BELIEVE it or not, the summer movie season is just five weeks away. Always pushing the calendar, Hollywood kicks off the annual season of heavily hyped, big-budget extravaganzas with “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” on April 29, a full month before Memorial Day.
Accelerating the trend of the last few summers, the studios hope to find ready-made audiences for lots of sequels, such as “XXX: State of the Union” and the “Star Wars” wrap-up; remakes, like “The War of the Worlds” and “Herbie: Fully Loaded”; and recyclings of TV shows that include “Bewitched,” “The Honeymooners” and “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
Besides the former Mr. and Mrs. Cruise – in separate movies – stars twinkling through the warm-weather months will include Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (“Mr. and Mrs. Smith”), Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger (“Cinderella Man”) and Adam Sandler and Burt Reynolds in a remake of Reynolds’ “The Longest Yard.”
Here’s a critical look at the trailers for eight of the most eagerly anticipated summer releases, rated from O to 4 suns.
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
[**] (Two suns)
Opens: July 15
Stars: Johnny Depp, Peter Highmore
The pitch: Young Charlie is given a tour hosted by Willie Wonka; remake.
Trailer review: Pretty sticky Day-Glo visuals, coated in syrupy music. Depp looks cool nonetheless.
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
[****] (Four suns)
Opens: June 29
Stars: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning
The pitch: Evil aliens invade New Jersey; remake.
Trailer review: Director Steven Spielberg excitingly melds father-daughter bonding with a palpable sense of dread, culminating in a bridge collapse. Looks huge.
CINDERELLA MAN
[***] (Three suns)
Opens: June 3
Stars: Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger
The pitch: The rise of Depression-era boxer James Braddock.
Trailer review: Seabiscuit on two legs: “When the country was on its knees, he brought America to its feet.”
BEWITCHED
[*** 1/2] (Three and one-half suns)
Opens: June 24
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell
The pitch: Insecure actor cast in a TV remake of “Betwitched” insists on an unknown to play Samantha – and it turns out she’s a real witch.
Trailer review: Genuinely hilarious. Kidman twitches her nose charmingly, but the movie centers on Farrell, who complains the original Darren was replaced – and nobody noticed.
FANTASTIC FOUR
[* 1/2] (One and one-half suns)
Opens: July 8
Stars: Michael Chiklis, Jessica Alba
The pitch: Four astronauts become superheroes after a trip into space.
Trailer review: Very generic-looking special effects and situations. Yawn.
STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH
[***] (Three suns)
Opens: May 19
Stars: Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen
The pitch: Anakin Skywalker completes his journey to becoming Darth Vader.
Trailer review: Deja vu all over again – light-saber battles and spaceship battles. Quick editing, with almost 100 shots in three minutes. And a closing image of Darth Vader. No surprises, but the trailer has its moments and a built-in audience.
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
[* 1/2] (One and one-half suns)
Opens: April 29
Stars: Sam Rockwell, Mos Def
The pitch: With the help of an alien, a man escapes Earth, as it’s blown up to for a cosmic freeway.
Trailer review: Unfocused slapstick mayhem doesn’t sell the premise; assumes familiarity with the book it’s based on.
BATMAN BEGINS
[** 1/2] (Two and one-half stars)
Opens: June 17
Stars: Christian Bale, Liam Neeson
The pitch: The Dark Knight’s beginnings, and his trip to London to battle an archvillain.
Trailer review: Neeson doing the mentor thing again, much swinging through the air – and no sign of Michael Caine’s Alfred the Butler. Ho hum.
