Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit review: CIA you again
Why reboot remains a question, but this is a smart popcorn thriller with a surprisingly sensitive performance by Chris Pine, and a wonderfully badass one by Kevin Costner.
war/antiwar
The Square review: power from the people
This is history firsthand, in progress, and unfinished.
Lone Survivor review: never get involved in a land war in Asia
Acknowledges the powerful fraternity of soldiers without being jingoistic, and depicts the intensity and adrenaline of a battlefield without being pornographic.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom review
Bit of a shame that a man who looms so large in the hearts and minds of so many has been packed neatly away into a film that is handsome, respectable, and just a tad stodgy.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire review: reluctant heroine
A devastating indictment of pop culture as propaganda — about its power and the limits of its powers — and an upending of the typical teen-girl romance movie.
Ender’s Game review: big ideas, small heart
My soul was never stirred. My spirit did not soar. My intellect did twitch a bit in ways that made my heart ache disagreeably, however.
White House Down review: I’d rather be in Philadelphia
It lifts an embarrassing number of beats from Die Hard… but Channing Tatum is no Bruce Willis.
Hammer of the Gods review
This is what happens when your Lord of the Rings cosplay gets overrun by Method stuntmen.
Rebellion (L’ordre et la morale) review
Sporadically exciting French action drama about a 1988 hostage crisis drags more often than it should.
Olympus Has Fallen mini review
A vile propagandistic action flick that shamelessly indulges fears of terrorism while also failing on a basic narrative level.
