London Has Fallen (2016)

In London for the Prime Minister's funeral, Mike Banning is caught up in a plot to assassinate all the attending world leaders.

A good example how non-stop action and pyrotechnics are necessarrily enough to make the result a good movie.

Pitch Black (2000)

A group of marooned space travelers struggle for survival on a seemingly lifeless sun-scorched world.

Above-average sci-fi thriller with some atmospheric visuals.

On renewed viewing: I must admit it's not a masterpiece but a guilty pleasure of mine.

Halliwell (no star): "Essentially a 'B' movie with a few pretensions, this delivers its shocks efficiently enough, but is otherwise in need of a better script and a bigger budget."

Maltin**: "Ambitious, but formulaic sci-fi/horror film...Some exciting scenes and effects, but weighed down by a feeling of deja vu."

Silent Hill (2006)

A woman goes in search for her daughter, within the confines of a strange, desolate town called Silent Hill.

Based on a computer game this is an atmospheric horror show without a coherent plot and prefers to follow the logic of a nightmare. Once you can accept that premise it is quite effective.

On second viewing: I'd say the same thing again; visually it's quite mesmerizing.

Maltin*1/2: "Don't check this movie for parenting tips...Another video game becomes a hokey excuse for a two-hour-plus horror movie. Dialogue is so laughable it might be advisable to watch SILENT HILL with the sound turned off."

Surrogates (2009)

In a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others' surrogates.

Fairly entertaining sci-fi tale with an amusing premise (war is fought by surrogate soldiers while the real ones rest in a building full of cots) doesn't quite live up to its existentialist implications.

Maltin***: "Smart science-fiction tale...Slick entertainment has some provocative ideas behind it."

Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

A disgraced former Presidential guard finds himself trapped inside the White House in the wake of a terrorist attack; using his inside knowledge, he works with national security to rescue the President from his kidnappers.

The similarities to White House Down are amazing, and this action thriller is just as silly, but by far not as much fun.

Maltin**1/2: "Nonstop action is the order of the day in this disaster film...The story is far-fetched and some of the characters deeply stereotyped but Fuqua keeps it all moving along; if you don't care about credibility it's reasonably entertaining, mindless fun."