Where there's a Will ... there's a summer hit

Will Smith has been a consistent hitmaker in July movie theaters. If anyone ever asked, "Nicest star you've ever met?," the answer would be easy: Will Smith.Truth be told, most regular reporters (not celebs like Mary Hart or Leonard Maltin) rarely get to know movie stars. They talk to them by phone or meet them at roundtable interviews or, occasionally, during one-on-one sessions that usually last 20 minutes, until a hovering publicist signals "Last question" and then, "Next!"Writers stand at the fringe of the red carpet and see if the Academy Award nominees, presenters or guests will veer toward the press bleachers and stop to talk before they rejoin the throng inching toward the Kodak Theatre.Some actors seem to hate the publicity process. Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones and Sean Connery always looked as if they would rather be anywhere but fielding nosy, noxious questions from wretched writers.Not Smith.If Jones comes across as the equivalent of a bitter cup of strong coffee, Smith is all cream and sugar. The Philadelphia native is happy to be there. He is funny, likable, smart, talented, hardworking, energetic, a devoted husband and dad, and a friend who hasn't thrown Tom Cruise under the bus just because others wanted to.He has yet to meet a genre he couldn't master, from biopic ("Ali") to romantic comedy ("Hitch") to inspirational weepie ("The Pursuit of Happyness) to sci-fi ("I Am Legend," just the most recent)."Men in Black II" co-star Lara Flynn Boyle once said he is "about as perfect as they come." All kidding aside, she added, "My mom always says that to make people feel good about themselves is a gift," and he has it.All of this comes across in interviews and on screen, so it's no wonder that his movies have grossed nearly $4.6 billion around the world, and that's not counting ensemble efforts such as the animated "Shark Tale."He once jokingly called Fourth of July "Big Willy Weekend," but the holiday had been on hiatus. It's come back big-time with "Hancock," despite largely lukewarm reviews.In honor of "Hancock," we look at the world according to Will, summer edition:-- "Independence Day" -- Released on July 2, 1996, this sci-fi sensation grossed $817 million (in today's dollars, that's more than $1 billion) around the world.Tom Shone's book "Blockbuster" recounts the audacity of director and co-writer Roland Emmerich's centerpiece image: "'You want to blow up the White House?' The executives at Fox were seated in a row on the sofa at the studio's Culver City headquarters, and they were understandably worried."Producer-writer Dean Devlin and Emmerich agreed that destroying 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. would be a bad idea if the attackers were terrorists, but they were ... space aliens.Invaders plus a cast that included Smith as a hotshot military pilot, Jeff Goldblum as a technogeek and Judd Hirsch as his father, Randy Quaid as a drunken crop duster and Bill Pullman as the president of the United States. Years later, Emmerich told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "In 'Independence Day,' I was looking for lots of comedians; it was almost like the comedic tone was the most important part."And Smith was key to that, as the PPG called it a surefire crowd-pleaser: "For all its newfangled effects, 'Independence Day' qualifies as an example of old-fashioned filmmaking on a huge scale -- gung-ho, larger than life and as much fun as a movie can be that turns many of Earth's biggest cities and their inhabitants into intergalatic barbecue."-- "Men in Black" -- Smith capitalized on his newfound status as Mr. July with this comedy about elite cops monitoring alien activity on Earth. It opened July 2, 1997.Smith was paired with Tommy Lee Jones, and this silly sci-fi comedy fired on all cylinders, earning slightly more than "Independence Day" during its first three days in the United States, eventually grossing $250 million domestically and more than twice that around the globe.It inspired many a Halloween costume, became a top video seller and spawned a sequel five years later.We noted: "The film is very much calculated to woo us with attitude, and it succeeds brilliantly in that department."-- "Wild, Wild West" -- Only in Will's world would almost $28 million be considered a disappointment for an opening weekend. But, then again, this is probably the worst of Smith's films, through no fault of his own.The 1960s television series was recast as a movie, with Smith as the charismatic hero James West, Kevin Kline as master of disguises Artemus Gordon and Kenneth Branagh as the villain. We skewered its screenplay, anachronisms, ridiculous elements and lack of a real character for Salma Hayek to play, other than sexpot.-- "Men in Black II" -- What was once fresh and hip was now familiar, although Smith and Jones proved again that they have comic chemistry.Back on July 3, 2002, we suggested, "You can't take any of it too seriously as you wait for the Smith song 'Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)' to play over the closing credits and imprint itself on your brain."-- "Bad Boys II" -- The opening was July 18, but it helped to anchor the summer of 2003 and reunited the key team from 1995's "Bad Boys": director Michael Bay and Smith and Martin Lawrence as Miami narcotics detectives.An action picture about the pursuit of a Cuban drug lord, "Bad Boys II" is shot through with over-the-top stunts, artistically composed shots and a heavy dose of violence. Minutes into the movie, Smith strips off his KKK white-robe disguise and emerges with guns a-blazing, his body posed against a burning cross in the background."It serves violence in oversize portions, making it seem gluttonous on both sides of the screen," we said.-- "I, Robot" -- Once again, a mid-July release but a hit at home and overseas in 2004.A sci-fi film suggested by the work of Isaac Asimov, it is set in the year 2035 and featured Smith as a Chicago homicide detective who suspects a robot may have committed murder. What would WALL-E think?But we pointed out that a thriller is only as good as its villain and too many were bloodless here. "Except for the hot-blooded performance of Smith, who expertly pulls off action sequences as well as emotion and a few welcome wisecracks, the movie is cool, right down to its color scheme."(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette movie editor Barbara Vancheri can be reached at bvancheri(at)post-gazette.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)