Jumper

Jumper (2008) – It’s a neat concept and it features some sweet set pieces, but the script is blatantly amateurish in places and doesn’t do much of anything otherwise; the action, as cool as it is initially, begins to wear thin even before this relatively short movie’s climax. 5

Exam

Exam (2009) – While it often feels a little too low-stakes (think Cube without the death), it keeps the mystery and suspense going until the end; it’s gimmicky, but not deal-breakingly so, and the ending isn’t quite what one would hope for, but all in all, it’s a fairly impressive directorial debut for Hazeldine. 6

The Hand

The Hand (1981) – Michael Caine, who never met a script he couldn’t remodel his house with, gives an atypical but good performance in a film that seems to have a solid foundation but little more; as you might expect, the premise serves to fill the main character’s life with jerks and worse as well as to make the film rather predictable; one wonders if it wouldn't have been more interesting had it been played straight from the psychological angle. 5

The Rookie

The Rookie (1990) – With only minor changes to the script (which isn’t great, although it does have a couple of very nice moments), this easily could have been Dirty Harry 6 or possibly even Dirty Harry: The Next Generation; Clint’s direction is mostly adequate, as usual, but much of the film is too dark and Raul Julia and Sonia Braga are even worse “Germans” than Alan Rickman in Die Hard; the film’s second bar scene is particularly interesting given madman Charlie Sheen’s recent antics. 5

The Dead Pool

The Dead Pool (1988) – The sweater vest returns for a cameo in a finale that, with the exception of the unforgivably silly toy car chase (the toy car is going how fast, exactly?), scales the ridiculousness and the action back a good bit; a quality supporting cast that includes two future superstars gives it a nice boost, but this is still the least interesting film in the series – it just never seems to get going. 5

Sudden Impact

Sudden Impact (1983) – The writing takes a big dip on this one: the Dirty Harry films were never exactly big on plotting, but this one’s pretty darn thin (and  holey), and it often feels like little more than a loose series of action scenes; despite its vast tragedy, the Sondra Locke storyline is remarkably uncompelling, and while this film gives us another iconic quote, there’s a great deal of cornball action movie dialogue here, too. 5

The Enforcer

The Enforcer (1976) – This one takes it to the next level of cartoony ridiculousness (it’s almost a buddy cop movie), so it isn’t up to the level of either of its predecessors, although it’s still a decent action film; you can see the series evolving toward the eighties and the era of the most ludicrous action movies of all. 6

Magnum Force

Magnum Force (1973) – From the foiled hijacking to the amazing pimpmobile to women of all ages throwing themselves at Eastwood, this film makes it clear that it’s taking the character in a more cartoony, almost comic bookish direction; that said, this is quite a solid action movie; oh, and just because Harry’s hunting vigilantes doesn’t mean he’s not one himself, no matter how badly this one wants to atone for the “offenses” of the original. 6