Already being billed as an exciting time years before its arrival, the summer of 2015 didn't fail to entertain with a variety of blockbuster heavy hitters, which its usual suspects of superhero films, (Avengers 2, Ant-Man) franchise sequels (Mad Max, Mission Impossible) and overdue reboots (Jurassic World). 

As summer's coming to a cooling end, and the likes of Spectre, Star Wars and a deluge of award winners tumbling down at the end of the year, we boil down the remainder of the goods this hot season had to offer, all of which have yet to be covered around here. There are the likes of Ex Machina, Inside Out, Tomorowland, Minions and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. which have yet to be viewed/reviewed, but these may be on an entry for another day.

Without further ado, let's sort out the agenda here. We have six films going under the reviewing knife, with two original films, two direct sequels, and two reboots, two of which are absolute stinkers. I've never awarded any film a score below 5.0 before, but that sort-of accolade was due to be broken sooner or later, no less by a film which failed to do anything right with its sizable budget.

I know Chappie was released in the early days of March, but I really wanted to talk about this Neill Blomkamp sci-fi film, and since it came out at the tail-end of May in Japan, it therefore justifies itself to be on this list.

Being a Blomkamp film, hopes were high that a smaller production would bring him back to his District 9 heights after the expensive yet bare boned Elysium. While Chappie's story functions well as a sentient robot (brilliantly mo-capped by long-time collaborator Sharlto Copley, who unfortunately brings back his annoying Elysium accent) who finds meaning in life, it is bogged down by a talent yet wafer-thin cast, which includes Dev Patel, Sigourney Weaver and a mullet-sporting Hugh Jackman. The biggest sin commited by Chappie however was the introduction of Ninja and Yolandi, of South African rap group Die Antwood, who are THE absolute worst aspect of the film, with scenes containing them (almost the entire film) grinding the film to a screeching halt, making Chappie a mundane chore to sit through. Also, any film that repeatedly uses the word "f*ck-mother" does not deserve a pass.

Chappie, sad to say, is more Elysium that it is to District 9, which continues a steadily declining quality of Blompkamp pictures, but despite two mishaps has been forgiven and given the keys to a well-loved sci-fi franchise. Kinda worried for the upcoming Alien 5 now (which will likely be set in South Africa of all places). 3.5/10

Don't let the trailers fool you, for Spy is levels above the Melissa McCarthy shtick we're  used to over the past years with Identity Thief and Tammy. Proving that only Paul Feig can direct her in a decent role, with McCarthy this time playing a discriminated office agent tasked with preventing a nuclear war. 

Unlike Chappie, Spy is filled to the brim with humorous characters who takes much of the pressure off leading lady McCarthy. You have Rose Byrne and Melissa Hart who both play well with McCarthy, where witty dialogue bouncing off each other like the smoothest butter. The film isn't short of testosterone either, with Jude Law portraying a suave yet obnoxious parody of 007, and then there is the surprise package of Jason Statham, who hams it up as a rogue agent while delivering a amazingly comedic performance no one was expecting. Forget the year of Josh Gad, this and Furious 7 alone makes 2015 the Year of the Statham.

One of the funniest films of the year, Spy continues Paul Feig's successfully consistent directorial portfolio beginning with 2011's Bridesmaids, making Spy the Bond film with a funny bone. Next year's Ghostbusters, also by Feig, might just work. 7.0/10

Having surprisingly enjoyed the 2012 original, this writer was quite pumped for the sequel, which looked to take our acappella squad to the worldwide stage. The sequel largely retains the same formula of the original, but the non-singing segments of this film largely feel lackluster compared to the 'Anna Kendrick vs The Bellas' premise of the original. 

This time, other than the main 'The Bellas vs The Germans' storyline, we're riddled with Kendrick's internship distractions and the addition of a new member of the Bellas in True Grit's Hailee Steinfeld, whose introduction and excessive screentime (she's really only there to promote the new Jessie J song) further diminishes the bit-part roles of the other Bella members we come to love from the original. Speaking of excessive screentime, Rebel Wilson, as funny as she is as Fat Amy, fails to do much other than solving her relationship with Adam DeVine's Bumper, whose character still lingers around college even after graduation.

