[This post ends a five-part weekly series by Matthew Belinkie. Express your appreciation in the comments. —Ed.]

The Movie: Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Why It Strains Credulity:

Christopher Lee was 78 years old. Most men that age can’t wield a steak knife, much less a lightsaber. Lucas probably just had Lee stand in front of a greenscreen and flail around, then choreographed the other two so it looked like he was destroying them. more »

[Part 4 of the five-part weekly series by Matthew Belinkie. Who will he choose next Friday for the most mismatched of all? —Ed.]

The Movie: Lethal Weapon 4

Why It Strains Credulity:

In the real world, Jet Li won 15 gold medals in China’s wushu championships. But even within the movie, we’ve already seen Li’s character perform incredible feats of badassery… including effortlessly dismantling Gibson and Glover in a previous fight. Moreover: Glover’s character has been considering retirement since Lethal Weapon 1. And Mel Gibson’s character, while technically the titular “Lethal Weapon,” had to fake an injury to avoid losing a friendly boxing match with another cop earlier in the film.

So not only can’t we believe Gibson and Glover win this fight, we can’t even believe they survive long enough to say “ouch.” But apparently, “getting too old for this shit” means “just barely able to beat the crap out of Jet Li.” more »

[The series by Matthew Belinkie continues. —Ed.]

The Movie: Sin City

Why It Strains Credulity:

Rourke is a professional boxer. And I don’t mean that he’s a professional boxer in the way that Russell Crowe is a professional musician. Rourke actually quit acting for a while to concentrate fully on boxing. He has been arrested for spousal abuse, and once gave a drug dealer a concussion.

Elijah Wood is a hobbit with the cheekbones of a little girl. According to Wikipedia, he smokes clove cigarettes. In fact, Elijah Wood may be the single least intimidating person in Hollywood, and that includes Dakota Fanning.

Special Bonus Implausibility: Elijah Wood’s character wears a Charlie Brown shirt. more »

[Every now and again, when we are on the verge of vomiting up the crap Hollywood is shoveling down our throats, this weekly series by Matthew Belinkie reminds us to keep things in perspective. —Ed.]

The Movie: Cliffhanger

Why It Strains Credulity:

Lithgow looks precisely like the Harvard-educated Fullbright scholar that he is. And Stallone looks exactly like the HGH-abetted manimal that he is. Bottom line: if Ivan Drago couldn’t do it, there’s no way the bad guy from Footloose is going to defeat the Italian Stallion. more »

[This post begins a five-part weekly series by Matthew Belinkie. Come back every Friday for a new installment. —Ed.]

The Movie: Street Fighter

Why It Strains Credulity:

Van Damme was 34, and a former kickboxing champion. Julia was 54, and visibly gaunt from terminal stomach cancer. more »