Kingsman: The Golden Circle — Good, but not as good as the first one — 7*/10

Although several of the ideas that make this new chapter are good, some aren't and the novelty has worn off. The first one (read my review here) was a little bit more fleshed out and surprising. This one is just flashy. Still, it's good entertainment.

Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Channing Tatum, Halle Berry, Elton John and Jeff Bridges.

Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4649466/

American Assassin — A great mix of super spy and real spy movie genres — 7*/10

It has the decisions and complications of a real spy thriller with the action and lone hero specs of a super spy flick. It does come with a few noticeable flaws, but it's still a very entertaining result.

Michael Keaton and Sanaa Lathan.

Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1961175/

Atomic Blonde — Be ready for a great spy action film — 10*/10

Great selection of 80s music, sometimes remixed. The best of the 80s fashion without any of its faux pas. Compact realistic (to a point) action. Amazingly entertaining and captivating story with only a few predictable elements, but themselves often twisted.

Charlize Theron, Sofia Boutella, James McAvoy, John Goodman and Eddie Marsan.

Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2406566/

True Memoirs of an International Assassin — Solid light action comedy — 7*/10

• Overall: Very exciting and funny.
• Who is it for? Anyone wanting to have a good time.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542768/
• Known actors: Kevin James, Zulay Henao, Andy Garcia and Rob Riggle.
• Cameos: Ron Rifkin and Katie Couric.
• Style: Action spy comedy.
• Pacing: Fast.
• Intro: Really funny. A great innovative way to put us into context.
• Story: Full action, lots of plots, counter plots and silly situations.
• Ending: It's cool, but it's gotta a major shoulder flaw.
• Epilogue: Kinda nice, funny, but I'd change the last sentence.
• Dialogs: Funny, borderline witty.
• Characters: Great, but simple. Love the CIA guys, great main character, strong leading lady even though she falls a bit too much into a stereotype if counter gender one. The Russian is over done, but this is a silly movie after all, although they could have come up with something like the president who is hilarious.
• Acting: Loved Kevin James, great role for him.
• Afterthoughts: Had a lot of fun watching. Great production by Netflix.

Keeping Up with the Joneses — Going for silly with nice character ideas — 6*/10

• Overall: Interesting and silly with nice character developments. Better than the previews.
• Who is it for? Anyone looking for some fun and a bit of action.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2387499/
• Known actors: Zach Galifianakis, Isla Fisher, Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot.
• Cameos: Patton Oswalt and Kevin Dunn.
• Setting: Mostly American suburbia.
• Style: Silly action comedy.
• Intro: Should have cut the initial action, overdone stratagem. Go straight to the boring funny stuff.
• Story: Very silly, a tiny intrigue, some nice action, but lots of character moments that really make it better than its peers.
• Ending: Meh. It's okay. Funny, I guess.
• Epilogue: Not sure what to think of it.
• Dialogs: Funny. Silly. There are a few gems in there.
• Characters: Nicely done. Some very interesting ideas. Well developed. Daringly tries to escape the archetypes.
• Afterthoughts: Pleasantly entertained.

Snowden — A must for all and a great intellectual thriller — 8*/10

• Overall: Oliver Stone turned something pretty dry, near boring, into an incredibly intense piece. He's a genius who excels at playing with emotions.
• Who is it for? Everyone. First and foremost, we should all be familiar with that story, it's important for our future. We are going to increasingly be dependent on technology so we should know how it can expose us.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3774114/
• Known actors: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley and Rhys Ifans.
• Cameos: Nicolas Cage, Tom Wilkinson and Timothy Olyphant.
• Setting: Behind the computer side of intelligence gathering.
• Style: Suspense based biographical retelling of real events dramatized for the screen.
• Story: I have no doubt that what is presented is accurate, even though it is obviously dramatized. That way, it makes for great entertainment as well as being an eye opener. It keeps you riveted from start to finish.
• Ending: It is what it is since it's based on true events.
• Epilogue: History is a never ending epilogue.
• Dialogs: Solid.
• Characters: Well built.
• Acting: Excellent, although I'm surprised at Joseph Gordon-Levitt modifying his voice again.
• Visuals: Great.
• Special Effects: One of the few films where computer skills are represented correctly.
• Afterthoughts: It's an important story to tell. I think whistleblowers do not get enough credit for their contribution to society, and his was huge. Thanks for helping, Oliver Stone.

