The Dogs of War (1980)

It's not until the last quarter of the film that it even begins to resemble the explosive-looking MGM cover art. Prior to that happening it's a tense drama in which a mercenary (Christopher Walken) posing as an ornithologist goes on a dangerous reconnaissance mission to Africa in 1980.
The script (based on a 1974 novel of the same name by Frederick Forsyth that I've not read), the director and Walken himself do a tremendous job characterising the protagonist without taking the focus away from the seriousness of the situation unfolding around him. Likewise, the actor manages to convince us that he's both affected by and distanced from the aura of oppression that fuels every African scene; i.e. while convincing the authorities of disinterest, he allows us to perceive the weight on his soul.

3½ leaky barrels out 5

NOTE: version reviewed is the 118 min UK edition. The US edition is cut.

D-Tox (2002)

aka Eye See You

Sly plays an FBI agent who enters a remote detox clinic (not D-Tox, folks) exclusively for cops that resembles a desolate, gray-walled bunker level from an FPS video game. Which FPS? All of them. Once there, the film ceases to attempt building a potentially harrowing drama and descends into a piss-poor clone of Alien³ (1992 / 2003) and The Thing (1982), without an alien or a Thing. Instead, the threat is a serial killer content with living in a world dictated by horror movie logic.
The ‘retreat run by cops for cops’ screening process is questionable. To be fair, my own isn't much better. It wasn't until afterwards that I noticed the words ‘From the director of I Know What You Did Last Summer’ on the cover. If I’d seen that beforehand, I’d have chucked it in the trash sooner.

1½ snowy step processes out of 5

INCEPTION [2010]

Director Christopher Nolan's Inception is a bold broken-hearted sci-fi that's like a blend of a heist thriller, a James Bond film and a chess game on psychedelic drugs.
In a rare and brave move, Nolan turns the modern summer blockbuster into something unusually complicated, intellectual and innovative with eye-popping visuals and a very well-dressed cast to appease the average moviegoer.  Like Nolan's largest influence, Ridley Scott, he lacks much in the way of interesting characters and pretty much lets the cast play broodier versions of themselves.   It's a well-thought out, mind-bending juggling act that seems to be a tough act for Nolan to follow up on.

4 Dreams Of A Lifetime out of 5