Sometimes the best part about summer is the movies. But not this year. While there is some intrigue in movies like “The Patriot” and “What Lies Beneath,” there’s nothing like “Jaws,” “Jurassic Park” or “Independence Day” that will have everyone talking. With cartoons, unappealing sequels, talking horses and an array of ridiculous plot lines dominating the line up, it looks as if “Gladiator” may have been released two months too soon.
 
Big Momma’s House (June 2)
Starring Martin Lawrence, Nia Long, Paul Giamatti, Terrence Howard
An FBI agent impersonates a gigantic southern matriarch known as “Big Momma” as he tries to capture a fugitive.
JW: Big laughs or big let-down? Go with your first impression.
 
Running Free (June 2)
Starring Chase Moore, Jan Decleir, Arie Verveen; voices of Lukas Hass, Maria Geelbooi
An abandoned horse struggles to survive in southern Africa.
JW: Could be the best talking horse movie of all time. Does anyone care?
 
Gone in 60 Seconds (June 9)
Starring Nicolas Cage, Robert Duval, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi
A legendary but reformed car thief is sucked back into the business when he is forced to steal 50 specific cars in one evening in order to save his brother’s life.
JW: Plot gives way to sights and sounds in a typical, hollow summer flick.
 
Shaft (June 16)
Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Vanessa Williams, Christian Bale
A smooth-talking black private detective dazzles the ladies in this 1971 remake.
JW: Could Samuel L. Jackson be any cooler?
 
Titan A.E. (June 16)
Voices of Matt Damon, Bill Pullman, Drew Barrymore
A 19-year-old searches for a map left behind by his father that holds the secret to saving mankind from the slave-driving aliens of the future in this completely computer-generated film.
JW: Must be one hell of a map.
 
Fantasia/2000 (June 16)
When Walt Disney created that bold masterpiece in 1940, he intended “Fantasia” to be an ongoing endeavor. His vision comes to fruition with “Fantasia/2000.” Like its 60-year-old predecessor, “Fantasia/2000” is a showcase of the latest animation technology aligned with classical compositions from Beethoven, Gershwin, Shostakovich and others.
JW: Maybe this Fantasia will actually be interesting … Nah.
 
Chicken Run (June 23)
Voices of Mel Gibson, Julia Sawahla, Miranda Richardson, Tony Haygarth and Phil Daniels
A coop of chickens tries to escape the farm to avoid a certain death.
JW: You’ve gotta be kidding me.
 
Me, Myself and Irene (June 23)
Starring Jim Carrey, Renee Zellweger
A cop with two different personalities goes to war against himself as each personality contests for the love of the same girl.
JW: We already knew he has a split personality. The question is: Will this be the “Dumb and Dumber” Jim Carrey or the “Cable Guy” Jim Carrey?
 
The Patriot (June 30)
Starring Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Jason Isaacs, Joely Richardson
A hero of the French and Indian conflict reluctantly returns to battle when the American Revolution threatens his family.
JW: “Braveheart” set in America? We can only hope.
 
The Perfect Storm (June 30)
Starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Diane Lane
An entire crew on the fishing boat Andrea Gail perishes in one of the century’s worst storms, and the surviving families and rescue crews most cope with the disaster.
JW: “Twister,” “Volcano” … Just when you think they’ve covered all the natural disasters…
 
Disney’s The Kid (July 7)
Starring Bruce Willis, Emily Mortimer, Jean Smart, Spencer Breslin
A successful but unlikable 40-year-old image consultant turns his life around when he meets himself as an 8-year-old boy and remembers his childhood dreams.
JW: Bruce Willis continues to prove his critics wrong, seeking out new roles and growing as an actor. Well, sort of.
 
The X-Men (July 14)
Starring Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, James Marsden, Famke Janssen
A group of humans are genetically altered into mutant superheroes with unique powers that can save the world.
JW: Every summer should have a big screen adaptation of a comic book series.
 
