There is one major success in "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance": it doesn't take very long to announce that it's a bad, hilariously outlandish action flick. Though some movies can string you along for a while, two minutes into "Spirit of Vengeance" and you're already knee-deep in a nonsensical action movie of the highest order, one that is equal measures laughable and cringe-worthy.

More so even than the beloved original three in the "Star Wars" series, "Episode I - The Phantom Menace" is built completely around visual spectacle, making it a natural fit for 3D and a fairly impressive bit of eye candy. This doesn't excuse the laughably wooden dialog, the worst comic relief character possibly in movie history, and the abundance of Lifetime-level emotional cheese, but the visual creativity shown is still worthy of kudos even if the story doesn't keep up.

Even if the third act isn't nearly as convincing as the first two, "Chronicle" is an ingenious little thriller that ends up being the Rolls Royce of "found footage" films. With a clever nod to the "Star Wars" mythology and a never-ending array of slick camera tricks, there is plenty to like about "Chronicle," a movie that gleefully combines horror and sci-fi elements with a story actually worth telling.

Despite the familiar plot elements and limited imagination, "The Grey" is a grizzly and well-made survival tale, one dripping with intensity and not for the faint of heart. Liam Neeson once again excels as a tough-as-nails hero for a more pragmatic world, anchoring a film that might have buckled without a strong lead performance. It may look like an action-thriller, but "The Grey" is really a horror film at heart and a pretty good one at that.

Though "Haywire" is made out of the usual leaps in logic that most action-thrillers are, director Steven Soderbergh finds an exciting new action star in Gina Carano and fills the screen with creative fight choreography, making for an intriguing old-school thriller heavy on the stunts and light on the special effects. Even if "Haywire" doesn't exactly reinvent the genre, it does give us a fun little popcorn movie that's more than a compilation of tough talk and explosions.