Ultimately, as things develop, this becomes less about revenge than it does about escaping a set-up. A successful production of this sort needs to constantly elevate the stakes as it builds suspense. Seeking Justice fails and that failure makes it a dubious movie-going choice best suited to the low expectations of a video release.

At its best, Bad Santa 2 feels like an echo of its predecessor. At its worst, it’s unfunny, crass, and uncomfortable (not in a good way).

12 Rounds is the unholy stepchild of "Die Hard with a Vengeance" and "Speed," starring a man whose lack of range makes Steven Seagal seem nuanced by comparison.

Sliver will surely be among 1993's worst.

When I watch a comedy, I want it either to present endearing characters in fun situations or to make me laugh frequently. BASEketball accomplishes neither objective.

August Rush isn't just a bad movie - it's an aggressively bad movie.

With A Rainy Day in New York, Allen is spinning his wheels – revisiting familiar themes and ideas from other, earlier films that were presented to far better effect the first time around.

This movie only takes a few minutes to crash and burn, but more than an hour and a half to realize it.

The unfortunate ending, which wallows in artifice, is superficial and saccharine, and unworthy of the material that precedes it.

In fact, there are times when this movie feels like the latest installment in the over-milked Home Alone saga.

More bland than bad, And So It Goes is being dumped into a crowded mid-July schedule in the hope that someone tired of noisy blockbusters might see it. The problem is, as antidotes go, this one is most likely to induce sleep as a means of relief.

If you want daring or original, Fools Rush In isn't the movie to see. Like 90% of all romantic comedies, it follows a time-honored formula that allows little room for variation.

The film’s depiction of cataplexy is a reasonable representation considering how it’s being used (sufferers may understandably disagree). It’s too bad that so many of the screenplay’s other elements – like its treatment of basic human emotions – are badly mishandled.

Since the stunts are sub-par and feature considerable computer help, the movie gives the impression that it's trying too hard to be campy and silly.

In general, parodies may not rely overmuch on plot, but they need more in this department than Death to Smoochy possesses.

The Pink Panther is supposed to use humor to uplift. Instead, I departed this movie feeling depressed.

There's enough compelling drama here to overcome elements of artifice. Men, Women & Children feels meaningful although perhaps not profound.

Enough things in Crossing Over work to keep the film from becoming a bore, but this is a definite step down from Kramer's past efforts, "The Cooler" and "Running Scared."

An amateurish effort that boasts direct-to-video characteristics, the latest version disappoints in almost every production aspect.

Dominion argues that not even the return of three beloved characters can rescue a franchise that has fallen and can’t get up.

Nearly every role is miscast, which is rather amazing. Christoph Waltz and Judi Dench (as an abbess) are perhaps the exceptions.

Here’s a rare example of a Netflix prestige film that neither runs too long nor overstays its welcome. While some of the A-list directors working for the streaming distributor have taken the opportunity to meander and add bloat to otherwise worthwhile projects, Ron Howard has developed this project exactly as he would have made it if it had been intended for a traditional release.

Unlike most comedies, the jokes succeed more often than they fail, except perhaps during the concluding fifteen minutes, when the movie runs out of gas.

Take away the film's attitude, and you're left with "Son of Van Helsing."

The movie mandates complete gullibility and vacuous attention in order to work on any level.

A plot that insults, betrays, and cheats every member of the audience. Stupidity to a degree can sometimes be forgiven. Stupidity to this degree can not and should not.

It’s generic but not so bad that it becomes unwatchable.

The performances, excepting perhaps Olivia Wilde's odd turn, are solid, and the central story never loses our attention, but there's a lingering aftertaste of vague dissatisfaction.

A prefabricated example of shoddy workmanship.

This movie was made to be shown to junior high history classes, not audiences in a movie theater.

From the start, it's obvious that this is a vehicle for his comedy, and it mostly works -- for about ten to fifteen minutes. After that, Carrey's act gradually grows less humorous and more tiresome, and the laughter in the audience seems forced.

Striptease is a curious mix of eroticism, comedy, and drama that, instead of blending into a pleasing whole, has a tendency to separate and curdle.

Trespass is a home invasion movie, but not a clever, taut one; it's sloppy and obvious, with curves so un-serpentine they might as well be straightaways.

It's amazing how boring an action movie can be when there's absolutely no point to all of the sound and fury.

When a movie wants to be sold as a spectacle, it had better deliver something more spectacular than this.

