Reviews

Superficially, you know when this one winds to a close that you've just spent two and a half hours with the results of an over supportive studio giving Christopher Nolan, fresh from his huge Batman successes, way too much leeway.

It's a bloated, convoluted, over-extended and ponderous film that has almost no reward in store for viewers when all's said and done. But still, even as you secretly hope it'll be the next Ishtar or Cutthroat Island, you know it's wrong to think like that. You know there was still a truckload of vision and good intentions involved in the making of Inception, and you keep thinking that maybe this is the rare summer movie to attempt delivery of an intelligent construct to generally numb and switched off audiences.

The truth lies somewhere in between. Inception suffers from some factual failings that can't be denied - it's too long, for one. Then, the plot turns out surprisingly thin, so in order to fill the runtime, Nolan and Co resorted to severe repetition, so we're put through the same sequences time and again. Yet, there's no tension. You can figure out the entire affair for yourself in advance. Do not expect any twists when going into Inception, and actually the most tense moment comes right at the end, although we suspect that's because you're worried the suspense is leading into yet another scene.

Then, we get to the performances. Nobody does a really bang up job here, although no one falls too short of the mark. DiCaprio delivers basically the same character he was in Blood Diamond and Body of Lies, except he doesn't yell at the people on the phone as much this time. Otherwise it's the same reluctant gun for hire routine. He plays the oddly named Dom Cobb, a specialist in extraction. That's not a dental reference, it just means he's a dream hacker, able to infiltrate the sleeping minds of others and steal valuable information. This dream world is presented as a virtual reality straight out of The Matrix, including hostile locals and bizarre physics.

Cobb gets hired for one more big job by a powerful industrialist (Ken Watanabe), who needs his talents to interdict a rival family (Cillian Murphy and Pete Postlethwaite). But Cobb can't do the job alone, so he puts together an entire crew, including assistant Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and architect Ariadne (Ellen Page), among others. The job becomes increasingly complicated, though, mostly because Cobb is haunted by his beloved wife (Marion Cotillard), who's somewhat of an antagonist, albeit a rather mundane and annoying one.

What ensues exposes the failings of Inception. The narrative is just too long for it's own good, and presented in a manner that promotes repetition over ingenuity, despite the vision we mentioned before. Inception takes obvious cues from previous science fiction and surrealism entries, but at least it's honest enough to not dwell on the technicalities of just how Cobb and his posse manage to penetrate other people's dreams like that. Aside from the positive, there are mostly negatives, as you're compelled out of some basic decency to keep watching, hoping for things to take a swing in the right direction. That never happens, and Inception remains a middling exercise in over extension start to finish.

Most of the effort and talent here have evidently gone towards the visual richness of the feature, which doesn't disappoint. There are some excellent effects, landscapes, costumes and settings involved, but they're not enough to distract from the overall emptiness of this movie. Were it 30 minutes shorter, then maybe Inception could have been commendable for aesthetic endeavor, but as it stands, those pluses are drowned by the lacking storytelling on show. While not a complete disaster, Inception will get you started on the path to your next movie outing real quick.

It's got George Clooney in it and it feels like a movie the Coen Brothers might have directed but decided against. In fact, Goats reminds us a lot of Burn After Reading, except it is a tad funnier. Nonetheless, this isn't a comic tour de force by any means, it's actually a middling motion picture with a lot of wasted talent and one of the weakest wrap-ups in recent movie annals.

The intentionally witty title puts Goats in somewhat close proximity to previous anti-war efforts like Wag the Dog, save for the lack of mature political satire here. Instead, we get a story that starts out well enough, with Jeff Bridges portraying Lt. Colonel Bill Django, who has a revelation during combat in Vietnam and decides to sell the military on the New Earth Army. This para-normal psy ops force would practice all manner of unique peaceful warfare techniques, tapping unreal forces such as positive mind control, phasing and "sparkling eyes". In short, warrior monks.

Django recruits numerous men, among them George Clooney's Lyn Cassady. Clooney's in full Coen Bros mode here, and while his facial expressions and demeanor are as funny as ever, he can't save this movie. He's not aided at all by Kevin Spacey, who does the film's principal antagonist, one Larry Hooper, who by the way introduced the goat staring. Spacey is particularly ineffective here.

While the backstory takes place mostly during the cold war, the overlaying structure is told through the point of view of Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), a Michigan-based journo escaping a failed marriage through venturing to 2003 or 2004 Iraq as a second-rate war correspondent. After finally making it to the frontlines, all Wilton manages is to get involved in a re-kindled pys ops program involving the above characters. Which leads to myriad jokes about the force and jedi warriors. Probably in the script before McGregor was picked, they still come across rather cheap when told in his presence.

This is where Goats doesn't cut it. While the provocative premise of a hippie battalion of men with psychic superpowers and the disarming tenacity of true love sounds appealing, the execution falters, and the final moments are just an embarrassment, as the whole thing wraps up amateurishly like a goofy version of the finale from Three Kings. The main quartet of actors does well, McGregor is still very likable, but aside from a few hilarious moments, Goats ends up unimpressive, unmoving and forgettable. It's not like slamming your head against the wall, but it sure isn't worth walking on hot coals for.

The post apocalyptic parable helmed by the Hughes brothers and penned by iconic 80's and 90's gaming journo Gary Whitta manages to excel in spite of itself. To begin with, it's too short. It's one thing to leave people wanting more, another to tell an impressive story and hamper it by opting for a short runtime. Book of Eli (BoE) could have used a good added hour to work its magic, and it hurts that it didn't get it.

Then there's the setting, which is a sort of cross between recent The Road and Mad Max. This is an intelligent end of the world story, replete with little tips of the hat and clues, but the setting could have done with so much more depth. Too bad we didn't get to review more of Eli's world.

The titular character is a walker, heading west in a devastated world, ruined by "the war". Eli is on a mission, and his purpose stems from a book he's carrying, a powerful tome that's the last of its kind on earth, presumably. If the movie had any illusions that audiences would be unable to guess as to the nature of this book, of course it was way off. And here's another reason BoE succeeds despite itself – it's an altogether religious affair, but it's never preachy. The story promotes faith and the place of goodness in humanity, the role of the chosen few facing hordes of mindless, disposable, well, scum for lack of a better word. So while it's too hasty and dabbles in the taboo of religious persuasion, BoE is still a good motion picture worth the time and mind power it'll take to properly appreciate it.

Eli is played by Denzel Washington, who's always good, but shines as the humble and reclusive wasteland walker. As Eli traverses a destroyed America, he encounters bandits and ruffians, so we learn that the man is pretty handy in combat of all sorts. He also packs an iPod, has a backpack with one of those "Hello my name is" stickers in it, and carries a locked copy of the most important book in the movie's reality.

Eli tries to balance his desire to protect the good people who've survived the cataclysm with his need to be on his way, which presents dilemmas time and again, until he reaches a small town controlled by boss Bill Carnegie (Gary Oldman). Carnegie is a character, driven by power lust and a vision of reclaiming the world – and so he needs some inspiration for the slobbering illiterates he oversees. Eli's book seems a logical choice, and so Carnegie's demand that the volume be handed over puts the two into a position of conflict.

There are no easy fixes in BoE, this isn't a cut and paste action job, so don't expect a happy ending. And while the cinematography is gorgeous and the soundtrack by Atticus Ross is a moving work of brilliant verve and emotive impact, what really wins us over about this film are the numerous anecdotal insights into what or who Eli really is. The movie keeps toying with viewers, suggesting all manner of mutually exclusive ideas about the lead character, and it's delightful. It's also shy about telling us what happened to the world, which is always pleasant titillation in a genre piece like this. There are no info dumps per se in BoE – something we applaud.

Back to the acting, Eli's main ally, Solara (done by Mila Kunis) is a huge disappointment. She either doesn't get the canvass she needs to grow, or perhaps the entire character was flat from the outset. Either way, we didn't warm up to her at all, but Oldman's rendition of the main antagonist is interesting, suggesting a complex person who warrants further investigation. There's also a wonderful supporting role by Ray Stevenson (Punisher War Zone and Rome), who does Carnegie's chief enforcer in a decidedly multi-dimensional manner. Kudos to him and to Jennifer Beals, portraying Carnegie's woman with considerable skill.

