In this spinoff of Universal Pictures’ Mummy franchise, professional wrestler The Rock proves to be less of a new kind of action hero than a hybrid of the old kinds: he has Arnold Schwarzenegger’s body and Bruce Willis’ sense of irony. It’s a fitting approach for a sword-and-sorcery adventure that winkingly acknowledges it’s just having

A dramatization of a 1961 incident in which a malfunctioning Soviet sub nearly suffered a nuclear meltdown, K-19 is at its creepiest when the threat of radiation begins to haunt the trapped crew. The movie features tight direction by Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, Strange Days) and the familiar faces of Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson,

Director Tim Burton apes a standard blockbuster filmmaking style in this satisfying remake of the 1968 science-fiction classic. There’s plenty of entertaining makeup effects and action here, but Burton’s talent for imposing his personal vision on the most commercial of pop tableaus (Batman, Sleepy Hollow) never shines through.

This crime farce may have been the movie of the moment when it first came out, what with director Guy Ritchie’s marriage to Madonna and its hip international cast, including Brad Pitt, Benicio Del Toro and a bunch of Brits. But Snatch is about as cool as a day-old corpse. As he follows a stolen

Paul Walker auditions for the part of Aquaman as Jared, a beach bum in the Bahamas with dreams of finding sunken treasure. In the course of the overly plotted story that ensues – involving drug dealers, corrupt cops and Jessica Alba as his bikini-baring girlfriend – Jared finds himself forced to cling from the side

I would have enjoyed Man on Fire much more if director Tony Scott wasn’t constantly standing in front of the screen in the theater. OK, so his intrusion isn’t that literal, but the twitching, fidgety filmmaking style he brings to this Denzel Washington kidnapping drama – he plays a bodyguard protecting a little girl (Dakota

Director Zhang Yimou follows up Hero with another martial arts extravaganza set in ancient China. If Hero was an exercise in opulent color, this is a celebration of sound, from the delicate rustle of falling leaves to the reverberating ping of crossed swords. The focus on sound makes sense, considering the main character (Ziyi Zhang

Only director Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers) could make a gruesome spectacle out of things we can’t even see. This takeoff on the invisible-man myth had potential, as Kevin Bacon’s disappearing scientist indulges in the voyeuristic nature of his newfound power, but Verhoeven soon becomes as obsessed with cruel sex and needless violence as