Fast cars and comedy have never really gone hand in hand. Movies such as the “Fast and Furious” franchise have always been about the cars, with the jokes mostly sticking to characters digging at each other and one-liners. “Hit and Run,” on the other hand, is all about the humor — with a side of […]

You’d think putting together an action ensemble of some of the best muscle-bound men to ever grace the silver screen warrants an effort that goes beyond casting, but that’s not what we got in 2010’s “The Expendables.” The healthy dose of blood spatter and explosions certainly whetted action fans’ appetites, but the film ultimately fell […]

“Wrath of the Titans” really captures the spirit of its 2010 predecessor — that spirit being uninspired and underdeveloped. If the goal was not to work on improving the quality of the sequel, Warner Bros. succeeded.

After “The Bourne Ultimatum” became the most successful and critically praised film of a trilogy considered the consummate modern spy series, it was only a matter of time before the saga continued. With that film’s director, Paul Greengrass, interested in pursuing other projects, and star Matt Damon uninterested in returning without Greengrass, Universal has been […]

Third installments have a history of letting us down — in the superhero world especially. You won’t find a lot of folks who list a movie with a “3” at the end as their favorite of a movie series, and frankly, they don’t have a lot to choose from either. It’s extremely tough to find […]

The success of “Sherlock Holmes” in 2009 certainly opened up Warner Bros.’ pockets wide enough to give director Guy Ritchie a bit of free reign over the sequel. His choice of what do with that cash, however, didn’t have to be as straightforward as it is in “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.” In other […]

Back in 2002, Sony Pictures and filmmaker Sam Raimi brought one of Marvel Comics’ most popular superheroes, Spider-Man, to big screen for the first time. Peter Parker’s story captivated audiences and set the record for the most money made on an opening weekend. Now, let’s imagine none of that ever happened. Let’s pretend director Marc […]

Let’s hope that Hollywood’s portrayal of the CIA is off, otherwise at this point every person with an appetite for action-thrillers knows exactly what goes on at Langley. “Safe House” is the latest “Bourne”-inspired romp featuring armed-and-dangerous Americans running, driving and parkouring through an exotic locale. 

It has finally been assembled. Marvel’s decision to make “The Avengers” might seem like the superhero equivalent of the ensemble movie “Valentine’s Day,” or the theory that stuffing multiple popular actors into one movie is an adequate substitute for storytelling and makes it so marketable that no one could pass it up. While that’s not […]

It’s fair to say Luc Besson has gotten a bit giddy ever since “Taken.” The man who once upon a time brought us “La Femme Nikita” and “Leon: The Professional” has instead taken  to lighter action fare, in this case recruiting amateurs James Mather and Stephen St. Leger to help write and direct his “original […]

We’re now more than a decade into the modern superhero movie era, folks. At this point, we’ve just crossed the threshold of the “reboot phase,” in which studios have either been forced or decided to re-imagine some of the 2000‘s major superhero properties. We saw “X-Men: First Class” successfully relaunch the “X-Men” franchise last summer […]

Liam Neeson the gritty action hero. How unbelievable that at nearly 60 years old, an actor can redefine his career and become more bankable. Neeson has somehow re-channeled the seriousness he brought to dramatic roles into creating utterly convincing heroes in decent (at best) thrillers. 

Samurai films tend to lean toward either overly talkative and boring or hyper-stylized to the point that credibility comes into question. Striking that middle ground, however, can lead to greatness, or rather — great honor. Takashi Miike’s “13 Assassins” might not match the great Akira Kurosawa films, but boy does it come close, and it […]

Let it be known that 2011 was a record-setting year at the movies. No previous year in all of film history has had as many … sequels. Yes, a whopping 27 films either directly following or based on previous movies came to theaters this year. “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” is the 27th sequel to […]

Pulp flicks can sometimes get a bit too ahead of themselves. Sometimes all you need is a hobo, a shotgun and a twisted sense of justice. Rutger Hauer stars in “Hobo with a Shotgun,” the second film after “Machete” to be derived from a fake trailer created for the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double-feature “Grindhouse.” Although […]