If I remember correctly, this was the start of the Mission: Impossible films where Tom Cruise did the big stunts himself. (I’m not sure the Shanghai scene in Mission: Impossible III counts.) Cruise’s climb up the Burj Khalifa still gives me heebie jeebies to this day.

My son’s going through a bit of a pirate phase, so this was an obvious choice. Still pretty entertaining after nearly 20(!) years. It’s impossible to imagine anyone else but Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow.

I watched the original Rescue Rangers quite a bit as a kid, so I suppose I was the target audience for this modern spin. Its barrage of post-modern pastiches, pop culture references, and self-referential humor were, by turns, amusing and annoying. But mostly amusing.

I mainly watched this because it’s from the director and star of Netflix’s Lupin, which we really enjoyed last year. As a buddy cop movie, The Takedown has its moments, but it really just made me want the third season of Lupin to get here even sooner.

Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham is a pretty strong combo, but this felt like it was trying to be a lot moodier and more intense than it actually was.

I knew this would be a disaster even before I started watching it, and yet I still stayed up way too late to finish it. I only have myself to blame. I’m giving it an extra half star because there are moments that hint at a much cooler, weirder movie. Still doesn’t change the fact that G.I. Joe titles should only ever be animated (e.g., G.I. Joe: Resolute).

It’s heart is in the right place, and I chuckled when I saw myself in the protagonists’ zeal for their favorite music, but a bit underwhelming overall. That said, I can see this becoming a cult classic in 10 – 15 years.

This movie didn’t need to be three hours long. Normally I’m all for slow pacing and atmosphere, but this should’ve been a lean, mean action film. That being said, I really liked Robert Pattinson’s super-emo Batman.

Completely bonkers Bollywood action film that makes the Mission: Impossible movies look like made-for-TV movies. Come for the crazy stunts and increasingly improbable twists, stay because you can’t resist Hrithik Roshan’s smoldering looks.

Funny, trippy, wildly creative, and over-the-top in every way possible, but also surprisingly emotional at times. (Read my review)

I enjoy this kind of spy thriller, which emphasizes mood and atmosphere over action. But it wasn’t very thrilling, not even when the final twists began revealing themselves.

Not sure if this gave me a lot of new insight into Kon’s films, but it was neat to see how respected he was by other filmmakers. We lost someone truly special when he died.

Direct-to-video martial arts action comedies from the mid-to-late ’90s don’t get much better than this. (Read my review)

And yes, I’ve had “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” going through my head ever since.

Is there such a thing as a too-sarcastic Ryan Reynolds? This might be it.

It pains me to rate a Jackie Chan movie so low, but compared to the first Police Story, this one feels underwhelming. The cafe and playground brawls are still topnotch Jackie action, though.