Summer film previews: Kung Fu Panda 2 | Green Lantern | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

And let's not forget homegrown Harry P. The final chapter of the saga, The Deathly Hallows Part II, is as Brit-centric as ever. Expected to make more than 600m worldwide, it's the one to beat. But exactly who is he up against?

Kung Fu Panda 2

IN THIS sequel our old friend Po (Jack Black) is now a kung fu master and facing a new challenge in the form of evil Emperor Albino Peacock Lord Shen (Gary Oldman).

Back story: There aren't many prominent women in animation, so three cheers for director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, who describes herself as a "soft spoken Korean-American"

Trailer: 7/10.

It's not often that you see a peacock in a kimono. Angelina Jolie (as Tiger) is her usual sternly purring self, while Po recycles Homer Simpson's schtick with aplomb.

Budget: 98m.

Out today

Green Lantern

TEST pilot Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds), the first human to join the Green Lantern Corps, must protect the Earth, aka Sector 2814, from evil Dr Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard), whose brain has swelled thanks to his psionic powers.

Back story: At one point, Green Lantern was going to be the story of John Stewart, one of the first black superheroes, who took over from Jordan for a while.

Trailer: 4/10. The first of the trailers was greeted with horror because it contained no big, techno-tastic set-pieces. Warner Bros spent extra millions on the film's CGI but they may have lost sight of the bigger picture: Planet Oa still looks like it was put together by Ed Wood.

Budget: 98m.

Out 17 June

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

WITH the help of Griphook the Goblin, Harry, Ron and Hermione break into Gringotts bank and have to face a fire-breathing dragon. Harry makes a date with destiny in The Forbidden Forest. And one or two cast members get a move on and die.

Back story: Everyone's talking about the epilogue, in which we meet key characters 19 years on. Will the special effects (similar to those used in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) convince?

Trailer: 9/10. Voldemort still looks like a man struggling to get a particularly pesky bit of masking-tape off his nose. But the glimpses of Harry's mum as a teenager are beautifully eerie, Snape is in good shape and Hermione's reaction to one character's demise is piquant. Could it be that Emma Watson has finally learnt how to act?

Budget: 76m.

Out 15 JulyCars 2

MATER (Larry the Cable Guy) is recruited by British intelligence vehicle Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) to help foil a plot to derail the World Grand Prix in Tokyo.

Back story: Pixar have always been shy about sequels, so, there's concern about whether standards will be maintained. But don't worry, Cars wasn't that good in the first place.

Trailer: 5/10. We get huge, visually stunning explosions but the spy spoofery feels old hat and the gags a trifle tired. We see dark, boiling waves and a voice intones: "This place makes the Bermuda Triangle look like a kiddy pool." Pixar jokes normally work on at least three levels; this barely works on one.

Budget: Unknown, but rumoured to be higher than average.

Out 22 July

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

JAMES FRANCO is a research scientist who experiments on a particularly intelligent ape in the hopes of finding a cure for Alzheimer's. His girlfriend (Slumdog Millionaire's Frieda Pinto) fears he may be opening Pandora's box. He is. The ape, Caesar, turns on his captors and leads a revolt.

Back story: New Zealand outfit Weta Digital – who helped create the most famous effects in Avatar – worked on the apes. Andy Serkis is the skeleton beneath the CGI skin.

Trailer: 6/10. Generally blah, but Caesar is great. Inscrutable, serene, hairy: a modern-day Mona Lisa.

Budget: 55m.

Out 12 August

Captain America: The First Avenger

In 1942 puny Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) has just been rejected from the US army. He's offered the chance to try a serum and finds himself transformed into a super-soldier. With British girlfriend Peggy (Hayley Atwell), he goes to Europe to help defeat a team of Nazis.

Back story: The internet is full of speculation that the death of Osama Bin Laden will help Captain America at the box office. Patriotic feeling may be running high in the US but director Joe Johnston has repeatedly said his hero is no "flag waver" and that Rogers only wears a flag costume as a last resort. Naturally, said "patriots" do not like what they see as yellow-bellied liberal revisionism.

Trailer: 7/10.

Captain America's customised uniform is stylish (mercifully, trousers rather than tights). And Peggy, unusually for a blockbuster heroine, gets to have the last word.

Budget: 85m.

Out 29 July

Super 8

IT'S 1979 and a group of kids from a small town in Ohio are filming a zombie movie when they witness a violent collision involving a US Air Force train. The town's local deputy tries to get to the bottom of the mysterious events which follow.

Back story: This is a collaboration between Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams, the creator of Lost. The latter has said it was liberating to work with Spielberg. Maybe too liberating. Critics who have seen preview footage say it resembles E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In other words, if this film didn't contain numerous lens flares (Abrams's signature shot) would anyone know if JJ had shown up?

Trailer: 7/10. Old timers will shiver at the sight of normal-looking urchins whizzing around on bikes.

Budget: 27-30m.

Out 5 AugustTransformers: Dark of the Moon 3D

IN 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin discover "the Ark" on the moon. In the present day, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) discovers that the Ark is the living tomb of Optimus Prime's predecessor, Sentinel Prime (voiced by Leonard Nimoy). Meanwhile, Sam falls in love with mechanic Carly (Rosie Huntington Whiteley).

Back story: You may be wondering why there's no mention of Sam's first amour, Mikaela, played by Megan Fox. After the release of The Revenge of the Fallen, Fox told reporters that she didn't understand the plot and that Transformers was all about SFX (as opposed to acting).

Director Michael Bay spat back: "She says some very ridiculous things because she's 23 years old and still has a lot of growing to do." Exit Fox.

Trailer: 5/10.

The moon-landing stuff is atmospheric but the robots vs buildings mayhem is routine. Meanwhile, Shia's new co-star, while undoubtedly pretty, seems fazed by the task in hand. She's meant to appear hot and bothered but quickly loses control of her pout and winds up looking a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

Budget: Rumoured to be more than 244m, though Bay emphatically denies this.

Out 1 July

Cowboys & Aliens

Arizona, 1873. Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) has lost his memory and acquired a strange bracelet – I mean gadget – around his wrist that gives him crazy powers. Col Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) wants him strung up, but a traveller called Ella (Olivia Wilde) has other ideas. Aliens are in town and she wants Lonergan to team up with Dolarhyde and a group of Apaches to save the day.

Back story: Jon Favreau's film is supposedly based on a graphic novel by Scott Rosenberg but actually owes its mash-up title, and some would say more, to a 1989 script by cartoonist Tom Arvis. Said script features cowboys and Indians who form a united front against aliens. Yet Arvis won't make a penny from the movie.

Trailer: 7/10.

Thanks to a sudden loss of weight, Craig looks more goblinish than usual, but he and Ford are in confident form. Ford says he doesn't like it when CGI dominates movies. As far as the trailer is concerned, the actors and SFX seem evenly matched. The Wild West known as Hollywood – it's a law unto itself.

Budget: 61m.

Out 19 August