me I don’t think it worked. I think the movie was hurt overall by the writing and acting. This movie is about Dakota Johnson’s character figuring out her sexuality. Her friends encourage her to go on dates with girls. It’s a coming of age movie of sorts, but at a different point in time. One of the things that could have made this movie better was if the dialogue felt real and the characters felt like real people and I didn’t get that vibe from this movie. The dialogue and characters felt too much like they were written for a movie. When you’re telling a very grounded and real story, Ithink having more realistic dialogue could have made it better.
18. Despicable Me 4: I’m the generation that grew up watching this franchise, I was five years old when the first one came out. I was curious to check this movie out, even though I didn’t really think this movie was needed. The movie we got, has all of the minions bit you’d expect. I was never bored watching the film, but it’s the type of movie where you remember the gags but not the story. There’s not really a story in this movie, every character has subplots that make up the movie. Margot’s subplot is starting school in a new town. Agnes and Edith start karate. Gru learns how to play tennis. Lucy works at a hair salon. Everybody has their own thing, but they don’t pay off in any meaningful way. There’s ideas where you can see a good plot for a fourth movie, but it’s buried under all of this meaningless stuff.
17. The Watchers: The first Shyamalan movie on this list, but this isn’t an M. Night Shyamalan movie, it's directed by his daughter, Ishana Shyamalan. When you watch this movie, you can't help but wonder if M. Night actually directed this movie. It feels like a movie that he could have directed, it has all of the tone and vibes of his movies. The movie is fine, it’s a decent thriller, it has an interesting hook that makes you wonder where it’s going. It gets weird and wacky at points, because of that you’re glued to the screen wondering what’s going to happen next. As you go into the third act, it gets predictable. You’re able to see where this movie is going, fairly early on. I thought there were some interesting ideas and thrills, but an overall movie that doesn’t work as well as it should.
16. Fly Me To the Moon: This is one that I feel I need to watch again, because it seems like most people liked this movie more than I did. There’s an interesting idea here about NASA trying to create a fake moon landing in case the real one doesn’t work. Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum are fun and charming, I liked their chemistry and dynamic. Woody Harrelson and Ray Romano are in this movie too, they can be fun in these types of movies. The movie felt 10-20 minutes too long, it’s over two hours and this movie easily could have been 1 hour and 45 minutes, maybe a bit shorter. They set up stuff in the beginning of the movie that didn’t have much payoff later on. Maybe if I watch it again, I’ll like it and appreciate it more. I don’t think it’s as good as it could have been.
15. The Instigators: This is one that I was very excited for based on the director, Doug Liman who’s made a lot of great movies. Matt Damon and Casey Affleck are in the leads. I was very excited for this movie. You watch the movie and it’s fine, it’s a good enough version of what it’s going for. But it feels like a movie that I have seen before. Damon and Affleck are on a heist that goes wrong, so they’re on the run from their organization and the police. We’ve seen a version of this movie before and it’s done better. I was never bored watching it, it moves quick enough from set piece to set piece. There’s enough charismatic actors and jokes that keep you entertained. It’s never as good as you’d want it to be. I was a bit disappointed by it, but still a solid enough movie.
14. Trap: The other Shyamalan movie this summer, this time it’s actually directed by M. Night Shyamalan. I think this movie is good but it’s not great. In typical Shyamalan fashion, there’s a great hook that makes you curious to check it out. It keeps you guessing from beginning to end, you’re really not sure what’s going to happen. Josh Hartnett does a great job here, he’s able to play the charming and awkward dad. But also plays the dark serial killer really well. I think this movie gets hurt, by too much logic not making much sense. In order for you to buy into this movie, you need to suspend a lot of disbelief. I feel M. Night needed another few months to work on the script, it was so close to being a great thriller. This felt like a first draft of a script and the movie needed more drafts.
13. IF: The latest film from Jim Halpert excuse me John Krasinski. This is one that I really enjoyed. I thought it got a lot of things right but it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. I like that we got an original family movie, we don’t get a lot of those anymore. Krasinski was able to craft a movie that can be very funny and also be very heartfelt. A lot of people have described the film as a live action Pixar film and I think that fits, that’s a great way to describe this movie. The cast can be funny and charming, of course Ryan Reynolds is great. The lead of the film, Cailey Fleming was great and was able to hold her own in the movie. There was a lot about the movie that I really liked, it wasn’t as good as I would have hoped. It’s not as memorable as I would have liked it to be. But still a solid enjoyable family film and that I wish more people saw.
