Do Summer Blockbusters Have to Try to be Smart?

Is there room for the popcorn flick? The one that we check our brains at the door?

The somewhat recent release of GI Joe got me thinking. Critics seem to be on both sides of the fence. Some saying it doesn't take itself too seriously, and is good mindless fun. Others saying it is complete, utter trash.

Have movie critics grown way too snobby for a majority of the American public? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Americans are stupid, but to each his own. I learned very quickly to just not discuss movies with my in-laws. They would laugh at the lame gags in RV as we watched it on TV, and recommend me to skip movies that I had heard nothing but praise for from critics.

A lot of people use movies to escape. They just enjoy it for what it is, and don't think about it any deeper. Me on the other hand, when I watch a movie I analyze it over and over in my head for days. It's usually easier to do that with a layered movie like Synecdoche, New York, instead of RV. I mean sure, there could be all sorts of ways that raccoons happened to get into the RV and then into the stove as well, but I don't think I care to think about it that much.

I would love for every single popcorn action flick to be like District 9, but honestly it's not going to happen. Not every summer blockbuster is going to have allusions to issues like apartheid, and I'm OK with that. Sometimes I enjoy sitting down and watching some big explosions and car chases.

So I guess all I'm saying is this, before we as movie geeks write off a big, dumb, fun action flick, at least realize that a lot of people don't analyze movies the way we do. If the plot is mildly understandable and the action is easy to follow, they are on board. These people aren't dumb, they just don't take movies as seriously as us. Maybe we should take a lesson from them every once in awhile.