Starring: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, Werner Herzog, David Oyelowo, Robert Duvall, Jai Courtney & Michael Raymond-James
Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie
An ex-military investigator is called in to uncover the truth behind a sniper shooting.
As the six-foot-five
brute of the books, Cruise comes up
(literally) short.
Grade: C
c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
Jack Reacher is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790724/?ref_=sr_1
Starring: Richard Gere, Topher Grace, Stephen Moyer, Odette Yustman & Martin Sheen
Written by Michael Brandt & Derek Haas
Directed by Michael Brandt
After a U.S. Senator is murdered, a retired CIA operative teams up with a young FBI agent to hunt down a Soviet assassin who was long thought to be dead.
Cold War-era spies
return in a film that’s as
fresh as the Cold War.
Grade: C
c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
The Double is available on Blu-ray and DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1646980/
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano & Jeff Daniels
Written and directed by Rian Johnson
In the future, when the mob kills people by sending them back in time where a hired gun awaits, one assassin is shocked to find his next target is a 30-year-older version of himself.
Such horror to learn
that you’ll grow up to be a
coot like Bruce Willis!
Grade: A-
c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Looper is now playing in theaters nationwide.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276104/
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton & Stacy Keach
Screenplay by Tony Gilroy & Dan Gilroy
Directed by Tony Gilroy
A chemically-enhanced special operative goes rogue after his government attempts to eradicate all traces of the black ops program that controlled him.
I’m pretty sure Bourne’s
true legacy would involve
a lot more punching.
Grade: B
c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
The Bourne Legacy is playing now in theaters nationwide.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194173/
Starring: Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Anthony Mackie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead & Rufus Sewell
Screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov
After his mother is murdered by a vampire, Abraham Lincoln learns how to hunt them.
A one-joke premise
stretched four score, seven years long
Abe‘s a slave to style
Grade: C
c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is now playing in theaters nationwide.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1611224/
Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Gillian Anderson, Dominic West & Rosamund Pike
Screenplay by Hamish McColl
Directed by Oliver Parker
Bumbling spy Johnny English returns to stop the assassination of the Chinese premier.
For Anglophiles, Bean
fans, Scully lovers, and dorks.
Yup. I am all four.
Grade: B
c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Johnny English Reborn is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/28/12.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1634122/
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Rachel McAdams, Jared Harris & Stephen Fry
Written by Michele Mulroney & Kieran Mulroney
Directed by Guy Ritchie
Sherlock Holmes and his partner Watson square off against criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty.
Again, Sherlock has
no mystery and more lame
disguises than Fletch.
Grade: C+
c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is playing now in theaters nationwide.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1515091/
Starring: Zoe Saldana, Lennie James, Michael Vartan & Cliff Curtis
Written by Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen
Directed by Olivier Megaton
After witnessing her parents death at the hands of a brutal gangster, a young woman grows up to become an assassin in order to get violent revenge.
A catsuit does not
a convincing assassin
make, Ms. Saldana.
Grade: C
c2011
By Daniel J. Hoag
Colombiana is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 12/20/11.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1657507/
Starring: James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin Kline, Evan Rachel Wood, Danny Huston & Justin Long
Screenplay by James Solomon
Directed by Robert Redford
After Abraham Lincoln is assassinated, a war hero reluctantly agrees to defend the lone female accused of being part of the conspiracy before a military tribunal.
A plodding pace and
a lecturing tone will put
your patience on trial.
Grade: C
c2011
By Daniel J. Hoag
The Conspirator is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0968264/
Starring: Ray Stevenson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken & Linda Cardellini
Screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh and Jeremy Walters
Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh
Based on the true story of Irish mobster Danny Greene, who, in the 1970s, waged a turf war in Cleveland against the Cosa Nostra, and survived countless assassination attempts to become known as the one man the mafia couldn’t kill.
The fighting Irish:
better than a couple years
of The Sopranos.
Grade: B
c2011
By Daniel J. Hoag
Kill the Irishman is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/14/11.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1416801/
The Haiku Review 