RobertHoward

Given the sheer magnitude of the events it depicts, World Trade Center was always going to face an uphill struggle. Choosing to focus on one story amongst thousands, its strengths lie in the claustrophobic scenes in the rubble. But too often the movie fails to strike a balance between clichés and the emotional story it wants to tell, resulting in a lack of depth and generic or overblown scenes.

Even if the slapstick humour exhausts you after a time, there is still plenty to enjoy: The cast – whether it is Bob Hoskins as the human private eye or Charles Fleischer as his toon counterpart – is impressive, the sets faithfully recreate late 1940s Hollywood and the craftsmanship behind the blending of toon and human worlds deserves high praise.

Polar has little to offer but over-the-top violence, excessive gore and sadism. The only reward for making it through this empty, stale mess are subpar action sequences.

Brand New Day is better than most post-Endgame Marvel movies, but the plot choices of its immediate prequel leave it bereft of two of its biggest strengths: The interplay between the characters is greatly reduced (and new ones only compensate for this a bit) and its humour has been toned down to fit the bleaker "adulthood" of the protagonist. It leaves the movie somewhere between character study and regular superhero action. The mixture never seems to fully work and several story paths end up feeling underdeveloped.

Despite some star cameos and an admirable adherence to the demands of the genre, the end result is a fairly lowbrow assortment of hit-or-miss jokes.

A mix of comedy & drama, of facts & fiction, México 86 feels a bit like a missed chance: Diego Luna is brilliant & manic as the central performer and the high production standards do a great job at creating an immersive 1980s atmosphere. But one is left feeling that the story is too rushed at barely 90+ minutes of run time and its best scenes showing the shenanigans around how the World Cup host is chosen and the tournament itself should have been explored way more.

Never quite sure if it wants to be genuine horror movie or more of a psychological thriller, Below ends up being intriguing thanks to solid performances and atmosphere, but its scares are too cheap and the plot & characters too thin to be more than an average end product.

While still a perfectly serviceable and in some ways above average action movie, the fourth John Wick lacks a bit of the magic and ingenuity of the first parts for the sake of a longer running time.

A humorous and well-meaning spoof of the whodunit genre that does not always work perfectly but offers solid if not spectacular piece of entertainment.

A mix of (toned down) Tarantino and Guy Ritchie, Bullet Train is a violently entertaining action comedy that works best in the first 90 minutes until the action sequences become too stretched.

To Catch a Thief is simply charming, fun, and beautiful to watch and that means certain lulls or the fact that the climax and solution are not that surprising can be easily forgiven.

While at times uneven and in later parts very predictable and run-of-the-mill, the performances of Cage & Pascal and an unrepentant weirdness make The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent a fun diversion for 107 minutes.

If The Lost City had embraced the screwball part for the entire running time it would have been saved from the fate of being yet another predictable, if serviceable rom-com adventure movie.

Even if has one too many twist in the end, The Outfit is well worth a watch for Rylance's performance alone - and for those interested in a well-constructed, character-driven thriller.

The more interesting questions about the morality of this world with themes like genocide, economical consequences or the meaning of humanity are present throughout the story, but sadly almost discarded towards the end when Daybreakers just becomes what it didn’t seem to be for most of the time: just another vampire movie.

Spectacular effects and optics cannot compensate entirely for a stale and unoriginal story that feels even more stretched due to the monumental running time.

Hot Fuzz is one of those rare cases where a satire wants to do more than lampoon: It has its own story, good acting performances, character development and despite some crass stuff and over-the-top gore, it is a smashing success.

Compared to its lauded first entry, Wakanda Forever feels much less polished and when the final fight and resolution comes, the solution feels scripted, somewhat naive and not really earned.

A solid, meticously told WWII intelligence story that would have benefitted from cutting out the unhistoric love triangle in favour of a deeper look at the web of deception it was involved in.

For all its flaws - and Black Adam has quite a few - it is not boring and therefore fulfills the main requirement for superhero movies.

Shooter is a good action thriller with some political sub-tones that fills its running time way better than many other movies despite not being too deep. Director Antoine Fuqua therefore delivers what the package promised.

About what one can expect from a Vaughn & Stiller comedy, but the dodgeball scenes + commentary deliver a few good laughs.

Not all pieces of The Northman fit together neatly, but director Robert Eggers creates a visually stunning movie that not only feels historic, but is entertaining even if you know where it is going.

