Hollywood frequently seems to be having the movie equivalent of a key party. Two or three movies in as many months will turn up at the local cinema with the same high concept. This season’s exemplars are The Expendables and RED.

We’ve seen both, and both are more enjoyable than the reviews lead me to believe.

A bunch of guys with large caliber machine guns show up in the middle of a night at Bruce Willis’s house in Cleveland but Bruce is too good to be taken out so easily. He heads to Kansas City to pick up Mary Louise Parker, since he believes she’s in just as much danger. Despite the fact that Willis is a retired CIA agent nag Parker just a pension plan call center phone rep with a cute voice.

The appeal here isn’t the plot, which is reasonably serviceable given the source is a graphic novel, but the pure old pro action comedy skills of an all-star cast. Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Richard Dreyfus, Brian Cox and Willis just slice through this like butter, ably abetted by Karl Urban, Julian McMahon, Rebecca Pidgeon and Parker.

One scene early on, where Willis puts a cop car into a spin, steps out mid-spin into a shooting stance without even noticing the car’s tail end missing by inches impressed me in the trailer. But I was even more impressed when I saw that the movie treated it as nothing special.

Director Robert Schwentke and writer Jon and Eric Hoeber worked the balance between camp and staying true to the spirit of the graphic novel. Besides the scene just mentioned, let’s just say that you have to be really special to use a machine gun as a baseball bat to smash a grenade 100 yards right at a guy who’s shooting at you!

Joe Carnahan’s ‘re-imagining’ of the ’80s TV series keeps enough of the original to connect with the built-in audience and adds enough smarts to justify the big screen leap. This movie, for me, epitomizes the mindless summer action comedy with its combination of nonsensical conspiracy and improbable explosions–like the parachuting tank fighting off air force drone fighters–though never reaching the brilliance of Last Action Hero or True Lies.

Like many of the recent action hero/graphic novel movie adaptions this is an origin story: How did the A-Team come together and why are they fugitives? Which, by the way, the TV series never covered so we’re on pretty safe ground.

Acting: Bradley Cooper is turning out to be a surprisingly good romantic/comedy leading man, Liam Neeson is, well, a past master, mixed martial artist Quinton Jackson is fine in the quartet’s easiest role and Sharlto Copley shows his District 9 performance was not down to the director. Jessica Biel is wasted as the eye candy since she never really gets out of a baggy uniform, Brian Bloom (the evil private military contractor) and Maury Sterling (the first CIA agent called Lynch) chew up the villain roles and Gerald McRaney is, well, workman-like as the A-Team’s nominal commander.

Saw this hit graphic novel adaptation last night with a buddy and walked out confused. One the one hand the script totally demolishes the normal human superhero genre (such as Batman), delivers some great laughs, captures the teenage condition almost too realistically and blasts some terrific action sequences. On the other hand a lot of those great action sequences involve an 11 year old girl, which seems to cross a line for me and Roger Ebert. Ebert writes in the opening of his review:

“A movie camera makes a record of whatever is placed in front of it, and in this case, it shows deadly carnage dished out by an 11-year-old girl, after which an adult man brutally hammers her to within an inch of her life. Blood everywhere. Now tell me all about the context.”

On the other hand, Big Daddy is about the perfect role for Nicholas Cage. He plays the 11 year old’s father, a man destroyed by the lead criminal in Kick-Ass and now totally devoid of any emotion; a fleshly machine running a program building slowly towards a massive revenge.

Aaron Johnson does a terrific job as the lead character. I totally believe him as a kid naive and enthusiastic enough to buy an odd looking scuba suit and go out in public wearing it. And getting his nuts kicked in too–after his first stretch in the hospital you’d think he’d at least go for a few lessons at the local dojo, but no.

Chloe Moretz does fine as Hit-Girl, the little ball of death and destruction, though I question her parents decision to let her take the role–I’d question any parent who did. Maybe they thought the purple hair and raccoon mask would keep her from years of nightmares and therapy.

Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake), who directed and co-wrote the film, does an excellent job translating the graphic novel to the screen. Leaving the theater I felt like it was only 30 minutes since the opening credits came on but on the other hand I was also feeling like I should take a shower.

I was highly impressed by this Clive Owen/Naomi Watts financial thriller. Director Tom Tykwer has long been a critical favorite though I’ve only seen his Run Lola Run, which I definitely enjoyed, and this is Eric Singer’s first produced script; the two created a fast-paced, suspenseful film that smartly brings in current populist fears of the powers behind the global banking system. Armin Mueller-Stahl and Brian F. O’Byrne lead a very good supporting cast.

Despite taking Hollywood money I’m impressed that Tykwer did not cave and give us a cheesy happy ending–bad guys got theirs but the system went on without breaking stride.

Surprised by how enjoyable this technothriller turned out. Shia LeBeouf and Michelle Monaghan worked well together and happily Billy Bob Thornton put down the bong for most of this shoot. Director D.J. Caruso definitely showed a step up from past ephemera like Disturbia.

Outstanding, especially for a sequel. Big props to Bale, Ledger, Oldman, Eckhart, Caine, Freeman and pleased by Maggie Gyllenhall’s replacement of Katie Homes. Christopher Nolan just makes good movie after good movie.

Of the four X-Men flicks I’d probably put this tied for second with the second sequel. Nice jobs by Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber and Danny Huston, a bit too much reliance on the big booms and sound effects by director Gavin Hood.

James Cameron was right to question why this movie got made. Some blamed it on an attempt to beef up the John Connor role after Christian Bale took the part over Sam Worthington’s Marcus Wright. I just don’t see where the huge financial enthusiasm from the studio was justified.

Fun and showed some nice creative touches but not as surprising or entertaining as the first. How come no mention of Carla Gugino’s character at all?

My movie of the year, without a doubt. Avatar was awesome, but second. Watchmen was almost there but give me real Trek over blue penis any day. X-Men: Wolverine, Terminator Salvation and Transformers 2 were ok, sad and watch for the SFX, respectively.

JJ Abrams, Robert Orci ad Alex Kurtzman made this 40 year old franchise new again with a brilliantly creative destruction of the existing canon. Respectful of what fans loved but willing to move on, so I can’t wait for their next production to arrive in late 2011.

Much love for the cast. Chris Pine was a wonderful choice for Kirk, Quinto, Yelchin, Saldana, Cho, Urban and Pegg a terrific bridge crew that ought to be able to last a long time. Terrific new take on what starship innards would be like too.