Jason Bourne — Solid entertainment but not as good as it could be — 7*/10

• Overall: Solid action and all around very entertaining movie.
• Who is it for? The fans of the series or anyone looking for action.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4196776/
• Known actors: Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Vincent Cassel and Julia Stiles.
• Style: Super spy assassin adrenaline-pumping flick.
• Pacing: Fast with a few quiet moments.
• Intro: Not very strong, but gets you right into it.
• Story: Again, many elements are discovered along the way in this little intrigue with some nice bits of suspense. The background story and the action really make this movie, because the rest is somewhat simple.
• Ending: Predictable and a bit weak.
• Epilogue: Should definitely have done without because it's really weak.
• Dialogs: Strong, interesting.
• Characters: They're getting shallower and shallower.
• Acting: Very good. Disappointed in Julia Stiles, she's usually better than this, maybe it's just the lackluster role.
• Visuals: Nice.

Read my reviews of the others here (first), here (second) and here (fourth). The third was the worst one and I didn't review it. I think it broke the first two.

Our Kind of Traitor — Disappointing suspense with Russians and spies — 6*/10

• Overall: At first it's interesting, then it's not. It could have been much more.
• Who is it for? Those in need of a spy flick.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1995390/
• Known actors: Ewan McGregor, Naomie Harris and Stellan Skarsgård.
• Setting: At first, lavish, then minimalist.
• Style: A mix of Russian mafia and average spy.
• Pacing: A first, tense, then it feels undefined.
• Intro: A bit jerky, difficult to get into it.
• Story: It almost feels like they ran out of budget halfway through. You have nice tension in the beginning, but then you get entangled in bureaucracy and half-ass plans with incompetents. Too bad.
• Ending: Gutsy and well done, if a bit simple.
• Epilogue: Interesting, but still simple.
• Dialogs: Between average and simple.
• Characters: Well defined but without real emotional depth.
• Acting: Good.

Criminal — A novel idea for the old spy action type flick with acceptable results — 6*/10

• Story: Interesting ideas on the whole spy saving the world theme. Good action scenes. Interesting developments and setbacks.
• Style: Good guy versus bad guys.
• Pacing: Rapid with a few pause. Well done.
• Ending: Weak. Should have stopped just before the jeep going to the beach.
• Characters: Nice blend for the main character which is the strongest selling point for this flick. The rest are simple with most being crude archetypes.
• Acting: Good considering the style. To the exception of the main character, they didn't have any room for great acting.
• Known actors: Kevin Costner, Gal Gadot, Ryan Reynolds, Gary Oldman and Tommy Lee Jones.
• Visuals: Solid.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3014866/
• Entertainment value: Nice.
• Who is it for? Those in a need for a good action fix or Costner fans.

Spectre — Unbalanced spy action flick movie — 6*/10

• Scenario: Action without real tension for most of the movie. The last third gets better but the end is at the image of the rest of the flick: awkward, jumping from one thing to another without settling and not that interesting. Dialogs are easy and simple. The characters are shallow. The entertainment value is diffcult to evaluate.
• Known actors: Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Monica Bellucci, Naomie Harris, Christoph Waltz and Ralph Fiennes.
• Visual & sound: A few scenes have great camera care and are visually solid, but they are the exception. The rest is fluff. The theme song is really lousy.
• Synopsis & information:
• Who is it for? For the Bond fans only or those in need of such a fix.

Definitively the worst Bond movie Craig ever appeared in.

Bridge of Spies — Captivating piece of cold war history — 8*/10

• Scenario: Great portrayal and realism with of flair combined to awesome acting and great period settings will make you believe you're there. Very entertaining. Another solid hit by Steven Spielberg. The only negative thing is that the story is pretty simple due to historical nature even though it's full of thoughtful details that a guy like Spielberg will intuitively include in one of his movie. That being said, it is no less interesting to see those tractations and how they might have gone down.
• Known actors: Tom Hanks, Alan Alda and Amy Ryan.
• Visual & sound: Great decors, costumes and camera shots as well as seamless soundtrack.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3682448/
• Who is it for? Anyone, unless you need a very happy or rosy film. A must for any Spielberg or Hanks fan.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. — Almost perfect entertainment — 9*/10

• Scenario: Beside the little bond fire which was inevitable after the watch and the annoying ad for the sequel, this story is greatly refreshing. Maybe it's just the cold war nostalgia kicking in. Lots of great action, funny diatribes, interesting plot and fascinating characters, even if, at times, they do show their stereotypes.
• Known actors: Alicia Vikander, Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer and Hugh Grant.
• Visual & sound: An incredibly well devised landscape of sounds, music and visuals that you would not expect from a spy movie, especially one derived from an old TV series.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1638355/
• Who is it for? Those looking for action with a bit of nostalgia.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation — You gotta to see this spy action mega production — 10*/10

• Scenario: Riveting. The action is perfect, the story is very interesting, the characters are funny and well built, the intrigue is solid as well as believable, and the tension is high. This is basically what a high stake spy movie should be. The villain and his plot are well crafted, detailed and possible. The reactions, the twists and turns as well as motives are realistic. The result is a very high entertainment value blockbuster.
• Known actors: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Alec Baldwin.
• Visual & sound: Arenalin pumping.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2381249/
• Who is it for? Everyone, unless you're not looking for action.

