Iron Man 2

M: Not as good as the first one, not even close. But not a bad movie. 3 stars

V: I super duper loved the first Iron Man. But, I also really enjoyed this one. Always been a big fan of RDJr. Scarlett Johanssen didn't even bug me in this one. Gwyneth is great. The action was great. There were a couple of dumb lines, but I still really enjoyed it. 3 1/2 stars

X-Men First Class

V: We actually saw this in the theater and I enjoyed it. I really liked James McAvoy already, so I thought he was a good pick. His (Xavier's) dominance was just kind of assumed though, and not really developed. So that could have used a little help. The Magnito character was interesting - a pretty big swing between likeable and super-evil though. You might not want to be seeing how many degrees away from Kevin Bacon you are after seeing this - just stay away. So, it's a comic book movie, and was entertaining as such. It's interesting thinking about the difference between X and Magnito, their backgrounds, their philosophies and their choices. We were excited to see our "About a Boy" boy all grown up. It was fun. 3 stars.

M: A rare full cost, in the theater experience (for my friends b-day). It probably helped to see this in the theater, since the special effects give it a boost. I thought there were a lot of characters with very little depth, and a lot of cheesy lines. Xavier, Magnito, and the blue girl were the only really compelling characters. But it was pretty good. 3 stars

Hellboy II

M: V and I really enjoyed the first Hellboy (see our full movie review chart). I found it quirky, lovable, and fun, mixed in with some great action. So I have looked forward to seeing the sequel, even though it took a while to get around to it. Man, was I disappointed. This show lacked the things that made the original great. I didn't feel for the characters, even Hellboy himself was just not as engaging. At times the storyline was weak, it felt like it was pointed heavily toward readers of the comics. At other times it was just plain dumb. The romances were lame, and I wanted to punch the German robot man in his metal face, not good. The movie seemed to build toward sequels to come, but now, I am not sure I care if they do come. Very disappointed. 2 stars

V: I don't think I hated it as much as M did. It was very odd and disjointed, though. First movie was much better. 2 1/2 stars.