Underworld: Awakening - Watch it for Kate Beckinsale, that's about it.

After escaping from a long confinement Selene returns to lead her fellow vampires against a new deadly threat, humans.

As a fan of the first two Underworld films (fyi, the third one was just awful), I was pumped to see Kate Beckinsale was returning for the fourth in the series to reprise her role as Selene. Aside from pulling off the bad ass action heroine part of the role, she has also always brought a depth and believability to Selene which added to those first two Underworld films and made them something more than low-rent action popcorn flicks. Beckinsale certainly delivered again in Underworld: Awakening, kicking lycan butt, looking absolutely beautiful while doing so and still giving the role the believability it needed. What was missing from Awakening was any semblance of a serious story or an inkling of character development amongst the rest of the cast. It is true that the first two Underworld films' stories were not exactly Shakespearian in nature, but they at least contributed to the films. With Awakening, there was no substantive plot/story. It felt as though what was there plot/story-wise was filler until the next action sequence came roaring along. Ultimately, the lack of story or characters hurt the film and made it completely forgettable as soon as one pressed "stop" on their remote.

Action junkies can rejoice, Underworld: Awakening delivered all of the vampire vs. lycan battles and slo-mo shootouts that they would expect from a film in this series. But it lacked the story, characters and other elements to make it anything more than a loud, unremarkable sequel.

Grade: C-

Red Tails: George Lucas strikes again (and not in a good way)!

A group of African American pilots, who were part of the Tuskegee Airmen training program, are finally given the chance to engage in aerial combat over the skies of Europe during World War II.

You knew that since this film had George Lucas as its executive producer and it was being produced by Lucasfilm, the CGI and action sequences were going to look and sound amazing. In those aspects, Red Tails did not disappoint as the dogfights, bomber runs and other aerial action kept the audience engaged and intently watching the exploits of the squadron. However, the story and characters tried too hard to fit into the mold of all of those other Hollywood war films and came off as cliched and uninteresting. Films like Glory, which examined the first black regiment in the Civil War, worked so well because the ferocious action on the screen was accentuated by the thought-provoking storytelling and dynamic acting. With Red Tails, the story seemed out of focus, trying to deal with so many insipid and unnecessary subplots, and the characters failed to add anything more than mediocre performances.

If the story could have been reigned in to focus specifically on the bonds between the pilots and show their struggles in combat, as well as in facing bigotry from their own white counterparts, perhaps Red Tails would have been more than a standard war film which never distinguished itself from the rest.

Grade: D+

Prometheus: It's kinda like a prequel...maybe?

Elizabeth Shaw believes she has found a clue to the origin of man. Together with other scientists and explorers she travels to the far reaches of the universe and discovers a planet that might hold the answers she seeks. But what they find on that planet could not only lead to her destruction, but that of all life on Earth.

So what should one expect from Prometheus? First and foremost, it was a visual feast. Director Ridley Scott filled every frame of the film with so many interesting things (landscapes, cool tech/gadgets, spaceships, etc.) that it was next to impossible to not keep one's eyes glued to the screen (if you have the chance to see it in IMAX 3D, I highly recommend it). Scott was also able to squeeze out as much suspense and thrills as possible  in order to keep the audience at the collective edges of their seats. While not equaling Alien in this regard, Prometheus certainly held its own against other recent science fiction films. Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron also provided tremendous turns in their individual roles. Where the film faltered was in its story, which aimed high content-wise, but failed to deliver any real answers to the heavy handed questions it posed. The story did not concern a bunch of space truckers being chased on their ship by a big, nasty nightmare of a xenomorph, rather it pondered just where we as humans came from (against the back drop of a number of nasty things attempting to harm the human protagonists). Were we created by the Engineers (the beings that Shaw and her co-horts discover on the planet)? If so, who or what created them? These are questions that can be tackled/explored within a science fiction film, but the script just posed them and never presented the audience with an opportunity to get enough information to come to their own conclusions. This, along with unexceptional dialogue and the fact that the story was extremely difficult to follow, left the audience feeling alienated (no pun intended) and wanting everything in the film to be just as spectacular as all of the amazing visuals they were seeing on screen.

It's funny but while getting ready to go to the theater and check out Prometheus I found myself thinking, "it's going to be great to finally see a good sequel in the Alien film series." However after the credits started rolling, I realized that my attitude (which I am sure was shared by Alien fans), was the wrong one to have. It is true that there are certain links to the original Alien universe in Prometheus (Weyland Yutani remains an evil corporation, androids are nefarious and dark haired heroines kick butt), but this film is done almost a disservice by the weighty expectations fans of the series have unfairly placed upon it.

Prometheus was not another Alien, which may be disappointing to some, but its visual flair and solid acting made it a worthy companion piece to the series.

Grade: B-

Battleship: Seriously, you could do worse

While participating in International Naval war games in Hawaii, a fleet of ships run into an alien armada who intend to conquer the earth. The ships and their respective crews must work together in order to stop this from happening.

