Mickey Rourke’s energy-whip-wielding villain isn’t the only one hoping to put a dent in Tony Stark’s armour. So are the ogres, vampires and spies starring in the summer’s most hotly anticipated releases. Iron Man 2 is already expected to rocket to one of the biggest openings in box-office history. Can anyone catch him? Well, aside from Buzz Lightyear? Here are other seven films that will certainly try.
Inception
In a summer of sequels, remakes and superheroes, here’s a novelty: An original film shrouded in secrecy. Director Christopher Nolan follows up his $1-billion-grossing The Dark Knight with this science-fiction thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio. What does DiCaprio play? Near as we know, he’s a high-tech corporate thief who enters the minds of others to swipe their valuable ideas. But when you’re slipping in and out of other people’s dreams, how can you tell what’s real and what’s not? In addition to DiCaprio, the cast includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page and Marion Cotillard. The question is, can Nolan’s highly cerebral (some might say chilly) brand of tech noir connect with mainstream audiences when it’s not disguised as a comic-book adventure? (July 16)
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Let the squealing — or depending on your age and gender, caterwauling-in-pain — commence. The third instalment in the franchise about a mortal teenager (Kristen Stewart) and her sad-sack vampire boyfriend (Robert Pattinson) arrives seven months after the last sequel, New Moon. This time out, Edward and werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner) have to set aside their differences to protect Stewart’s Bella from multiple threats, including vengeful red-headed blood-sucker Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard, replacing the unceremoniously turfed Rachelle Lefevre). Although the presence of director David Slade (30 Days of Night) suggests a tougher, bloodier Twilight, the footage we’ve seen suggests more of the doe-eyed same. (June 30)
Robin Hood
Originally this umpteenth revision of the Robin Hood mythos was going to be entitled Nottingham and star Russell Crowe as a sympathetic Sheriff of Nottingham opposite a villainous Hood (possibly Christian Bale). Intriguing, yes? Unfortunately, that’s not the film Crowe and director Ridley Scott decided to make. Instead, the script was rewritten, the fascinating role-reversal scuttled and Crowe cast as the legendary archer who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. Never mind that, at 46, Crowe seems kind of old to be playing an upstart Robin Hood. Obviously for both Crowe and Scott, this is a chance to revisit the same medieval territory as their most successful collaboration. But will Robin Hood prove more Gladiator — or Kingdom of Heaven, the Scott-directed epic that buried Orlando Bloom’s career? (May 14)
Knight and Day
Tom Cruise flirted with numerous projects — including a Robert Ludlum thriller directed by David Cronenberg — before settling on this romantic action-caper about a girl-next-door (Cameron Diaz) swept into a cloak-and-dagger yarn by a rogue secret agent (Cruise). And, after the trailer, it’s easy to see why Cruise made the decision he did: He gets to play a super-spy AND an unhinged wacko, enabling him to mock both the sofa-hopping public persona he’s suffered through the past few years, as well as his most recurring archetype: Two-fisted maverick. Everything else here seems fairly ordinary — from Diaz’s bubbly fish-out-of-water to the globe-trotting action — but if it allows Cruise to put the past behind him, it could solidify his comeback. (June 25)
Salt
Speaking of movies that almost starred Cruise, when he bailed on this espionage drama, the main character received a sex change to accommodate Angelina Jolie. She plays a CIA operative accused of being a Russian sleeper agent. While most female stars stumble while dodging bullets and outrunning explosions, Jolie (Wanted, Mr. and Mrs. Smith) is one of the few that audiences will accept firing a machine gun and blowing stuff up. Behind the camera is director Philip Noyce, the Australian who helmed Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, but also such terrific, under-seen fare as Dead Calm, The Quiet American and Rabbit Proof-Fence. (July 23)
Sex and the City 2
The first Sex and the City movie grossed $400 million worldwide, guaranteeing a sequel, regardless of how out-of-plot the creators might be. Case in point: Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie finds life with Big (Chris Noth) a drag, so she jaunts off with her girlfriends to Abu Dhabi and, wouldn’t you know it, happens to run into John Corbett. Say, didn’t fans already see this — minus the Middle East — during the series? At this point, Sex and the City most closely resembles the Star Trek film franchise, circa the mid-1980s when, despite their advanced age, the crew of the Enterprise was still saving the universe, propped up by the loyalty and adoration of its fans. (May 27)
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
With the Pirates of the Caribbean dry-docked until 2011, Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer are hoping this fantasy-period adventure can fill the void. Similarly, Jake Gyllenhaal probably wouldn’t mind a franchise to call his own. In it, he plays a royal who teams up with a princess (Clash of the Titans’ Gemma Arterton) to prevent a despot from attaining a dagger that can unleash the “sands of time” and destroy the world. Problematically, though, what was the last good film you saw based on a video game? (May 28)
