Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

[7] Mel Gibson returns as the iconic Mad Max, joined by Tina Turner in a fun, villainous role. But the third film in the series is also the weakest, first signaled by the PG-13 rating, a ridiculous attempt to make a hard-edged…
Unstoppable (2010)

Unstoppable (2010)

[7] An unmanned train is going to crash in a highly populated area unless a conductor and an engineer can stop it. It may be Speed on a train, but as action flicks go, it's still pretty entertaining. Scenes with Denzel Washington…
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

[5] This belated sequel gets by, for the most part, on good will and fond memories of the previous three installments. It's light on memorable action scenes and heavy on silliness (the CGI mokeys and gophers are really, really hard to shake).…
Red Dawn (1984)

Red Dawn (1984)

[5] The Russians invade America and spark World War III in this Cold-War emblem from writer/director John Milius (Conan the Barbarian, Big Wednesday). Political correctness aside, the opening of this movie -- the Russian invasion -- is very effective. But the rest…
Iron Man 2 (2010)

Iron Man 2 (2010)

[5] A so-so sequel with a few decent action set pieces to offer, but Robert Downey Jr is the real set piece here. Without his snarky persona, the franchise wouldn't have much to hang their hat on. The biggest weakness here is…
Thor (2011)

Thor (2011)

[4] Thor features solid direction from Kenneth Branagh, a rousing score from Patrick Doyle, and always stunning set design from Bo Welch. Tom Hiddleston gives the best performance in the film, as Thor's jealous brother, Loki. No one else, including Chris Hemsworth…
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

[5] Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice feels like a movie with an identity crisis, tasked with performing two disparate, thankless tasks. The first is to set up a big fight between two iconic superheroes. You know, the kind of thing that…
Deadpool (2016)

Deadpool (2016)

[7] Ryan Reynolds was born to play a wise-cracking vigilante, and indeed Deadpool comes off a bit like a higher-stakes Van Wilder. The story centers around the origin of the character, how he discovers he has terminal cancer and takes a chance…
Jupiter Ascending (2015)

Jupiter Ascending (2015)

[6] Jupiter Ascending is probably the last big-budget studio picture from Andy & Lana Wachowski, the creators of The Matrix trilogy and some other movies that failed to live up to expectation. I admire the Wachowski's ambition and I appreciate how they…
Dredd (2012)

Dredd (2012)

[6] Pete Travis directs from a script by Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Sunshine) this second attempt to bring the comic book character Judge Dredd to the big screen. This is a smaller-scale production than the 1995 Sylvester Stallone version, but it's a…