Search: Starring Joely Richardson

If Emmerich doesn't quite hit all his targets dead-on, he should at least be commended for trying to take his career and chosen genre down a less obvious route while remaining crowd-pleasing.

The mood here is increasingly grim.

Way too inspired for the end result to be intentional.

This may be cheesy stuff, but it's handled with a sincerity that will charm fans of the books and teenagers looking for a bit of light escapism.

In the end, this isn't the obnoxious film it might have been but it isn't a very interesting one either.

Unnecessary plot layers descend from a great height, crushing any spark of adventure.

The complex relationship between the two brothers is beautifully observed.

Gentle, predictable, slow and safe, with a laudable message.

The pleasantly surprising performance of Schwarzenegger grounds the film with an emotional heft.

The film has two defects. It isn't funny and Hugh Laurie is not Hugh Grant.

Doesn’t so much leave threads untied as set the ropes on fire.

The film is simplistic to the point of absurdity.

Suffers from excess in almost every department.

The lady can't keep her clothes on. It's part of the training

This is romance the way grandma remembers it.

Oliver Stone takes the story and gives it slick mainstream polish, bringing the issue home in a way that is understandable and urgent, even if his hero ends up seeming almost too good to be true.