The first week of the holiday season is storming in with a bang, as not only do we get to see a brand new Punisher blow away bad guys in PUNISHER: WAR ZONE, but we also get Angelina Jolie blowing (away) dudes in WANTED, Mulder and Scully’s return in I WANT TO BELIEVE, and some random horror flick called GRAVE MISTAKE. So… what’s on YOUR X-mas list?
SLAUGHTERING THEATERS THIS WEEK
PUNISHER: WAR ZONE
Rated: R for pervasive strong brutal violence, language and some drug use.
Starring Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Doug Hutchison, Wayne Knight, Julie Benz
Directed by Lexi Alexander
Run Time: 107 Min.
Waging his one-man war on the world of organized crime, ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle sets his sights on overeager mob boss, Billy Russoti. After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the “Punisher Task Force” hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished.
SLAUGHTERING STORES THIS WEEK
Rated: R
Starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman
Directed byTimur Bekmambetov
Run Time: 110 Min.
Our unlikely hero is mild-mannered Chicago accountant Wesley Gibson (Atonement’s James McAvoy), whose father died when he was a tot. Wesley never learned to stand up for himself, and his girlfriend, boss, and best buddy all take advantage until the seductive Fox (Angelina Jolie) rescues him from a sharpshooter named Cross (The Pianist’s Thomas Kretschmann). After which, she whisks him away to a mansion on the edge of town to meet the other members of the Fraternity, where leader Sloan (Morgan Freeman) informs Wesley that Cross, a rogue agent, executed his father. Sloan believes Wesley has the goods to take him out, so he undergoes the Fraternity’s brutal training regimen (Marc Warren and Common dish up some of the abuse). When he’s ready, Sloan sends him out to fulfill his duty, but matters become complicated when Wesley finds out someone isn’t telling the truth, leading our former milquetoast to exact an elaborate revenge.
THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE
Rated: PG-13
Starring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson
Directed by Chris Carter
Run Time: 104 minutes
The feature film The X-Files: I Want to Believe is a satisfying if unspectacular installment in the X-Files series, taking place an unspecified time after the show’s nine-year television run. Former agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is now a doctor, while Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is being hunted by his former agency and living in seclusion. He and Scully are summoned back by a case involving a missing agent and a former priest (Billy Connolly) who claims to be able to see clues to the agent’s whereabouts psychically, though his initial search turns up only a severed limb. Don’t expect the usual cast of characters; the FBI has completely turned over (except for the George W. Bush portrait), and the only reason Scully and Mulder are back is because agent Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet) remembers his success on similar cases involving the unexplainable.
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GRAVE MISTAKE
Rated: UnRated
Directed by Seth Darling
Starring Shawn Darling
Run Time: 90 Minutes
When Alex King finds the people in the world around him are turning into mindless flesh-eating zombies, he and his companions fight to find his missing mother and to stay alive.
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