Eight films in just about 10 years and no rusty wands in the bunch — or however you wish to phrase it. The success of J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series theatrically has been unprecedented in both box-office receipts and critical success. Perhaps Warner Bros. and producer David Heyman are to thank for their careful supervision, […]

I called “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” a 2.5-hour exhibition of a hurricane in a hardware store. There should have been nothing exciting, therefore, about the prospect of a second 2.5-hour exhibition — this time of hunks of scrap metal perpetually raining over Chicago — filmed entirely in 3D. Yet with the added assurance of […]

The challenge of making a “Green Lantern” film was always going to be bringing it down to Earth. Not necessarily in a planetary sense, but sifting through and boiling down all the intergalactic mythology. Everything from the planet Oa to bird-fish aliens named Tomar-Re to a far-fetched concept of harnessing “will” to defend the universe […]

Nostalgia. Now that’s a word not uncommon around a Woody Allen picture. His films have always oozed of it, and now that his filmmaking legacy spans more than 40 years, to some people, an Allen film equates to it. “Midnight in Paris” falls under both categories. Remarkably, only Woody has been able to riff on […]

Created by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. That phrase says a lot. As more and more clues were revealed as to Abrams second secret film project, the mere presence of these two respected names began to connect dots in the minds of film fans. The first teaser — made before the film even […]

Superhero movies have been thriving in both Hollywood and public consciousness for almost 10 years now, and one of the biggest reasons has been the origin story. “Spider-Man” in 2002 revealed how the emotional power of a superhero’s motivation can humanize even those characters with the most extraordinary powers. “X-Men: First Class” provides this oh […]

Any part-time binge drinker knows that when you end up with a hangover the next day, no matter how much fun you had the night before, you’re not going to be dumb enough to mix the same lethal cocktails ever again. “The Hangover Part II” would not be one of those hangovers you brag about […]

After a four-year hiatus to regroup and determine the future of the franchise, Disney and what was once its surprise mega-hit “Pirates of the Caribbean” series have returned in “On Stranger Tides.” Hard to believe that this franchise evolved from the once-lambasted concept of a theme park ride being turned into a successful motion-picture blockbuster. […]

Looking at the whole of the Marvel universe, Thor would have to be the black sheep. For one thing, he’s the Norse god of thunder. His world — the realm of Asgard — is completely foreign to us, as is most Norse mythology. Greek mythology, maybe, but definitely not Norse. As for the hero himself, […]

The superhero film craze has led to a lot of ordinary main characters taking justice into their own hands. In that sense, nothing will strike you as original about “Super,” the latest film from James Gunn (“Slither”) and one made on a shoestring budget. Rainn Wilson stars as Frank, a man who loses his cool […]

If Chloe Moretz’s Hit Girl from “Kick-Ass” were a slightly more real person, I suppose she’d be Hanna. Saoirse Ronan might not utter the C-word, but her character provides the same level of entertainment plus a bit more, well, depth. Either way, the trend of ass-kicking children continues in Joe Wright’s latest film, which succeeds […]

Trains, brains and alternate realities comprise “Source Code,” the sophomore feature from Duncan Jones, director of 2009’s intellectual sci-fi dish “Moon” starring Sam Rockwell. Jones coaches a similarly terrific actor in Jake Gyllenhaal to another commanding yet heart-filled leading performance. The difference is that “Moon” was contemplative and brooding; “Source Code” moves at thrill-a-minute pace. […]

Charlotte Brontë’s seminal literary work “Jane Eyre” has been adapted countless times and prepared in a myriad of ways from the 1943 Joan Fontaine/Orson Welles version that was whittled to an hour and a half to the 1983 BBC mini-series with Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton that spans five-plus hours. That certainly begs the question […]

The grittier and slightly more realistic alien invasion film “Battle: Los Angeles” poses and addresses the intriguing question of how the military would respond in the event of a full-on attack at the hands of an unknown enemy. The answer? Clichés; tons of them. Round up the troops, grab whatever clichés you can find so we […]

We all face an existential crisis at some time or another, just usually not when we’re seven, which will likely be the mean age of children watching this newest non-Pixar non-DreamWorks animated feature. No, “Rango” won’t challenge kids to contemplate their role in the cosmos, but that’s precisely the predicament of its main character, a […]