The "star-studded" cast seems to have been cast according to their Premiere power ranking and/or desperation for exposure.

The film pursues its sensitive material with the appropriate degree of care, but the direction by M. Night Shyamalan turns potentially provocative moments into dull eddies of melodrama. Would have made a perfect “After School Special,” however, it barely makes it across the finish line as a feature film.

Lee makes a great looking film, though the soap box message about greed becomes exhausted and overplayed early on.

Coolio videographer Antoine Fuqua frames Yun-Fat in slick style and his choreography of the slo-mo shoot-outs is worthy of comparison to those of the film's executive producer, John Woo.

The direction is lackluster, the child actors – with the exception of Eisenberg – are pretty dismal, and the whole thing is about 15 minutes too long.

As much as I find Eckhart and Dobrev to be a fun duo surprisingly well-suited for a movie like this, Harlin’s action opus is just begging for a rewrite and a jolt of originality.

Strip out the thriller moments and you have an interesting film, instead, we’re left with a mediocre thriller that phones in the final act.

You’ll chuckle at a few moments.... You’re more than likely to wince at many more, as each remotely-genuine moment is rapidly punctuated with a forced musical cue or cheesy sentiment.

A curious little film. On the surface, it's a story about one man's mission to create an Orthodox monastery in Denmark, and along the way it manages to say something about everyone's desire to be remembered after they pass away.

Simply, the movie is a tale of extremes resulting in a tepid middleground.

There are a lot of good messages in The Second Chance about how Christianity is a mix of love, both gentle and tough. Some of those, unfortunately, are lost in the uneven performances.

Being that I’m a fan of the 60s era and war films, I truly wanted to like this film. I feel like there were many missed opportunities for a film with this particular subject matter.

If characters with more than one dimension, a plausible story and some sort of viewpoint are moviegoing musts, you may leave 2012 feeling a tad shortchanged.

It’s unfortunate that Knocking is so muddled as Milocco is thoroughly engaging. Plus, Kempff demonstrates a visual strength and confidence that will serve her well when she gets ahold of a script that is a bit more grounded than the one here.

This feels like a high-budget television drama. Let’s face it, Jackman, Dern, and Kirby can elevate pedestrian dialogue, but they deserve higher quality work for their talent.

It wasn't as good as the films it cites, but at least it didn't bore me.

Okay, this isn’t a great film. Maybe it’s not even a good film. But for 1954, “The Last Time I Saw Paris” filled the bill with enough mindless silliness to keep people amused for two hours. Even today, it’s good for a cynical laugh.

The situation is suspenseful and unique enough to hold our attention for a time.

While it’s solidly produced from a technical standpoint, and the lead does her best to sell the most outrageous scenarios, the end result feels undercooked.

The action-comedy could have easily been a delightful romp thanks to its A-list cast and well-written script, but poor editing causes Bandits to be just another hum-ho movie.

Something of a letdown. Previous statements aside, I understand Warner Bros. has to set the table for "Half-Blood Prince" and "Deathly Hallows," but too much of Phoenix is filler. And with only two movies left, we better get to the main course in short order.

It never attains the balance between gloomy allegory and Disney-like adventure, the former element too challenging for the wee ones, and the latter too infantile for their parents.

Unfortunately, Black Sheep takes so long to get going and misses so many easy opportunities for classic comedy it has to be regarded as a noble failure.

What starts out as a fairly conventional and effective stalker drama with a cyber-twist, soon gets too cute with its dreams within dreams set pieces and shifting realities. It’s kinda nifty at first, but Kon just keeps piling it on until you just roll your eyes, throw up your hands, and scream, “Enough!”

Overall, Norton's effect and Watts' able portrayal are not enough to move the misogyny of the narrative.

Less discerning kids may enjoy Robin and the Hoods… when they’re not deep into their PlayStations and Switches.

In a feature filled to the brink with needles being inserted into – ahem – a variety of teenage orifices, an injection of humor would have certainly been welcome.

Were it not for the presence of higher-level acting talent, A Rumor of Angels would have been a banal TV movie.