Here’s my theory on how Paramount and Hasbro teamed up to make “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.” With the help of the film’s creative team, Hasbro designed an entire Toys R Us aisle’s worth of G.I. Joe action figures and accessories, everything from subs to jets to tunneling vehicles to Joes in accelerator suits [...]

Personal and human interests butt heads in “Three Kings,” a Gulf War action flick from David O. Russell. Following the Gulf War cease-fire four soldiers (Clooney, Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Jonze) plan to take gold stolen by Saddam Hussein during the invasion of Kuwait so they can live well for the rest of their lives. [...]

It seems kind of pointless, in my opinion, to develop such an extensive mythos and history for a centuries old vampires vs. lycans (werewolves) premise when everyone’s just going to try and kill each other anyway. Underworld creators Len Wiseman and Danny McBride impressively flesh out their world and backstory, especially so in “Underworld: Evolution” [...]

The grandfather of the mystery genre — and film’s most adapted character — is none other than the great detective Sherlock Holmes, so if one were to apply Holmes’ own deductive reasoning skills, a modern reinvention was a matter of time. English Director Guy Ritchie (“Snatch,” “RocknRolla”) applies his witty and gritty crime thriller style [...]

Like most ’90s sequels, “Lethal Weapon 3″ proves the third time’s a flop. The movie isn’t horrible. It’s watchable and provides the antics fans of the first two films have come to expect, but it offers no stimulation. It’s flat, uninspired and typical. Riggs and Murtaugh aren’t pushed in new ways or given any opportunity [...]

John Hancock is far from your average superhero, but the trailer told you that. What the trailer doesn’t tell you, is that after the rogue anti-hero drunkenly parades about as advertised, he has to develop a backstory and make the film go from a clever spin on a hot- ticket genre to an emotional action [...]

Never saw the original “Predator” until today. It’s worth mentioning that Robert Rodriguez is producing a re-make that’s just started filming. “Predator” boasts a few unique claims, one being that it’s the only movie to feature two US governors. The “Jaws” and “Alien”-inspired monster attack film also gave birth to one of the most original [...]

The superhero genre reached a higher echelon in 2008 with “Iron Man” and “The Dark Knight,” and considering the success of 2/3 of the X-Men franchise so far, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” can certainly be held to those standards, especially a movie whose title alone suggests getting right down to its hero’s adamantium core. But “Wolverine” [...]

Kathleen Turner stars as a romance adventure novelist who ends up on a romantic adventure of her own in “Romancing the Stone.” Naturally, fans of romance adventures will most enjoy this one, but to its credit there’s a good balance of action to make this film enjoyable for just about everyone. “Romancing the Stone” is [...]

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is a horror movie for epileptics, a 2.5-hour exhibition of a hurricane in a hardware store, a relentlessly loud first movement in a symphony of destruction. It is a summer blockbuster on steroids: you’d like to laud the accomplishment, but it feels like cheating. In other words, “Fallen” appears to [...]

Carjacking is generally a good time, but Dominic Sena manages to make it unexciting in “Gone in Sixty Seconds,” a remake of the 1974 film. Aside from a good final chase, this film spends more time talking about stealing cars than actually doing it. At the least you’d expect a two-hour showcase of some beautiful [...]