The summer of 2013 had some of the biggest film debuts of the 21st century. From prequels of classic Pixar movies like Monsters Inc, to the third installment of our favorite genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, Tony Stark, movie sales soared to $6,524,659,430 and are still climbing rapidly. This summer, the movies that stood out to me were not what I expected.

“Jack the Giant Slayer,” a darker twist on the classic story, “Jack and the Beanstalk,” seemed like an uninteresting, cheezy movie when I watched the trailer. But as I sat down to watch the movie, I quickly figured out that my first opinion was dead wrong. The story follows a poor farm boy named Jack, played by Nicholas Hoult, who finds himself in a world spiraling out of control when he is given magic beans that create a doorway to the fabled giants living thousands of miles above them and reawakens an ancient feud, all while trying to win over the heart of the rebellious princess, Isabelle.

First off, the special effects were amazing. The growth and the height of the beanstalk was a feat in itself, but the animation of the giants, and their humongous world, was what caught my attention. The storytelling was absolutely amazing as well. The fact that Director Bryan Singer and Storyboard Writer Darren Lemke came up with the idea to make the, “Jack and the Beanstalk,” story a darker and more mature action and adventure movie, mixed with some very engaging comedy, as well as interweaving a love story into the mix, is why this movie gets a standing ovation and a four and a half out of five rating from me.

“Despicable Me 2,” is the movie that I was most excited about because I loved, “Despicable Me,” so much. I had the highest expectations for this movie and, wow, did it deliver. Steve Carell returns as Gru, who is recruited by the Anti-Villain League and teamed up with Lucy, who is a new member of the League, to help deal with a powerful super criminal.

The story, this time, was much more engaging and complex than the first movie but still had a kid-friendly feel to it. The story also exposed Gru’s love life as Margo, Agnes, and Edith try to push Gru to ask Lucy out. The Minions were emphasized more than in the first movie as well, which gave the movie most of its glorious humor and made the movie more enjoyable. This movie passed my expectations which is why it gets a four out of five.

“Man of Steel,” was the talk of the town for some time after it came out on June 14. When I saw the trailer, I thought this movie would be pleasantly entertaining, which is saying something because I don’t like superhero comics that much, including Superman. A young man named Clark Kent, who is played by Henry Cavill, is forced to face his secret extraterrestrial heritage when Earth is invaded by members of his own race.

The special effects in this movie were fantastic; from the explosion of Krypton, to the gigantic spaceships, to the epic battle scenes between Superman and General Zod, who is played by Michael Shannon. But, the story was slightly lacking. For a 143 minute movie, the beginning felt a little rushed and some scenes could have been left out or shortened. However, the way that Director Zack Snyder made the story more modern and added little bits of humor, as well as how the acting was solid and believable enough to make me sit on edge of my seat feeling five different emotions at once, redeemed the movie in a way that I can say it is a movie I would watch again. Three out of five is a pretty good score for a movie that fell slightly below my expectations, but still managed to engage me enough to make me want to watch it again.