“Watchmen” is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the “Doomsday Clock” – which charts the USA’s tension with the Soviet Union – is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion – a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers – Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity… but who is watching the Watchmen?”

With this movie and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, comic-book superheroes will continue to dominate the box office in 2009, a year after the genre truly broke as a bankable entity. And in Watchmen’s case, never has a storyline been so intricate, with arcs that span from the Cuban Missle Crisis to the Reagan Era, and out to Mars and back again. Is it fit for mass consumption? Surely, especially now that audiences are connecting with anti-heroes (or, in this case, ex-superheroes), and let’s not forget how in the 1980s are, too. Already people are talking about director Zack Snyder’s page-to-screen take on the graphic novel by Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore (the latter of whom is not on board with the project, thank you very much) — has he copied the look of it too much? Not enough? Or are you, like thousands of other people, reading the book for the first time?

Rated R for strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language.

Director: Zack Snyder
Stars: Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: 6 March 2009 (Indonesia)
Genre: Action | Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Interpol agent Chun-Li (Kreuk) enters an underground fighting tournament, with her eyes set on M. Bison (McDonough), the contest’s founder and leader of a crime syndicate who may have been responsible for the death of Chun-Li’s father.

You have a few more months to tighten up your Lightning Kick and get your hair into two perfect buns before Fox either a) “ruins” another fanboy property or b) launches the first film in a potential franchise with X-Men potential. Or both? Please note: I make that comparison in terms of the number of characters with shadowy pasts the story can explore, but I don’t think this legend is going to break any box-office records (or put out two great movies, then a crappy third installment). So you’re going to have to hit the theaters and pick this up on Blu-ray if you want to see Ken or Ryu in the future, and, while Kristen Kreuk was strung up with wires in order to simulate the moves that made Chun-Li the first lady of fighting games, there seems to be plenty of gun-toting action present here that will certainly upset purists (this is, after all, brought to you by the director of Doom). Meanwhile, another member of Black Eyed Peas goes rogue in order to, like, expand the pop group’s “brand,” or something. I think this interview with screenwriter Justin Marks is revelatory.

Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and martial arts action, and some sensuality.

Director: Andrzej Bartkowiak
Stars: Kristin Kreuk, Neal McDonough, Michael Clarke Duncan
Studio: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Release Date: 27 February 2009 (USA)
Genre: Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

In Hong Kong, a trio of young people with special abilities are pursued by a clandestine U.S. government agency who wants the gifted ones back in their fold.

I think director Paul McGuigan (Wicker Park, Lucky Number Slevin) has a thing for too-intricate storylines; during Push’s 2008 Comic-Con panel, poor Camilla Belle stumbled through a plot explanation that began to sound like playing rounds of Magic: The Gathering. Djimon Hounsou, meanwhile, could barely remember his role in the movie. Good thing Dakotah Fanning then popped out to, like, tell the crowd she finally lost all of her baby teeth. Or something.

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, brief strong language, smoking and a scene of teen drinking.

Director: Paul McGuigan
Stars: Camilla Belle, Dakota Fanning, Chris Evans
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Release Date: 6 February 2009 (USA)

During the reign of the Vikings, Kainan (Caviezel), a man from a far-off world, crash lands on Earth, bringing with him an alien predator known as the Moorwen. Though both man and monster are seeking revenge for violence committed against them, Kainan leads the alliance to kill the Moorwen by fusing his advanced technology with the Viking’s Iron Age weaponry.

Howard McCain’s oft-delayed creature feature is the victim of another barely there release from the Weinstein Company, a movie studio that, despite Vicky Cristina Barcelona’s Golden Globe win, is becoming known more for distributing movies that Harvey W. doesn’t believe in. Or perhaps he just likes antagonizing fanboys. This isn’t the last you’ll hear from McCain, though, since he’s one of the writers on Underworld: Rise of the Lycans and his name just might end up on the eventual Conan project, too. With the barbarian in mind: If Outlander had been made in the early 80s, it would probably be a cult favorite today.

Rated R for violence.

Director: Howard McCain
Stars: James Caviezel, Sophia Myles, Ron Perlman
Studio: The Weinstein Company

In the original movie, a flying saucer orbits Earth, and lands in Washington, DC, on the Mall. Klaatu (Michael Rennie) steps out and is shot by a jumpy soldier. Gort (Lock Martin), an indestructible robot, steps out of the spacecraft and proceeds to melt all the weapons, including tanks. Later, the Earth comes to realize that Gort has used very little of his power to make this happen.

While lying on the ground, Klaatu orders Gort to stop and is then taken by the military to a hospital, from which he later escapes in order to learn more about this planet called Earth and its human inhabitants. He meets Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and her son Bobby (Billy Gray); takes Klaatu on a tour of Washington, DC; and finally stops in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Klaatu reads the words uttered by Lincoln many years ago and realizes that there might be hope for Earth.

When they begin to suspect the alien man, he reveals himself, along with the news that Gort is a member of a race of super-robot enforcers invented to keep the peace of the galaxy and will destroy the Earth if provoked. Klaatu is pursued and shot and killed by the military. Before Klaatu dies, he tells Helen to go to Gort, and say the words “Klaatu barada nikto.” If she does not, Klaatu tells her Gort will destroy the Earth. Helen makes her way to the ship and finds Gort. As the robot moves towards her, she repeats the phrase over and over. The robot picks her up and takes her into the ship. It then retrieves Klaatu’s body and, through their alien science, resurrects Klaatu.

The Day the Earth Stood Still … read more »