What were you doing in 2007?
Were you graduating college? Were you starting a new job? Were you just entering school or moving across the country?
If you were Hollywood, you were making sequels. 2007 was a year where six of the top ten domestic releases in America were sequels. Six! I don’t have to tell you that’s a lot. These were not small sequels, either. These things were massive. We saw the end of a legendary superhero trilogy, the return of an animated favorite, a swashbuckling follow-up, the continuation of a fantasy epic, a secret agent thriller and…whatever the hell National Treasure was.
Sequels were the big thing in 2007. But were they any good? Well, let’s dig into that.
The Top Ten Films Of 2007 (Domestic)
The summer of 2007 was supposed to belong to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3. It all came down to this. This was going to be the epic conclusion to one of the best superhero stories ever told. It was following the success of Spider-Man 2, considered by many to be the best comic book film ever made. And its only competition for the top spot in 2007 was Shrek the Third, which was a point of contention for Spider-Man followers. Spidey fans really wanted Raimi’s third film to beat the latest Shrek because a few years before Shrek 2 surprisingly beat Spider-Man 2 at the box office. Things were personal. So fans were ready to turn Spider-Man 3 into a huge, huge hit. They were ready to champion the film and, more importantly, love it.
Well, about that. While Spider-Man 3 was the biggest film in 2007 it was definitely not universally loved. In fact, 3 is considered the worst Spider-Man film in Raimi’s trilogy and it’s not even close. The view on the film has softened over the years, some even like it now. But there is no question that the movie is the weakest entry in Raimi’s series.
Watching that trailer after so many years, I feel myself questioning my view of the movie. Was it good? Was I too harsh on Spider-Man 3? Maybe it wasn’t as piss poor, cluttered and jumbled up as I remember.
No, no, it was bad. It really was. It was a mess. It was an absolute mess. Overcrowded with characters and shoddy attempts at closure, Spider-Man 3 is a film made by committee. The folks at Sony and Marvel were strong-arming Raimi into a movie he didn’t really want. You can tell that Raimi’s heart wasn’t in it. Even the inclusion of Venom, a massive fan favorite character, felt shoe-horned in. It felt forced. It felt sloppy. It felt downright silly. But that didn’t stop people from turning out for the movie, which drew $151 million its first weekend, the largest opening of all time. Spider-Man 3 was going out with a bang, despite lackluster reviews and lukewarm reception from fans.
But Shrek was making himself known, again. Opening just a couple weeks after Spider-Man 3, Shrek The Third ended up taking the second spot on the list for 2007 and came this close to overtaking Spider-Man 3. Only $14 million separated the two films’ final grosses, meaning Shrek The Third almost toppled Spider-Man again. I don’t know how fans would have responded to that, another defeat at the hands of the giant green ogre. But in the end it was the Spidey fans who won the day. Shrek The Third sure made DreamWorks proud though. The series was proving to be the biggest animated franchise in Hollywood and was continually bringing in the big bucks. But reviews for Third were not kind and the it felt like perhaps the franchise was running out of steam. So while DreamWorks was happy with Shrek The Third’s haul, they were also concerned that perhaps the fairy tale was going to end soon. Shrek The Third, another hugely successful sequel in the summer of 2007 that just wasn’t that spectacular, or should I say SHREKtacular.
You want more sequels? Well, do we have more sequels for you. Why not try Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (number four, $309,420,425)? How about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (number five, $292,004,738)? Maybe you’re more into The Bourne Ultimatum (number seven, $227,471,070) or perhaps National Treasure: Book of Secrets (number eight, $219,964,115)? Whatever mood you were in, 2007 had a sequel for you. But you were out of luck if you wanted a good sequel, seeing as only three of the movies I’ve mentioned actually received positive reviews. Order of the Phoenix and The Bourne Ultimatum (and, yes, Spider-Man 3) are ranked “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes. Everything else? Not so much.
And one more note about sequels in 2007. There were only four films on the list above that weren’t sequels but all of them, with the exception of I Am Legend, spawned at least one sequel. 300, Alvin and the Chipmunks and Transformers all were successful enough to create follow-ups. Now, were any of those sequels good? Well, you and I both know the answer to that.
Speaking of sequels, the following year would have a few too. 2008 would include one of the biggest, best sequels ever made as well as a long-in-development follow-up that received mixed reviews. But there would be some new kids on the block in the mix too. DreamWorks Animation would branch out, Pixar would return in a big way and a certain man made of iron would take Hollywood by storm.