THE DARK KNIGHT
(press photo)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart
In 2005, Commissioner Gordon told Batman that a new evil had emerged in Gotham City. This villain had robbed and murdered and, according to Gordon, had “a taste for the theatrical.” At that moment, the Commish handed Batman a Joker playing card and The Dark Knight proclaimed, “I’ll look into it.”
Following that final scene of “Batman Begins,” no one could have forecast that Heath Ledger (as Joker) had the potential be one of the darkest, most disturbed movie villains ever – a reinvention of the distinctly cartoonish versions portrayed by Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson – or that it would be his last starring role. A career defining performance, perhaps.
In this sequel, Batman (Bale) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart) fight the crazed clown over control of the city. Both men find that they must resort to unconventional means to defeat Joker, and find themselves questioning their own morals, walking the line between hero and vigilante. One will be victorious. The other will find out how “two-faced” he really is.

HANCOCK
Director: Peter Berg
Cast: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, Johnny Galecki
Will Smith is untouchable in July – “Independence Day,” “Men In Black,” “Men In Black II,” “Bad Boys II” and “I, Robot.” He’s never released a box office bomb in July, although “Wild Wild West,” which was released on June 30, came really close. His next blockbuster, “Hancock,” has major franchise potential and lands Smith in the title role as a lazy, alcoholic, homeless superhero who is both literally and self-destructive. In an attempt to revamp Hancock’s image, a publicist (Bateman) takes him as a client but gets more than he bargained for.

HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor
Based on the Dark Horse Comics series, “Hellboy” was only a moderate success at the box office but was a critical hit, particularly because of the imaginative direction of Guillermo del Toro, who reportedly turned down directing the epic “Halo” to do a sequel. The red warrior (Perlman) and his cohorts, Liz Sherman (Blair) and Abe Sapien (Jones), take a break from fighting Nazis to save the world when a broken peace treaty causes a dark leader of the underworld and his army of mythical creatures to invade Earth.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH
(press photo)
Director: Eric Brevig
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem
Just when you thought Brendan Fraser was gone, he comes crawling back like Jason Voorhees during a summer camp panty party. He’ll helm yet another “The Mummy” sequel next month. This month, he lands a cushy role in this family-friendly (and the first exclusively 3-D) release based on the Jules Verne novel of the same name. Fraser’s scientist character and his nephew (Hutcherson) use the book, as well as an Icelandic guide (Briem), to travel through Earth’s core, where they’ll discover an unseen world.

KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN GIRL
Director: Patricia Rozema
Cast: Abigail Breslin, Chris O’Donnell, Julia Ormond, Stanley Tucci
In the realm of toy-based movies, the world needs an American Girl movie about as much as it needed a Bratz movie. You didn’t know there was a Bratz movie? Exactly. Based on one of the series of historical 18-inch dolls, “Kit Kittredge” stars Abigail Breslin (“Little Miss Sunshine”) as the title character, who is pretty much a Goody Two-shoes. Kit takes in hobos, feeds stray animals and still makes time to be a budding newspaper reporter. When Kit’s family is robbed, she must exonerate her friends and find the real culprit.

THE LONGSHOTS
Director: Fred Durst
Cast: Ice Cube, Keke Palmer, Matt Craven, Tasha Smith
Take a moment, if you will, to ponder over the director of this film. Yes, unfortunately, it is that Fred Durst. Then consider the gems Ice Cube has starred in over the years, such as “First Sunday,” “Are We Done Yet?,” “XXX: State of the Union,” “Torque” and “All About the Benjamins.” It’s sad to think that these two may ruin the true story of Jasmine Plummer (Palmer), the first girl to play Pop Warner football. But I suppose they deserve a chance. After all, who thought an Aerosmith/Run-D.M.C. collaboration would work out?

MAMMA MIA!
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Cast: Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth
No movie trailer in recent memory is as cringe-inducing as the one for this gaudy ABBA-laced movie musical. The stage show on which it is based is, however, one of the most successful musicals in history. The story revolves around Sophie (Seyfried), a young girl preparing for her wedding on a fictional Greek island, who invites three of her mother’s (Streep) ex-boyfriends to the ceremony in hopes of discovering which is her biological father. Unfortunately, Sophie’s plan goes awry and threatens to ruin her big day.

