Def by Temptation (1990)
Feb 27, 2001Demonic Temptress
Part of an attempt to revive the Blaxploitation film, a gospel horror film of sorts in which a young African-American divinity student fights the demon Temptation
Samuel L. Jackson
Jurassic Park (1993)
May 9, 2001Genetically-Engineered Dinosaurs Amok
An enormous hit for Steven Spielberg who took new emergent CGI technologies and wowed audiences with dinosaurs brought to life in dazzlingly realistic detail. It doesn't hurt that he delivers a relentlessly suspenseful film too
Fluke (1995)
Nov 24, 2002Man Reincarnates as a Dog
A beautifully made adaptation of a non-horror James Herbert novel in which a dog realises that is a reincarnated Matthew Modine and sets out to reunite with his human son
Eve’s Bayou (1997)
May 10, 2009Backwater Louisiana Childhood/Voodoo
Actress Kasi Lemmons directs a strong African-American Coming of Age story set in a backwater Louisiana town, one where voodoo is a regular part of the culture
The Red Violin (1998)
Jul 19, 2000Stories of a Cursed Violin
A reasonable arthouse hit, this tells the story of a cursed violin through five different periods of history
Sphere (1998)
Dec 16, 1999Crashed UFO Underwater/Michael Crichton Adaptation
Michael Crichton was hot property after the success of Jurassic Park but this was one flop. A by no means uninteresting film about a group of scientists in an underwater habitat making contact with an alien lifeform
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
Jun 6, 1999Space Opera
George Lucas's return to the Star Wars series after a sixteen year absence and a build-up rivaled only by the Second Coming. Instead most audiences went away disappointed. Lucas has used the interim to push the technology to its heights but the story and characters are lacking
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Jul 31, 1999Genetically-Engineered Killer Sharks
A killer shark film by way of Jurassic Park. The perpetually terrible Renny Harlin creates something almost watchable that vies between moments of tension and the entertainingly absurd
Unbreakable (2000)
Nov 26, 2000Ordinary Superhero
M. Night Shyamalan's immediate follow-up to the huge hit of The Sixth Sense. This similarly builds a big conceptual mystery before arriving at the rather hokey notion that Bruce Willis is really a superhero
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
Jun 20, 2002Space Opera
The second of George Lucas’s Stars Wars prequels is no particular improvement. The romance is stiff and awkward, badly written while the effects sequences seem to be running out of new things to do and so just up the scale of what has happened before with so much going on it reaches a point of visual overload
xXx (2002)
Oct 19, 2002Extreme Adventure Sports Spy
One of the most brainless action films ever made. This has the laughable notion of trying to make a James Bond film but recasting it with Vin Diesel as an extreme sports junkie. Everything about the film is absurd.
Twisted (2004)
Jul 25, 2004Serial Killer Thriller
Disappointing Philip Kaufman thriller where detective Ashley Judd finds she is dealing with a serial killer who is obsessed with her
The Incredibles (2004)
Dec 28, 2004Pixar Animation/Superhero Spoof
Big hit for Pixar and director Brad Bird, a witty spoof of the superhero film that shows a superhero family trying to deal with everyday life. Enormously good-natured fun all around
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
May 22, 2005Space Opera
The last of George Lucas's Star Wars prequel trilogy and the last opportunity for him to get it right, which he generally does. The effects are expert but are not allowed to dominate as much as they did previously and the focus has come back onto the story and Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
Nov 10, 2006Snakes Amok
Purportedly this was dreamed up by scriptwriters over drinks trying to think of the most ridiculous pitch they could make. The result was advertised as a deliberately bad movie and became a modest hit
1408 (2007)
Nov 3, 2007Haunted Hotel Room/Stephen King Adaptation
Very spooky Stephen King adaptation about a haunted hotel room. In contrast to other haunted house films, this is a one-man show that keeps itself minimally contained inside the room with considerable effect
The Spirit (2008)
Jan 11, 2009Comic-Book Superhero
A real head-scratcher. Legendary comic-book writer Frank Miller directs an adaptation of the famous Will Eisner comic-book. A completely madcap film that deserves to be rediscovered as a cult classic
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
Oct 9, 2008Space Opera/Animation
Theatrical spinoff from the Star Wars prequels, released to introduce the popular animated series. This shows it is time for George Lucas to move beyond recycling something that was successful three decades ago
Jumper (2008)
Feb 23, 2008Mental Teleportation Abilities
Doug Liman makes a film that has a great concept – a secret world of people with the mental ability to teleport anywhere – that emerges as no more than a slickly polished effort that does nothing with its premise
Astro Boy (2009)
Nov 14, 2009Anime TV Series Remake/Android Boy
This animated theatrical remake of the old Astro Boy cartoon series is nicely made, although the film often feels over-simplistic in its scripting and use of cliches
Iron Man 2 (2010)
May 21, 2010Comic-Book Superhero
Iron Man was very enjoyable. True to typical superhero sequel form, this complicates the original by introducing so many new villains and characters that it becomes an overcrowded narrative juggling act
Thor (2011)
May 7, 2011Marvel Comics Norse God Superhero
The film adaptation of Marvel Comics’ The Mighty Thor is placed in the hands of Kenneth Branagh who delivers an okay film, if one where he never quite seems at home with the superheroic action
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Jul 25, 2011Comic-Book Superhero
One of the more disappointing of the Marvel Comics adaptations. Despite all the elements assembled, this never comes to life in director Joe Johnston's hands and takes forever to get into action
The Avengers (2012)
May 4, 2012Marvel Comics Superhero Team-Up
The culmination of one of the most ambitious cinematic exercises ever conducted, with Marvel weaving storylines through several films to finally merge here with flawless regard. The characters get far more depth than in all of their previous films
Meeting Evil (2012)
Apr 11, 2018Road Trip with a Killer
A surprisingly good variant on The Hitcher (albeit set in urban environs) where Samuel L. Jackson does the unique Samuel L. Jackson sarcastic badassery with demoniac results as a psychopathic stranger who takes hapless family man Luke Wilson for a ride leaving a trail of bodies
Turbo (2013)
Jul 26, 2013Animation/Racing Snail
The 24th film from DreamWorks Animation – the studio that once offered a reasonable challenge to Disney is now starting to slip into the bland formula of competitors like Blue Sky. While passable, this feels like a film substantially lacking in originality and where you can predict its every move
Oldboy (2013)
Nov 29, 2013Imprisonment and Revenge
Spike Lee's English-language remake of Oldboy is an abortion. Where Park Chan-Wook directed the original with an insane energy, whereas Lee only delivers a formula action film and fumbles the ending
Kite (2014)
Jan 25, 2016Live-Action Anime Adaptation/Teenage Girl Vigilante
English language adaptation of an anime. The original was controversial for its copious sex and violence; here we get an anodyne action movie that is no more than The Punisher cast with a teenage girl
RoboCop (2014)
Feb 14, 2014Cyborg Cop
I have to admit despite all the bad feeling for this, I liked it. While what went on in terms of the man inside the machine was cut and dried in the original, this has been shifted to give us a "the soul of Robocop" story . Moreover, the original's biting satire of 1980s corporations and politics has been smartly updated to tackle some big 2010s issues
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Apr 5, 2014Comic-Book Superhero
Captain America's second solo outing feels more like a Mission: Impossible film or an episode of 24 than a superhero film. Lots of Marvel continuity and fanservice and you are taken aback at how political it is prepared to be
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Feb 21, 2015Spy Film/Comic-Book Adaptation
This rescues the spy film from the silliness of Austin Powers. The film's sly mocking of its Englishness, with Colin Firth going into action as an impeccably mannered gentleman, along with explosive action sequences is irresistible
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
May 2, 2015Marvel Comics Superhero Team-Up
The first Avengers film came with a massive anticipation in seeing the characters come together and the snappiness of their interplay; here this seems more flat, while the rest is overrun by wall-to-wall action
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
Oct 29, 2016Secret Home for "Gifted" Youths
Tim Burton used to be the great hope of fantastic cinema but his efforts since 2000 have been greeted with general disappointment. This Young Adult adaptation plays out like a fantasy version of the X-Men
Cell (2016)
Jul 16, 2016Stephen King Adaptation/Cellphone Zombies
Adaptation of the Stephen King novel about zombies created by a cellphone signal. Critically panned but this kicks in with a sensational opening scene and overspills with more fascinating ideas than it has room to deal with
The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
Jul 9, 2016Jungle Hero
A reasonable attempt to revive Tarzan. Tthis could almost be a sequel to Greystoke with more of an emphasis on adventure. Alexander Skarsgård broods his way through the title role.
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Apr 15, 2017Giant Ape
A reboot where King Kong is now part of a shared universe. This is less a tragic love story about Kong falling for a girl and being brought down by civilisation than Kong as a heroic defender fighting off other monsters
xXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017)
Apr 2, 2017Extreme Adventure Sports Spy
xXx, with Vin Diesel as an extreme sports junkie version of James Bond, was ridiculous. This second sequel surprisingly turns out halfway watchable, keeping the stunts moving fast and introducing an ensemble to build this out as a Fast and the Furious-type franchise
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Nov 3, 2018Marvel Comics Superhero Team-Up
Marvel’s third Avengers film, uniting almost every superhero under their roof, resulting in some thirty characters on screen and a plot that becomes a blur of changing locations and superheroic punch-ups
Incredibles 2 (2018)
Feb 2, 2019Pixar Animation/Superhero Spoof
Pixar's venture into sequels has resulted in works playing off past successes that are lesser than their originals. This came with much anticipation but it too must be counted as another disappointment
Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)
Sep 28, 2019Comic-Book Superhero
Spider-Man: Homecoming was Sony's Spider-Man reboot where the elements came together with winning regard and Tom Holland's politely eager nervousness made for a fantastic Spider-Man. This was the first sequel.
Glass (2019)
Apr 13, 2019Ordinary Superhero and Villains
Unbreakable was M. Night Shyamalan's everyday superhero film. Here he merges the characters from Unbreakable and Split to create his own shared universe. This could in effect be the kitchen sink version of The Avengers
Captain Marvel (2019)
Jun 8, 2019Marvel Comics Superheroine
The MCU offers up their first superheroine with very unexceptional results. A competent enough effort but DC's Wonder Woman easily blows everything this tries to do out of the water
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Aug 10, 2019Marvel Comics Superhero Team-Up
Marvel conclude the cliffhanger they left Avengers: Infinity War on and offer up a bigger-than-big line-up, overspilling with just about every MCU character to ever appear on screen up to that point
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
Jun 11, 2021Killer’s Sadistic Games
The Saw series is revived sort of, featuring the activities of a Jigsaw copycat, otherwise this offers up all the familiar essentials in all but name
The Marvels (2023)
Jan 27, 2024Marvel Comics Superheroes
This ended up being the lowest rated of all MCU films. One wondered whether this was just fannish hyperbole but no what we end up with is the Batman & Robin of The MCU, the single worst film that franchise has produced
Afterburn (2025)
Jun 19, 2026Post-Apocalyptic Action
Action film with Dave Bautista as a treasure hunter retrieving items in a post-apocalyptic world. Directed by a former stuntman, this plays much to the action element with little else of substance