A movie based off of a board game seems like a silly idea on paper and director Peter Berg's Battleship certainly does nothing to curb that line of thinking for it was a loud, inane summer popcorn action flick with barely enough story and character to make it sub-standard at best. It is not the worst thing to come out of Hollywood in recent years, in fact, the action and special effects looked and sounded great (guess they spent some of that purported $200 million dollar budget on something worthwhile, too bad it wasn't a script) but there was nothing beyond those special effects and action sequences to give the film life or intelligence. This lack of story, plot, or characters has led many critics to make comparisons of Battleship to the Transformers films (which, oddly enough are produced also by Hasbro). Critics have long chided the director the Transformers films, Michael Bay, for perpetuating the effects laden/story lacking films that Hollywood seems to turn out anymore. In some ways, they are right to do so. The Transformers film series peaked with the original in regards to presenting a whole film, with story and characters to go along with the special effects, and the only reason that happened was Bay had to establish the characters that were going to be around for those two sequels (well, Megan Fox only did one more but I don't think her "acting" ability was missed in the third one). The sequels were either brainless (Transformers 2) or had such stunning special effects, no one seemed to care about the terrible acting or story. Battleship felt like a mash up between those two films, it had a poorly constructed story with holes in the plot big enough to sail a destroyer through and a lead actor in Taylor Kitsch who lacked the screen presence (or acting chops in general) to lead a big budget summer film. Still, those special effects and other visual goodies (to go along with a twist at the climax of the film which featured some real American heroes) throughout provided enough entertainment to at least keep the audience engaged.

Don't believe the hype, Battleship wasn't so terrible that you won't be entertained at some points, it just lacked the intelligence and story to make it anything more than a brainless summer popcorn action flick.

Grade: C- 

Apollo 18: Cool concept, boring film

According to official reports, the last mission to the moon by the United States was Apollo 17. But the recent discovery of footage of classified mission following 17 shows that United States astronauts returned to the moon, and came across something that guaranteed we would never go back.

The parade of found footage/documentary style horror films continues (thanks Netflix for sending me this one (he says sarcastically)) with Apollo 18. And while it suffered from the same lack of character development and sustainable plot/story as The Devil Inside, it featured a number of truly terrifying moments which were amplified by the director's use of the desolate landscape and isolated atmosphere of the moon. It's true that the audience never really got to know the astronauts (to be perfectly honest, each of them had the personality of a wet rag), and perhaps if there were some kind of conflict between Nate, Ben and John the story might have been more interesting, but at least when creepy things started happening on the moon's surface it was easy to get the prickly sensations going up and down one's spine and start to wonder just what kind of fate was waiting for the men of the Apollo 18 mission. These few tense moments were the only things that made the film somewhat watchable.

The atmosphere and look of Apollo 18 certainly helped to make its scares all the more frightening, it's just too bad its story and characters failed to add any value to the film as a whole. 

Grade: D+

The Devil Inside: Save yourself some time and go rent The Exorcist

Four years after her mother killed three clergy people, Isabella travels to Italy to visit her. She is convinced that her mother's actions were not her own four years ago and, with the help of two young priests, she hopes to cure her.

Fashioning itself in the same vein as other recent horror films such as The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, The Devil Inside presented its story with a documentary/found footage feeling that was meant to keep the audience on edge, wondering if what they were watching was staged or perhaps real. There were points in the film where what was happening to Isabella, Ben and the other characters could certainly make the audience jump, squirm or just shift around in their chair for it was unnerving and disturbing but the filmmakers failed to develop the story into anything more than a series of random scares. They raised the question of, is exorcism real or just mental illness but never bothered to explore it further and fold that into Isabella's quest to understand her mother's condition. Then there was the ending, which was wholly unsatisfying and seemed extremely lazy on the part of director William Brent Bell.

Ultimately, The Devil Inside was nothing more than a schlocky, exploitative horror film that did little more than utilize all the things previously seen in other "exorcism" films (i.e. women tied to beds, speaking in tongues and saying things that would make most sailors blush) without ever distinguishing itself from them. 

Grade: D

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol: Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to check this film out!

Agent Ethan Hunt returns to face another terrifying threat. After the IMF is shut down and implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, Hunt and the members of his new team must go rogue to hunt down a dangerous terrorist named Hendricks who is not only responsible for framing them for the bombing, but also plans to launch a nuclear strike on the United States.

From the moment it starts, the film barley lets off the gas, giving the audience a multitude of amazing action sequences, car chases, tense moments, close calls and laughs. In comparison to the last couple of Mission Impossible films, this one felt more in line with the set up and spirit of the original television series. There were plenty of cool gadgets and other technology used by Ethan and his team but not so much that they overwhelmed the story. The most refreshing aspect to this chapter in the Mission Impossible film series (and the thing that spurred the comment about a return to the spirit of the original television series) was the fact that the story was not all about Ethan. It is true that he was the main hero of the film (I mean, Cruise did produce it so it's only right), but he was dependent upon the rest of the team to help him stop Hendricks and foil his nefarious plan of nuclear armageddon. Each one of the team members (which included Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton and the always hilarious Simon Pegg) was able to provide a terrific performance. Heck, Cruise even provided a very effective turn as Ethan, giving him an emotional depth and maturity that seemed to be missing from the previous Mission Impossible films.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol pulled out all of the stops to not only be a thrilling action film but also distinguish itself from the other films in the series. The result was a terrifically entertaining blast of action flick goodness that everyone will enjoy.