MEET DAVE
(press photo)
Director: Brian Robbins
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Elizabeth Banks, Gabrielle Union, Ed Helms
The original title for this probable flop was “Starship Dave.” I can only surmise that they changed it to dissuade comparisons to Eddie Murphy’s outer-space disaster “The Adventures of Pluto Nash.” Let’s meet Dave. Dave (Murphy) is an inch-and-a-half-tall alien sent to Earth in a ship that looks like a taller, human-sized version of himself. Captain Dave’s mission to gather info that can save his home planet is put in jeopardy when he falls for a humanoid, despite the fact that his totally hot Lieutenant (Union) is more his size.

SPACE CHIMPS
Director: Kirk DeMicco
Cast: (voices of) Andy Samberg, Cheryl Hines, Patrick Warburton, Jeff Daniels
Fox takes a rare trip into the realm of animation with this delightfully original-looking film. Three chimps, Ham III (Samberg), Luna (Hines) and Titan (Warburton), are sent into space to retrieve a lost NASA probe. (Ham, for those of you who don’t know, was the first chimp sent into space.) Ham’s fictional grandson takes a left turn at Albuquerque and winds up on an uncharted planet under the tyrannical rule of the evil Zartog (Daniels). It’s up to these three furry astronauts to save the planet from Zartog and make it home in one piece.

STEP BROTHERS
Director: Adam McKay
Cast: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Mary Steenburgen, Richard Jenkins
Will Ferrell gets another shot at regaining the R-rated glory he claimed in “Old School” after failing miserably with “Semi-Pro.” This time he brings the hilarious John C. Reilly and super writer/producer/director Judd Apatow along for the ride. Ferrell and Reilly play grown men who still live with their single parents (Steenburgen and Jenkins, respectively). Life becomes a little cramped, however, when the duo’s parents get married, leading to all kinds of shenanigans. And that’s the way they all became the Brady Bunch.

THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE
(press photo)
Director: Chris Carter
Cast: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet, Xzibit
Considering how humungous “The X-Files” series was, it’s surprising how under the radar this movie is flying. This movie will be true to where the television series left off (albeit years later in the “Files” world), exploring topics such as the relationship between Agent Mulder (Duchovny) and Scully (Anderson), as well as their mysterious child. And while plot details are still closely guarded, it has been said that this movie will be mostly independent from any previous storyline. Therefore, non-fans (like me) can still enjoy the goodness.

THE SCREENING ROOM
WITH DAVID ONDA

Every month, resident Fly film geek David Onda disappears into a super-secret underground movie lair for VIP viewings of the illest
upcoming box office releases.

He praises. He pummels. He’s paid in popcorn.

GET SMART
(press photo)
Release date: In theaters now
Runtime: 110 mins
Rated: PG-13
Director: Peter Segal
Cast: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Alan Arkin, Dwayne Johnson, Terence Stamp

Forty-three years after the original Mel Brooks spy-spoofing series debuted on NBC, “Get Smart” makes the jump to the big screen and proves to be smart-er than ever.

Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway shine as Maxwell Smart (Agent 86) and Agent 99, respectively, the only two members of a secret government agency called CONTROL whose true identities have not been stolen by an evil crime syndicate called KAOS.

With no other choice, The Chief (Alan Arkin) benches his star agents, including Agent 23 (Johnson, a.k.a. “The Rock”), and sends Agent 86, his top data analyst, and Agent 99, his fresh-faced veteran, to uncover a KAOS plot to harvest nuclear weapons.

Fans of the 1960s series, starring Don Adams as Agent 86 and Barbara Feldon as Agent 99, will be pleasantly surprised by the number of call-backs, including the series’ opening phone booth sequence, the handy-dandy shoe phone, the red Volkswagen Karmann Ghia convertible and a plethora of classic lines.

While Smart is written as a much more capable agent than he was in the series, Carell accurately captures the same bumbling execution without resorting to cliché slapstick. Other genius casting decisions include Johnson as Agent 23 (a new character), Bill Murray as the well-hidden Agent 13, “Borat” alumnus Ken Davitian as KAOS henchman Shtarker, James Caan as The President and Patrick Warburton as Hymie, the android.

Oddly enough, the breakthrough actor in this film is Dalip Sing, better know as former WWE World Heavyweight Champion The Great Khali. The seven-foot, three-inch Indian wrestler is curiously lovable (a la Andre the Giant in “The Princess Bride”) as KAOS’ muscle.
Besides “Iron Man,” “Get Smart” is the most satisfying film I’ve seen in theaters this year. It is smartly written, smartly cast and smartly acted with loads of action to boot.

Would you believe that I am going to give this film 1,000 stars? Would you believe that I am going to give it 50 stars? How about 10 stars and a handshake?

MY SEAT. MY POPCORN. MY OPINION.
4 out of 5 stars

-by David Onda