Even with the flaws in introducing new aspects, Pitch Perfect 2 still draws its strengths on what they retained, with the riff-off scene between four singing groups a fun highlight in a film seemingly tame on the acappella. Pitch Perfect 3 has already been 'pitched' in for a 2017, but whether Elizabeth Banks will return to directorial duties is still up in the air. A solid sequel nevertheless. 7.0/10

The original Ted was a refreshing story of a boy with his cussing teddy bear, and won the world over with its close cast chemistry and Family Guy-esque humour, even if some scenes were slightly over-the-top. The same can't be said of the sequel, where the title character, once again played/voiced by director Seth MacFarlane tackles raising a family while defending his human rights. If you thought that sounded boring, it unfortunately is that boring.

If the story wasn't mundane enough, Mila Kunis, who did not return to the sequel due to pregnancy, was sorely missed from the three-person dynamic between her, Ted and Mark Wahlberg's John that worked so well in the original. Meanwhile, her replacement as a love interest for John went to Amanda Seyfried, despite her portfolio of award-winning performances, does not cut out here as a pot-smoking lawyer nor love interest. 

Morgan Freeman and John Slattery also don't make much of an impact as many of us wished they would have, and the film eventually boils down to our new trio (John, Ted and Seyfried's Sam L. Jackson) prying on cheap yet offensive jokes for laughs. For the record, I enjoyed many of the nasty jokes in Ted, but the sequel doesn't exactly evoke the same entertainment as most were just outright tacky or controversial. Oh yeah, Giovanni Ribisi is back as the twerking Ted stalker. Remember when he was in Avatar?

After the even more disappointing A Million Ways to Die in the West, this represents another blunder into MacFarlane's promising film career, akin to Neill Blomkamp earlier. Ted 2 just proves that lightning doesn't strike twice (or three times along with A Million Ways) for 'Family Guy jokes to translate into the big screen' formula. 6.0/10

24 years after the masterpiece that is James Cameron's Terminator 2, Hollywood is still trying its earnest its revive the Arnold Schwarzenegger franchise, and this latest entry represents another failed attempt to jumpstart the ailing series. Serving as a sort of reboot/sequel through convenient time travelling shenanigans, the end results was an execution which made a whole lot less sense than X-Men: Days of Future Past (which coincidentally took a page off Terminator 2, but that turned out very well).

Their attempts to mash up everything we liked about the first two films (liquid Terminator, Arnie one-liners) attempts to make Genisys the greatest hits compilation of the Terminator films, but many of the elements brought back simply felt forced out of necessity. One also feels that hiding that big spoiler (already ruined in the accompanying poster here) would have made the film a more entertaining/serviceable affair on the first watch. Despite the big bombshell, the film is bare to the minimum in terms of story, which like Fantastic Four next, always had a sequel in mind, and hence diluted the story to merely serve as a build-up.

Arnold's return to his biggest role is a much needed plus side for the film, and the reasoning behind his aging body was well conceived. That was the most understandable part of a overly convoluted plot, which changed the course of the familiar story. The story wasn't the only film being rebooted, with the original cast of Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn with Emilia Clarke (worthy replacement) and Jai Courtney respectively (who looks nothing like the OG Kyle Reese). Oh, and Doctor Who's Matt Smith was barely inside! The franchise sure is old, but it may be high time to make it obsolete. 6.0/10

Another reboot in this list, the third Fantastic Four film series was plagued with problems from the very start of its production. From an unwarranted public outcry over Michael B. Jordan's casting as Johnny Storm to alleged reports of destructive behaviour by director Josh Trank (who previously did the solid Chronicle with Jordan), coupled with the deep meddling of 20th Century Fox in the story, I still harboured high hopes for a more grounded version of the iconic comic characters, but all that hope petered out once our characters stepped into Planet Zero.

Behind the scenes troubles or not, this film by Trank does worse than establishing the main characters than a Superhero TV pilot (I've just came around to watch/enjoy CW's The Flash, and its first episode did way more than this). The pacing is all over the place, as our heroes only really start gaining their powers much later in the 100-minute film, and the final 'climatic' battle only lasts barely 5 minutes.

The castings were of the current crop of top talents such as Miles Teller, Kate Mara and Toby Kebbell, but all were criminally underutilized, despite the film having barely any other characters (Jamie Bell's Ben Grimm getting the shortest end of the stick. As much as I want to give Fox another chance with Fantastic Four (especially with the same cast together again), the film has done so much damage to its public goodwill and box office that any sort of sequel or crossover now seems dead in the water. It's only a matter of time before Marvel Studios come knocking for their First Family. 5.0/10