One of the busiest screenwriters working today, Akiva Goldsman, spoke to the LA Times recently about many, many big upcoming projects. The writer is one of the few rare cases we’ve seen that makes a case for giving people second chances. He wrote the scripts for Joel Schumacher‘s Batman Forever and the passionately-hated Batman & Robin, but went on to take home an Oscar for Best Picture winner A Beautiful Mind. In an around these two highest and lowest points, he’s done many other well-known movies that received varying response such as I, Robot, Cinderella Man, The Da Vinci Code, and I am Legend.

When the topic of Batman & Robin came up something was mentioned that stuck out. It came from the mouth of Marvel’s main man, Kevin Feige, who was quoted as saying that the loathed comic book movie may actually be the most important movie to be made for that genre. And why would he say such things? Well, because of how horrid the movie was, of course. Feige explained that the sheer awfulness of that film forced open new eyes, which in-turn laid the groundwork for the much more accepted style of comic book movie making seen in franchises like Spider-Man and X-Men.

Fantastic Four is a 2005 movie that starred Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis and was followed by the 2007 sequel 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer — both of which made fairly large amounts of money, but weren’t loved by critics. Many seemed to think the properties were a little too cheesy, and rumors began to swirl about a possible reboot only a few years after the first movies were produced. This rumor is now a reality, as just on the heels of the massive Disney acquisition of Marvel Studios, Fox has officially announced their plans to give the Fantastic Four franchise a makeover.

Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, and I Am Legend writer Akiva Goldsman has been brought in to oversee the reboot. This is an interesting move — as you can see, Goldsman’s track record with superheroes and summer blockbusters is a little rocky, but on the other end of the spectrum, he has also co-written Oscar winners and nominees like A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man. No specifics on how much his work as an “overseer” might maneuver the final product.

Angels and Demons
Directed by Ron Howard
Starring Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard
Rated PG-13
Release date: May 15, 2009

Angels and Demons is a direct sequel to The Da Vinci Code and based on the book of the same name (though Dan Brown fans will tell you Angels is actually supposed to be the prequel of The Da Vinci Code).

Angels and Demons brings back symbologist (aka glorified scavenger hunter)Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) on another yet mystery involving Catholicism. On the eve of the latest’s Pope’s death, the four cardinals vying for the Papacy have been kidnapped by a member of a secret organization known as The Illuminati. The assailant promises to kill one cardinal for every hour until midnight when he sets off an anti-matter bomb somewhere in Vatican City. Now, it is a race against time as Langdon searches for the Cardinals and tries desperately to stop the bomb before it kills thousands.

Written by David Koepp (Spider-Man) and Akiva Goldsman, Angels is a fast-paced thrill ride from beginning to end. One part National Treasure, one part Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?, the movie starts off with a murder and never gives you a chance to breathe. Even some of the more dialogue-filled scenes are quick. It is not so much that the lines are delivered quickly, but rather there is so much substance in it, viewers really need to listen to the dialogue, comprehend it, and try to figure out where Langdon will go next. Sure, moviegoers do not have to play along, but how can you resist? The whole movie is a mystery and everyone loves a good mystery.