Go into Book of Eli expecting to be intrigued, and you'll be rewarded. It's a tale that forces you to think about it, but at the same time it isn't epic. This last issue has more to do with the limited span and time allotted to the adventure, but it's nonetheless the way things panned out. BoE doesn't mask its religious agenda one bit, which for some odd reason feels very right because it's never hamfisted or cheesy like other movies that try to integrate faith into proceedings. However, it could have done with more room to fully develop and explain to us just why we need to listen.

As for the possibility of a sequel, since only Mila Kunis' character seems to have made it, we say, please no, no sequel. But a prequel would be great.

Overall recommended for intelligent storytelling, some great acting and a superb presentation.

Enter the theater on this one with pre-conceived notions that it'll be a one sided leftist Hollywood affair, and you'll only be partly right. The end result with Green Zone is a better than expected Iraq War episode, one we found more rewarding than the celebrated Hurt Locker. As for the politics, there's some of that and in the end the message is sort of "America bad, America greedy", but it's moderated by enough proper storytelling that you shouldn't care. Director Greengrass and Actor Damon hook up once more to rekindle their born of Bourne collaboration, yet don't let that put you off, Damon doesn't do an invincible super soldier here, and doesn't get to dispatch hordes of bumbling mercenaries in the process. Instead, he's an army chief warrant officer commanding a team of WMD hunters. After the invasion is well under way, Damon's Roy Miller notices that the intel his team has been fed leads to empty warehouses and no mass destruction whatsoever. Questioning the source of these tips, Miller comes upon a deep rooted manipulation of world politics involving shady DC honcho Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear), who's the most disappointing character in the whole movie. They try to make him singularly responsible for the war, which is ludicrous and not workable. On the plus side, Damon does well and is assisted by several quality thespians, like Jason Isaacs, who plays a special ops officer involved in the conspiracy. While a minor character, he does his usual macho villain magic with great aplomb and deftly lends the role unexpected depth. Too bad it wasn't developed at more length. Meanwhile, Brendan Gleeson acts as a sympathetic CIA lead agent that helps Miller along in unraveling this mess, but this turn as a Langley-sourced ally doesn't become Gleeson one bit. Then there's the assortment of assisting personas, such as Miller's local interpreter and reluctant partner Freddy (played by Kite Flyer's Khalid Abdalla), obvious journalist Lawrie Dayne (Amy Ryan) and stereotypical Iraqi general Al-Rawi (Igal Naor). The latter is at the focus of the plot, because he symbolizes the old Iraq and the US lapse in tapping established politics in building a post-Saddam nation. Green Zone is very watchable, the story tight and the dialogue apt. The action isn't bad but some of the shaky cam work leaves audiences confused. Overall, everything on screen is quite believable, there's some preachy politics but not too much, and Miller indeed never spills over into Ramboland. Also, some of the engagements within the story are ambiguous, so it's not easy to say which one is truly a good or bad character. However, this isn't to say Green Zone is a spectacular triumph. It's one of the better Iraq War movies out there, but still lacking in professionalism – Damon carries his rifle around like an umbrella most of the time, and the soldiering skills depicted aren't all that impressive. In the end, the title is likewise misleading , because the Green Zone itself never plays a major part in proceedings. However, this is nonetheless a recommended flick you should check out to remind yourself mainstream Hollywood fare can be a pleasant surprise.

Recent years have had show biz launch vampire products faster than it can ever hope to generate brother-director teams, even with the Wachowskis, the Strauss's and now the Spierigs doing the rounds. And while many of these people have coming from Chicago and its environs going for them, their movie-making prowess leaves a bit to be desired at times, as in the case of Daybreakers, a seemingly promising vehicle that actually combines the two above-mentioned Hollywood bandwagons – vampires and sibling directors.

The core problems with this one don't relate to it conducting itself like a bad movie. It ain't a bad movie and does merit observation by your average film appreciator. However, Daybreakers suffers from many a flaw, and comes across overall as a lukewarm flow of action you've already seen to the hilt, ladled upon a thematic concept even the Twilight entries do much more justice to.

As is often the case with films that verge on getting it right, the first ten minutes are ace. While not entirely innovative, Daybreakers does titillate at first, telling a tale of vampires who've taken over the world after a global blood pandemic. With most people now related to Count Dracula, the world has turned. Night is day, humans serve as the new cattle, and with everyone undead, indulgence is no issue. Smoking's par for the course and coffee's taken with lots of sugar and heavy on the lovely scarlet essence. The cops and military fight to secure a blood supply for their nation, and do so with great zeal. While nicely presented, this segment goes away quickly as Daybreakers carelessly throws its main asset (an interesting setup) into the cold light of day.

Naturally, something has to go wrong. Wealthy and greedy industrialist Charles Bromley (Sam Neill), this story's mega-vampire, harvests his human captives into extinction, to the chagrin of the general populace, who have to put up with rising blood prices, shortages, and the eventual inconvenience of starvation. Along the way, many of them transform into mutated vampires known as undersiders as a result of blood-depravation. By merit of this inclusion, taking place in 2019, the constant dark, rain and somewhat retro visuals, Daybreakers manages to come across as a goofy amalgamation of Resident Evil, Blade Runner, Equilibrium, Dark City and that ill-fated second Highlander flick, which may sound like pints of fun, but isn't really.

But not only the supply of vampire nutrition has gone awry here. The story drifts from slightly trite to generally torpid as we behold researcher Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) seek to invent a blood substitute to stave off mass vampiric die outs, except while doing this he goes deeper into his human-sympathizer mantra, until one day running into the inevitable resistance. Sure, every sci-fi number must have ragged-clothed resistors, this time led by Willem Defoe, who does excellent revisiting Dennis Leary circa Demolition Man.

The rest isn't history, but it's pretty obvious. Dalton, the main protagonist, must make a choice between his own kind, the vamps, and his former kind, those who still have hearts beating in their chest cavities. All this is set to a few choice scares and action scenes that mostly involve the same three humvees and the same fifteen guys in hastily-assembled SWAT gear, over and over again. Especially polished Daybreakers isn't, even with several nice-looking effects, such as the vampires burning up in the sun or after getting staked. There's also the lovely Claudia Karvan as Dalton's brief love interest, but it's never clear what her role in the movie's really about. Maybe it's just to remind us Daybreakers was made in Australia. Cue Matrix references.

Of course you could do a lot worse than watch this, but then again another opportunity just got squandered – and that's never a nice thing to have happen. We definitely suggest a prequel, to at least explain how an entire vampire civilization, which unfortunately Daybreakers only hints at, arose in a matter of ten years. Unlikely? You never know, Hollywood may still have a couple brotherly teams waiting in the wings.

What a tragedy this movie represents, squandering as it does an opportunity to not only revive one of the most revered sci fi franchises ever, but take it in a direction fans have long yearned for.

Of course, we saw the disappointment coming, being cynical and jaded, and the Star Trek movie from Bad Robot's J.J Abrams was also a recent indicator. Like the new Terminator, it too has failed to re-ignite the spark of the originals. Plus, both of these movies fail to incorporate as simple a hallmark of excellence as a soundtrack – in the Terminator's case, Brad Fiedel's unmistakable theme for the first two movies doesn't show up at all in the new release. What a sad joke.

It's also a tragedy in light of the excellent build up we got prior to the movie's premier, with very distinct trailers and posters that played well on the theme of a machine-dominated world. Too bad Terminator Salivation quickly turns into Terminator ho hum once you sit down to watch the thing.

The setting is one everyone's been waiting for since 1984. We finally get an entire movie dedicated to the war between surviving humans and Skynet, the head AI behind the machine civilization. Up until now, we only had snippets and glimpses into this war, and getting a better look at it has been a long time coming.

