MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Hollywood's blockbuster season is upon us. Tom Cruise hanging from a biplane, "Lilo & Stitch" wreaking havoc - in his summer movie preview, our critic Bob Mondello says those films are a pretty good indicator of what else is coming.
BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: The miracle of movies is that they can take you pretty much anywhere.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH")
MAHERSHALA ALI: (As Duncan Kincaid) You put towards Barbados, avoid government patrol, but there aren't that many anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Why's that?
ALI: (As Duncan Kincaid) No one's dumb enough to go where we're going.
MONDELLO: And yet they keep going back.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) This island was the research facility for the original Jurassic Park.
MONDELLO: Of course it was. "Jurassic World: Rebirth" leads a longer-than-usual parade of summer sequels, reboots and remakes. I'll keep going with the sequels. First, they include Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio taking different teaching approaches for a new kid who's being bullied...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "KARATE KID: LEGENDS")
JACKIE CHAN: (As Mr. Han) Ancient way.
RALPH MACCHIO: (As Daniel LaRusso) Miyagi way.
MONDELLO: ...In "Karate Kid: Legends." "Freaky Friday's" body-switching mother and daughter Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan return in "Freakier Friday."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "FREAKIER FRIDAY")
JULIA BUTTERS: (As Harper Coleman, as Anna Coleman) Oh, no, not again.
LINDSAY LOHAN: (As Anna Coleman, as Harper Coleman) What's happening?
BUTTERS: (As Harper Coleman, as Anna Coleman) It's all right, honey.
LOHAN: (As Anna Coleman, as Harper Coleman) Who's in my body?
BUTTERS: (As Harper Coleman, as Anna Coleman) It's OK. It's me, Harp. It's mom.
LOHAN: (As Anna Coleman, as Harper Coleman) Wait. If you're me and I'm you, then who is that?
SOPHIA HAMMONS: (As Lily Davies, as Tess Coleman) I'm Grandma, sweetheart.
LOHAN: (As Anna Coleman, as Harper Coleman, screaming)
MONDELLO: Horror sequels include one from the team that made the rage virus thriller "28 Days Later." They're bringing back Cillian Murphy, their now Oscar-winning original star...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "28 YEARS LATER")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) There were so many dead...
MONDELLO: ...In "28 Years Later."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "28 YEARS LATER")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) ...Infected and non-infected alike.
MONDELLO: And everyone's favorite murderously protective robot returns in "M3GAN 2.0."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "M3GAN 2.0.")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As character) You threatened to rip out my tongue and put me in a wheelchair.
JENNA DAVIS: (As M3gan) I was upset.
MONDELLO: In "Ballerina," the world of John Wick will continue with a female assassin, though Keanu Reeves does show up.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "FROM THE WORLD OF JOHN WICK: BALLERINA")
ANA DE ARMAS: (As Eve) I'm not leaving.
KEANU REEVES: (As John Wick) Your choice.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #5: (As character) Rules.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #6: (As character) And consequences.
MONDELLO: There are also animated sequels aimed at kids, including "The Bad Guys 2"...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE BAD GUYS 2")
SAM ROCKWELL: (As Mr. Wolf) What was that?
CRAIG ROBINSON: (As Mr. Shark) I panicked, OK? I'm a panicker.
MONDELLO: ...And what seems like at least "Smurfs 6"?
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SMURFS")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #7: (As character) I think I just smurfed my pants.
MONDELLO: Different from sequels are reboots, which aim to start franchises over again. Liam Neeson will channel his inner Leslie Nielsen as...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE NAKED GUN")
LIAM NEESON: (As Frank Drebin) Frank Drebin...
MONDELLO: ...In "The Naked Gun."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE NAKED GUN")
NEESON: (As Frank Drebin) ...The new version.
MONDELLO: There's a live action version of the animated classic "How To Train Your Dragon."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #8: (As character) Everything we know about dragons is wrong.
MONDELLO: And of course, it wouldn't be summer without a couple of superhero reboots. Marvel's hoping a fresh cast will make fourth time the charm for a team that's never really caught on with movie audiences.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS")
MARK GATISS: (As Ted Gilbert) Please welcome The Fantastic Four.
MONDELLO: And over in DC's extended universe...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SUPERMAN")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #9: (As character) Superman.