Numbers (July 14)
Starring John Travolta, Tim Roth, Lisa Kudrow, Michael Rapaport, Ed O’Neill
A TV weatherman tries to solve his money problems by fixing the local lottery.
JW: Who needs a plot when you have a solid cast?
 
What Lies Beneath (July 21)
Starring Harrison Ford, Michelle Pfeiffer
A college professor gets entangled in a murder mystery when the ghost of a murdered student appears to her for help.
JW: Another paranormal thriller with an intriguing plot … the next “The Sixth Sense”?
 
The Hollow Man (July 28)
Starring Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shue, Josh Brolin
A group of scientists unlock the secret of invisibility at a top-secret military lab. The team’s arrogant leader tests the procedure on himself only to find there is no reversing the effect.
JW: Modern cinematic technology may finally do justice to an age-old sci-fi fantasy.
 
Nutty 2: The Klumps (July 28)
Starring Eddie Murphy, Janet Jackson
The testosterone-driven Buddy Love tries to overcome Professor Sherman Klump once again in this sequel to the 1996 smash The Nutty Professor.
JW: The first one was surprisingly funny, but was it really funny enough for a sequel?
Coyote Ugly (August 4)
Starring Piper Perabo, Tyra Banks, Maria Bello, John Goodman
A 21-year-old heads to New York to become a songwriter, but ends up as a bar maid at Coyote Ugly, the hottest spot in town. The club’s team of sexy young women torments customers and the media with their outrageous antics.
JW: If a dramatic comedy is a “dramedy,” is a romantic comedy a “romedy”?
 
The Legend of Baggar Vance (August 4)
Starring Will Smith, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron
A mysterious caddie helps a WWI veteran take on two pro golfers in a local tournament.
JW: Golf comedies (“Happy Gilmore,” “Caddyshack”) are good. Golf dramas (“Tin Cup”) are not.
 
Space Cowboys (August 4)
Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Clint Eastwood
A group of veteran astronauts are called upon to save the world when a satellite launched in the ’60s falls out of orbit and threatens to crash to the Earth.
JW: Movie idea — A bunch of Hollywood producers milk the “falling objects threaten life on Earth” plot. Based on a true story.
 
Bedazzled (August 11)
Starring Brendan Fraser, Elizabeth Hurley, Frances O’Conner
A computer nerd sells his soul to a seductive Satan (Hurley) to become rich, powerful and sexy. But when his plan to woo a co-worker falls through, he makes surprising use of his last seven wishes.
JW: OK, so are we supposed to take Brendan Fraser seriously now?
 
Godzilla 2000 (August 11)
Starring Takehiro Murata, Hiroshi Abe, Naomi Nishida, Shiro Sano
An alien awakens from a 6,000-year nap in a Japan trench to take on the 180 foot-high Godzilla.
JW: The best match-up of over-the-hill heavyweights since 49-year old Larry Holmes knocked out 46-year old James “Bonecrushe
r” Smith in 1999.
 
The Cell (August 18)
Starring Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D’Onofrio, Marianne Jean-Baptiste
A serial killer slowly drowns his victims in a glass chamber called The Cell. The FBI apprehends him, which causes a seizure and he slips into a coma. The FBI then scrambles to find The Cell where his last victim has just forty hours to live. Using an experimental brain technique, an FBI agent enters the mind of the killer to find The Cell.

JW: A dark plot and intriguing visual elements could make this the surprise of the summer. May even be the next “Silence of the Lambs.”
 
The Crew (August 25)
Starring Richard Dreyfuss, Burt Reynolds, Dan Hedaya, Seymour Cassel
A long-shot comedy about four elderly former gangsters who hatch a seemingly simple scheme to save their South Beach, Miami, retirement residence, but end up entangled with a paranoid drug lord.
JW: Somebody stick a fork in Burt Reynolds.
 
The Replacements (August 25)
Starring Gene Hackman, Keanu Reeves, Jon Farveau
An NFL coach recruits replacement players during a strike season.
JW: The same goon who starred as “Ted” in “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” is now an NFL quarterback? Ugh.