Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Rating: ★★★½
Jun 21, 2006Spy/Action Film
For his third outing in the series, Tom Cruise made a smart bet on giving the reins to J.J. Abrams who made his directorial debut and turned in the most enjoyable entry in the series to that point. One of the best moves is in the casting of Philip Seymour Hoffman as the villain of the show

Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek (2009)
Rating: ★★
May 12, 2009Intergalactic Adventures
J.J. Abrams revives the Star Trek franchise by recasting it with younger faces and rewriting continuity. But in the appeal to a hipper, sexier vibe, it feels a long way from Gene Roddenberry’s creation – nowhere in evidence is the original's concern with galactic politics and social issues of the day

Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013)

Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013)
Rating: ★★
May 17, 2013Intergalactic Adventures
I had mixed feelings about J.J. Abrams' reboot of Star Trek This time around the actors seem more at home in the characters and the plot works a good deal better (for the most part), while Abrams creates a hurtling effects spectacle that is the most action-oriented of the Trek films

Ender’s Game (2013)

Ender’s Game (2013)
Rating: ★★
Nov 2, 2013Space Military Recruits in Training
I will defend Orson Scott Card as an exceptional science-fiction writer, his controversies aside. While this is an extremely faithful adaptation of his book, it works unevenly as a film and never soars dramatically

Star Trek: Beyond (2016)

Star Trek: Beyond (2016)
Rating: ★★
Jul 30, 2016Intergalactic Adventures
Gene Roddenbery created a tv series that was about boldly going, confronting different ways of life. The choice to hire the director of The Fast and the Furious films to helm the film made for the show's 50th anniversary says how wrong-headed the reboot series has become – all about cool young leads and hurtling effects sequences