MONDELLO: ...They're welcoming a new man of steel - actor David Corenswet.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SUPERMAN")
DAVID CORENSWET: (As Superman) Hey, buddy - eyes up here.
MONDELLO: "Superman" is the first film in what's being billed as a more cohesive and interconnected DC Universe. Suppose we'll see about that.
And then there are some wholesale remakes - call them homages to genre classics. Spike Lee has reworked Akira Kurosawa's police procedural "High And Low" as "Highest 2 Lowest," starring Denzel Washington.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "HIGHEST 2 LOWEST")
DENZEL WASHINGTON: (As David King) The hard times will come from the good times, the hard times will come from success, the hard times will come from the money, and the mayhem follows.
MONDELLO: And the satire "The Roses" recasts the marital mayhem of 1989's "The War Of The Roses" with Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE ROSES")
OLIVIA COLMAN: (As Ivy) You're a bottomless pit of need.
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH: (As Theo, vocalizing).
COLMAN: (As Ivy, screaming).
You're just making me madder.
MONDELLO: If all this recycling is making you madder, rest assured there will also be original stories, like "F1," a sort of "Top Gun: Maverick" on wheels, with aging driver Brad Pitt sparring with a hotshot rookie.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "F1")
DAMSON IDRIS: (As Joshua Pearce) When was the last time you won a race?
BRAD PITT: (As Sonny Hayes) Sunday - Daytona.
IDRIS: (As Joshua Pearce) Oh, I'm sorry. I meant Formula 1.
PITT: (As Sonny Hayes) Oh, I'm sorry. Then, same as you.
IDRIS: (As Joshua Pearce, laughing).
MONDELLO: And this being summer, a lot of the new movies are comedies, say one where Rebel Wilson is her best friend's maid of honor.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BRIDE HARD")
ANNA CAMP: (As Betsy) You guys, tonight is going to be the best bachelorette party ever...
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, screaming).
CAMP: (As Betsy)...Because it was organized by my oldest friend, Sam.
MONDELLO: The problem is, Sam's job keeps getting in the way. She's a secret agent. The film is called "Bride Hard."
Other films that mix chuckles with chaos, Wes Anderson's latest weirdness "The Phoenician Scheme"...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME")
BENICIO DEL TORO: (As Zsa-zsa Korda) Help yourself to a hand grenade.
MONDELLO: ...About a businessman, his daughter who's a nun, and assorted assassins.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #10: (As character) Why are you shooting my ceiling?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #11: (As character) This is a robbery on behalf of...
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #10: (As character) No, I understand that. I'm asking about my ceiling. You idiots are destroying a magnificent nightclub.
MONDELLO: Ethan Coen's smalltown mystery "Honey Don't!" matches up detective Margaret Qualley and pastor Chris Evans.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "HONEY DON'T!")
CHRIS EVANS: (As Reverend Drew) Why is a private investigator looking into a traffic fatality?
MARGARET QUALLEY: (As Honey O'Donahue) What can you tell me about...?
EVANS: (As Reverend Drew) Do you drink?
QUALLEY: (As Honey O'Donahue) Heavily. It's a point of pride.
EVANS: (As Reverend Drew) Should you and I discuss this over a drink?
QUALLEY: (As Honey O'Donahue) Tuesdays I dry out.
EVANS: (As Reverend Drew) Today's Wednesday.
QUALLEY: (As Honey O'Donahue) Today is Tuesday.
MONDELLO: In "I Don't Understand You"...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #12: (As character) Chin-chin.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #13: (As character) Chin-chin.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #14: (As character) Chin-chin.
MONDELLO: ...A gay couple adopting a child in Italy.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #15: (As character) Can't see a thing. There's no power.
MONDELLO: ...Run into problems that go way beyond translation.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #16: (As character) Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #15: (As character) It was an accident.
MONDELLO: And in "SKETCH," a "Gremlins"-ish, "Jumanji"-like fantasy, a dad has to figure out what to do when his daughter's drawings come to life.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SKETCH")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #17: (As character) You have to promise not to freak out.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #18: (As character) I won't.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #17: (As character) This is the Blood Eater.
(SOUNDBITE OF SNARLING)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #19: (As character) Amber drew that?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #18: She's working through some stuff.