Crass, sometimes offensive, but most damning of all: The decent jokes can be counted on one hand and once you have seen enough repetitive car chase scenes, it is utterly boring.

Infinite has an interesting story idea that gets buried beneath CGI-heavy & subpar action sequences, barely fleshed out characters, and a general lack of worldbuilding.

Light-hearted, colourful and all in all a fun movie, Maverick offers a script full of entertaining twists and turns filled with memorable characters trying to outplay each other.

The sheer ludicrousness of Moonfall's plot could have been excused if the movie had provided an engaging story, interesting characters or even witty dialogue. Instead it borrows from better movies and ends up as a rather convoluted mess.

At times uneven but buoyed by a strong cast and excellent production values.

We have sceneries (with mediocre CGI), costumes, extras, a decent cast, even the original Versailles and everything looks as expected, yet it isn’t eye-catching or intriguing. Fantasy needs to inspire and The King’s Daughter simply doesn’t.

A standard but successful rom-com that is greatly enlivened by the chemistry between its two leads.

A decent action movie: Good actors in an interesting setting with colourful set pieces but with flat characters and subpar dialogue.

Ultimately a disappointingly mediocre standard action movie despite a talented cast.

Love and Thunder is the result of trying to be funny no matter the costs - be it character development or even the plot. It has a few laughs, but nothing that would justify the lengths it takes to get there.

The fight scenes are serviceable, but nothing too special. What little we learn about the backstories and the universe we are in is painfully generic and Garner's performance is let down by a poor script.

More of a dark and brooding affair, plagued by a story-line that must have been stale back in 2003. It limits its performers to create an ultimately forgettable product. While a better movie, the Director's Cut still maintains some of the weaknesses.

Combines good performances with hugely impressive aerial sequences and remains consistently entertaining without a lot of CGI.

At its best when it focuses on the spectacular air combat scenes instead of the average love story and sequences on the ground.

Especially thanks to two very good performance by Qualley and Weaver, My Salinger Year remains an intriguing character study, yet some plot lines and tonal shifts could have been handled better.

Flat characters, chunky lines, and a simple plot could be excused but The Courier is boring at times and stretched for most of the rest. It fails to meet even the rather manageable minimum requirements for simple action movies.

The Men Who Stare at Goats has a great cast, but the mixture of sheer absurdity and narrative incoherence make it a less memorable satire about the army.

Inoffensive, mildly entertaining but also unremarkable, bland and with the two stars as the support of rather by-the-book characters.

The second Doctor Strange entry is a perfect example for the problems that plague the post-Endgame Marvel movies: After the galactic threat-level of Thanos and the death of beloved characters, there is a need to up the ante further and introduce new heroes. How? By getting a bit darker, reducing the jokes and introducing or expanding other characters. Beneath all the CGI, cameos and confusion is a solid heart of a touching story. A shame it isn’t more at the forefront.

Individual pieces of Pandorum are more appealing than the complete picture, but it is nevertheless a solid piece of sci-fi horror with an eery, claustrophobic atmosphere.

While it has its flaws and Stone's theories are open for debate, the very least JFK Revisited does is to stimulate the viewer to ask questions about what happened in Dallas, before and afterwards.

Focus has well-portrayed, likeable leads with good chemistry and thanks to some humour and the obligatory twists and turns is a thoroughly solid and enjoyable heist movie.

If one is able to accept Shadow in the Cloud as the fictional, non-historic sci-fi horror movie that it is and suspends belief a bit, one can enjoy a strong performance by Chloë Grace Moretz and a genuinely good, tension-creating thriller. Just remember: It is all fictional. Except the social commentary.

Doomsday spends almost two hours of screen time on gore, subpar action and an incoherent plot that feels like a poor compilation of better movies. It leaves its cast stranded with one-dimensional, uninteresting characters and therefore finds a place amongst the weakest dystopia movies.

The November Man wastes a good performance by Brosnan while leaving his supporting players mostly stranded by a storyline that is neither fleshed out nor original. A shame, because the movie surely had the potential for much more.

Palm Springs has two very good performances by its main stars, a believable chemistry, and although the mix of bittersweetness, nihilism and comedy isn't always optimal, it is a fresh take of the time loop trope and the rom-com genre in general.

The Internship is a formulaic comedy with enough laughs to keep one mildly entertained. For better or worse, it is about what one would expect from a Vaugh & Wilson comedy.