Future Films - May 2008

(May 2) Marvel's latest blockbuster adaptation taps cult comic hero Iron Man, played by the superbly acerbic Robert Downey Jr. The deal with Iron Man is that, like Batman, his powers derive not from superhuman ability but rather from an exceptional brain that turns technology into power. Directed by Jon Favreau (Made, Elf, Zathura), Iron Man tells how terrorists order Tony Stark (Downey) to build a missile for them; Stark instead builds a powered exoskeleton to make his escape, which he later improves. Gwyneth Paltrow is his secretary (!); Terrence Howard is a pilot and friend; Jeff Bridges plays a villain. In development for 18 years, Iron Man surpasses the basics of the genre with a smart look and a strong lead performance. Verdict: Go.

(May 9) The Wachowski brothers, who created the Matrix films, have turned to adapting the 1960s Japanese anime series Speed Racer into a live-action, family-friendly feature film. The Wachowskis and their partners, including demolitions expert Joel Silver, seem to have been aiming to capture and exaggerate the cartoon's frenetic visual style, enough to make Charlie's Angels look like Driving Miss Daisy. During the futuristic auto racing scenes the star, Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild) is submerged in CGI; Christina Ricci, as love interest Trixie, seems to be rooting him on from a different movie. John Goodman and Susan Sarandon play the parents; Matthew Fox is Speed's rival, Racer X. Fans of Korean pop take note: Rain has a cameo role.

(May 16) After being bumped from Christmas release, the second Narnia adaptation has finally arrived to high anticipation. Some Narnia fans are apprehensive, since there are deviations from C.S. Lewis's novel; but more moviegoers will be drawn in by the charismatic young Ben Barnes (young Dunstan in Stardust) as the prince -- especially those uninspired by the four leads in the first film, here subordinated to Caspian's story in a Narnia thousands of years after their last adventures. Director Andrew Adamson has deliberately made Caspian darker and more dangerous than in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which is most welcome: The first film was a gorgeous dream but not always viscerally engaging. The spring's must-see fantasy film.

(May 22) It's been in development hell since 1989, but perhaps we can be grateful: not only is Indy a slightly sager character than the wry, redblooded young professor we first saw in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the franchise itself seems older and wiser. Director Steven Spielberg, co-writer George Lucas, and Harrison Ford have collaborated to make an Indy film driven by story and character, though there's still plenty of adrenaline and eye-popping action in the Soviet-era adventure. Sidekick Shia LaBeouf may be an insurance policy to bring in younger viewers (a la Justin Long in Live Free or Die Hard), but LaBeouf knows his stuff; also in the cast are Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, and Jim Broadbent. Verdict: Opening night.