SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

John Cusack in "2012"

The movie mainly revolves around Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) who is a writer and a part-time limousine driver. His ex-wife Katie (Amanda Peet) and his children live together with her boyfriend, Gordon (Thomas McCarthy). Occassionally, Curtis takes his children for an outing.

Dr. Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his counterpart in India have discovered that extraordinary phenomenon of a sun burst occurring in the sun and he begins to alert the President’s Chief of Staff, who later alert the President of the United States (Danny Glover). With that, a secret organization is formed to save mankind by building ship vessels beneath the Himalayan mountains while the public remains clueless of the upcoming disaster.

Soon, Earth’s crust displacement occurs all over the world causing cracks on the roads and before long, major cities in the world turn into dust. Curtis manages to rent a plane to save his family but his plane soon runs out of fuel, forcing him to join his limousine boss, Yuri (Zlatko Buric) who has a bigger plane.

The movie has similarity like the classic movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still” where the film depicts the end of the world and mankind are being saved.

Although mankind is saved in the end, many dies in the process and almost the entire world is filled with water except the Africa continent, which ground level has risen and the new era begins.

Overall, it is indeed an action-packed thriller, somehow, the movie is also filled with a lot of special effects and sometimes, it’s too unreal as the main characters are invincible, especially the Curtis family.

My ratings: 7 out of 10.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Milla Jovovich, Steve Zahn, Timothy Olyphant, Kiele Sanchez in "A Perfect Getaway"

Cliff (Steve Zahn) and Cydney (Milla Jovovich) are a newly wed couple and celebrates their honeymoon in Hawaii by hiking to a faraway beach. Along the way, they meet Cleo (Marley Shelton) and Kale (Chris Hemsworth) and later, a group of hikers who discuss about a couple who murders another couple in Honolulu. Feeling unsafe, Cliff and Cydney decide to join another couple Nick (Timothy Olyphant) and Gina (Kiele Sanchez) to continue to hike towards the remote beach.

Throughout the journey, Nick and Gina display brutal actions that show they could be the killers. At one point, Cleo and Kale are arrested by the police and it is revealed that Kale’s bag has a Dentyne Ice box full of human teeth. When the couples finally reach the beach, Cliff invites Nick to kayak to a distant cove. Gina begins going through the Cydney’s wedding video and finds a slide that reveals that Cliff and Cydney are actually impostors. She hurriedly waves to Nick to ask him to come back, but Nick cannot hear her and tell her he’ll be back by sunset. Panic, Gina runs along the beach towards the cove, while Cydney, knowing something’s wrong, pursues her.

Then, there are a series of flashbacks that show Cliff and Cydney are the killers — they kill newly weds, pull off all their teeth, cut off their fingers, take their rings and impersonate as them. And it was Cliff who planted the teeth in Kale’s bag.

Gina arrives on top of the cove and sees Cliff is about to shoot Nick. Cliff, who’s actually Rocky, shoots Nick in the head as Nick’s boat capsizes and fires a few shoot at Gina too but he misses. Cydney reaches the top of the cove and wrestles with Gina but she trips and falls into the water. Gina’s phone rings and it appears that an Indian telemarketer is calling from AT&T. Without hesitation, Gina asks for help. When Cliff and Cydney find that out, Cydney quickly rows the kayak back to the beach while Cliff pursues Gina. As predicted, Nick’s alive as he’s saved by his titanium skull plate and continues to run after Cliff. Cliff kills a group of hikers but is surprised that Nick’s still alive as he slices Cliff’s hand with a knife. Cydney manages to flag down a police helicopter and convinces him that she is the victim.

Although in the beginning, Cydney tells the police’s sniper that Nick is the killer, in the end, when Nick drops his weapon, Cydney reveals to the cops that Cliff is the actual killer as he tries to reach for the gun. The sniper shoots and kills Cliff instantaneously.

In the helicopter, Nick proposes to Gina but the two agrees not to have a honeymoon simultaneously.

Overall, A Perfect Getaway is a cheap thrill despite the fact that it is predictable. Sometimes, the movie seems to be written by a eleventh grade student with all the twists and turns. Still, it is fun and entertaining to watch. At one point, Cliff displays his frightened self as he googles for the “Honolulu murder” whereas he turns out to be the actual killer. This only shows how deep he has embraced himself with a new identity. How fun.

My ratings: 7 out of 10.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid, Saïd Taghmaoui, Rachel Nichols, Marlon Wayans in "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra"

Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) are military and are involved in transporting extremely dangerous warheads. Their caravan is ambushed by a group of mercenaries led by the Baroness (Sienna Miller), who possesses highly advanced weapons far more superior than the NATO transport unit. Duke and Ripcord’s fellow soldiers are all killed by the mercenaries. The Baroness spares the life of Duke, as Duke knows her as Amy Lewis. All of a sudden, G.I. Joe appear out of nowhere and attack the mercenary, forcing them to escape leaving behind the warheads.

Sienna Miller in "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra"

Later on, Duke and Ripcord are recruited by General Hawk (Dennis Quaid) to join the ranks of the Alpha Team, the G.I. Joes and they are brought to The Pit, the home of the Joes where Duke and Ripcord have to go through military training where most parts involve virtual reality. When they pass their tests with flying colors, they are immediately engaged in battles with the mercenaries when the mercenaries invades The Pit to steal the warheads. It is known that the mercenaries known as Cobra is led by James McCullen (Christopher Eccleston), the person responsible in using NATO’s funds to make the warheads and then steal them back.

Duke, Ripcord, Scarlett (Rachel Nichols), Snake-Eyes (Ray Park), Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Breaker (Saïd Taghmaoui) are sent to Paris to stop Cobra from activating the warheads. However, they are too late as Baroness and Storm Shadow (Lee Byung-hun) manage to activate the warhead, killing Baron de Cobray in the process.

