The summer movie season is rife with hits and misses. So many movies, coupled with so much hype, are sure to produce a polarizing effect. Some movies rock. Some movies suck. And some are not so much bad as forgettable. Here are some examples.

THE GOOD
 
‘SPIDER-MAN'
Year: 2002
Stars: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst
Premise: Nerdy Peter Parker turns into a spider-like, and still somewhat nerdy, superhero, takes on the Green Goblin.
The 210 take: A summer blockbuster that lives up to the gargantuan hype? It would take a superhero to pull off that feat.

‘THE SIXTH SENSE'
Year: 1999
Stars: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment
Premise: A child sees dead people (perhaps you've heard the catchphrase), including his psychologist (Willis).
The 210 take: This movie made a star out of director M. Night Shyamalan. Unfortunately, that meant he got to make more movies (see “The Village,” “Lady in the Water”).
 
‘SHREK'
Year: 2001
Stars: Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy
Premise: An ogre captures the heart of a princess, who also happens to be an ogre.
The 210 take: Hopefully, “Shrek” won't go the way of another Mike Myers franchise — “Austin Powers” — which started strong but quickly faded into self-parody by the third film.

THE BAD
 
‘THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT'
Year: 1999
Stars: No one you've heard of
Premise: Three college students go into the woods in search of the mythical Blair Witch. They don't make it back.
The 210 take: Three idiots walk around for a while, realize they walked in circles and end up in a random house. That's not suspenseful. It's a Saturday night in college.

‘STAR WARS: EPISODE I — %THE PHANTOM MENACE'
Year: 1999
Stars: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman
Premise: Follows the adventures of a young Anakin Skywalker, who later — in much better “Star Wars” films — is known as Darth Vader.
The 210 take: There's nothing we love more than seeing our cinematic super-villains as children. Just imagine little Frederick Krueger and Michael Myers skipping rope on the playground.
 
‘BATMAN & ROBIN'
Year: 1997
Stars: George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Premise: The Caped Crusader, with some help from his unnecessary sidekicks, takes on Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy.
The 210 take: Otherwise known as the reason there shouldn't be a “Spider-Man 4.”

THE FORGETTABLE
 
“FREDDY VS. JASON”
Year: 2003
Stars: Robert Englund, Monica Keena, Kelly Rowland
Premise: The two biggest badasses from horror films past go one-on-one.
The 210 take: Freddy only lives in dreams, and Jason can't die. How exactly would you crown a victor — two of out three pinfalls?

‘PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST'
Year: 2006
Stars: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley
Premise: Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) faces his death, turns to his friends (Bloom and Knightley) for help.
The 210 take: The first installment in the “Pirates” series was good, and most importantly, it made money. This sequel was not so good, but most importantly, it made money. Not so surprisingly, “Pirates 3: The Cash Cow” is in theaters this summer.
 
‘THE HULK'
Year: 2003
Stars: Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly,% Nick Nolte
Premise: An experiment gone wrong turns some guy into a freakish muscle-man with a bad temper.
The 210 take: No, this movie is not based on the life story of San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds.

Clint Hale | 210SA