Now, unlike a few others in the blockbuster business, Terminator Salvation doesn't constitute a reboot, it simply plays with the franchise's building blocks a bit, but sticks to tradition well. It opens with a quick description of the machines' war against humanity, just like the first movie did, and has a slew of tributes to the previous movies in store – down to that Guns 'N' Roses song from T2 and a reversed Mack vs. motorcycle chase scene.

All this bodes well for proceedings, but alas amounts to very little – Salvation's another hackneyed actioner, with the same shoddy logic and rather idiotic shortcuts you'd expect to find in a straight to DVD release. This is definitely not your father's Terminator – that one had style AND intellect. And a bunch of memorable one-liners, something totally absent in this PG-13 (ouch) outing.

Christian Bale plays resistance leader John Connor, the man responsible for organizing humanity against the Skynet overlords and their robot armies. This is the first time we felt Bale to be lacking as an actor, ever. The others aren't much better, except Sam Worthington, who's quite brilliant as Marcus Wright, a very unique character that's like a bridge between the warring factions, if you will.

You also get lackluster performances from sexy Moon Bloodgood (8 Below, Street Fighter: Legend of Chun Li), Common and Anton Yelchin (Chekov from Star Trek, incidentally). The story revolves around Skynet trying to fool the resistance and the resistance trying to break Skynet defenses, but in the end it's all for naught and the rushed, often ludicrous conduct of the plot leaves you alternating between yawns and facepalms.

The effects and action are great, the movie certainly deploys an inventive army of evil robots, and the classic hunter-killers never looked this good. That's not enough, though, nor is a CGI Arnold (you call this a cameo?) or a voice-only appearance by Linda Hamilton.

This movie was our chance to pay real tribute to the series, add to the story, reveal what was waiting to be revealed, and play on John Connor's obvious emotional potential. Instead, here's a formulaic number with the requisite wink at a sequel and the impact of an endoskeleton made of Philly cheese.

Noise is one of those movies we've wanted to watch for quite some time but never got a chance. It surfaced on the Xbox video marketplace, and so we thought we'd give it a rent. But while the issue of noise harassment is one that hits close to home for many, the same can't be so easily said of the movie bearing the name.

The reason for that is double standardization, and Henry Bean's Noise sins greatly in applying hypocrisy as one of its primary assets. Having expressed this sentiment, Noise is nonetheless a smart, entertaining movie doing more to promote understanding of the harm done by noise than most authorities ever could, and for that we heartily recommend it. It's also got Tim Robbins in the main role, and he's as awesome as ever.

In this one he plays David Owen, a successful professional and family man who relocates to Upper West Side Manhattan from suburban environs. Initially, the NYC apartment experience works well for Owen, his wife (Bridget Moynahan) and daughter (Gabrielle Brennan). Over time, though, he begins to get increasingly irritated with car alarms going off unattended, to the point of literally ruining his life. Precipitated by this trauma, and by the indifference to his plight offered by those around him, a transformation occurs, one in which docile David Owen becomes a rampaging anti-noise vigilante with no qualms over taking matters into his own hands.

But this is where Bean and his movie verge into hypocrisy-land. While the main character crusades against noise makers, he only seems to care about inadvertent machine-generated noise like alarms and backup beepers. Yet, his own wife is shown to be a chamber musician who regularly holds recitals in their living room. Are we certain the neighbors approve? Therefore, the overt conduct of this film is too limited in scope to a specific kind of noise, while perhaps tacitly endorsing a much more malicious form causing misery to millions.

Later the story does acknowledge the individual nature of suffering from noise – the protagonist encounters those who complain about manhole covers, drum playing neighbors, boomboxes and other problems. He also hooks up with one of the noise makers, done by lovely Margarita Levieva, who becomes an unlikely ally in struggle to get city authorities to recognize the plight of the noise-terrorized citizenry. This leads to a borderline-racist parody of Mayor Bloomberg done by an overly smug William Hurt.

In showcasing a progressive struggle, the movie does a lot of good – there's a very efficient portrayal of the uncaring legal system's impotence in enforcing noise regulations, something that needs to be shown if change is ever to materialize. Owen ends up achieving a modest victory, and the movie concludes on a positive, satisfying note.

Noise goes by quickly and says quite a bit for its modest timespan. Tim Robbins, as usual, does a wonderful job as a person suffering from torture at the hands of stupid, monolithic factors he can't control in a world that no longer bothers with traditional civilities. Anyone who's ever been in that situation will see themselves in Robbins' character right away.

The narrow scope Noise maintains most of the time, the hypocrisy and the mere token mention of the broader issue of noise, however, take away from the sense of achievement here. As it stands, the film comes too close to discussing a mere pet peeve rather than a far reaching social sickness, but even so, this is one movie you should watch.

The Beastie Boys must be happy knowing their music will still be played in the 23rd century. Trek fans, maybe not so much. And it's not that there's anything outwardly wrong with having Sabotage play as a young, delinquent James T. Kirk rides around future Iowa in a 1960's muscle car, either. After all, this is fiction.

What's wrong is that the new Star Trek doesn't know what it wants. If it wants to be taken seriously as a bona fide science fiction effort, then there's no place in it for such dated slights of irrelevant pop culture. And if it wants to appeal to what must be the movie's main audience, i.e teens, then even by their standards the Beastie Boys are archaic.

These issues epitomize the latest Star Trek log entry's failure to truly reboot the franchise. It's a confused, long winded and ultimately unsatisfying picture with very little of the spirit that made the original series and its follow ups occasionally enchanting. Plus, with Lost now a joke of its former self, it's evident J.J Abrams' affections and attention were entirely on this movie – a misguided effort, if we may be allowed to say so.

In terms of talent, there's promise. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto interact well and manage to breathe some new life into their roles as Kirk and Spock, respectively. Zoe Saldana makes the most of her stint as Uhura, although for a release that billed itself as "not your father's Star Trek" her outfit sure seems a lot longer and less revealing than Nichelle Nichols' ever was. Another awkward aspect – the 2009 model appears to have taken on a prudence never recorded in the 1960's serial.

Eric Bana shines as Romulan captain Nero, but only gets a few minutes on screen, most consisting of orders to fire some weapon or other at a hapless Starfleet vessel. This problem hints at a broader plot that's made up of confusing time travel bits and overall disappointing action sequences. For example, Nero's massive ship appears above two of the Federation's prized planets, Vulcan and Earth, yet only the Enterprise shows up for the fight. Where's the rest of Starfleet? Where's the ground batteries? These are questions a science fiction lover would ask, which leads us to suspect this one wasn't done by sci fi addicts.

Please don't think we're knocking J.J – he's given us a lot of great stuff over the years, not least of which the amazing Cloverfield not so long ago. However, his imagining of Star Trek is a letdown. Even with OK performances by Simon Pegg (Scotty), John Cho (Sulu) and Karl Urban (McCoy), this remains a lacking addition to the pantheon. We're sure plenty thought the exclusion of the famous "to boldly go" intro and classic opening theme until the last three minutes of this behemoth was in poor taste. This isn't yet another sequel, we're talking a re-launch. They should have used more of the legacy, and we don't mean going back to the desert locale where Shatner fought that lizard. That's not enough, nor is working Slusho into the mix What it does get right it does due to having a bigger budget than everything prior in the franchise combined. The ships look better, San Francisco looks better, and Eric Bana's monstrous battleship rocks. There's even some interesting shots of the farmland Kirk hails from.

But even taken on its own this isn't a good movie. As part of a broader concept, it does little to improve on what's come before.

The main thing I remember from this evaporative Frank Miller release is that Scarlett Johansson's character wants to get her PhD done. Not so great for a comic superhero conversion.

Being a Miller directorial effort, The Spirit rides the Sin City bandwagon for all its wheels can carry, taking the same noir, graphics-over-live-action, hyper real approach but retaining little of the novelty. It's certainly not a bad looking film, and some of the final action segments are impressively done, but The Spirit falters so badly in story and conduct, none of that matters.

Arising from Will Eisner's original comic, which first saw publication in the 1940's, The Spirit reflects much of what you're used to in crime-fighting superhero stories. Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht), a slain cop, finds himself endowed with super abilities after a demented doctor going simply by the name Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) uses him as a stepping stone in an experiment into immortality.