This isn't as much a movie as it is a recipe for a cinematic casserole in which the ingredients are clichés and rip-offs.

P2 doesn't crash and burn, but its finale is more generic than what the effective first hour leads us to hope for.

The waterlogged end product is an example of lazy writing and direction with the vague hope that perhaps the involvement of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will attract viewers.

The biggest flaw can be summed up in a short phrase: lack of excitement. Thrillers are supposed to be crammed with thrills (hence the name), but Anaconda is relatively barren of them.

This is a sit com. An ‘80s-style sit-com. A bad ‘80s-style sit-com.

A hard-to-swallow drama about sibling rivalry, mental illness, and bad therapy. Cobbled together using clichés and contrivances, Brian Shoaf’s feature debut perceives mental illness more as a personality quirk than a sickness and treats it almost as a kind of magical realism.

The best way to sum up Freddy Vs. Jason is: good concept, mediocre execution.

Lacks both a focus and an edge, making it an amorphous mess.

Serenity is a peculiar, niche production with minimal mainstream appeal. It will find its greatest favor with those who value oddball movies that take chances (regardless of whether they work or don’t).

As preposterous wannabe Hitchcockian thrillers go, this one is adequate.

To work, The Professor demands that the viewer believe in Richard and, from about the 15-minute point, I didn’t.

Yes, the film is interesting, but it doesn't work.

One can give Ice Cube props for attitude, but not much more.

For those with a burning curiosity to know how "The Lord of the Rings" as directed by Michael Bay might look, Wrath of the Titans provides an idea. This is epic fantasy for teenage boys as only Hollywood can do it: with plenty of grotesque monsters and big explosions replacing characters and narrative.

Though the story is mostly faithful to the established origin of the character, it's not until the last 15 minutes, when "The William Tell Overture" arrives in its full glory, that this starts to feel a little like The Lone Ranger. But that's too little, too late. And when The Ranger (played here by Armie Hammer) finally shouts "Hi-yo Silver," the moment is spoiled by turning it into a joke.

Amusing in pieces but, taken as a whole, it offers little, and the morality lesson is galling.

Clumsily incorporates elements of "Ghost," "The Sixth Sense," and "Field of Dreams."

Miracle at St. Anna is overlong and poorly focused. It tends to meander, the military context is not well established, and too much time is spent on interaction with underdeveloped secondary characters.

Schumacher doesn't leave an imprint on the film -- it could be the work of any second-rate director.

The result is an atrociously unfunny, unromantic, and unpleasant product.

There's nothing here to appreciate for anyone who isn't a Sandler fan and, unfortunately, too little even for those who have dubbed themselves lifelong supporters.

It may work for those in search of a good cry but as a story of a damaged woman to touch the soul, it misses the mark.

The problem with all of this is that Are You Here is less than two hours long and, to effectively explore issues and themes of this magnitude would require at least a full season of a TV series. So we're left with half-developed characters and quickly sketched relationships.

Those familiar with the novel will undoubtedly agree that reading it is a more satisfying experience than watching this disappointing film. One expects more - much more, in fact - with a cast of this caliber.

My advice is to wait and see this version of The Beverly Hillbillies the same way that you've seen all that's gone before -- on the small screen. And let's hope that when the closing song chimes in with the familiar "Y'all come back now, hear?", it's not a reference to a sequel.

More galling and tedious than funny.

A genial and unremarkable comedy with its share of tepid laughs. It's a significantly weaker offering than its edgier, livelier older brother.

From start to finish, A Life Less Ordinary feels like a group of sometimes amusing, sometimes clever, and sometimes tedious skits forced to fit together.

Asian horror remakes are typically not screened for critics, and Shutter is no exception. The studios know what they have: watered-down, lifeless shells of motion pictures devoid of characters, drama, or anything remotely resembling horror.

Watching Battle Los Angeles is akin to observing someone else play a video game with top-notch production values. For a while, it's fun, but immersion is born of involvement.

Considering the hype, it’s a disappointment. It might have been better to populate the movie with three unknowns and spend a little more on the screenplay. You can have The Rock, Wonder Woman, and Deadpool, but it doesn’t mean much if they don’t have clever things to say and meaningful things to do.

