Movies in the Action genre

It would be fair to say that Skyscraper does what it sets out to do but the unambitious agenda isn’t something I’m especially interested in watching. A dumbed-down Die Hard with a Towering Inferno infusion, the film exists solely as a showca...

Smokin' Aces is Tarantino lite - a vague and unsuccessful attempt to bring together a bunch of offbeat, unrelated characters in a situation where a bloody resolution is inescapable. Like an absentminded chef, however, writer/director Joe Carnahan ...

In a curious way, Snatched is a little like an Amy Schumer stand-up routine: sometimes edgy, occasionally hilarious, and lessened by the bits that fall flat. Unlike Trainwreck, which featured strong writing and an opportunity for Schumer to di...

If I were in a kind mood, I might say that The Specialist attempts to be an atmospheric, dramatic thriller. On the other hand, if I wanted to be truthful, I could note that this film has two obvious assets (both of which are used to maximum advant...

Warning: Oblique spoilers. An “average” James Bond movie can be described using three words: “satisfying but flawed.” To the extent that’s true, Spectre fills the mold. Overplotted and at least 20 minutes too long, t...

Place your foot on the accelerator. Press down. Watch the needle on the speedometer creep above fifty. Now you're trapped. Whatever happens, you can't drop below that level - if you do, you're dead, and everyone on the bus with you. It might n...

There's no doubt that the Wachowskis' vision of Speed Racer is big, wild, and overripe with garish colors. It's what I'd imagine it might be like trapped inside a video game or a pinball machine. It's a kaleidoscope gone mad. Yet this kind of vis...

Recent times have been good to Marvel comics, and the long-anticipated arrival of Spider-Man represents the latest step up the ladder. Long the underdog in the motion picture arena, Marvel has at last been able to catch up to rival DC comics by pl...

Spider-Man 2 has all the elements of a good, but not great, superhero motion picture. While lacking the tragic grandeur that made last year's Hulk such a unique experience, Spider-Man 2 fills the void with solid character development, self-referen...

The Spider-Man series, which debuted in 2002 and continued in 2004 and 2007, represents the first superhero cycle to complete a trilogy with the same primary cast and production team it had at the beginning. If nothing else, that assures viewers o...