Practically indestructible, Colt becomes The Spirit, Central City's savior and leading womanizer. He loves his conurbation to no end, thinking of her as a woman. I liked this part, being the type that falls in love with cities and thinks of them as women.

The Spirit forms an uneasy alliance with the local PD, but is often scolded for causing more damage than the crooks he crusades against. The exception is his arch rival, Octopus. Done using Sam Jackson's usual villain shtick, this guy's also sort of immortal, but he isn't a lot of fun, spouting mostly inane clichés and disposing of his own cronies like they're cheap clones. Which they are – all played by a somewhat plausible Louis Lombardi.

Almost everything about The Spirit runs the risk of putting viewers to sleep. Dialogue has no flair, characters aren't at all intriguing, the story is completely hackneyed, and not much ever seems to transpire. And it also has that oh-so-chic vibe that more often than not serves to debase a movie rather than make it.

But glimmers of hope do cut through the gloom, largely in the cornucopia of busty female characters. The Spirit's old flame Sand Seraf comes in the curvaceous form of Eva Mendes, while antagonists include the even bigger Scarlett Johansson and sultry Paz Vega. Additionally, flashback scenes outshine the main storyline, featuring promising performances by youngsters Seychelle Gabriel and Johnny Simmons.

Unfortunately, Eva Mendes' cleavage, while lovely, can't mask the fact that this is an almost entirely tepid and uninspired actioner you'd best avoid. With its main attraction, visuals, failing to impress in light of Sin City and its upcoming sequel, The Spirit has little left in the way of motivation or, forgive the obvious allusion, inspiration.

Rating: * *

The first Max Payne game, when I picked it up for the PC back in late summer 2001, was a singular experience. That thing kept me enthralled for almost a week – I basically recall going to work, eating, and playing Max Payne.

The story, the mood, the action – all were marvelously conceived and effortlessly executed. Then came Max Payne 2, which was supposed to be much the same, but the magic was gone. And now we have Max Payne, the movie, on home video. Here, as in the sequel, the mysterious sway the original title held over gamers and action fiends is almost entirely absent.

Let there be no misunderstanding, Max Payne isn't a bad motion picture. It's quite watchable and only has a few yawnsome stretches, but it's nowhere nearly as compelling as its source material.

As goes for most movies based on games, a combination of the inspiration being ill-suited to other formats and the filmmakers' ever-present fears that "normal", non-gamer audiences won't get it conspire to knock this release back a few notches. Once again the action has become subdued, central story tenets dropped, and characters erased.

This Max Payne has Mark Wahlberg render the game protagonist as a more hapless, almost bureaucratic persona, and although he does that adequately, this isn't the noir enigma the first iteration was. And while Max Payne started out fictional life as an almost psychotic rogue NYPD detective, Wahlberg puts forth someone laden with grief and despair – not a sadistic, Punisher-like desire to avenge himself against the criminal element.

Speaking of elements, the movie glosses over or outright ignores many components from the game's cool story, such as the vital mafia aspect and shadowy Inner Circle. Instead, we have a plot that follows a familiar arc. Cop wronged by nefarious interests, goes a bit off kilter, finds renewed passion for correcting said wrongs, then kicks some ass. Only some though, this isn't the most gung ho movie ever released, although there are several respectable action setpieces. Only a few, mind, and the game's super-addictive bullet time likewise gets a simple, after a fashion nod, that's it.

Conversely, the supernatural was merely a backdrop in the game version, but here it's taken to a slight extreme. This doesn't hurt, but nor does it help avert attention from the fact that the movie's version of New York isn't as detached and comic-bookish as the game's.

However, they did get the snow almost right (the game was set during a strangely long, seemingly endless blizzard), and many of the original characters actually end up more interesting than in the game – to wit Ludicrous as Lt. Jim Bravura and Mila Kunis as assassin Mona Sax. We also get Amaury Nolasco portraying Jack Lupino, a character most gamers would say wasn't all that essential to proceedings in the original, but don't quote me on that. In the movie he's almost the chief antagonist, which doesn't sit right.

Either way, Max Payne won't bore you, it's OK as an action movie and the dark, snowy mood helps it as a cold season release. It's quite apparent they didn't really film in New York, but the CGI isn't too obvious or cheesy.

Director John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines) manages to supervise a good looking affair here, and while gamers won't get to relive the chaotic, often tragic but nonetheless memorable days of summer-fall 2001 through this film, it's still a relatively competent game-movie conversion, and appropriately enough has a neat end credit sequence.

Rating: * * *

It's hard reviewing this one with a straight face almost a decade and a half later. Through the lens of times passed, it frequently seems goofy and childish, yet the fond memories linger. This was supposed to be the ultimate sci-fi show when it came out, and although it didn't materialize like that in most regards, it remains a likable, no, lovable classic.

So all those intervening months may render the costumes and settings slightly unconvincing and even woefully laughable at times – I found myself shaking my head at least once an episode, every episode, when re-watching the entire series on DVD. But the story and the various parts that make up Space Above and Beyond (SAAB) are just as evergreen and tantalizing as they were during the long-gone heyday of the 1990's, when the world was noticeably more innocent and before Lost et al took story arcs and mythologies to the next level.

SAAB is firmly a 1990's gig – from its look and feel to the very obvious shadow government conspiracy, this is X Files/Millennium/Nowhere Man/Harsh Realm/Dark Angel territory with a huge helping of Wing Commander thrown in. Of course, a couple of years after this show bought the farm, Starship Troopers essentially lifted most of its look and basic tenets to awesome effect – oddly immortalizing SAAB while never acknowledging it.

Like many of its stablemates, it too got the Fox cancel hammer slap bang on the noggin after just one short season. Not surprising and something that goes on to this day – at least the 1990's are with us like that. Thank you Fox. And also like its contemporaries, SAAB was big on telling multiple stories at the same time, but none as convoluted and passive-aggressive as the ones we're getting now.

SAAB takes place in the 2060's, when humanity's at war with an alien civilization known simply as the Chigs. This is a racist term, not the actual name, which we never found out. Thanks again Fox.

In the background are running some very complex themes, but we're privy to almost all that there is to them. InVitros are growth-accelerated humans born in tanks that look suspiciously like what was later used in The Matrix. They're an underclass that was designed for use as soldiers and workers, and by the events of the show, are rather marginalized and hated. Then there's the Silicates, a race of AI's that revolted against humanity and escaped into space only to cooperate with the Chigs, and a corporate-government conspiracy. Plus, creators Morgan and Wong made sure to include a lot of B/G texture and politics. The observant will be rewarded, and note much of that stuff would never go through self-censorship now – like subtle hints that China was retaken by Taiwan-based nationalists (their flag represents China in the inter-planetary war).

But the basic premise is simple – five marines, the 58th squadron, are based on carrier USS Saratoga, where life is much like it was in Wing Commander. Missions, cut scenes and endless drinking at the bar. These guys are OK and it's too bad most didn't do too much afterwards. Kirsten Cloke is Californian Shane Vansen, Joel Le Fuente does Chicago native Paul Wang, Rodney Rowland is InVitro Cooper Hawkes, Lanei Chapman is New York geek Vanessa Damphousse, and Morgan Weisser is Nathan West, nominally the main character, although all get developed equally.

The real stars, however, were the two officers – the amazing James Morrison shines as Col. TC McQueen, a more human version of Kirk (and an InVitro as well) and Tucker Smallwood puts in a marvelous showing as Saratoga skipper Commodore Glen Ross. The chemistry between these two is palpably awesome, made better by some excellently witty writing and dialogue. SAAB has quite a few LOL moments that are intelligent and genuinely funny, not idiotic. The writing was strong, and the military terminology and protocol quite extensive, although obviously unrealistic most of the time. The 58th are supposed to be flyers yet get engaged in all sorts of mundane tasks like guard duty and resupply runs. SAAB couldn't decide whether they were Top Guns or grunts – which took its toll on ratings, possibly.

Also, it had some of the most annoyingly obvious red-shirts and character shields in history. Everyone outside the 58th, McQueen and Ross died sooner or later – mostly sooner, while nothing ever serious befell the cast. Even when stranded for months on a hostile planet they still looked fresher than the Losties, which is saying a lot. Speaking of planets, almost all those depicted in the show had human-friendly atmospheres and looked mysteriously like the Australian outback. But at least the aliens didn't speak fluent Oregonian like in some other shows.

For its time, SAAB was very panoramic and included tons of detail. The effects still look passable today, and sometimes impressive. But the clearly unworkable assault rifles and BDU's are now really showing their age, or maybe ours, for back then I actually didn't notice how ridiculous they looked. Or maybe I just forgot.

Either way, anyone with any interest in sci-fi needs to make tracks and get this series on disc. Anyone with a thing for the 1990's – doubly so. Now that the new X Files movie is out, there's an excuse to relive that spectacular golden age, so what are you waiting for?

They say you've never been to Hong Kong if you haven't read James Clavell's classic page turner Noble House, and this reviewer tends to agree.

Often derided for its bombastic plot and over the topness, Noble House remains none the less a gripping read and true statement of love for the city and culture comprising Hong Kong, even though ask most locals and they won't know what you're talking about. Indeed, Noble House is more for those transplanting to the city, but not for those reading from afar – most of the nuances and cool factor are lost on people who don't actually live there.

Now, Noble House was made into a TV mini series twenty years ago, and that one has recently appeared on DVD, and at long last, we say. The short and quick of it is that if you have any feelings about Hong Kong and any degree of familiarity with the place, you'll enjoy this version. However, if you've never been and don't really care, it'll probably be wasted on you.

Clavell's work, which includes likewise grandiose Shogun and Tai Pan (all occur in the same universe), is always a joy to behold, whether in writing or on the screen, and Noble House is no exception. The main draw here is the sheer addictive nature of the man's writing – it's like Dynasty or Dallas only with a good dollop of mostly credible history thrown in. Well, at least credible in the sense that it fits in very well with the multitude of characters and story arcs.

This was more of a mean feat, of course, in the huge novel – Noble House came in at over 1000 pages and was action packed to the hilt. In that respect, the Gary Nelson-led TV production deserves respect, since they succeeded in cramming most of that into just six hours.

They also did something interesting with the setting. While Clavell's original story was set in early 60's HK, the show takes place in the late 80's, and does a good job with the update. Characters frequently refer to the looming 1997 handover, ponder its consequences and make predictions. A complete subplot involving Soviet spies was taken out, I guess because they decided it was no longer relevant – although disappointing from a cold war nostalgia standpoint, it was a clever choice.

But above all else, anyone who's read the book will be impressed at how the locales look like what you imagined before – no doubt helped by the fact that they shot almost everything on the ground in HK. And the effects are pretty impressive, this must have been a big deal on TV back then, but honestly I can't remember! Just behold the floating restaurant scene – very well done! What's the story about? Got a few hours? Well, you get Pierce Brosnan back in his Remington Steel days as tai pan Ian Dunross of House Struan, or the titular Noble House (Jardines in real life). He's struggling to keep the company ahead of the ravenous HK pack against the usual backdrop of intrigue, conniving and greed. Besetting him is rival Quinlan Gornt (John Rhys-Davies) of Rothwell-Gornt (aka Swire), who's trying to depose the Noble House and take over. This character is infinitely nastier on TV than he was in the book, one alteration we don't really understand. Two Americans also enter the fray, upstart tycoon Linc Bartlett (Ben Masters) and his VP Casey Tcholok (Deborah Raffin). Both are in town scouting for opportunity, but there's a lot more than meets the eye.

A whole range of supporting characters are on hand, including police, triads, bankers and a couple of lovelies like a very young Tia Carrere and Suzie Wong - OK, Nancy Kwan. Most do an adequate job, but Pierce Brosnan is just too stiff and appears lacking in range. Additionally, for something so obviously set in Hong Kong, the production has a surprisingly small number of local talent on show – actually, I'd say none. Maybe they were trying to send a message? They also toned down the very prominent theme of racism that was readily found in the novel, likely to appease primetime TV censors. There's almost no swearing, several characters from the book didn't make it or were drastically altered, and the backstory was indeed trimmed down.

But if you've read the novel, you must watch this and I guarantee you'll at least like it. It's one of those enjoyable romps you won't easily put down, and being familiar makes it even easier since it doesn't feel as goofy. Plus, anyone living in HK owes it to themselves to indulge in Noble House – Nelson and crew did good capturing both the feel of the place and the mood of the period. This really does feel and act like what I imagine Hong Kong to have been like in the 80's.

Don't listen to the doubter and haters – Clavell, who personally supervised the production's screen writing, was a scribbling machine and did the writing profession proud, outrageously cheesy names or not. It's too bad he passed away young – I'm sure today's Hong Kong would have provided him with ample inspiration.

If you can forgive the occasional soap opera super-tack assault and the awkward soundtrack, Noble House is a pretty enjoyable marathon, the main drawbacks being the DVD edition's mediocre appearance and dearth of special features.

The feng shui for this one wasn't really all that great from word one – bound to be a big release that at this juncture audiences in Asia see as generic, wannabe fare for Westerners, while viewers in the West consider it overly stereotypical and too late an arrival, almost a decade after the major mainstream success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. And if it hasn't occurred to you nearly eight years have passed since that classic came about – yep, we're getting old! But look beyond these obvious hurdles and Forbidden Kingdom is really an enjoyable movie if you try to overlook certain flaws. In fact, it'll work best with exactly the kind of demographic its main protagonist belongs to – impressionable kids with a love of kung fu cinema and little or no actual experience with the issues and facts at hand.

Such is the existence of Jason Tripitikas, a hapless Southie geek who's like the uncool version of Will Hunting, only he loves Hong Kong actioners, so he's OK in our book. Done well by Michael Angarano, Tripitikas is a compromise character – yes, he's white, but no, he's not what movie goers in Asia would identify as a typical American, so there's less chance of a backlash. Yes, we notice these things. Just like we noticed the plot rehashes the old "putting order into chaos" theme so familiar from other wuxia pictures, only this time in a Western-crafted movie, and just in time for the Olympics.

At any rate, Tripitikas is a regular at a local store down by what appears to be Chinatown, where he frequents a Hop's Pawn Shop, an emporium straight out of the Gremlins era. Now, we've never met anyone called Hop, but we have been the movie nerd exclaiming "Chinese - No English Subtitles" many, many, many times, so this wins major credits for authenticity.

After a big-time ruckus at Hop's, Tripitikas sort of becomes a failed Neo and drops off a roof directly into a Shaw Brothers/King Hu et al version of "Ancient China". There, all the essentials converge. He meets a drunken master in the form of Jackie Chan, who the reviewer now officially likes after watching him in this movie. It's by far one of his better outings, and the more mature but lighthearted stuff he can be really good at when he's not doing mindless comedy. Tripitikas then joins with gorgeous Golden Sparrow, an obvious allusion to Golden Swallow and Come Drink with Me. She's done by youngster Liu Yifei, who although truly beautiful and talented, is trying too hard to be Zhang Ziyi. Rounding up the good guys, Jet Li plays warrior monk Lu Yan and Sun Wukong aka the Monkey King, and he, too, does well.

Most of the acting is pretty good, extending to the villains. Collin Chou does a hyperbolic evil warlord, and his right hand woman is no other than our Li Bingbing. She looks awesome as a twisted Bride with White Hair, but doesn't quite get to the standards set by Her Wuxia Highness Brigitte Lin.

The story is replete with nods and tributes to numerous classics, and plays out like just the kind of illusion an excitable loner would cook up after getting hit on the head. In this regard, Forbidden Kingdom is surprisingly subtle and may be interpreted in several ways, something you don't expect it to do.

What you do expect is a given number of pitfalls, such as a trite, overdone story form and a whole bunch of clichés. They're all here. But does consciously falling into a trap constitute a mistake? Enough with the strategic thought.

