With 2009’s Star Trek, director J. J. Abrams had set a course for the future of the series with a film that thoroughly invigorated what was, up to that point, largely seen as a flagging franchise. References to Star Trek in popular culture had been relegated to jokes about basement-dwelling man-children squinting through coke-bottle glasses, and it was a widely-held stereotype that “Trekkies” (the preferred term is apparently “Trekkers”) just weren’t ‘cool’. Love it or hate it, Star Trek ’09 made the series accessible to the masses and perhaps the sexy young cast, the action sequences and the lens flares were just a way of helping the movie-going public at large let down their collective guards and learning to appreciate this cornerstone of science fiction through new eyes...[more]...

In the interest of full disclosure, let it be known that I'm more of a DC Comics fan than a Marvel one. That said, I haven't missed a single one of the films in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, established with 2008’s Iron Man. The time has sped by on rocket boots, and with the Phase I films all in the bag, Phase II begins where it all started, with Iron Man...[more]...

Much as we’ve been told not to, it’s human nature to jump to conclusions. There’s just a lot of satisfaction in yelling out “called it!” when events unfold just as one has predicted. For example, it’s easy to look at a film and write it off based on its genre – and there have indeed been numerous stinkers from the chick flick bunch. Along comes I Give It a Year to stab the institution of marriage in its side...[more]...

Some of you out there may remember the 1951 film An American in Paris, or even the George Gershwin composition that inspired it. Well, here we have An American in Moscow; the American in question being none other than John McClane, possibly the most iconic character Bruce Willis has played...[more]...

Don’t call them dolls. They may be made in China and primarily out of ABS plastic, but that won’t change the fact that G.I. Joes are real American heroes. For many, these action figures are articulated nostalgia incarnate, the cartoons and comics adding to the fond childhood memories. When that nostalgia was made flesh in 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, however, most fans weren’t pleased and there were the Razzie nominations to show for it. But that didn’t stop a sequel from being made...[more]...

We’ve heard it a million times: “kids, say no to drugs”. We’ve heard it from Sonic the Hedgehog, Pee Wee Herman, Batman and every pop culture figure in between. Now, hear it from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Whatever he’s cooking, you can be sure it isn’t meth...[more]...

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An awful, misguided mess of a movie. Every actor seems out of place, every line of dialogue contrived, every shlock moment of gratuitous sex or violence obviously engineered to evoke a reaction, which it does not. It has been said that this adaptation removes the anti-Japanese bias of the book, but in trying to soften the blow the filmmakers have tripped themselves up and are left with something that is still wholly offensive and startlingly obtuse in its ignorance. It seems that director Philip Kaufman had a film camera in one hand and a checklist of stereotypes in the other. There are no genuine moments of action or thrills in this plodding, so-called "action-thriller", and the high-tech element of photography forensics now seems awfully dated. This was a time when Wesley Snipes was a viable action star, but he spends the whole movie in dazed disbelief. When even Sean Connery visibly gives up on the project, one knows he is in deep trouble.

Let it not be said that the Green Lantern is a second-stringer. Sure, he may not be as well known a comic book character as his DC compatriots Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman, but he has a strong fan following and as much cinematic potential as his illustrious peers. As a DC Comics fan, this reviewer has been waiting a while for a Green Lantern movie, and is glad to report that this mostly delivers the goods...[more]...

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After The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, released in the summer of 2008, Disney dropped the franchise. The reasons are not entirely clear, but speculation is rife that the film lost out to the heady competition that season and didn’t make as much money as Disney would’ve liked. Thankfully, 20th Century Fox has picked up the series and with The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, we return to the magical land of Narnia...[more]...

Amidst a torrent of wannabe fantasy “epics” based on children’s books, the real McCoy rears its head for a majestic roar. Based on the legendary books of C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian serves as a follow-up to 2005’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I was privileged to catch the film at a special preview screening. Like its predecessor and perhaps even more so, Prince Caspian is laced with deep meaning, spiritual undertones, awesome spectacle and a few laughs here and there. However, this adventure is not devoid of low points as well...[more]...

Jason Statham is at it again, earning his keep the only way he knows how: punching and kicking his way through the Chinese and Russian mobs and the New York Police Department. As ex-cop Luke Wright, he is reduced to cage fighting and sleeping in shelters after he snitches on his corrupt colleagues. It’s just his luck that he comes across Mei (Chan), a 12-year-old Chinese girl with superhuman memory who carries in her head a complex series of numbers. It’s also just his luck that Mei is a pawn of Chinese mob boss Han Jiao (Hong), and police captain Wolf (Robert Burke) is playing both the Chinese and the Russians as all three parties hunt down Luke and his new charge...[more]...