Insultingly, Frankenheimer concludes the movie with a short sermon about the fine line that separates man from beast. If the director actually wanted to get this point across, he should have worked it into the film rather than tacking it on as an afterthought. It is, after all, an integral aspect of the source material. That it has been so thoroughly excised from the main plot isn't The Island of Dr. Moreau's only problem, but it's symptomatic of the flawed mindset that went into planning this occasionally incoherent and ultimately disappointing motion picture.

As for the movie itself, it’s not worth much ink. A kluge of bad science and worse science fiction clichés, it tries to be atmospheric and scary but succeeds only at being frustrating and tedious.

If the idea of spending 90 minutes in a movie theater seeing gorgeously rendered versions of a hugely popular gaming world and its characters going through the motions appeals to you, then The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will scratch the itch.

Cutthroat Island is a mindless diversion. If, for whatever reason, you decide to go, maintain low expectations. Hoping for more than a bunch of loud bangs and ridiculous dialogue will rob Cutthroat Island of its amusement value.

At an exceedingly long 135 minutes, the film needs more than what might result from the explosion of a Crayola factory, and Speed Racer has nothing extra to offer - no heart, no excitement, no moments to cherish.

Seven Pounds works better the more the viewer feels and the less he/she thinks. On an emotional level, one could decree that the movie is satisfying. On an intellectual level, it's disappointingly shallow.

Ron Livingstone plays his part relatively straight, and, as a result, comes out unscathed.

Undemanding movie-goers on the lookout for a movie featuring pretty people in a vapid rom-com that might find this movie to their liking. For everyone else, this is decidedly not “all that.”

The movie falls into the category of something a viewer is likely to stick with once sitting there but it lacks anything sufficiently unique or compelling that would make it worth seeking out.

The criss-crossing between drama, thriller, and horror is nothing if not arresting. It is also unsettling.

Where's John McClane when you need him? If nothing else, the main character from the two Die Hard films would have livened up proceedings in this pathetically inept psychological thriller.

The ideas underlying Aeon Flux's plot are the film's strength, and the filmmakers deserve some credit for doing more than paying lip service to them.

It's amazing how a lifeless, pointless remake can provoke pangs of nostalgia about a mediocre movie.

It succeeds in many of the ways a sports movie should, and, by employing a slightly different viewpoint for most of the production, manages a sense of freshness.

With the flat characters and lifeless performances, it's a wonder that anyone in the audience can stay awake all the way through this dull and dreary production.

Want to see a movie where almost everything takes place on a bus? Try "Speed." Jeepers Creepers 2 isn't even worth a peek.

Disney has struck once again, taking a passably entertaining cartoon and turning it into a motion picture so lifeless that it's almost unwatchable.

Effectively paced and nicely choreographed, the fundamental letdown of the ending results in a mild sense of dissatisfaction.

Unfortunately, the final act (the Mexico sequences) illustrate where to take a ghost story if you want to exchange old-fashioned horror for a grilled cheese sandwich.

The Canyons is a sleazy soap opera that fails primarily because it gives us no one to care about and no reason why we should be interested that we don't care.

Although A New Legacy runs at least a half hour too long and generates zero tension with the central “basketball” game, it’s not without its share of small pleasures.

A lame collection of dumber-than-dumb gags, the quality of Big Fat Liar is on par with that of the worst television sit-com gorged to four times its normal size.

It's not just about a disaster, it is a disaster.

Watching a misfire like Thunderbirds illustrates how impressive the "Spy Kids" movies are.

The only thing about Victor Frankenstein worthy of praise is the set design. Visually, the movie is impressive but pretty pictures are better left to postcards.

As a race-against-time, Jason Bourne-inspired adrenaline cocktail, Criminal offers a couple of hours of popcorn-munching entertainment.

LaBute has transformed the eerie, disturbing psychological thriller into an unintentional comedy. At times, The Wicker Man is hilariously bad.

Actually, the more distance the studio places between the two films, the better, because the 1997 production can't hold a candle to the 1973 release, and an attempted comparison only makes the new Bruce Willis/Richard Gere vehicle look worse.

Designed with Underworld fans in mind. Others need not apply.

Two fundamental problems afflict Sex Tape (aside from the fact that it's not consistently funny): a shocking ignorance about the state of modern technology and a mistaken belief that the subject matter is inherently edgy.

Be advised, however, that the idiotic ending doesn’t redeem the uneven middle portion.

The film fulfills its limited mandate of providing fast-paced adventure and some nice eye candy without adding anything memorable to the tale of The Boy Who Can Fly.