The Rite: Wrong in so many ways

When Michael, a Catholic priest in training, begins to question his faith, he is sent to The Vatican in order to attend a special class on exorcism being taught by the church. Once there he is introduce to Father Lucas, a man intent upon showing Michael the true power of the devil.

The "exorcism" film really begins and ends with the classic which started the entire sub-genre, The Exorcist. In that respect, it is hard for any new film which deals with the same subject to match or even surpass what most people consider to be one of the best (and scariest) films of all time. The Rite had a chance to at least match The Exorcist due to its seemingly compelling storyline as well as the acting prowess of its star, Sir Anthony Hopkins, however it falied to be anything more than a substandard by-the-numbers supernatural thriller which did not even thrill. The story of Michael was never interesting enough to follow or take seriously, this was due to the pedestrian acting of Colin O' Donoghue (who played Michael) as well as the second-rate directing by Mikael Hafstrom, who simply recycled all of those ideas and plot points from films like The Exorcist and failed to introduce anything fresh or exciting to the sub-genre. Perhaps the most disappointing part of the movie was the performance of Hopkins for it felt like he channeled Hannibal Lector for half of his time on screen. His act got so tawdry at points that the audience could not help but feel as if the man who made fava beans famous was in the film for nothing more than a nice paycheck.

The Rite was wrong in so many ways that it never came close to being half as good as the movie it was trying to imitate.

Grade: D

The Green Hornet: Bruce Lee would not be pleased

Newspaper heir Britt Reid never really cared for much in life except for partying and having a good time. But after the death of his father he decides to don a disguise and make a difference as the crime fighter The Green Hornet. Along with his trusted sidekick Kato they set out to clean up the streets of Los Angeles.

Based off of the 1960's television series of the same name The Green Hornet had something of a Batman vibe to it given the backstory of the main character (Britt Reid, like Bruce Wayne, is a rich kid who decides to take justice into his own hands after the murder of his father). However with Seth Rogen in the role of Reid, the audience was no doubt expecting quite a few hilarious one-liners  and other comic gems to complement the action expected in a superhero film. While the action was present (most of the said action was supplied by Jay Chou who played Kato), the sloppily scripted story never connected with the audience. Rogen's Reid/Green Hornet failed to be anything other than an unfunny, spolied brat who was completely unbelievable as a good guy, let alone a superhero. Christoph Waltz, as the bad guy Chudnofsky, was whinier than a seventeen year old girl who didn't get asked to prom and never amounted to anything menacing or convincingly evil while Cameron Diaz did nothing more than show up and look hot. Even the directing by Michel Gondry (who has directed visually unique films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep) seemed ordinary and added little to an already underwhelming film.

The bad jokes, shoddy story/plot, poor acting and stagnant directing all combined to make The Green Hornet nothing super at all.

Grade: D

Resident Evil: Afterlife: A sequel with less brains than the zombies that are in it

Alice's quest to destroy the evil Umbrella Corporation continues as she must fight to lead a group of survivors to the safe haven of Arcadia, a place where the T virus infection has not spread to.

There are some films which truly deserve sequels (i.e. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc.) because their main characters and storylines are so intriguing, audiences want to see more. However there are some films which do not warrant a single sequel, let alone three of them. Such is the case with the Resident Evil franchise and its latest plodding effort, "Afterlife" which was a silly exercise in hackneyed storytelling and directing. Paul W.S. Anderson (the Director of the film) tried to distinguish this sequel by incorporating 3D action sequences into it but those sequences were so similar to the action seen in the original Matrix (and I mean right down to the bad guy Albert Wesker, whose mannerisms and look smacked of Agent Smith) that it was hard not to roll one's eyes and stare at the nearest clock in the hopes that the film would be over sooner rather than later. The actual storyline was not any better as it suceeded in only giving the audience the bare facts of the how's and why's regarding Alice's quest and left plot holes of epic proportions at every opportunity.

With any luck, Resident Evil: Afterlife will be the last film in a franchise of truly subpar efforts.

Grade: D