MONDELLO: Less mayhem-centered comedies include Ari Aster's satire "Eddington", which pits conservative sheriff Joaquin Phoenix...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "EDDINGTON")
JOAQUIN PHOENIX: (As character) People of Eddington like guns.
MONDELLO: ...Against liberal New Mexico mayor Pedro Pascal...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "EDDINGTON")
PEDRO PASCAL: (As character) Fighting the pandemic.
MONDELLO: ...To mock all sides of the political divide over COVID. Pascal is also in the comic romance "Materialists" from "Past Lives" director Celine Song, as a guy so perfect that professional New York matchmaker Dakota Johnson can't believe she's found him.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MATERIALISTS")
DAKOTA JOHNSON: (As Lucy) You are what we call a unicorn - an impossible fantasy.
MONDELLO: Her ex, played by Chris Evans, is less impressed.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MATERIALISTS")
EVANS: (As John) Not going to marry him, are you?
JOHNSON: (As Lucy) Why not?
EVANS: (As John) 'Cause he's good-looking and rich. Probably doesn't have roommates.
MONDELLO: There's also the heartfelt comedy "Everything's Going To Be Great," which follows a family as it tries to start a theater company in New Jersey.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #20: (As character) Good things are coming, boys. I can feel it in my bones.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #21: (As character) Maybe that's arthritis.
MONDELLO: A number of more serious films also focus on family, not always in a positive light. The western "Unholy Trinity," for instance, set in 1870s Montana.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "UNHOLY TRINITY")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #22: (As character) Welcome to Trinity.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #23: (As character) Sheriff, my name is Henry Broadway.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #22: (As character) That would make your father Isaac Broadway. Let me give you a bit of advice. Keep your ancestry between us. Not every man who's known is loved.
MONDELLO: Nor is every woman who's known - witness the title character played by 95-year-old June Squibb in "Eleanor The Great."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ELEANOR THE GREAT")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #24: (As character) Taking a trip, Eleanor?
JUNE SQUIBB: (As character) Moving home, actually. You know, my daughter's been begging me to move in with her for the longest time.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #24: (As character) You mean the kid who's hooked on Adderall or the one who doesn't talk to you?
MONDELLO: Civil wars drive the action in two summer dramas. "Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight" centers on a white family in what was then called Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DON'T LET'S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #25: (As character) Mum, am I African?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #26: (As character) No, Bobo.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #25: (As character) Is that because we don't have brown skin?
MONDELLO: ...And "40 Acres" centers on a Black family and a dark, dystopian future.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "40 ACRES")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #27: (As character) You've heard about the attacks by now?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #28: (As character) Thought your Union Army was going to come and take care of it.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #27: (As character) They're not. They're dead.
MONDELLO: A theme powering a lot of these movies is the human need for connection. It's looked at darkly in a paranoid thriller about a fan who's angling to befriend a pop star.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LURKER")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #29: (As character) What's your happiest memory?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #30: (As character) Yeah, probably when I was 18 and - when I left home and came here full time and did this. Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #29: (As character) Was it scary?
MONDELLO: It's called "Lurker."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LURKER")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #30: (As character) No. It's like, you know, I have a new family now, and I get to choose who's in it.
MONDELLO: A horse trainer grieving the loss of her husband creates a safe space for wayward teens in "East Of Wall."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "EAST OF WALL")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #31: (As character) Now she's got all these kids living out there, teaching them to break in horses.
MONDELLO: And a woman who's suffered trauma finds fellowship in "Sorry, Baby."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SORRY, BABY")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #32: (As character) We know what you're going through. We are women.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #33: (As character) What?
MONDELLO: And remember we said at the beginning that movies can take you anywhere? Well, Pixar's "Elio" takes that literally, with a kid who's found a unique solution to feeling alone.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ELIO")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #34: (As character) I'm trying to get abducted by aliens.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #35: (As character) Elio.
MONDELLO: And wouldn't you know? - it works.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ELIO")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #34: (As character) It's really happening.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #36: (As character) We search the universe...
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #37: (As character) For the dreamers and stargazers.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #36: (As character) Like you.
MONDELLO: And wouldn't you know? - the movies make it magical.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ELIO")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #34: (As character) This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #38: (As character) This is the bathroom.
(SOUNDBITE OF TOILET FLUSHING)
MONDELLO: I'm Bob Mondello. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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