If you see this latest take on the Jesse James legend, starring Colin Farrell, Scott Caan and Ali Larter, let me know what it’s like. American Outlaws was so generic and inconsequential the first time I sat through it, I can barely recall what happened.

That Hollywood staple – the undercover cop picture – gets an Asian spin with Infernal Affairs, an import that elevates such genre concerns to the near-mythic. The sinuous story pits a cop posing as a gangster (Tony Leung, Hero) against a mole in the police department (Andy Lau, House of Flying Daggers). Their taciturn showdowns

Stars Ice Cube and Mike Epps – playing a bounty hunter and a con man, respectively, who partner to thwart a diamond heist – riff on familiar genre notes here with the skills of a polished comic team. Their spirited chemistry turns what could have been another contemporary blaxploitation picture into a guilty pleasure you

There is a good reason we see a lot of Tobey Maguire’s face in Spider-Man 2 – why even during the action scenes his mask has been shredded. Peter Parker’s high-flying alter ego may get top billing, but it’s the conflicted kid beneath the tights who is the focus of this character-driven sequel from returning

This is straightforward but gripping adventure material about a U.S. Navy crew posing as German sailors in order to take over a Nazi submarine. The action scenes invigorate submarine thriller cliches, and Matthew McConaughey lends some depth as an executive officer struggling with the responsibilities of military leadership.

How much room does a blockbuster have? X2 tests the limit – there are so many mutant humans running around in spandex and capes this Marvel sequel resembles a costume ball – and for the most part it passes. Careful character development in a few cases – notably Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine – makes up for

Talk about a tortured hero. The freelance exorcist of the title (Keanu Reeves) knows he’s going to hell, and so he runs around Los Angeles hoping to vanquish enough demons to earn his way into heaven. But is that the way it works? These and other knotty theological issues – as well as a stoic

Fantastic Four faced an uphill battle in making its mark amid the renaissance of superhero movies during the 2000s. The Marvel comic, about a team of astronauts (Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, Ioan Gruffudd and Chris Evans) who obtain extraordinary powers after a freak accident in space, has never had the cachet of big-name properties such

The Bourne Identity was, above all things, muscular – lean, taut and physical – and its sequel, The Bourne Supremacy, has not let the series get flabby. There is a new director, Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday), but he and returning star Matt Damon maintain the skid-marked style of original helmer Doug Liman. Like its predecessor,