Michael Brandt Movies

Vin Diesel opted to not appear in the sequel to the film the shot him to stardom in the first place, The Fast and the Furious. With the character of Dominic Toretto out of the picture, 2 Fast 2 Furious concentrates exclusively on the latest exploits of undercover agent Brian O'Connor, played by Paul Walker. In addition, with director Rob Cohen passing, producers have added a dash of credibility to the sequel by hiring John Singleton to helm. What does completely remain from the first film is the presence of fast-living underground street-racing gangs. Moving from Los Angeles to Miami, O'Connor is looking to redeem himself after the events of the first movie, so he again goes undercover to infiltrate another group of thuggish car enthusiasts. This time around he's enlisted the help of ex-con Roman Pierce (Tyrese) and fellow agent Monica Celemente (Eva Mendes) to bring down Carter Verone (Cole Hauser), an importer/exporter who heads up a massive drug trafficking operation. Heading up the supporting cast are hip-hop stars Ludacris and Fabolous. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Axel Foley is back on the beat in this belated entry in the popular Beverly Hills Cop film series that finds Eddie Murphy revisiting the character that helped launch him to international stardom in the mid-'80s. The fourth installment is set to be helmed by Rush Hour director Brett Ratner, whose experience with successful action comedies landed him the job. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A martial-arts master who had formerly fought alongside the malevolent Shadowmen eschews the dark side in a bid to redeem himself and train a group of misfits to do battle with the ultimate evil in this high-kicking adventure from producers Mel Gibson and Jet Li. Having formerly spent his time fighting to destroy the Earth with the supernaturally charged Shadowmen, former immortal Os (Billy Zane) knows a thing or two about the Shadowmen's plan to take over the planet. If there is any hope for the human race, Os must do his best to train his students to take on Slate -- the all-powerful leader of the Shadowmen. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Adrien Brody stars as a courier who's been given the task of delivering a briefcase to a member of the mob in hiding while various crime families and corrupt officials are hot on his heels. Russell Mulcahy (Highlander) directs from a script by Wanted scribes Michael Brandt and Derek Haas. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Night Watch director Timur Bekmambetov helms his first English-language feature film with this big-screen adaptation of Mark Millar's action-packed graphic novel. Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is a cube-dwelling hypochondriac whose uneventful life has become a mundane blur of terminal boredom. Repeatedly humiliated by his boss and constantly cuckolded by his cheating girlfriend, weakling Wes seems to be living right down to everyone's expectations that he would never amount to anything in life. However, upon discovering that the father he never knew has been brutally murdered, the spineless, clock-punching pushover is recruited into a secret society of assassins known as the Fraternity. During the course of his training, the man who was once an office-bound wimp develops lightning-fast reflexes and superhuman dexterity courtesy of his skilled mentor Fox (Angelina Jolie). Upon completing his training, Wes is assigned the task of dealing out death to the mythological Fates, who possess the ability to alter the lifelines of mortal men. It isn't long before the nebbish nerd-turned-agile assassin is erasing the bad guys with surprising efficiency, yet as Wes begins to carry the mantle passed down to him by his father, he gradually begins to suspect that his wise tutors are not the crime-fighting enforcers they present themselves to be. Now, with everything he ever wanted in life finally within his grasp, Wes is about to find out that the only thing more difficult than ending the lives of others is summoning the courage to take control of his own. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide