Sean Penn is a sniper working for a mercenary group in Africa. He assassinates a government official and must go into hiding, leaving behind his girlfriend (Jasmine Trinca) to be scooped up by fellow merc Javier Bardem. Years later, he’s back in Africa under a different name working for a humanitarian organization when a handful of assassins try to take him down. He investigates the source, meets up with the shady fellows from his past, and tries to reconnect with his former love.

This isn’t anything new – it’s okay action, your standard plot, lots of buffed-up Sean Penn showing he’s a killer who cares, and exotic locations. There’s little humor, not much suspense, a non-sequitur role for Bardem, but there’s also not much of a ham-fisted political message either. Nor is it on the level of director Pierre Morel’s earlier film Taken; it’s a hardy helping of American-cheese slices on semi-stale crackers – not an extravagant hors d’oeuvres, the cheese could be better, even generic sharp cheddar, and the crackers aren’t buttered, but it’s not spray cheese and wafers either. As a light snack before the real action movies arrive in a few months, it’s palatable.

Machete Kills plays like a late Roger-Moore era Bond film — and not just because there’s a lot of visual cues and ideas taken from Moonraker — the action and the humor are constantly fighting for dominance, and the humor, regardless of whether it’s appropriate or not, makes sense within the context of the scene or not, hell, is funny or not, usually wins out. Though, to be fair, the plot of Machete Kills is a lot easier to follow than the plot of Octopussy.

Machete (Danny Trejo), in case you didn’t see the first film…or the trailer on which it was based, is an ex-Federale-turned-spy-or-something-like-that-but-all-around-badass, seemingly indestructible and legendary throughout Mexico. His latest “case” has him busting up a gun-running ring, apparently sponsored by the U.S. Army, and distributed to the Mexican cartel. Gun fights, explosions, dramatic standoff music, and hell ensues. Machete is somehow the only survivor when the cops show up, and by the next scene we’re in the local sheriff’s office and Machete is swinging from the ceiling with a noose around his neck. And then the President calls.

And the President is…Charlie Sheen. Naturally. He needs Machete to hunt down and kill Mendez (Damian Bichir), a nutty terrorist with a vendetta against the cartel who’s moved on to threatening the U.S. with a nuclear device. The catch is that once Machete finds him, Mendez reveals that the trigger for the bomb is tied to his heartbeat, so once he dies, boom. And he’s also put a hit out on himself that everyone in Mexico is trying to cash in on.

Side Effects is the perfect response to Broken City and Promised Land, two films that offered great potential but drowned themselves in shallowness, eschewing dimension and complexity to make the bad guys really bad while taking their message as inherently superior. In short, they were two films that purported a moral they never got around to discussing. Side Effects does not.

And it is not largely because it’s not an “issue” film — it’s a thriller, and the mystery is compelling, the performances are convincing, and the end is satisfying for its distinct lack of finger wagging.  Soderbergh keeps the story unceasingly human, and when the guilty party is revealed, their reasons and actions are sound. Names are given faces — Soderbergh does not hide behind the trope of a faceless evil corporation, as the trailer would let you believe.

Jude Law plays Dr. Jonathan Banks, a psychiatrist who takes it upon himself to treat the disturbed Emily (Rooney Mara) after she slams her car into the wall of a parking garage. Her husband Martin is recently paroled for fraud, and his return has sparked a suicidal turn in Emily. Banks puts her on a new drug, and things get much worse.

That’s about as far as I can go without spoiling anything– Banks gets embroiled in the consequences and tries to figure out what the Hell is going on.

Dax Shepard: Okay, I’m writing this vehicle — hmm, vehicle — what do you want to be?

Kristen Bell: I’ve always wanted to work in conflict negotiation, or something with horses.

DS: Perfect! I’m playing a badass driver/action hero with a heart of gold and a great left hook. you can always be arguing with me over violence.

KB: Well, I don’t want to be too stuffy.

DS: No, the twist is that you’ll be the aggressive one, like we’ll have one scene where I say something that offends you and you get really mad at me. And I’ll always be doing what you want.

KB: Ha!

The somewhat annoying “shakey cam” used throughout the Open Road Films release End of Watch can’t completely kill our interest in this R-rated thriller. Writer-director David Ayer brings us a tale of two L.A. cops, played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena, as they go about their day.

Like it or not, he does it from the perspective of various hand-held, dashboard and security cameras. Not sure we’re in love with that. Oh well.

There’s redband trailer for the movie out today and ww’ve got it for you after the break because, well, it’s a redband trailer. The movie also stars Anna Kendrick, Frank Grillo, Cody Horn and America Ferrera.

It opens on September 21st.

Not to be confused with the James Caan film of the mid-seventies called The Killer Elite, this film, which is just called Killer Elite, features Jason Statham and Clive Owen going toe to toe trying to see who the best killer is. Along for the ride are Robert De Niro as Statham’s mentor and master assassin in his own right and Chuck’s Yvonne Strahovski who’s also pretty killer in her own way.

Now, we’ve got some pics and a trailer for the film to share with you today. In the trailer we get a good idea of the rivalry that’s going to be the centerpiece of the film and also the requisite explosions, running, shooting and even a brief glimpse of Yvonne Strahovski in a bikini. Don’t worry, I’m sure she also manages to kick some ass in the film and not just show some.

The film is based on a true story and is “the action-packed account of an ex-special ops agent (Statham) who is lured out of retirement to rescue his mentor (De Niro). To make the rescue, he must complete a near-impossible mission of killing three tough-as-nails assassins with a cunning leader (Owen).”

Click through for the trailer and all the pics. Killer Elite hits theaters on September 23rd.