Continuing yesterday's rundown of the top movies to keep your eyes open for this summer...
POSEIDONA remake of the 1972 classic The Poseidon Adventure about a luxury ocean liner that is capsized by a freak wave, leaving the passengers to fight for survival inside the overturned ship...
What's Good? Director Wolfgang Petersen is no stranger to water -- having directed Das Boot and The Perfect Storm. The cast is also very impressive and includes: Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss. Of course, the premise is tailor-made for some high-octane summer popcorn fun with fabulous special effects that will make Titanic look pedestrian...
What's Bad? Well, these movies can be quite formulaic, so no prized for guessing the plot mechanics along the way, but that's a minor quibble. Oh, it stars Stacy Ferguson from the Black Eyed Peas -- cause for alarm? Perhaps. It's also very short (approx. 1hr30) which might lose the movie its epic scope...
DMD HEAT FACTOR: The summer is made for these types of movies. The recent trailer has done nothing but impress, although test screenings have suggested it's quite mediocre...
STORMBREAKERAnthony Horowitz's best-selling Stormbreaker novels reach the big-screen, with 14-year-old Alex Rider dragged into the world of espionage after his Uncle Ian is killed by a top assassin...
What's Good? The books are fundamentally James Bond Junior, and we've already learned that such premises do good business at the box-office (Spy Kids, Agent Cody Banks). Stormbreaker also has a fantastic cast -- Ewan McGregor, Mickey Rourke, Bill Nighy, Andy Serkis, Alicia Silverstone and... er, Jimmy Carr!
What's Bad? Stormbreaker may be successful in print, but the premise isn't anything new and will need to deliver a style other "child spy thrillers" haven't. If treated correctly, this could be the movie Agent Cody Banks wanted to be, and Spy Kids could have been if Robert Rodriguez didn't have visual Tourrettes.
DMD HEAT FACTOR: There's nothing to suggest this will be a massive hit, but it should do reasonable business amongst its demographic in the summer holidays.
SNAKES ON A PLANEA mob assassin plots to kill an eye-witness of a crime by releasing 500 snakes aboard the passenger jet he's taking to the trial...
What's Good? There are snakes. On the plane. Already an internet cult hit, the pure cheesiness of the title and premise has assured legendary status months before its release. It also stars Samuel L. Jackson in full-on "The Man" mode.
What's Bad? Everything. That's the point... and that's what makes it good.
DMD HEAT FACTOR: It's box-office potential is debatable. The mainstream will treat it with the same derision as Anaconda, most likely... but will the overwhelming online support make Snakes On A Plane a surprise sleeper hit? I think so.
SOUTHLAND TALESA mind-bending thriller set in Los Angeles, 2008 A.D, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Seann William Scott...
What's Good? The above may sound idiotic, but this is the Donnie Darko follow-up from writer-director Richard Kelly. So expect good things. There are already a sequence of prequel graphic novels plannned, leaked concept art had fans clamouring, and the plot is still shrouded in secrecy. Sure to be the thinking man's sci-fi movie of the summer...
What's Bad? The cast are a mixed bag. The Rock is very charismatic in real-life, but hasn't really had a career-defining role yet. Sarah Michelle Gellar is still trying to escape Buffy, while Scott tends to act like American Pie's Stifler in 95% of every movie he's in.
DMD HEAT FACTOR: The fact Kelly is behind the lens should be reason enought to go see this. One of the year's most ready-made cult smashes.
SUPERMAN RETURNSAfter 6 years away from Earth, Superman... well, returns... only to find Lois Lane has a boyfriend and son, and arch nemesis Lex Luthor has another diabolic scheme in mind...
What's Good? It's Superman! The daddy of superheroes makes a belated return to the cinema after Christopher Reeves' tenure ended in the 80's. Bryan Singer is behind the comeback, fresh from the successful X-Men movies, with X-Men II's writers continuing the adventures of Supes directly from Superman II. Effectively, this movie ignores the execrable Superman III and IV, but adheres to the best Reeves movies. Special effects will truly make you believe a man can fly, and the incomparable Kevin Spacey should make a perfect Luthor...
What's Bad? Well, the casting of Brandon Routh will either prove be a master-strock for Singer or the project's achilles heel. It was definitely the right decision to go with an unknown actor, and Routh is a dead ringer for Christopher Reeves' Clark Kent... but his Superman isn't quite as perfectly realized. It's also strange that no footage of Routh actually acting has been released so close to he films premiere. Something to hide, Mr Singer? Anyway, comic-book fans have bemoaned the fact Kate Bosworth is too young to play Lois Lane, while the attempt to reinvent, yet also form a believable sequel to Superman II, could be a tricky balance to get right..