Grade: B+ 

The Muppets: A perfect family movie

When Kermit and the rest of the Muppets learn their beloved theater is slated for demolition so the evil Tex Richman can take all of the oil underneath it, they team up with their new friends Gary and Walter to do one more show in order to raise enough money to save it.

In a world full of unnecessary remakes, daft films about vampires that glitter in the sun (yes, I took a cheap shot at the Twilight series) and other puerile junk that lack any redeeming value of any type, it's hard to find a film that is not only able to entertain an audience, but also just make them feel good once the end credits start rolling. A film that can make one laugh, think and (maybe even) cry due to its sincerity and simple message. Thankfully, The Muppets provided all of those things and more. The story of Kermit and the rest of the gang getting together to do one last show in order to save their theater was not meant to blow people away with a complex plot, abundant special effects or excessive amounts of inappropriate humor (that's not to say there weren't hilarious parts throughout because there were plenty of those), rather it simply wanted to show that if one believed in themselves as well as their friends, anything (including defeating an evil oil tycoon in Tex Richman), is possible. I think we live in such a cynical age anymore that messages like that get lost in the overwhelming swirl of reality television, the internet or any of the other modern trappings that seem to rule our lives. Hopefully children who view this movie will take this lesson to heart, and their parents (or any other adults, teenagers, etc.) will as well.

The Muppets was a fun movie that not only kept the audience laughing, singing and smiling, but also delivered the kind of message that made a person feel good walking out of the theater or pressing stop on the blu-ray player.

Grade: A

Immortals: Not the Sword and Sandal Epic You Were Hoping For

The evil King Hyperion hopes to find an ancient mystical weapon that will help him free the dreaded Titans and overpower the Gods. Standing in his way is Theseus, a mortal man chosen by the Gods to stop him.

In their quest to give the audience the kind of slo-mo, ultra brutal action that helped to make "300" such a memorable film, director Tarsem Singh and the rest of the production team forgot a couple of very important things, namely a viable story and believable characters. The story of Theseus had the chance to be one of inspiration, showing the audience that even a mortal man could make a difference against a great evil. Instead, Tarsem and the screenwriters felt it was more important to simply overwhelm the story with action sequences that were a little too similar to "300" (and not nearly as visceral or thrilling) and a plethora of bland characters. Henry Cavill certainly gave his all in the part of Theseus and made his best efforts to keep the audience interested in what was happening on screen but the rest of the cast was either sadly under-utilized (seriously Freida Pinto could have done so much more than stare longingly at Henry), woefully miscast (Mickey Rourke as a King? Not buying it, even for a second), excessively whiny (Luke Evans played Zeus as if he were a bratty teenager) or were just there to take up space.

By the time the film was over, and all of the visual flair and pseudo-extravagant action had finished, one almost forgot just what Immortals was about for it had no real story or characters, making it just another "300" wannabe.

Grade: D+ 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: If you think the poster is shocking, just wait till you watch the film!

Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist is hired by a wealthy businessman to investigate the disappearance of his grandniece. However she disappeared over forty years ago and the trail is somewhat cold, so he begins working with an investigator named Lisabeth. Together they uncover clues that could not only lead them to the grandniece, but also shed light on a series of murders with possible connections to her disappearance.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was not an easy film to watch. The gritty crime thriller, directed by one of the modern American auteurs in David Fincher and based off of the international best selling novel of the same name by Stieg Larsson, deals with Mikael and Lisabeth's investigation of  a girl's disappearance forty years ago. Along the way, they encounter a number of unsavory characters trying to hinder their attempts to uncover the truth. These unsavory characters, and the dilemmas they present to Mikael and Lisabeth, are what make for some of the more intense scenes of the film (those scenes between Lisabeth and you court appointed guardian Nils are almost unbearable, especially for women). Fincher never shied away from showing these things on screen, but he also never overindulged in the gritty stuff, thereby making those scenes all the more effective and shocking. Those scenes serve specific purposes to the film as a whole and are therefore integral.

The mystery the duo are trying to solve was complex and overwhelming at points, given the long list of suspects as well as the cryptic clues, but this only served to reel the audience in deeper into the film. Fincher was also able to lean on his actors to draw the audience in emotionally. Daniel Craig was sturdy and believable as Mikael, giving him a more physical presence than Michael Nyqvist did when he played the part in the Swedish version of the film. Rooney Mara was an absolute revelation as Lisabeth. She was haunting and delicate at points but able to turn into a fierce women who was ready to fight in an instant. It was impossible to take one's eyes off of her when she was on screen for you never knew what she was going to do. Individually, these two were interesting enough but when they joined up to work together and solve the mystery, it was beyond fascinating to watch. Their scenes together were played with an appealing awkwardness that kept the audience wondering just what was developing between the two of them.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a classic who-dunnit thriller with an entertaining edge sorely missing in most Hollywood films nowadays.

Grade: A