Matthew Blackheart (2002)
Dec 31, 2002Monster Hunter
Film about a monster hunter from the 1940s thawed out in the present-day. This appears to have been made as a tv pilot
The Donners Company
X2 (2003)
May 5, 2003Comic-Book Superheroes
Bryan Singer's immediate sequel to X-Men, this ups the number of new mutant characters, although only sporadically manages to kick in with the spectacular superheroic action sequences the first film had
Timeline (2003)
Feb 1, 2004Time Travel/Michael Crichton Adaptation
Michael Crichton adaptation that flopped at the box-office. Crichton tells a story about time travel to the Mediaeval period where he spends a good deal of time researching the era. The film ditches all of this to make no more than an historical film with an SF gimmick
Constantine (2005)
Mar 7, 2005Occult Investigator/Comic Book Adaptation
Adaptation of DC’s Hellblazer comic-book that gets the Hollywood treatment where all of the character's background and look has been thrown out and the part badly miscast with Keanu Reeves
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Jun 21, 2006Comic-Book Superheroes
Brett Ratner inherits the X-Men franchise from Bryan Singer for the third film in the series and promptly killed it off (after this point everything became prequels featuring Young X-Men). Ratner's handling of the superheroic action lacks Singer's exhilaration or any affinity for the characters
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Apr 29, 2009Comic-Book Superhero
After the disaster of X-Men: The Last Stand, the decision was made to give a whole film over to the series’s most popular character, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, and to go with a prequel that told his origin story. Largely a film that exists as a series of superheroic action scenes
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (2009)
Nov 2, 2009Young Adult/Vampire Wars/Circus of Freaks
Adaptation of a series of Young Adult books that should have emerged as Harry Potter made with the sensibilities of a Tim Burton. But the result fails to come to life in Paul Weitz's hands
X: First Class (2011)
Jun 5, 2011Comic-Book Superheroes/Origin Prequel
An X-Men origin story that serves as the occasion to recast the series with younger actors. This works far better than the previous two films, integrating the characters in a strong story, although is quiet at the superheroic action
The Wolverine (2013)
Aug 3, 2013X-Men Spinoff Film
While this received a good deal of fan buzz, I must admit to being disappointed. It strips much of the superheroics and mutant cameos of the other X-Men films until it feels more like a Westerner in Japan thriller like Black Rain or even a routine film noir plot that happens to be cast with Wolverine
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
Jun 11, 2016Comic-Book Superheroes
The seventh X-Men chapter arrives with a certain ennui. Bryan Singer creates some epic scenes but the sprawling ensemble and the series' ragged continuity makes it hard to invest in the characters, while the new villain looks like a B movie wizard and the mass destruction climax comes surprisingly by the book
Deadpool (2016)
Feb 14, 2016Marvel Comics Superhero
Maybe the smartest and wittiest of the modern Marvel Comics adaptations, this takes every opportunity to deflate its own seriousness, not to mention frequently breaks the fourth wall with side-splitting results
Logan (2017)
Mar 25, 2017X-Men Film
Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart bid farewell to the X-Men franchise. One of the strongest films in the series, having been stripped of superheroics and allowed to play out as a character drama