After all the high speed car chase with Duke and Ripcord in highly advanced suits which make them incredibly fast and nearly invincible, Scarlett in a superbike and Snake-Eyes on top of the jeep that Baroness and Storm Shadow are in, Storm Shadow manages to destroy The Eiffel Tower even though Duke manages to stop the nano bugs which come from the warhead to continue to destroy the entire city.

Throughout the movie, there are numerous flashbacks to further depict the story behind everything includes how Duke’s ex-fiancée, Amy Lewis is recruited into Cobra and how the entire military thinks Rex Lewis (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Amy’s brother is killed but actually survived and becomes “The Doctor”, Cobra’s highly intelligent scientist.

The movie is like the combination of “Watchmen” and “Terminator Salvation” in which the world is going to end but in G.I. Joe, “When All Else Fails, They Don’t”. That’s the motto of the movie. And as a matter of fact, it doesn’t fail. It is surely highly entertaining, full of actions and has the right elements and is occassionally comical.

My ratings: 8 out of 10.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Gianna Jun in "Blood: The Last Vampire"

Saya (Gianna Jun) is a 400-year-old half human-half vampire who hunts full blooded vampires. Her dad was a vampire hunter as well but was killed by the greatest vampire, Onigen (Koyuki). Vow to avenge her dad’s death, Saya joins a coveted government agency to hunt down vampires with the goal to eventually meet Onigen.

Saya disguises as a Japanese student in an American military school in order to find the demons hiding there. In the process, Saya kills Linda and Sharon, two demons who disguise as students in the school. The slaughter is witnessed by Alice Mckee (Allison Miller), the daughter of General Mckee (Larry Lamb). Alice reveals what she has witnessed to her dad but to no avail since the cleaners manage to disguise themselves as CIA.

Utterly disappointed, Alice goes out hunting for the truth when the sky goes dark but is surrounded by vampires. Alice runs for her life and is saved by Saya, who manages to wipe out all the vampires without even a scratch.

Alice returns home only to find her dad is dying and the government agents try to kill her as well. Alice finds Saya in a motel downtown as her last resort as she has nowhere else to run. Together, they steal a military truck and escape into the jungle as both of them are wanted by the military. While in the forest, they encounter demons which can fly, although with Saya’s abilities, they manage to fend off the demons.

Although the truck plunges down in the end, both of them somehow survive the fall. When Saya finally encounters Onigen, she realizes Onigen is her mother and all the while she kills vampires, she’s becoming more vampirish rather than becoming more human. In the end, Onigen willingly lets Saya to kill her so she would become her.

While the special effect department did a really great job, the character, Alice added some flaw to the film. Although Alice is human, she’s more invincible than Saya. In fact, the only time she bleeds is when she fed her blood to Saya to relieve her. Anyway, Blood: The Last Vampire is still enjoyable to watch, especially if ones like blood.

My ratings: 8 out of 10.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne in "Knowing"

The movie begins with the year 1959 where a competition is held between the students of an elementary school. The winning idea from a student called Lucinda Embry is to bury a time-capsule of all the students drawing of the future they can imagine to be opened 50 years later. Instead of drawing pictures, Lucinda writes down numbers but is prevented from finishing them. Later, she goes missing and her teacher finds her in a gym closet, scratching the remaining numbers onto the wooden door.

Five decades later, the time capsule is opened and the drawings are handed over to the children. Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury), the son of John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) receives Lucinda’s envelope. John, an MIT professor and an astrophysicist, initially ignored the numbers but accidentally discovers that the numbers are no coincident but a serial of dates and death tolls of every major disaster in the last 50 years, with three events have not happened.

When John realizes the remaining numbers are the GPS coordinates, he witnesses a tragic plane crash which kills 81 people and he is almost traumatized by it as he has seen people burning before their death. After seeing an unknown man popping outside of his house occasionally, John decides to contact Lucinda’s daughter, Diana (Rose Byrne) to gain more insights, but is turned away.

After the second event John has predicted occurred, Diana and her daughter Abby visit John and Caleb. Both Caleb and Abby are able to hear the "whisper people" just like Lucinda. Initially, John thinks the last event will only kill 33 people but finds out it is actually "EE" backwards. After investigating Lucinda’s mobile trailer, they find out that "EE" stands for "Everyone Else". John then figures out there will be a massive solar flare which will kill everyone else.

Diana tries to get the kids to the cave where she believes could shelter them from the solar flare while John tries to figure out the last numbers scratched by Lucinda on the wooden door. Diana’s impatience makes her drive the kids to the cave without waiting for John. During the stop at the gas station, the "whisper people" hijack Diana’s car with the two children. Diana gives a chase in another car but is killed by a truck at midnight when she runs the red light, just like her mother predicted.

When John returns to Lucinda’s mobile home, he finds out that Caleb and Abby are safe in the hands of the "whisper people" who are revealed as celestial beings who invite the selected children to escape the disaster and help them start all over again in another planet resembling Earth. A solar flare hits Earth and kills every single life on the planet. Caleb and Abby are then seen dressed in all white in a beautiful landscape which has at least two moons, running towards a huge white tree.

Overall, the movie may seem interesting in the first place with the likes of Da Vinci Code, Final Destination, The Armageddon and Eagle Eye merged into one movie. But, with the ending, it seems like the movie which ripped off The Day The Earth Stood Still as well. Somehow, what amazes me is how everything is put together — the mystery of the numbers, the actions from the disasters, the terrifying "whisper people" who turns out to be celestial angel-like beings onto a single film.

My ratings: 7 out of 10.