For Eastern alum Dann Gire, the summer of 2008 was the season of the super hero movie.

And to Gire, no other movie stands a chance against the new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight.”

Gire, who has been a film critic for the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights for 30 years, said its success is due partly to the “nut job” character Bruce Wayne.

“It presents a concept of a hero as one who will not kill unless it’s unavoidable,” Gire said. “(Also,) because of the total vision of the piece as laid out by director and co-writer, and ingenious use of Chicago as Gotham City.”

“The Dark Knight” has surpassed $450 million this summer and led a season dominated by movies geared toward the male demographic.

Box office analyst Chad Hartigan of Exhibitor Relations in Los Angeles said the blockbuster is doing things no film has ever done before at the box office.

“While we expected it to be big, we never thought it would turn into the juggernaut it has and it can probably be attributed to a ‘perfect storm’ of factors all lining up into place,” Hartigan said.

Among those factors is the death of Heath Ledger from an accidental overdose Jan. 22. Critics lauded his performance and that helped “The Dark Knight” become the No. 2 most grossing film in history, behind “Titanic.”

“Guy-humor” vehicles such as Step Brothers also fared well during the summer.

Analyst Jeff Bock said the trend toward guy humor might be a disadvantage, especially in movies like Pineapple Express.

“There is no female presence,” Bock said. “It’s definitely more of a guy comedy which is why it probably won’t gross as much.”

Sophomore dietetics major Amanda Simmons disagrees, saying “Pineapple Express” was her favorite movie of the summer.

“I saw this movie with my boyfriend who was home on leave from the Navy and we both really wanted to see it,” she said. “James Franco was my favorite actor in this movie because I think he played the part very well and not to mention he is good looking.”

One movie geared toward women that premiered this summer was Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.

Karen Heidner, sophomore communication disorder studies major, did not see the movie, but she and a friend made their own traveling shirts.

“My best friend and I have a traveling shirt, and it just came back from South Africa but we didn’t get time to see it due to hectic schedules.”

Heidner said the shirt is blue with the abbreviation “JAKTS” (Jessica and Karen’s Traveling shirt) written on the front. They have owned the shirt for three years.

“We just randomly decided to have a traveling shirt one summer night,” Heidner said. “We got the idea from the movie.”

Not everything released this summer, however, has turned to gold, Gire said.

He said the animated film, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” a precursor to a television show set to debut Oct. 3, could diminish the sci-fi movie’s legacy.

“It is a reminder of just how far a Hollywood icon like George Lucas will go to sell out and diminish the greatness of his original trilogy with Saturday morning sludge like this,” Gire said.

Despite the occasional flops, Gire still says movies are all unique.

“Each film is like a fingerprint; individual and created from different sensibilities and imaginations,” Gire said.