Where Has All the Character Gone?

This summer hurt.
Maybe it's because last summer was amazing for movies, or. the movies I enjoyed. "Iron Man", "The Incredible Hulk", "Hellboy II", "The Dark Knight", I even enjoyed "Death Race". Other ones were good as well, most notably "Wall-E". 2008 had good movies. Until the summer ended.
"The Day the Earth Stood Still", "Quantum of Solace", "The Spirit"; disappointing was the word I used to describe them. I was hoping that the change of the year would refresh the theaters. But "Next" and "Watchmen" came and lead to decent but forgettable movies. And the summer was worst of all.
"Wolverine" and "Terminator Salvation" were bland and unneeded. "Star Trek" was fun but to fast for it's own good. "Transformers II" doesn't need more than a mention. The only movie I walked away enjoying was "District 9".
Why has this been such a drought in quality films? The problem (for me, you might have enjoyed these movies) is that these films are getting to fast to enjoy and the characters are suffering because of it. Endings are becoming darker, while being safer and safer.
Let's take "Terminator Salvation" as my example. Out of all these movies, I was looking forward to this film the most. The preview made it look like it was going to turn the "Terminator" films on their heads and create something new and amazing. But then the movie started and didn't stop for a breathe once. We are to care for characters we never get to know, and (spoiler warning) we lose the only character who is worth anything. The movie even teases us with an ending that would have been bold and unexpected, but returns the safe status as soon as it can.
But I digress. The real problem I am seeing in movies lately is true care for character, thus creating less investment and, in turn, less dilemma. Why should we care that our character is trying to get home when we don't care about the character here and now. Why should we care if the hero is about to die, when he's been dead throughout the whole film.
I enjoyed "District 9" because I never knew what was going to happen, and I actually cared for the heroes. To think that Christopher would not make it safe to his ship was a scary thought, because I wanted him to succeed. But, had I not liked the character, it wouldn't have mattered how many twist and turns the plot took.
I have been complaining about the speed of films as well. "Lord of the Rings" is a slow movie series, especially once we bought the extended editions. But why do we sit through a three hour and more film that moves slower than the one starring Vin Diesel? Because we care about the character. We will forfeit time if the characters are likable. We will sit and watch long bits of dialogue if the ones speaking are ones we want to hear. Christian Bale as John Conner is not someone we want to hear. Samuel Jackson as the Octopus is not someone we want to hear.
"Wolverine" suffered because it had characters we liked, or wanted to like, but didn't spend time with them. Who cares if Wade Wilson is made into a monster if we didn't get to know him early on? We know we should like Gambit, but the movie never shows us why.
Now the summer is over and the movies I had hoped would be amazing have failed. We move to the fall and I see little hope in the future. Next summer has the return of Tony Stark in "Iron Man II" but what else is coming along. If we keep sacrificing character for action and here-now-gone plot, we are going to have very sad stories coming our way.