Mission: Impossible—Fallout Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) For the longest time, the Mission: Impossible franchise felt disjointed. Different directors—Brian De Palma, John Woo, J.J. Abrams, Brad Bird—brought different styles to essentially the same story, and the supporting cast, while consistently enjoyable, was always changing to the point that it was difficult to connect with anyone outside of Tom Cruise’s […]
Star Trek Beyond Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) The term “episodic†gets thrown around a lot when it comes to major studio moviemaking. Between bifurcation of individual stories and the intense desire to turn everything into a “saga†or “cinematic universe,†the big-budget action film that mostly stands on its own is becoming an endangered species. Star Trek Beyond, then, […]
Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Five films into the Mission: Impossible series, and you sort of think you know everything you’re going to get—death-defying action, lots of Tom Cruise faces, masks, exotic locations, etc. It’s a variation on the James Bond theme, just like the Fast & Furious franchise has become a variation on the Mission: Impossible […]
Star Trek Into Darkness Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Overstuffed and overly serious, Star Trek Into Darkness fails to capture the magic J.J. Abrams brought to Star Trek, his 2009 reboot of the popular sci-fi series. It’s far from a horrible summer movie; On the contrary, its almost overwhelming imagination and brisk pace mean you’re in store for nearly two hours […]
The Adventures of Tintin Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Though The Adventures of Tintin is breezy fun, one can’t help but think the pairing of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson should have turned out something more exciting than this. Much has been made of the meeting of the minds of Indiana Jones and The Lord of the Rings, but not a […]
Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol is hopefully the beginning of a beautiful friendship. It’s hard to say whether Brad Bird needed Ethan Hunt more, or if it was the other way around, but regardless, their first collaboration is one hell of an action movie. Bird is the director of such animated hits as […]
Star Trek Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) I have no connection whatsoever to the “Star Trek†franchise. I haven’t seen any of the first ten films or the television show. I have some passing knowledge of the characters, but that’s about it. In fact, the only thing that really attracted me to this film was J.J. Abrams (I’m a […]