Sure, you'll wince quite often as this unfolds, especially when the bumbling Westerner gets made a fool of and Asian people around him insist on acting like characters out of a comic book. But it's all supposed to be that way and is (hopefully at least…) in good fun. And please don't be offended by the decidedly textbook title – it's also a cliché within a story about clichés, so what can you do? The dialog, while again rather expectable, isn't half bad and does have its moments – even funny ones. And the fight choreography is pretty good, gladly not relying too heavily on CGI. Forbidden Kingdom is a good looking package, but to its credit avoids the ridiculously lush vistas. Instead, it's got heaps of craggy Wudang-like mountains, and those we love.

To say this is a masterpiece would be too much propaganda even for old China hands like us. Maybe if you're a first time martial arts viewer, Forbidden Kingdom may be breathtaking. Who knows. For the 99% who aren't, it's a pleasant, professionally made movie that, again – hopefully- doesn't take itself too seriously. And it does have that Li vs. Chan matchup, which is a bonus.

Andy Lau's been making war movies like they're going out of style, but his latest is a long arrow shot off the almost-classic A Battle of Wits, the anti-war actioner with the humane moral we liked so much.

Three Kingdoms, which to its credit is at least somewhat historically accurate, is very much removed from anything to do with discouraging carnage. In fact, it's one of those patriotic affairs where the opening sequence (yet again) bemoans the land's splintering into hostile polities, and the need to consolidate.

Not only have we seen exactly this kind of rhetoric a million times before, we've seen it in what feels like a million better, more fun movies. This Three Kingdoms isn't about fun, it's a laborious film whose greatest achievement is squandering tremendous star power on trivialities and a formulaic story.

Just to make sure you know, it's got Andy Lau, Sammo Hung, Maggie Q (why can't she just be Margaret Quigley we don't know), our beloved Andy On, Ti Long AND Yu Rongguang. Even with all of these obviously talented and well-trained professionals on board, Three Kingdoms still ends up a disappointment. And we won't even go into this being a DANIEL LEE flick. Yes, one of our fave directors in HK and the guy that kindly gave us awesome fare like Black Mask and Dragon Squad.

OK, it's not all bad. The basic premise is entirely trite but could have worked had it been treated well. We have one Zhao Zilong (Andy Lau), a regular guy from Changsha who joins the army in defense of his kingdom, one of three main ones competing for primacy over the realm. Yes, it's the story straight out of the novel and previous iterations, more or less, with sort of the same characters. Zhao Zilong befriends senior troop Luo Pingan (Sammo Hung), who guides the younger man into combat, where Zhao promptly proves his mettle and proceeds to rise through the ranks until making it as a nigh on invincible hero general.

Along the way he meets a cast of warriors, including Andy On and Vanness Wu in supporting and ultimately unfulfilled roles (and some awkward hairwork on the part of makeup). On the opposing side, we find Maggie as warlordess Cao Ying, aided by her general Han.

None of these characters get sufficient room to breathe and grow, resulting in something more akin to Konami's Dynasty Warriors – there's constant hacking and slashing, with protagonists hard to believe since they're so powerful but with no likable goal. The only motivation seems to be a jingoistic "unite the word by killing everyone", which is fair enough, but not enough to make a film good.

The battle sequences aren't the best, and you've sat through much more exciting ones very recently. There's some good CGI blood splattered all over the shop, which is an added bonus, but the inverse ninja law here simply isn't as amusing as it usually is – the two Andies go through so many enemy black armors it's literally not funny anymore, proof positive that if you want to make a massive swordplay movie, either endow it with a strong, heartfelt message, or render it a la the insane wuxia of the early to mid '90's. As it stands, Three Kingdoms is like Zhang Yimou's Hero without the pretty, artistic visuals and buzz power, or like Musa without the visceral grit and cynicism.

On the plus side, Three Kingdoms ends by mentioning the Jin dynasty, one of history's less remembered mainland dynasties. Yes, we get to avoid another heralding of Qin Shihuang.

This isn't trying to go heavy-handed on the movie. I'm sure they worked hard and meant well, but the end result isn't satisfying – not even close. For sure we'll be getting better stuff soon both from the director and his cast. Skip this one, you won't be missing much.

There's no guarantee in life that another day means another dollar, but you can pretty much count on a new Simon Yam movie coming along. And here he is again in a triad story, but don't let the fact bring you down or put you off: this is actually a cool movie, marrying as it does serious underworld scheming with fantasy violence. It's kind of like the Infernal Affairs trilogy condensed and on crack.

Fatal Move is a Category III for violence only – and it's indeed relatively bloody, even if much of the gore is cheap CGI. This is no Hostel, but nonetheless the body count is impressive and the range of physical outrages quite extensive, including one torture scene where Simon not only says it's pain time, but also does most of the inflicting in person.

The result of all this bears some similarity to last summer's Invisible Target, although Fatal Move isn't as compelling or refreshing, nor are its characters quite as appealing. It also has crooks masquerading as cops, a raid on a police station and a SWAT/SDU team being made fools of, and does possess considerable talent – in addition to Yam, we get Sammo Hung and Wu Jing, both very capable performers, albeit not in their strongest outings here. This is especially true for Wu Jing, whose looney-aggressive act appears lifted directly from SPL, only not as sincere. Sammo gets very little time to show off his moves, yet does well as clan leader Lin Ho Lung, a veteran criminal who for once bothers with differentiating between "triad" and "mafia", a point rarely noted on the big screen.

The story begins with Boss Lin celebrating the birth of his first son, and all's well – his deputies Ah Tung (Simon Yam) and Tin Hung (Wu Jing) seem to have things under control, while his female right hand person Soso (Tien Niu) maintains the books balanced and the money flowing in.

This being a triad actioner, calm isn't the primary directive, and quickly things go sour as internal conniving and treachery become the order of the day on top of pressure from ever-present cops, led by Danny Lee as Inspector Liu, and with Lam Suet throwing in a cameo for some tragic-comic relief.

Soon the choppings, sword slashings, bludgeoning and outright gunning down of cronies by the van load commence, accompanied by a rather convoluted string of double-dealing and treachery that affects all involved parties. Although this means the characters aren't totally flat and do have motivations, this facet of the story is left somewhat under-developed and thus results in mild confusion. As a consequence, the ending, which has a couple of supposed stunner-twists, fails to stuff the bucket, as they say, instead coming across as a bit of a red herring in fancy evening wear. This applies to many parts of Fatal Move – even at two hours it still feels cut in many instances, like they had to remove scenes at the last minute or something.

Overall, Director Law (who did Fatal Contact before, also with Wu Jing) supervised a competent project here. This is a worthy addition to an already heavily populated herd of jiang hu flicks, and Fatal Move is all-told a memorable and visceral release that's unlikely to go down as a classic despite being a solid viewing with a healthy dose of both Election-like gangland politics and comic book hyperbole. We'd say go for it, it's one move you'll live to not regret.

Let's skip the formalities and build up, Exodus is a capable addition to Hong Kong's minimal catalogue of conspiratorial psychedelia, and even though it also stars Simon Yam, it actually gets the job done very well, unlike his bigger release from last year, Eye in the Sky.

Yam returns to his cop roots for another foray, but here we have one of the city's more recognizable actors in a decidedly indie release that's not very well known and has been given none of the limelight treatment many lesser releases have received.

Exodus is a tense, paranoid affair with an undercurrent of madness that's very subtle. There's nothing overwhelming about the story or action, but after watching the whole thing you'll have to reflect and conclude it was well worth the time and effort.

So, we have Simon Yam as a cop again. Sure, but not the glamorous type he's done in many instances in the past, but rather a regular beat walker of twenty years, with apparently no ambition and even less sympathy from his superiors. This Sgt. Tsim happens to be married to a wealthy young woman (Annie Liu from Ah Sou), complete with a mother in law that's quite the nag, going on and on about how a real man should have his own business, etc.

