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Which movie tropes came back again and again this summer? Read on for more!

By Kim Morgan
Special to MSN Movies

Toy Takeover

"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"

Remember when we actually played with toys? When we'd take those little plastic ... moreaction figures or transforming cars or Strawberry Shortcake dolls and create our own fantasy worlds in our backyards, where the most high octane special effect involved matches we nicked from our mom's purse? Now those childhood play dates have turned into multibillion-dollar cinematic dreamscapes, put together, quite seriously, by money-hungry studio heads and made, not so seriously, by filmmakers such as Michael Bay ("Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen") and Stephen Sommers ("G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra"). Never mind that both movies received poor reviews, and that many critics (and viewers) viewed their popularity as part of not only the dumbing down of, but also the infantilization of, America, the pictures made boffo box office. And what happens when a trend shows high ticket sales? More of the same. Expect a Lego, Stretch Armstrong and Candy Land movie in the future. No, really, expect all of them -- and more.

(Paramount Pictures)