12. A Quiet Place: Day One: This was my introduction to the A Quiet Place franchise. I thought this was a great movie experience that was great to see on the big screen. It really puts you into the environment and it’s an interesting idea to see what would these sound hunting creatures do in New York City, a very populated city with lots of noises. The movie continues to put you on the edge of your seat, there’s some many sequences that are directed so well. You’re wanting to be quiet along with the character, that’s how affected this movie is. Our two leads with Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn, I thought, did a great job. Both of them are great actors that can bring a lot of emotion to certain scenes. I thought this was a horror movie that was very well done, it was effective at what it was going for and came to an emotionally satisfying conclusion.
11. Longlegs: One of the surprise hits of 2024, this is a low budget horror film that cost $9 million. It’s crossed $100 million and a whole lot of people are loving this movie. What I thought was great about it was that it felt like a throwback serial killer film, in the vein of The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en. We don’t get a lot of those movies anymore and getting a great version of it here was great to see. It does a great job as a thriller of building this mystery and intrigue of what’s going on. You have no idea where the movie is going and that’s why it keeps you guessing. You’re trying to put the pieces together with the characters. Nicholas Cage is great as the title character, I loved what he brought to the character. Elements in the third act were predictable, I was able to guess where this movie was going pretty early on. But overall, a great movie that I’m glad exists.
10. Alien: Romulus: The first Alien movie I saw on the big screen and I thought this was a great movie. It went back to what made the original two films so good, the simplicity. There’s not a lot of moving pieces with this movie, it’s very much a haunted house horror movie set in space. It provides this creepy environment where you feel the tension and thrills from beginning to end. One of the things that Fede Alvarez is great at is creating this environment that’s creepy and setting up all of these things early on that you know will pay off in the third act, but you aren’t sure how. The production design and CGI (for the most part) is fantastic, it’s believable and drops you into this world that feels lived in and dangerous. The characters are fleshed out and feel like real people. This is a movie that I thought really worked and I’m so glad it went back to the basics of the original movies.
9. Hitman: This is one that I was very curious about because it premiered at film festivals last year and got fantastic reviews. I was generally curious to see if this movie lived up to the hype and it did. This is a great genre blender, it’s multiple different genres but doesn’t fit neatly into any one genre. It’s one part comedy, it’s one part romance, and it’s one part police investigation but all parts entertaining and fun. Glen Powell is of course great and charming in they lead role, he needs to be able to play multiple different characters with different personalities and he’s able to do that. This is one that got great reviews, but doesn’t feel like a movie that a lot of people are talking about. If you like Glen Powell and you want a fun movie, Hitman is a fun time.
8. Strange Darling: One of the biggest surprises of the summer and the type of film that I’m so glad I was able to see. I went into this movie very blind I didn’t see a trailer, review, or synopsis of the movie. That’s the best way to watch this movie, knowing absolutely nothing about it. The way it tells its story non-linear and out of order provides certain expectations to be set for the audience, only for them to be subverted by information revealed later on. All throughout the movie there’s twists and turns where you start to better understand what’s going on. Once you have one thing figured out, it turns the rug out from under you. The two lead performances by Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner are fantastic. If they weren’t good, I don’t think the movie would have worked as well. I wish this movie got more people talking and became a bigger hit at the box office so more people can go see it. If it drops on streaming, please go check it out!
7. Twisters: The other Glen Powell movie of the summer and this one I think is better. To this day, I still haven’t seen the original film so I went into this movie with not crazy high expectations, but wanting a good time. I thought this movie was a total blast and it delivered everything I wanted from the film. It absolutely delivers the destruction and disaster you’d expect from a disaster film. There’s several sequences that are intense and thrilling. The director has a great eye to stage the sequences to make them fun and exciting while also being thrilling. They make you care about the characters, you care about the journey they’re on. Daisy Edgar-Jones’ character has emotional ties to what’s going on, you care about her. They set up Glen Powell’s character to be the cocky douchebag, but they give him layers and depth to what he's doing. This is a fun classic summer blockbuster that I thought was a great time.
6. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: This recent reboot of Planet of the Apes that started 13 years ago is a pretty great little franchise. I know some people were disappointed by this movie, I wasn't. I thought this was a great continuation of what came before, but delivering something just a little bit different. The movie is all about Caesar’s legacy and how what he did affected this current tribe of Apes. There’s multiple different tribes and factions in this world, all of them have different beliefs to what Caesar’s words meant. The new characters worked for me, Proximus Caesar was a great villain for this new world. Noa was a great lead character that is compelling, but not a copy of Caesar and is our point of view character into this new world of Apes. The CGI in this movie is pretty fantastic, there’s not one shot in this movie that didn’t look believable. I hope they greenlit another film, I want to see where they’re taking this story after where this movie left off.
5. Inside Out 2: Easily the best Pixar in years and I thought this was a return to form for Pixar. The 2020s haven't had the best run, there’s been some solid movies in there but not at the level of the old days of Pixar. Inside Out 2 feels like we’re going back to the old days of Pixar. What’s so cool about the Inside Out franchise is they’re great examples of what Pixar is great at. They’re taking these complex ideas about anxiety and growing up, but packaging them in a way for kids to understand. Kids can get just as much out of this movie as adults can. It’s the type of movie that’s great for all ages, but I think pre-teens would benefit from watching this movie, because Riley is a pre-teen in this movie. The movie can be very funny, I’ve seen the movie two times, both times my audience was laughing out loud. It can be emotional, it has that classic Pixar emotion to it. This is a movie that has connected with so many people on so many different levels and I think that’s why it’s made $1.6 billion at the box office.
4. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga: I didn’t watch Mad Max: Fury Road until a week before this movie came out. I really liked that movie, but I didn’t love it the way other people do. I thought Furiosa was simply fantastic, I loved it. It’s a cinematic epic where it’s telling the story of Furiosa from a child to when we see her in Fury Road. You feel this epic nature to everything going on. George Miller knows how to stage the action so when it happens it’s versatile and exciting to watch. It’s not as weird as Fury Road, but it delivers the action you’d expect from Fury Road. Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth are great in this movie, both of them are giving great performances that are memorable and some of the best of the summer. It’s a shame this movie bombed at the box office, because it’s great. I hope now that it’s now streaming it can find an audience.
3. Sing Sing: Moving in a very different direction from Furiosa, a big budget action spectacle film. This is quite the opposite as it's a small budget indie film about a group of theater actors in prison. It has a Shawshank Redemption vibe to it. There’s a similar hopefulness and relatability about the characters. It’s probably the movie that made me feel so many different emotions in 2024. This movie can have you laughing, you’ll be emotional, you’ll be heartfelt all while watching this movie. I walked out of the theater and so many people were talking about how they were crying. I hope Colman Domingo gets a lot of award love with this movie, he deserves an Oscar nomination and possibly win. I hope once award season starts they expand this movie to larger theaters, please go and see this movie. It’s fantastic.
2. The Fall Guy: The movie that kicked off the 2024 summer movie season, and disappointed at the box office. But I thought this movie was great and everything I expected it to be. It’s a fun action packed summer blockbuster that is very unassuming. That just made for a very fun movie, it was a lot of fun to see this movie on the big screen. It’s cool that a movie about a stuntman is directed by a former stuntman with David Leitch. Leitch is able to shoot the action to be very fun and exciting, you can see everything that is going on. It can be very funny, there’s a nice steady stream of jokes all throughout the movie. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt have great chemistry, you absolutely buy into their relationship. I’ve seen the movie two times now, both times I really dug it and thought it was a total blast. If you didn’t go see this movie in the theater, check it out on streaming. I think you’ll have a lot of fun.
1. Deadpool & Wolverine: This was a movie that I had a lot of hype and anticipation going into. I loved the trailers, I loved getting Deadpool in the MCU, and finally seeing Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine interact with Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool in true classic forms sounded great. This movie delivered everything I could have hoped for. It is just a whole lot of fun that keeps you entertained from beginning to end. There’s plenty of laugh out loud moments in here, the action can be very exciting and there’s a lot of fun cameos. Some of the cameos certainly made a name for themselves. While it is a lot of fun and energetic, the movie can be emotional and heartfelt. They give both Deadpool and Wolverine these character arcs that feel earned and provide the heart of the movie. I don’t know if this will end up being the best movie of 2024, but it certainly is the most entertaining. Now that summer 2024 is over we can officially say bye, bye, bye.
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