Tsim (full name Tsim Kin-Yip, which probably has more than one meaning if you ask the filmmakers) is posted to suburban Tai Po, an area that offers several interestingly desolate and rundown location opportunities. One evening, or night, Tsim takes over a deposition from another cop, only to realize he's happened on a corker: alleged sex maniac Kwan Ping Man (excellent Nick Cheung) was arrested for some peeping tom action, but claims to be investigating a wide conspiracy by women to kill all men.

As ludicrous as this may sound, Tsim immediately warms to the notion, and begins to look into matters. He also starts to notice a variety of clues and other suspicious occurrences around him, a gradual process the movie does very well. There's almost no drama – Exodus is about subtlety, and this it achieves marvelously. The transition into paranoia and conspiracy-spotting is seamless.

I won't spoil it for you, but there are a few minor surprises along the way. The main thing here is the viable mood and very flowing storytelling that Exodus pulls off. It's a rarity in Hong Kong these days, and in fact has always been: for the surreal, one always had to turn to the mainland or Taiwan, HK has always been almost entirely about the fast and the cashious, even in its movies. But when this one opens and what you get are a bunch of barely-clothed guys beating up a hapless victim with hammers while wearing goggles and snorkels, well, you can't help but nod the nod of warm acceptance.

Plus, we also have the long-awaited return of leggy actress Irene Wan, who's on board and carries out her duties well.

Director Edmond Pang (credited as Pang Ho-Cheung) has delivered the goods, making sure the film features a multitude of elements to ensure multiple viewings become warranted: for example, this reviewer would like to know why there's so much eating going on in Exodus? Seriously, of its ninety minutes, at least ten are spent taking in food.

Go figure it out – it'll be rewarding.

Since the dawn of humankind stories and narrative have been about perception. And good stories were the ones that managed to play tricks with their audience's perceptions. This doesn't have to be overly meaningful or oh-golly mind bending and life changing. It's enough to get much more than what you were expecting to get upon sitting down to hear the tale.

And this Cloverfield (CF) does so, so well. In fact, it's one of the best, most memorable movies of the decade so far. I was literally and physically gripped with emotion when it ended, a situation amplified by my prejudiced, indoctrinated psyche mumbling "but it's a monster movie, for Pete's sake!" That's like saying the Grand Canyon is a gap in the ground. It's true, but somewhat underwhelming and unappreciative. Put plainly, CF is a masterpiece of storytelling because it's potent and powerful, not to mention well managed: the thing is just over 80 minutes long and succeeds in narrating more than most would require three times as long for. It becomes omnipotent thanks to its short run, which means we only get fleeting glimpses of everything, from the beautiful to the terrifying.

CF is also a superb vehicle for some new and exciting talent. All actors herein rise to the challenge and perform marvelously, so here's hoping we'll be watching more from Michael Stahl-David, Odette Yustman, T.J Miller, Jessica Lucas and Mike Vogel sometime soon.

The film has been the subject of much speculation, with producer JJ Abrams of Alias and Lost fame and director Matt Reeves (Felicity) playing it hush hush. The wait was worth it, and indeed the team used CF as a neat way of acknowledging many of the other gorgeous stories we've all enjoyed in the past: War of the Worlds, Stephen King's The Mist, maybe even TV series Jericho. Of course Godzilla – perhaps more 1998's US Godzilla than the original movies, but that was a fun version no matter how you look at it.

CF, on the other hand, isn't about fun. It's about sheer emotional and contextual impact. It starts with a going away party for one Rob Hawkins (Stahl-David), who's bout to leave for Japan. This is where we learn the characters aren't all perfect and have some issues. Then the attack comes, and a group of friends finds itself on the run, with only a hand-held camera to document events as a mysterious monster rampages around Manhattan.

At first we get next to no information on what's going on, it's all a big tease that keeps you guessing and thus makes the inevitable twists and angles all that more gratifying. Likewise, the destruction wrought upon NYC is excellently depicted via capable but never overwhelming or cheesy CGI. This also holds true for the monster when we get to see more of the character – everything looks perfect, unlike that other New York disaster flick of recent times, I Am Legend. Maybe this is why CF has been catching flack vis a vis the events of September 11, it's just so vivid and moving, there's nothing cinema-detached about it.

The roller coaster that this motion picture amounts to doesn't last long, but features everything in the storyteller's guidebook: love, romance, fear, hate, loss, hope, despair and quite a few more. And you'll feel all of them right along with the story, down to the sobering closing moments of this wonderful ride.

I therefore salute Cloverfield and all those who had a part in making it a silver screen reality. It's a great movie, I love it, it caught me completely off guard and came out on top with that elusive magical quantity called emotion, a thread so woefully missing in many other narratives and, sadly, from life as we know it in general.

Well done people, well done: I'll be thinking of this one for some time to come, and am waiting with bated breath for the special edition release. Just let me at those deleted scenes.

This is one sad movie, but not because it deals with the end of the world, not in the least. It's practically tragic because for every good thing it gives, it takes in kind, and then some.

Look at the setup, which even starts off with a convincing visit by Emma Thompson. Apparently in this remake of the original novel a cure for cancer goes haywire, killing most of the world's population, leaving almost no survivors and turning most of the few that don't die off reduced to freakish zombie-like creatures that lurk in the dark and have a severe case of the angst.

Enter Colonel Neville, done by Will Smith. This guy's not exactly the everyman, but Smith's powerful depiction of him makes forgiving his all-capable bio a breeze. Neville, a military doctor and scientist, was part of the team possibly working on an antidote, but it is suggested he was also originally part of the problem.

Anyway, three years post-apocalypse, and Neville has Manhattan all to himself and his likable dog Sam (keep your eyes peeled for a canine twist later in the movie). The two roam about and even get DVD's at the local video store as viewers are introduced with care to the routine the pair have, based around Neville's impressive fortress.

Excellent setup overall as we said, made all the better thanks to Francis Lawrence's competent direction. There's some nice touches like Neville watching recorded TV to keep in touch with reality, a huge Superman/Batman poster basically telling us a crossover movie's coming for Xmas 2009 (when the world ended in this film), and Smith's overall very strong narration. He's not a reliable recounter, though, suffering from isolation fatigue and gradually losing his grip on what's real. Plus, backstory is given via well made flashbacks, although some of those are overly sentimental.

All of these are good points to keep in mind, as is the one really scary scene, but they're all gone when the bad starts rolling in.

First off, this flick has the worst CGI ever in a big budget production. I mean, projects with a tenth the money have done a hundred times better. We've seen original Xbox games with better graphics. The people responsible for drawing and animating I Am Legend's action visuals need to take a moment.

This applies mostly to Neville's protagonists, what used to be the brotherhood in the Heston incarnation. These guys are now brainless, raging hostiles straight out of 2004 Dawn of the Dead, only the older movie used actual extras whereas this one opts for painfully fake and amateurish pixilated varieties. This could have so easily been avoided: what's so hard about finding a couple hundred people to run around screaming? It's not like they didn't have the moola.

Certainly, most of the backdrops look good, in this area the graphics artists did well working their magic on depicting a de-populated NYC. But the pathetic action bits are simply inexcusable since by this juncture EVERYONE knows better.

Additionally, I Am Legend, for all its great setup and good direction work, falters towards the end with an overly rushed conclusion and a too-convenient ending, albeit one that's nice to believe possible.

This is why it's all so sad. Smith likely feels the same, having obviously given this project his best, which is quite good indeed. I Am Legend should be remade, which is probably exactly what's going to happen. In fact, you can almost tell where they cut out the juicy bits to warrant an R rated home video release later on, this time hopefully with real action extras rather than lame "virtual actors".

For I Am Legend a commercial rehash won't necessarily be a bad thing, as it stands it still has lots of story to tell.

While a bit too late for Halloween and by no means a spectacular movie, this latest Danny Pang product, leading up to The Eye's transformation into a Hollywood remake, is by no means a bad release, and has its fair share of little triumphs.

For starters, the handful of thespians on show here all perform well, especially leads Shawn Yue and Stephy Tang. Yue does a marvelous job, even further cementing himself as Hong Kong's strongest male actor. Tang is also good, surprisingly creepy in a film that succeeds in throwing at least one major curveball, namely where the basic premise takes us.

