Movies with music written by John Powell
Fourteen years after the release of The Bourne Identity, the Bourne movies have deviated so drastically from Robert Ludlum’s source novels that, like James Bond, the film character exists separately from his written inspiration. Over the course...
U.S. Release Date: 2016-07-29
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence, Profanity)
Genre: Thriller
Director: Paul Greengrass
Cast: Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, ...
With its skinny running length (80 minutes, including credits), often incoherent narrative, and neutered violence, Jonah Hex shows all the signs of having been re-worked in the editing room. The resultant production, as is often the case in situat...
U.S. Release Date: 2010-06-18
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence, Sexual Content)
Genre: ACTION
Director: Jimmy Hayward
Cast: Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, Megan Fox, ...
One of the cardinal rules when making a motion picture about a superhero, especially one no one has heard of, is not to make the integrity of the story depend on the existence of a sequel. Unfortunately, that's a rule that director Doug Liman brea...
U.S. Release Date: 2008-02-14
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence, Profanity, Sexual Situations)
Genre: SCIENCE FICTION
Director: Doug Liman
Cast: Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson, ...
The action/comedy genre has grown in popularity over the past couple of decades, but it remains difficult for filmmakers to find a workable balance between the seemingly disparate elements of the recipe. Too much action often results in marginaliz...
U.S. Release Date: 2010-06-23
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence, Profanity, Sexual Content)
Genre: ACTION/COMEDY
Director: James Mangold
Cast: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, ...
The average animated sequel is content to apprehend the successful elements from its predecessor and regurgitate them. The result, no matter how enjoyable, often drips with an overly familiar precipitation. Dreamworks' biggest animated franchise, S...
U.S. Release Date: 2011-05-26
MPAA Rating: "PG"
Genre: ANIMATED
Director: Jennifer Yuh
Cast: (voices) Jack Black, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michelle Yeoh, ...
Kung Fu Panda adopts a different, less zany tone than one might expect from a movie with that title, especially considering that Jack Black has been brought on board to provide the lead voice. While it would be unfair to say that the movie doesn't...
U.S. Release Date: 2008-06-06
MPAA Rating: "PG" (Nothing Objectionable)
Genre: ANIMATED
Director: Mark Osborne, John Stevenson
Cast: (voices) Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, ...
"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues." Considering the brevity of the average Dr. Seuss book, it's no surprise that many of his best-known stories have been satisfactorily adapted into half-...
U.S. Release Date: 2012-03-02
MPAA Rating: "PG"
Genre: ANIMATED
Director: Chris Renaud
Cast: (voices) Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, ...
The problem with Mr. and Mrs. Smith is that it's really two movies in one. The first is a sly comedy/thriller worthy of Hitchcock, and the other is a big, noisy summer action flick. The marriage of these two, like that of the title characters, is...
U.S. Release Date: 2005-06-10
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence, Profanity, Sexual Situations)
Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE
Director: Doug Liman
Cast: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughn, ...
If you want an insightful movie about the grieving process, check out Grace Is Gone, which explores how a suddenly single father must cope not only with the loss of his wife but must face telling his daughters that their mother is not coming home. ...
U.S. Release Date: 2007-12-21
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Profanity, Sexual Situations, Nudity)
Genre: DRAMA
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Cast: Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Lisa Kudrow, ...
How's a studio to proceed when it wants to do something with a classic, family-friendly property but believes a straightforward remake to be redundant? The solution, as recently explored by several would-be franchises, is to expand the canvas. Ma...
U.S. Release Date: 2015-10-09
MPAA Rating: "PG" (Mild Violence)
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Director: Joe Wright
Cast: Levi Miller, Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, ...