Action & Adventure

Jason Statham stars as Arthur Bishop, "mechanic" supreme. Of course, "mechanic" is bad-guy talk for the professional assassin who comes to fix your problem and generally tune-up your operation by striking terror into the hearts of your bad-guy rivals. The Mechanic, then, implies that in a world full of amateurish shooters, Arthur Bishop stands out as the consummate professional. In fact, Bishop lives and works by a strict code—precise, detached, professional, and perfectionist; in other words, Bishop delivers all the qualities anyone could wish or want in a fine mechanic."Donald Sutherland plays Harry, Bishop's friend and mentor; and then he dies. Assassinated. Not surprisingly, Bishop feels compelled and honor bound to avenge Harry's murder; but in all of his careful calculations, Bishop fails to factor-in Steve, Harry's son, who shares Bishop's desire for revenge and who brings beginner's enthusiasm to the business of learning his father's business. Of course, sinister stealth, insidious machinations, and high explosives complicate the would-be assassins' quest; and, as the promos proclaim, "those hired to fix problems become problems themselves." The Mechanic would qualify for your list of "standard guy stuff," except that it has a liberal dose of heart.

Sucker Punch movie makes five girls the somewhat reluctant heroines of an epic action fantasy drawn from the main character's imagination. Baby-Doll has been wrongly confined in a mental institution, but she uses her powers of mind to escape her grim circumstances. When her dreams and fantasies no longer console her, Baby-Doll persuades four other girls to join in her attempt to escape captivity. Emily Browning stars as Baby-Doll; Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, and Abbie Cornish complete the well-chosen ensemble cast. The five of them leave no doubt about the meaning of "girl power.""Director Zack Snyder describes Sucker Punch as "Alice in Wonderland with machine guns." In the course of their adventures, the girls engage everything from samurais to serpents in fantastic warfare, drawing from a robust virtual arsenal. The five sisters-in-arms face difficult choices about how much feel willing to sacrifice in order to stay alive. Wiseman, however, gives sage guidance, always suggesting that if the girls survive, their journey will set them free. Co-director Deborah Snyder brings the flight of fantasy back down to earth, saying, "In the end, it's about this girl's survival and what she needs to do to be able to cope."

The Warrior's Way" challenges: Can you survive the love to get to the action?... Who wouldn't want to see Kate Bosworth playing a bad-girl knife thrower in a ninja movie? After all, late adolescent boys can live on reruns of "Blue Crush" for only so long. In "The Warrior's Way" movie, Dong-gun Jang stars as a ninja assassin—reputedly "the world's greatest swordsman"-- grown weary of his deadly craft. When the assassin turns down an assignment, his warrior clan expresses its displeasure by ordering him killed. Naturally, the swordsman seeks sanctuary in the American badlands, where the locals will hardly notice a Korean newcomer in town. Just as naturally, the newcomer falls in love with the knife-thrower and befriends the town drunk—happens every day in the Dakotas. Naturally, the three of them save the swordsman and their town, and audiences may assume they Ginsu happily ever after. After pre-release screenings of "The Warrior's Way" movie audiences generally agreed with the reviewer who said, "If you can bear the hour of 'love story' and the bad acting that goes with it, you can get to some really fun action scenes. Some awesome effects and fighting will jolt you from much of the boredom." When it's all over, "The Warrior's Way" leaves the average guy wondering, "How much do I really like Kate Bosworth?"

James Cameron returns to the sea, showing in three dimensions how a deep-sea cave-diving team descends into a previously unexplored cave system—the largest, most beautiful, most complex, and least accessible on Earth. There, explorers suddenly face the challenge to become survivors. Adapted from the real-life adventure of the screenplay's co-writer, Andrew Wight, Sanctum movie pays homage to the ocean's sublimity before it tears the mask off its monumental power. Richard Roxburgh, suitably daring and dashing, plays expedition leader Frank McGuire, who skillfully leads the team through months of exploration until a tropical storm cuts-off their exit, forcing them deeper into the caves in search of an escape. Struggling against raging water, short supplies, and inchoate terror, McGuire, his son Josh, and prominent financier Carl Hurley must make their way through a magnificent and menacing maze hoping against hope they will survive. Cameron had to work his magic on a relatively modest $30million budget, but director Alister Grierson and cinematographer Jules O'Loughlin bring out the best in the fine ensemble cast and make the most of Mother Nature's dramatic setting.

Irish author Jonathan Swift first published Gulliver's Travels in 1726, and it became an immediate sensation. Since then, Gulliver's Travels never has gone out-of-print, and its twenty-first century sales remain nearly as robust as they were in the sixteenth. Universally acknowledged as a classic of British literature, Swift's wonderwork scathingly satirizes human nature and parodies "travellers' tales." Not surprising, then, Hollywood has attempted to bring Gulliver's story to life on film in every decade since the medium was invented. Typically, the special effects have failed to keep pace with Swift's imagination. In the story's latest reprise, a slightly modernized version, the special effects are up to the challenge, but the question emerges, "Is Jack Black up to it?" Black has disappointed fans with his last couple of ventures, but critics say he looks "at ease" as he goes for "big" laughs in the land of the Lilliputians. The producers and director have built-in a few features to give Black a healthy bounce: Updating the story, they show Gulliver as a contemporary mailroom guy who finally catches a break, winning a travel-writing assignment in the Bermuda Triangle. 3D has gotta help the contrast between big Gulliver and little Lilliputians, and an all-star supporting cast is expected to bring out the best of Black's comic gifts.

The Green Hornet is another superhero movie featuring the Green Hornet and his crime fighting team. During the day Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) is rich publisher and famous media mogul, but by night he is the fearless superhero known as the Green Hornet. Together with his faithful companion Kato, a martial arts expert; they do whatever it takes to keep the streets safe for civilians. After a close friend and colleague is murdered, the Green Hornet and Kato face the mob head on to bring them down and make them pay for everything they have done. Meanwhile they must protect the identity of Britt and keep his world safe from harm and only a superhero like the Green Hornet is capable of this. The Green Hornet is action packed with a good story line that will be entertaining for all ages.

Faster is about an ex-convict named Driver (Dwayne Johnson) that is dead set on getting revenge on everyone who back stabbed him. Driver sets out on a mission with his kill list in hand to soon find out he is also being hunted, by a soon to be retired cop and a crazy hitman. He must do his best to stay alive while completing his task, but will he make it to the end or will they get to him first. Faster takes you on a ride to the finish line that will keep you wondering all the way to the end.