Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Jan 1, 2010Sherlock Holmes vs Black Magic
Guy Ritchie's reinvention of Sherlock Holmes seemed a miscalculated disaster in the offing. It doesn't radically reinvent the basics but emerges passably well
Robert Maillet
Monster Brawl (2011)
Apr 24, 2014Wrestling Match Between Famous Monsters
This has the mildly amusing idea of taking films like Dracula vs Frankenstein et al one step further and actually pitting various classic monsters against one another in a wrestling match
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)
Aug 20, 2013Secret World of Magic Amid the Everyday
A Young Adult fantasy adaptation that fells a Harry Potter wannabe repackaged with the brooding teen romanticism of the Twilight series, all under a director whose indifferent handling fails to animate any of the material
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)
Aug 16, 2013Greek Myth in the Present Day
This sequel is marginally better than the first film (largely due to Chris Columbus no longer being in the director's chair), being more dramatically engaged and with effects that feel less like random eye candy. That still doesn't disguise the fact that the Percy Jackson series is no more than a lightweight and forgettable Harry Potter knockoff
Brick Mansions (2014)
May 2, 2014Near Future Action/Walled-Off Ghetto
The English-language remake of the Luc Besson-produced Banlieue 13. The electrifying parkour scenes of the original now seem routine and the film's social set-up so thinly sketched as to be negligible as science-fiction
Becky (2020)
Jan 1, 2021Young Girl Fights off a Home Invasion
Essentially Home Alone as a horror film where Lulu Wilson gives a standout performance as a child who fends off a home invasion by escaped criminals led by Kevin James in a surprisingly effective villainous turn
Vicious Fun (2020)
Jan 23, 2022Support Group for Serial Killers
Horror comedy set around the wonderfully appealing idea of a support group for serial killers