The Daily O’Collegian

The summer season for movies starts earlier each year.

1. “Iron Man”

This year the first summer blockbuster, Iron Man, was released before many had time to flip their calendars to May.

Funnyman director John Favreau wanted to cast a newcomer for the role of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, in the first of a planned trilogy based on the beloved comic book. Instead he cast Robert Downey Jr. because of real-life connections with the character of Tony Stark and to give the troubled actor a chance for a comeback.

Favreau also decided against writing a screenplay with dialogue. Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges improvised those cheesy lines we all love to hate. Jeff Bridges was probably the best character of the movie and he looked incredible with the shaved head and full beard.

The special effects are good enough to get by and the action is good in the beginning.

Then, Iron Man follows the path of recent superhero movies like Spider Man 3 and Fantastic Four. A good start turns sour with an attempt to catch the “growth” of the character. We have a semidramatic build-up to an unsatisfying final battle.

The best part of the movie comes after the end credits. If you didn’t see the end, go find it or ask someone who did. It will likely change your life.

2. “Prince Caspian”

The most anticipated children’s movie of the summer and the next big blockbuster, “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” was released two weeks later.

“Prince Caspian” is the second in the Narnia Chronicles after the tremendous and unexpected success of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was released three years ago.

“Prince Caspian” seems to have many problems as a follow up to “The Lion.” Maybe it buckled under the pressure of living up to the first movie. “Caspian” fails to capture the magic of the legendary fairy tale expressed in the books and first movie.

It is missing the beauty and innocence of the first movie. “Caspian” is a dark, strikingly violent movie that seems to attempt to follow in the footsteps of “Lord of the Rings” rather than establishing its own style. Put simply, “Caspian” tries to be epic rather than magical.

Many of the action scenes look cut and pasted directly from Lord of the Rings. “Caspian” does nothing to set itself apart as its predecessor did. It is certainly devoid of the innocent magic created in the first.

Disney blamed the lack of success on a poor release date slated in the middle of the month when school is not out yet for kids across the country. Disney believes had it released “Caspian” in the summer months, it would have been astronomically more successful.

While Prince Caspian lasted 13 days before taking in $100 million, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” wrangled $126 million in its four-day weekend release.

3. “Indiana Jones”

Jones is easily the most successful movie of the summer as fans of the original trilogy felt obligated to see Indy’s return.

For the most part, Indy does not disappoint aside from a few ludicrous plot developments and lackluster special effects. The major thing that rings true to the original series is the use of stunt men rather than the use of CGI.

“Indiana Jones” has all the charm of the original series from the ‘80s including Karen Allen’s return as Indy’s former lover and newbie Shia LaBeouf who needs Indy to save his mom.

Harrison Ford is simply too old for this and it is hard to comprehend why Spielberg and Lucas decided to resurrect the championed series. At some points, he appears too feeble to move. Instead of the great hand-to-hand fights with enemy Nazis, Spielberg puts Jones in car fights throughout most of the movie. The original series did feature Indy fighting in vehicles, but this one relies on it a bit too much.

Other than that and the ridiculous ending, “Indiana Jones” follows the trilogy mostly well including the same humor and awesome punch noises. What is hard to understand is where the movie turns in the end. Lucas cooked up a fantasy ending for the explanation of the crystal skull that really seems forced and a bit too much.

“Indiana Jones” is still the best movie of the summer so far, but if you can pick only one, wait for “The Dark Knight” at the end of July, which features Christian Bale in his second role as Batman and Heath Ledger in his final film as the creepy and evil Joker.