By BETSY PICKLE, Scripps Howard News Service

ATLANTA -- Brendan Fraser has discovered he's done dads a favor by making "Journey to the Center of the Earth," a 3-D movie inspired by the classic Jules Verne adventure tale.

As comic-book movies have evolved, the superheroes who front them have become more self-aware and open, revealing the burden of their condition to viewers and sometimes other characters.

"The Promotion" is billed as a comedy, but it really isn't. The similarly themed "Employee of the Month" was a comedy -- a horrendously bad one. "The Promotion" is a light exercise in quirky drama, occasionally provoking chuckles but generally existing to take stock of the absurdity and uncertainty of life.

In the seven years since she burst onto the scene in "The Princess Diaries," Anne Hathaway has starred in the boundary-busting "Brokeback Mountain," held her own with Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada," portrayed one of the world's most beloved authors in "Becoming Jane" and become the new face of beauty giant Lancome.

For an action comedy that has its over-the-top moments, "Get Smart" knows the wisdom of "less is more."Although it's nominally an adaptation of the beloved 1965-70 Cold War TV spy comedy, "Get Smart" goes out on its own, creating a new mythology for the central characters. That's not just a wise choice, it was practically a necessity.

It's always a gamble when a mindless summer movie attempts to be more than a mindless summer movie. "The Incredible Hulk" plays the tables and almost manages to break even.

"Kung Fu Panda" isn't on the menu at your favorite Chinese restaurant -- let's hope -- but it's probably one of the top movies your kids want you to take them to see this summer.Indulge them. You'll find it a treat yourself.

Who would ever have thought an Adam Sandler movie could have anything in common with "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"? It's strange but true, as seen in "You Don't Mess With the Zohan."

Directors Mark Osborne and John Stevenson don't want people to think of one-hit wonder Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting" when the title of their film, "Kung Fu Panda," comes up."There's a lot of honor and discipline (in kung fu), and it's not all about beating people up," says Osborne.

Like many fans of "Sex and the City," Cynthia Nixon missed her character, Miranda Hobbes, when the HBO series ended in 2004."But you know, life is like that as an actor," says Nixon. "You're constantly falling in love with characters and then saying goodbye to them."