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From author Dan Brown comes the next installment in the adventures of Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), master in symbology, religion, European history, and other oddities. This go round Langdon awakens in an Italian hospital with amnesia to find himself haunted by imagery from Dante’s Inferno, the classic depiction of hell. Stranger yet, Langdon now appears to be a hunted man, wanted by multiple parties; as it turns out, he holds the key to a deadly plot to kill off half the world’s population. Assisted by the semi-unwilling Dr. Brooks (Felicity Jones), Langdon will have to pull himself together in a hurry to save the world from billionaire Bertrand Zobrist (Ben Foster). Directed by Ron Howard, this “thriller” treads formulaic patterns that fans of the previous two installments will come to recognize quite quickly; a deflating repeat that lets the air out of the proverbial imagination balloon as the film races towards its climax. Comfortable enough, Hanks and Howard aren’t really stretching their abilities but cinematographer Salvatore Totino continues to keep shot composition and artistry in mind throughout. Score by Hans Zimmer falls into the 20th/21st century minimalism variety relying on repetition of pattern to drive much of the film, not his most exciting or interesting work, but certainly sufficient. Overall, this modern day Indiana Jones is easily forgettable, we’ve learned to expect better from all. Inferno is rated PG-13.

Ex Major Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) stumbles into a government conspiracy when his replacement Major Turner (Cobie Smulders) is detained and imprisoned by the Military Police. Smelling trouble in the air it’s up to Reacher to set things straight and put an end to the corrupted black ops group behind a series of dark events at home and abroad. Directed by Edward Zwick and based on the book by Richard Wenk, this mind numbing military gumshoe loaded with horrid exposition has several hits in the action department but also many misses on its way to a strikeout at the home plate of quality cinema; gaping jumps in logic and ridiculous coincidence mixed with undercut empowered women in power top the list of faux pas this go round. On the positive, Cruise still manages to pull together a reasonable performance despite the material he’s working with, action choreography is something he still wears well, it’s too bad the rest of the film just can’t get past its clunky behavior. Pass. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is rated PG-13.

Jeff and Karen Gaffney (Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher) are a cream of wheat boring couple who get sucked into the exciting world of international espionage when their new neighbors Tim and Natalie Jones (Jon Hamm and Gal Godot) move into the neighborhood. As it turns out, Tim and Natalie are spies, but can they withstand the rigors of suburbia?Directed by Greg Mottle and written by Michael LeSieur this goofy and straightforward bumbling comedy continues on familiar ground for fans of Mr and Mrs. Smith, Spy, and Date Night, all films that have dipped from the same watering hole within the last ten years; that is to say, we’re not even close to getting an original idea at this stage of the game. Meanwhile no strangers to comedy, Galifianakis and Fisher make a reasonable effort to put a little shine on this perfectly harmless chucklefest as Hamm and Godot seem aptly equipped to portray mysterious operatives. No real awards to be given or received here, perhaps consider this one later when it’s on rerun in a few months on cable.