Spy — A spy action comedy that delivers on the goods — 8*/10

• Scenario: This is an obvious parody of spy movies, more specifically James Bond, but other super-spy flick also. Fortunately, it doesn't turn into a stupid joke fest and walks quite well the difficult line between serious but subtly funny and silly in a straight face kind of way. Even being a comedy, it still deliver solid action and an interesting story, giving us a high entertainment value film.
• Dialogs: Solid, fast-fire exchanges.
• Characters: Very interesting, not too complicated. The main character also has a nice depth to it, and, to a lesser extent, so does its nemesis.
• Actors: Melissa McCarthy and Rose Byrne are a great duo, the true hilarity really only starts when their characters meet. Jason Statham is a surprising parody of his usual role and turns out quite funny. Cast members also include Morena Baccarin and Jude Law.
• Photography: Very nice.
• Sound: Very nice music and score, again a parody of Bond movies.
• Special effects: Solid.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3079380/
• Who is it for? Anyone looking for a good laugh and some spy action.

The Gunman — Too much of a mishmash to be any more than an action flick — 7*/10

• Scenario: Is it an assassin/spy flick, an intrigue, is it about global politics, revenge, or even romance? That's the basic problem of this film, it doesn't have a definite identity. There's a lot of action, but also enough slow scenes to give a different vibe, yet not so much as to get a good dark mood or some solid psychological intensity. It's entertaining, though.
• Dialogs: Pretty good.
• Characters: Shallow for the most part. I really hated Felix, a total asshole.
• Actors: Good work, especially for Sean Penn, who's really cut, and Javier Bardem.
• Photography: Nice
• Sound: Good music and score.
• Special effects: Good.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2515034/
• Who is it for? Those looking for a nice action flick, as well as Penn or Bardem fans.

Kingsman: The Secret Service — The best spy action movie I've seen in a long time — 9*/10

• Story: It's a spy film and it comes with a bunch concepts we are familiar with, however, it does take a few unexpected turns and has a number of nice details that are usually absent from this kind of flick. The good thing is that it doesn't take itself seriously. Excellent choice when it comes to the global threat.
• Characters: Loved the super-vilain and his motivation. The rest are interesting if not novel. However, I thought that the evil female sidekick was a bit much.
• Dialogs: Good, and at a number of time, even self-reflective on the genre.
• Scenario: Tight and action gripped, loved it.
• Actors: Love Colin Firth, perfect as the ultimate gentleman. Samuel L. Jackson showed us once again the range he's capable of. I thought Mark Hamill did a great work in his small role. The other notable cast members are Michael Caine and Mark Strong.
• Photography: Very nice. The camera works are incredibly good in the fight scenes.
• Sound: Nice music and score.
• Special effects: Excellent.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2802144/
• Who is it for? Anyone, unless you're not looking for action or you prefer only serious movies.

The Bourne Legacy — Better than the third not as good as the first two — 7*/10

• Story: The feel of the original trilogy is gone, but we still have some of the thrill. A bit too much explanation and setup.
• Characters: Minimal, if acceptable.
• Dialogs: Satisfactory.
• Scenario: The pace is not as quick as the other chapters. The action not as solid and clockwork, but still impressive.
• Actors: They did a good job for the most part. I really liked Edward Norton. Jeremy Renner was fine if not up to Bourne standard. Rachel Weisz is as good as always, and was pretty much on the nose as for realism. Special mention for Stacy Keach and Corey Stoll for their small role.
• Photography: Very well done.
• Special effects: Nice work, seamless.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194173/
• Who is it for? Those in need of a nice action flick or wanting to know what happens after Jason.

It took me a while to sit down and watch it. I was afraid that it would be worst than the third chapter or that they would totally screw up the franchise. It turned out fine, if not as good as the original.

The November Man — Great entertainment, but ultimately flawed — 7*/10

The November Man, a spy action flick, is excellent entertainment. Although its story has a few minor surprises, it's unfortunately devoid of a real soul. Depth is skin deep.

Don't expect too much.
7*/10

A Most Wanted Man — Different, brilliant, ambiguous, treacherous... what spying is — 10*/10

A Most Wanted Man is a mostly action-deprived spy thriller. It's a surprise at almost every turn, and you won't believe the end. The acting is superb, the characters full-fledged, and the tension constant. If you liked Zero Dark Thirty, you'll probably fall in love with this european flavored cousin with a much better ending and moral.

It's not for everyone, but just go see it.
10*/10

3 Days to Kill - A big action ride just for the thrill of it - 7*/10

3 Days to Kill is your basic spy action flick in its modern format. It fits right into the mold without even trying to bring something new to the genre, but it does it well. Don't expect novelty, and you'll have fun.

For the action lovers.
7*/10