Sure, the Pang connection is a dead giveaway, but still, many viewers will think they're looking at a romantic tragedy when it starts. The setup is there and the horror doesn't get going till a much later point in the story. And it's a basically good premise: Tang plays Wai, a young woman diagnosed with cancer. Her life partner Ming (Shawn Yue), who loves her and her little kid sister more than anything, goes the distance and gladly sacrifices his career as a designer so he could spend more time with them.

This invariably leads to his dismissal and search for a new gig, which in turn becomes an opportunity to hook up with old childhood friend Chu Fong Ting, now a fully developed and decidedly gorgeous executive. That's when things go awry and the film takes that inevitable turn towards grossout land. Be warned, one scene in particular will have you skipping a few meals, and kudos to Stephy for agreeing to do the repulsive honors. ' In fact, this one is probably the scariest, most disturbing release from the Pang collective. That still doesn't mean it's terribly frightening, but effective use of darkness and light adds volumes to proceedings, as does the superb soundtrack, once again contributed by Pang's usual Thai collaborators.

So we have good acting from everyone involved (even the brief hello from Patrick Tam works well), potent atmosphere, a few genuine moments to take home with you, and effective movie magic.

What we don't have is a solid punchline. Unlike the deceptive opening portions, you could see the ending coming from miles away, and one has to conclude the writers and director really didn't mind or even intended for this to be the case. As a consequence, forget about any Sixth Sense-esquire revelations.

But in the context of horror releases from HK, In Love with the Dead not only features one of the more original and intriguing titles, it's also more heartfelt and intelligent than the rather mediocre average, and as such definitely warrants perusal.

One major thing works against The Sun Also Rises. Its attempt to revisit the surreal mystery genre on a mainland China backdrop faces stiff competition from arguably among the best catalogs in that precise brand of storytelling, as the country witnessed a flood of excellent entries in this form circa the late 90's to early 2000's.

Anyone who's ever seen Lunar Eclipse, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Chicken Poets, Dazzling, I Love You, Spring Subway and quite a few others, will easily tell you this.

Also, our friend Jiang Wen, although definitely a superb actor and major contributor to the recounting of tales, is probably better when he's poking serious fun at something, to wit In the Heat of the Sun and the unforgettable Devils at the Doorstep.

When it comes to psychedelia he may not be our first choice, as his previous brush with something similar, albeit as an actor in Green Tea, wasn't really all that hot. And in The Sun Also Rises, we have him as a director, which means he's had more to do with the project, yet the result doesn't feel all that strong. It's in many ways akin to The Missing Gun, another one of his projects and also a decent if uninspired venture.

For Sun Also Rises, Jiang enlisted his own wife, Zhou Yun, probably taking a leaf out of Chen Kaige's manuscript in this sense.

She plays a wacky southerner in some unnamed remote village who goes nuts over a pair of fish-ornamented shoes that never seem to stay put yet always come back, or are somehow found. This comes much to the dismay of her son, a young villager especially good with an abacus (Jaycee Chan). He tries to keep her from going crazy, to no avail, until she proceeds to dig strange holes in the ground, go floating on the river and generally get up to all kinds of irrational mayhem. Nothing seems to help, nor ease her anguish as she keeps calling to someone named Alyosha.

In a different story arc, we move to another part of China (each story takes place in a compass bearing, no place names with the exception of a Beijing cameo), where academics find themselves in a bizarre twist of passion. Here, Jiang Wen and Anthony Wong play what are presumably educators in a secluded rural campus, while Joan Chen does a horny doctor who gets everyone worked up. There are accusations of perversion and hints-a-plenty that this is taking place during the Cultural Revolution.

The third segment in this multi-threaded affair brings a few of the characters together as Jiang Wen and his on-screen wife (Kong Wei) are sent off to the southern village to be "re-educated" in the proper ways of hard work, all under the tutelage of Jaycee Chan's character. Here too lust plays a role, but no caution, it's all friendly in the end.

Finally, the fourth part brings clever closure to the stories, featuring pretty much all the main characters and having that "Ah! That's what that was all about!" effect to a large degree, which is nice. However, it also has Zhou Yun deliver among the most screechingly irritating scenes in movie history.

The Sun Also Rises is one of those OK'ish movies that somehow leaves you thinking there's a couple more viewing in it, so go ahead, give it a chance, you may learn something.

It also fields some of Jiang's old gags from previous movies, another boon, but isn't as witty as some of the other works he's been in and basically has no strong message that we could discern. And unlike those other surreal pictures we discussed earlier, this one opts for bombastic presentation that's completely unlike the understated beauty the genre craves. It makes us think the Kunming department of tourism had a hand in this.

But still, give it a shot, you may enjoy what you get.

Summer again and probably most of you think Flashpoint is the one to watch this season. Maybe, but now it sure has its work cut out for it, with an amazingly satisfying, over the top, touching and down right honorable release from dear old Benny Chan.

Mr. Chan's New Police Story was an admitted wink at good action things past, and Invisible Target bears the same hallmarks of quality only much better implemented.

Ostensibly, it's a promising flick with a strong cast finally heralding the return of two of this reviewer's fave tough guys: enigmatic and oft crazed Shawn Yue and sulking, intellectual trouble maker Nicholas Tse.

Of course a lot could still go wrong but it dawns on one that Invisible Target is an awesome movie right from the first scene when they proceed to blow things up with extreme prejudice smack in the middle of Hong Kong's Central business area, namely Queen's Road.

Yes, Eye in the Sky had a heist taking place in the same locale, but that one was pale and forgettable. Here we have a ballsy depiction of crooks on the loose that brings a tear to the most jaded of eyes as you sit there reminding yourself that this isn't merely how they used to make them, here they are, making them like that in this day and age.

Oh yes, just like New Police Story, Invisible Target has kick ass villains, headed by martial artist Wu Jing, whose deranged but respectable streak was previously flexed in SPL. The guy's simply spectacular as a bad guy, as is cool dude Andy On. Andy shone in New Police Story alongside Daniel Wu, and here he's even better, adding a sensible, human side to his nefarious character.

Indeed, the antagonists here are all well done and conspicuously Putonghua speakers. Hmmm. Regardless, they help make Invisible Target an excellent release you must not miss out on.

As we behold, the baddies wreak havoc in jolly HK, setting in motion a storyline that has Inspector Tequila-inspired Shawn and Nicholas go after them with a vengeance, aided by Jaycee Chan who for once is truly impressive and adds much to the story.

The three cops engage with the demented robbers across a variety of locations, using fists, feet, guns, cars and a variety of other tools. This movie is a field day for makers of breakaway glass everywhere, as literally not a single sheet remains intact for more than a second.

Invisible Target isn't a dour-faced, overly serious affair, it gets the balance between crime drama and lunatic fantasy just right as cops and robbers leap huge heights and take more punishment than your average WWII battleship could ever hope to withstand.

With good supporting appearances from Sam Lee, Lam Suet and even Aaron Kwok, this is out and out a fun, thrilling and gripping film. It's aggressively cartoonish at times but always professional and never coming across ridiculous. It's also atypically long for its genre or for Hong Kong releases in general, coming in at a hefty 130 minutes, which still isn't close to enough.

In the end, good triumphs but there really isn't any evil here, as even the vilest of people seen in the story has an explanation for what they do and a tale to tell, which is an added bonus not to be overlooked.

Plus, how can you say no to the first SDU sighting in a long, long, long time? Yes, they return to battle Wu Jing and his crew, and of course promptly get their posteriors handed to them.

Invisible Target is a frenzied, beautiful assemblage of classical themes (there's even a British cop in the briefing room like in the good old days), gorgeous stunts, mind-boggling explosions, intricate fight scenes and ever-shattering glass partitions.

The macho-sensitive cast is a perfect fit and we're delighted to see them together and on screen again. In fact, aside from giving logic and physical reality as we know it the finger, there's nothing wrong with Invisible Target and I, for one, can't wait to get my hands on the DVD version.

Invisible? Anything but! Don't wait for Flashpoint, get your summer kicks right here, right now.