Summer is the time of popcorn entertainment at the multiplex. Rule of thumb from mid-May through August: You’re not going to get much sustenance out of the biggest blockbusters.
This year might be different. Already, “Iron Man” has emerged as both a box-office smash and the year’s best-reviewed film so far. In the wings: the first “Indiana Jones” picture in nearly two decades (with Harrison Ford darn spry as Indy) and “The Dark Knight,” the sequel to “Batman Returns.”
Want something for the kids? How about “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” or Pixar’s “Wall-E”? For comedy, the buzz is good on Judd Apatow’s “Pineapple Express.” For romance and urban sexual angst, try the film version of “Sex and the City.” Also promising: Will Smith’s “Hancock,” with its sardonic take on superhero films.
It looks like a solid summer, with these films the most intriguing:
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” opening May 16.
The basics: The Pevensie children from 2005’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” have been away from Narnia for only a year in their time, but 1,300 years have gone by in the magical land of the White Witch and Aslan the lion. When the Pevensies return, they are swept up in a rebellion against the despot Miraz, led by Prince Caspian (newcomer Ben Barnes).
Heat factor: High. The first “Narnia” film took in a robust $292 million and garnered mostly strong reviews (while neatly avoiding writer C.S.
Lewis’ more obvious Christian allegories). Getting things right twice in a row can be tricky, but there’s no question that anticipation for the film is high.
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” opening May 22.
The basics: Nearly 20 years after “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” the man with the fedora and the bullwhip is back in action with the principal players — Harrison Ford, creator-producer George Lucas and director Steven Spielberg — in place. The film does not hide the fact that Ford will be 66 in July, so the tale is set in the 1950s, with Communist spies and a touch of Area 51-style paranoia. Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Indy’s main squeeze in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf), a greaser-biker who may be Indy’s love child, also play roles.

mercurynews.com


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