[6] This is certainly the most action-packed of the X-Men movies, but it’s also the most disrespectful and emotionally hollow. There are some great set pieces, including the free-for-all at Jean Grey’s childhood home, the Golden Gate bridge raising, and the visually stunning climax at Alcatraz, where Dark Phoenix (Famke Janssen) unleashes an effects-filled can of whoop-ass upon the world. There’s potential in that sequence …
[7] It’s amazing how good a superhero movie can be when you treat it with the seriousness it deserves. Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects) was the perfect choice to direct this movie, and he chose a brilliant ensemble cast. Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, and Rebecca Romijn shine in their roles. Unfortunately, Halle Berry and James Marsden have the thankless tasks of …
[6] Another installment in the Marvel movie franchise is never going to excite me. But if you want to be distracted for a while, Captain America: The Winter Soldier isn’t bad. The plot centers around conspiracy, betrayal, and assassination — far more compelling stuff than whatever mystical/magical bullshit Thor 2 and The Avengers were about. Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson are both pretty to look …
[7] The Irwin Allen disaster epic is alive and well in this 1996 summer blockbuster in which evil aliens threaten to destroy Earth, leaving it up to a rag-tag team of politicians, soldiers, and scientists (plus a drunken crop-duster and a pole dancer!), to save humanity. The writing and directing team of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin (Stargate, Godzilla) almost strike the perfect tone for …
[3] With two-time Oscar-winning director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Life of Pi) at the helm, and a cast that includes Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Nick Nolte, and Sam Elliott, you should reasonably expect a much better movie than Hulk turns out to be. I mean, wow. It’s so not good. The script begins with an abundance of exposition that never seems to stop. Bana as …
[5] Bird on a Wire is a big, goofy Hollywood action spectacular with two likeable stars at its center. Mel Gibson plays an FBI informant in witness protection and Goldie Hawn plays an old flame he left at the altar when the feds reassigned him a new identity. Now they’re reunited and on the lam from a dirty fed and his hit men. This is …
[5] Robert Shaw and Edward Fox reprise the roles originated by Gregory Peck and David Niven in The Guns of Navarone for this matinee adventure sequel. Shaw and Fox are led by Harrison Ford as a U.S. Colonel and joined by Carl Weathers (Rocky) as an arrested army sergeant on the run. Together, the team must complete two separate, secret missions — to kill a …
[8] Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke’s romantic but combative relationship fuels this road-trip action/adventure also directed by Eastwood. He’s a cop trying to transfer her from one jail to another, but both the mob and the cops want her dead, and no one cares if he dies with her. The movie’s climax pits the two of them against the world, as Eastwood drives an iron-plated …
[4] Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as a New York City bicycle delivery man engaged in a never-ending cat-and-mouse chase with a nasty copy (Michael Shannon) for possession of a very valuable package. Premium Rush reminds me of movies like Rad and Thrashin’ — it’s not much more than a fetishistic showcase of fancy bicycling. And without any attachment to the thinly-drawn characters, the chase gets tiresome …
[5] They were re-writing the script for Jack the Giant Slayer while they shot the movie, and it shows. It’s a bit of a hot mess. I’m a fan of director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men) and I’m down to watch Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy, Warm Bodies) carry a film, but the film never hooked me. The only character who musters any emotional …
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