XXX: State of the Union (2005)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

Just as 2002’s XXX took aim at the extreme sports-loving, Mountain Dew-chugging teen demographic, so does this sequel patronize a stereotyped target market, making it little more than a cheap product cynically manufactured to pluck specific dollars. In tapping Ice Cube as the new secret agent and finding a supporting role for rapper turned Pimp

Smokin’ Aces (2007)

Action/Adventure Rated R

Hollywood seems to think every eighth-grade class needs its own Pulp Fiction, and so the graduates of 2007 get Smokin’ Aces, a grating exercise in trendy nihilism designed to appeal to the amoral adolescent in all of us. The setup is simple enough to inspire a video game – a bevy of contract killers converge

Transformers (2007)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

“…like watching a car compactor at work in a junkyard.

Jet Li’s Fearless (2006)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

A highbrow martial-arts picture in the tradition of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Jet Li’s Fearless has lofty ambitions but lacks the necessary talent. Li stars as real-life martial-arts legend Huo Yuanjia, who fought for the pride of China against foreign challengers at the turn of the 20th century. As it follows Yuanjia from childhood to

Flyboys (2006)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

There is a reason it isn’t called Flymen. Flyboys, which follows James Franco as an American volunteer who pilots a fighter plane for the French in World War I, is thoroughly adolescent. That’s fine during the exciting – albeit computer-assisted – dogfight scenes, but not so good for the rest of the film. Here it’s

Guardian, The (2006)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

Touchstone Pictures went to the time capsule for this one, hauling out every cliche you can think of from those generic 1980s adventure movies. As such, a plot synopsis should suffice as critique: Ashton Kutcher plays a hotshot Coast Guard recruit who matures and blossoms under the guidance of a legendary swimmer (Kevin Costner) who

Bad Boys II (2003)

Action/Adventure Rated R

Another exercise in action incoherence from director Michael Bay, who reunites with Martin Lawrence and Will Smith as bickering Miami cops. As usual, nihilism reigns. Bad Boys II has no respect for the dead – one car chase involving a mortuary van features cadavers as road kill – and even less for the living.

Daredevil (2003)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

This comic-book adaptation about a blind lawyer who spends his nights as a masked vigilante teeters on the brink of ridiculousness – just watch Ben Affleck, as the title character, amble about with sunglasses and a walking stick. But a lighthearted tone and spirited supporting turns by Colin Farrell and Jennifer Garner coax the movie

Hulk, The (2003)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

Sorry special effects – the title character looks mostly like a very angry avocado, a new Veggie Tales character, perhaps – are the main problem with this comic-book adaptation, but hardly the only one. Eclectic director Ang Lee wastes his mythic, dreamy style; this is less like watching an Ang Lee movie than like watching

Spider-Man (2002)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

As someone who used to dress up in Spider-Man Underoos and literally try to climb walls when I was a kid, the highest praise I can give this high-flying adaptation from director Sam Raimi is to say it made me want to be Spider-Man again. True to the original 1962 comic book, the movie grounds