DMD HEAT FACTOR: Hey, it's Superman. This will be huge. Bryan Singer is a trusted filmmaker with superhero material after his X-Men success (which also faced similar fan outcry over casting and costumes) so he should hopefully pull of the same trick...
UNITED 93The dramatised events of Flight 93, one of the passenger jets involved in the September 11th attacks on America...
What's Good? Director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy) doesn't seem to have set out to make an exploitative film, and great care is being taken to treat the situation with the respect it deserved. The fact these events are so recent could elevate them to higher dramatic planes than, say, Pearl Harbor, too...
What's Bad? It could still end up being exploitative and there's no way to know which aspects are fictional or reality. A tricky movie to get right, and one that you may just have to see for yourself...
DMD HEAT FACTOR: Sure to spark controversy - but will audiences go and see for themselves, or be driven away by exploitative claims in the media?
X-MEN IIIThe X-Men franchise continues, with our favourite mutants up against a purported "cure" for mutation, just as the newly resurrected Jean Grey returns to threaten everyone on the planet...
What's Good? Well, X-Men remains the catalyst for the current supehero trend and has already given us one of the greatest examples of the genre in X-Men II. The third, and possibly final, entry in the series will also give us some more mutants in the shape of Kelsey Grammar as Beast, Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut, Ben Foster as Angel, Daniel Cudmore as Colossus, Dania Ramirez as Callisto, Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde and a rumoured appearance by Gambit...
What's Bad? Unfortunately, director Bryan Singer is no longer involved (having departed to work on Superman Returns), so his replacement is Brett Ratner (Rush Hour). Ratner is not a popular choice with fans, to put it mildly, and insiders suggest the rushed production to meet its May release has had a negative effect on the movie's quality. A leaked review of the script has also been met with derision, as it apparently offers nothing new -- merely a rehash of story elements already dealt with previously.
DMD HEAT FACTOR: Despite concerns, it's hard to imagine such a potent franchise going out with a whimper. Okay, so it may not reach the highs of X-Men II, but is Brett Ratner really capable of destroying a franchise?
PIRATES OF THE CARRIBBEAN II: DEAD MAN'S CHESTCaptain Jack is back! This time, Jack finds himself up against Davey Jones and his crew, who have all been merged with underwater creatures...
What's Good? The original was the sleeper hit of summer 2003, primarily thanks to Johnny Depp's fantastic performance (Oscar nominated, too!) The great news is that everyone is back -- Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, together with director Gore Verbinski. Pirates II has also been filmed alongside Pirates III (due for released in 2007), and the increased budgets should ensure even more outrageous supernatural-naurical fun!
What's Bad? Hmmm, well not much to be honest. Personally, I enjoyed the first movie but have never found the need to revisit it. It didn't have many standout sequences, in my opinion, it was just a very solid film with a nice sense of fun and a fabulous performance from Depp. Hopefully Pirates II will give us more rewatchable scenes.
DMD HEAT FACTOR: This is possibly the most no-brainer hit of the summer even before it's been released. There is no reason to worry -- as there are no major cast or crew changes, and the budget has been increased. Previously, studio execs were worried by Depp's performance, but now he's been exalted by Oscar himself, Pirates II should really see him cut loose and dominate the screen!
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE IIITom Cruise is back as IMF Agent Ethan Hunt, this time up against villain Philip Seymour Hoffman who also threatens Hunt's girlfriend Michelle Monaghan...
What's Good? After the unexpected tripe that was M:I-2 from John Woo, things should get back on track with J.J Abrams' involvement as director. Abrams was the creator of TV espionage hit Alias, so knows a thing or two about contemporary spy thrillers. Tom Cruise remains the most bankable star in Hollywood (see last year's War Of The Worlds), and all signs indicate the "team" aspect (missing for most of De Palma's original and absent in Woo's sequel) will make a return -- with Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Laurence Fishburne and Britain's own Simon Pegg on Cruise's side. And, let's not forget, Philip Seymour Hoffman should chew the scenery with far more relish than the limp John Voight and Dougray Scott could ever hope to...
What's Bad? Nothing looks bad, so far. The style and realism indicated from the trailer looks very promising, although the same was said with M:I-2, let's not forget.
DMD HEAT FACTOR: Early word suggests that J.J Abrams has brought his TV Midas Touch to the movies, with a potent, exciting and character-driven slice of spy spills and thrills, given great weight by an on-form Cruise and Hoffman...
