What can fantasy enthusiasts expect to see on movie screens this summer? Quite a few “fantasy-eque” films and lots of “fantasy comedies” — and not nearly enough genuine fantasy.
Still, here are the ones that might be worth checking out, along with a thought or two from TheTorchOnline.com’s frighteningly wise resident Oracle:
May 15: Angels & Demons
Why It’s Fantasy: Ancient, secret societies, palace intrigue, and riddles galore.
The Oracle Says: It’s the same writer and director as the disappointing The Da Vinci Code, which doesn’t bode well. Then again, that writer is an Oscar-winner (for A Beautiful Mind) and that director is Ron Howard. Maybe the second time is the charm. The Oracle thinks the source material is better.
May 22: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Why It’s Fantasy: In this sequel to the 2006 hit Night at the Museum, Ben Stiller goes to the Smithsonian … and the largest museum in the world comes alive.
The Oracle Says: This has “more is better” written all over it. Does that ever work? The movie is chock full of cameo actors who display varying degrees of hamminess, from Amy Adams (as Amelia Earhart) to Jonah Hill, Christopher Guest, Ricky Gervais, Bill Hader, Hank Azaria, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, and Robin Williams. Still, if they all manage to get at least one laugh apiece, that’s more than most comedies these days. And having James Earl Jones return to play the voice of Darth Vadar (on display in the Smithsonian) was brilliant.
June 12th: Imagine That
Why It’s Fantasy: A man with no confidence finds the answers to his problems when he enters his daughter’s imaginary world.
The Oracle Says: For years now, Eddie Murphy has been alternating between respectable supporting turns in quality films and embarrassing, over-the-top performances in horrible, high-concept disasters. But early indications are that this movie may be neither: just a modest, mainstream diversion.
June 19th: $9.99
Why It’s Fantasy: A stop-motion film about a man who pays $9.99 for a book that contains the meaning of life — then tries to share it with his neighbors who all already have their own definitions of happiness.
The Oracle Says: This Australian charmer is an unassuming little hobbit going up against the snarling hoard of unstoppable Hollywood summer behemoths. Can it possibly prevail? Then again, we know how that story turned out in The Lord of the Rings, don’t we?
June 19th: Year One
Why It’s Fantasy: Jack Black stars in this comedy about two hunter-gatherers who refuse to hunt-and-gather. Expelled from the tribe, they go an “epic,” allegedly hilarious quest through the ancient world.
The Oracle Says: Jack Black is a comic genius who has been saddled with sub-par material since The School of Rock — sometimes really sub-par (Be Kind Rewind anyone?). Will this movie be more of the same? Director Harold Ramis is notoriously hit (Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters) and miss (Bedazzled, Meatballs, and, well, everything else he’s ever done).
July 15: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Why It’s Fantasy: Um, duh?
The Oracle Says: There’s nothing the Oracle can say. You’ll be there. The Oracle will too.
July 17th: Land of the Lost
Why It’s Fantasy: It’s an intentionally campy remake of the unintentionally campy 1970s Saturday morning TV series about a man and his family “on a routine expedition” who get swept through an inter-dimensional portal into a (scientifically inaccurate) world of dinosaurs, ape-men, and reptilian creatures called Sleestak.
The Oracle Says: Anyone remember how bad the movie remake of the campy TV show Lost in Space was? The trailer for Land of the Lost makes this movie look even more annoying. (Full disclosure: the Oracle is not a Will Farrell fan.)
August 7th: Cold Souls
Why It’s Fantasy: An emotionally drained man (Paul Giamatti) discovers a facility that can remove and store a person’s soul. After trying to live with his soul on ice, he decides he’d rather rent someone else’s soul — a Russian poet’s perhaps, though that leads to strange visions. When he finally decides he wants his own pea-sized soul back, someone has stolen it and is attempting to sell it on the black market.
The Oracle Says: Is it quirky for quirky’s sake (and pretentious and distracting, a la much Charlie Kaufman), or does it go beyond the clever, attention-getting gimmick? Regardless, the Oracle is highly intrigued.
Scene from Cold Souls
August 14th: The Time Traveler’s Wife
Why It’s Fantasy: A woman is married to a man with a rare genetic disorder that causes him to involuntarily travel through time. The book upon which the movie is based has been notoriously difficult to categorize. Basically, it’s character-based science-fiction/fantasy romance.
The Oracle Says: Often August is the dumping ground for the films that the studios consider dogs. Wife was originally supposed to be released in the fall of 2008, but the studio wanted some reshoots; alas, co-star Eric Bana had shaved his head (for Star Trek), so the director waited for it to grow out, and for a meadow where one scene takes place to return to the season it had originally be shot in.
August 14th: Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea
Why It’s Fantasy: Anime from the creator of Spirited Away, the film tells the story of a mermaid who falls in love with a human boy — but the mermaid’s father will move heaven and hell to keep them apart.
The Oracle Says: The story sounds reminiscent of Hans Christian Andersen’s (and Disney’s) The Little Mermaid, but the style and story are worlds apart. Like Spirited Away, the impressionistic, stream-of-consciousness style won’t work for all American viewers, but Ponyo broke broke box office records in Japan.
Trailer for Ponyo
