Hopes are extremely high for tonight's New York City critics screening of Hancock, the Will Smith maybe-blockbuster in which he plays a disaffected, lonely, alcoholic superhero. Hopes are even higher for The Dark Knight, the latest Batman flick—for which each new theatrical preview contains more and more Heath Ledger. (Each preview therefore also becomes more and more frightening; also, the first review is as glowing as you might hope.) This desperation arises because the rest of the summer fare has been distinctly so-so. Speed Racer and The Love Guru were painful bombs. And there's not much else on the horizon.

At a screening of Wanted earlier this week—it opens tomorrow—there was an argument between film critics outside after. The question being: Are there enough angry 14-year-old boys to make the movie a success? Wanted, a cross between Fight Club and a Columbine training film, was the first film ever that I actually worried about young people seeing: The movie's entire message is that a boy must grow up to be like his father, to "grow a pair," and then go off on brutal killing sprees. Hellboy 2, another potential big ticket item, probably skews a little too young and a little too fantasy genre for a big take—it's entertaining, and cool, just as the first was, but lacks a certain oomph. The Dark Knight it is, then: Christopher Nolan, you're our only hope.

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• The Summer of Meh