Summertime Movies for the Whole Family

As schools across the country let out for summer vacation, Hollywood once again plans to take advantage of hot temperatures and bored kids. What can families look forward to this summer in theaters and what is appropriate for whom?

The two largest animation studios behind Disney will be fighting fender and claw for the top spot this summer with Dreamworks Animation's Over the Hedge and Pixar's Cars. Over the Hedge begins May 19th and tells the story, based on the comic strip by Michael Fry and T. Lewis, of friendly forest creatures, among whom we meet a hyperactive squirrel named Hammy (voiced by Steve Carell), a porcupine couple, Penny and Lou (voiced by Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy) and a mischievous raccoon (voiced by Bruce Willis), who awaken from their winter slumber to find that their forest has been taken over by a subdivision.

Cars, beginning June 9th, follows a young, flashy race car, Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) as he travels cross-country to the big Piston Cup Championship car race in California. As he is traveling, his tour is derailed by a stop in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. There he meets a troupe of small towners, including Sally, a zippy 2002 Porsche (voiced by Bonnie Hunt) and a 1951 Hudson Hornet with a past by the name of Doc Hudson (voiced by veteran "car guy" Paul Newman), who teach him that there is more to life than fame, fortune and trophies.

Over the Hedge and Cars are both rated G but what is there for the family looking for something a little more grown-up for their adolescent children. Rated PG-13 and beginning May 26th is the final chapter in the X-Men trilogy, Disney's not-yet-rated Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest begins July 7th and another comic book hits the big screen this summer as Superman Returns to PG-13 audiences.

As the X-Men trilogy comes to a close, a "cure" is presented to the mutants. Professor Charles Xavier's X-Men are joined in this installment by Dr. Hank McCoy, also known as the Beast (Kelsey Grammer) and Warren Worthington III (Ben Foster) as they face Magneto's Brotherhood in what the Internet Move Database's synopsis calls "a war to end all wars," as the mutants are faced with the choice to cure their mutancy and be human or remain unique and, subsequently, isolated by their uniqueness.

The original Pirates of the Caribbean cast and crew has reassembled to bring you the second installment of this trilogy, this time pairing Jack Sparrow against the Davy Jones, Captain of the infamous Flying Dutchman. Jack discovers that he owes his soul to Captain Jones and Jones plans to collect. And to top it off, this minor dilemma throws a monkey wrench, if you'll pardon the pun, into Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann's wedding plans, dragging them once again into Jack's misadventures.

Newcomer Brandon Routh takes on the role of the Man of Steel in Superman Returns. Director Bryan Singer steps out of the Marvel world he helped to created in X2: X-Men United and into DC's Metropolis, picking up the Superman saga where Mario Puzo and Richard Lester left it in 1980's Superman 2, with the Man of Steel returning to Krypton to find out if he really is the only one left. When he returns to Metropolis, he finds more disappointment in Lois's new life, new love and new baby. Veteran Kevin Spacey joins the cast to take on the role of Lex Luthor, who is determined to, once and for all, destroy Superman forever.

As usual there are certainly films for the family to avoid this summer. Fairly new to Hollywood, director John Moore has revived the son of darkness, Damien Thorn in a remake of 1976 horror phenomenon The Omen. Gregory Peck has been replaced this time by Liev Schrieber as Ambassador Richard Thorn, with Julia Stiles by his side as wife, Katherine. Damien once again will be played by a first timer on the screen, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick. The film, which will hit theaters nationwide, June 6th, is not yet rated but the original received an R rating so, assuming Moore hasn't skimped on the horror, this new version should not be considered for a cozy family outing.

Finally, in the not-for-the-family, R-rated horror film category this summer is Pulse. Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (who directed the original Japanese version of the film, Kairo) has joined forces with American horror master Wes Craven to direct this newest edition in the ever-growing movement to bring foreign horror films to the States. Pulse tells the story of a website showcasing photos of dead people, a website which in the beginning looks like a scary hoax, until the people who visit it begin to realize that a supernatural force has taken over their lives.

There is plenty more slated for this summer, for families and otherwise, so beat the summer heat this year with a trip to the theater, a tall, cold soda and a large buttered popcorn.