Hacksaw Ridge

Gibson christifies Spielberg formula to deliver a movie that is part saccharin romance, part gritty gore-fest, and 1/3 metal jacket. Garfield revisits familiar territory with wall-scaling, web-slinging prowess and aversion to murder. Meanwhile inVincible Vaughn leaves comedic convictions stateside and sets of to crash Japan with a Band of Aussies.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Hobbit: Worst of Six Movies has pacing problems of a battle where everyone has different length legs.  Overly simple de-Smaugging followed by over-complex and under-featured impromptu battle over nothing.  Jackson forgets most series characters (and G-rated tone) and executes the others.  Meanwhile a bearatrooper drops in while Legolas gets stoned/high.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Peter Jacksoff with this gigantically extended 90-page novel excerpt.  Struggles to trudge through nearly three hours (and 486,720 frames) while trapped in the mountains between LotR grandeur and source material childishness.  Freeman’s baby Bilbo feels a bit BBC and previous cast appearances are far less seamless than countless prosthetic noses.

Cloud Atlas

Ingeniously adapted rendition of seemingly un-filmable literary masterpiece.  Multiple-role casting adds fascinating if tonally confusing element despite occasional silliness of makeup.  Tri-directors and editor manage a miracle by fusing utterly disparate stories without clunkiness or ambiguity.  Voiceovers occasionally wax philosophic, but how can they not in a film about everything?

V for Vendetta

Wachowski’s shine from behind their producer’s mask in this alternative dystopia. What’s worse than machines taking over? The British. Dramatically shifts the focus of source material but improves on plot and produces a better story. Agent Smith begins transformation into voice acting, and Portman proves that she really is Keira.

Captain America

Evans flames on patriotically in this exceptionally simple action flick. Marvelous performances and aesthetic make up for complete absence of plot originality. Basically a fast guy with a strong shield does exactly what he was supposed to do (fights Agent Red), without any internal conflict, plot twists, or historical relevance.