Moviefone Copyright 2011, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. Moviefone Good old fashioned elbow grease. Battleship that's making the unlikely jump from real-life to the big screen this weekend. Conceived from the famed pregnancy guidebook of the same name, What to Expect When You're Expecting follows the He's Just Not That Into You route in going from self-help non-fiction to ensemble romantic comedy.

An international bestseller now in its fourth edition, the movie's namesake has been helping expectant parents navigate their pregnancies since 1984. But what about expectant moviegoers?

To help you know what you'll encounter should you go see What to Expect When You're Expecting this weekend, I've put together the following helpful guide -- because before you buy that movie ticket, you need to know what you're getting yourself into.

A Liberal Adaptation: Considering What to Expect's source material is a pregnancy manual, it doesn't exactly offer much in the way of a movie plot. So the main similarities between the book and the movie end up being that they a) share the same name, and b) are about pregnancy. And you thought Battleship was a tenuous adaptation.

Multiple Storylines -- and Characters: To help work around that lack of a plot and hit all the pregnancy highlights from adoption to C-sections, What to Expect weaves together five different storylines about five interconnected couples. And that means an awful lot of characters to keep track of in under two hours, to say nothing of the cameos.

It's entirely natural to feel overwhelmed. Just take a deep breath, and remember them by their thinly-sketched helpful defining characteristics: Anna Kendrick's character has a food truck, Jennifer Lopez has a camera. (Bonus points go to the minor Reno 911! reunion.)

Product Placement: Movies, like babies, don't come cheap. So don't be alarmed that the characters in What to Expect seemingly eat nothing but California Pizza Kitchen, and spend an inordinate amount of time discussing Mini Coopers and Delta.

The Dudes Group: Yes, it's blatantly pandering to the male demographic, but it's also the source of the majority of the movie's laughs. Expect to ask yourself where Chris Rock has been the past few years, and to see the movie effectively stolen by a precocious accident-prone toddler.

Gross-Out Humor: Bridesmaids may have proven that guys don't have sole domain over gross-out jokes, but really, this kind of bodily humor has been a mainstay of romantic comedies involving pregnancy or kids for years. Elizabeth Banks does most of the heavy lifting (and pee jokes), but Cameron Diaz gets into the act as well. A little nausea is normal, for them, and for you.

Painfully Dumb Fights: The drama has to come from somewhere, so just about every couple finds some reason to duke it out. There's a little father/son rivalry to go with all the usual suspects -- baby names, money, circumcision -- but the clear winner goes to an early-movie argument between Kendrick and Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford about the exclusivity of serving bacon and/or cheese. Just to be safe, take along some Advil for any headaches that may result from over-vigorous eye-rolling.

Pregnancy Movies' Greatest Hits: There are a few blissful moments in What to Expect when the movie knowingly pokes fun at well-worn clichés. For the most part though, expect to see familiar jokes about hormones and cankles, glowing parents-to-be wistfully gazing at ultrasounds, and a woman changing her mind about an epidural mid-delivery. C'mon Elizabeth Banks, you've should known better. That's just Romantic Comedy Labor Scene 101.

The Takeaway: Despite the well-known ensemble cast and familiar name, don't expect much from What to Expect When You're Expecting and you'll be just fine. And whatever you do, resist the urge to scream "You did this to me!" at whoever buys the tickets.

]]> Fri, 18 May 2012 15:33:55 EDT 1528358 Safe, Jason Statham's newest action movie (that somehow manages to look exactly like all his other action movies), the perpetually gruff Brit plays Luke Wright, a former MMA fighter whose family is killed by Russian mobsters, leaving him with nothing more to live for. Until, that is, he has a chance encounter with Mei (Catherine Chan), a 12-year-old math prodigy on the run from Chinese Triads, corrupt NYPD officers, and those same Russian gangsters. Turns out they're all after the combination to a safe that Mei has memorized (and that gives the movie title its double meaning).

So, over the ensuing hour and a half, Luke does what Statham does best: protect Mei by punching, shooting, and crashing through rival gangs, crooked cops, and the better part of at least two boroughs. This isn't the first time the British action hero has been called on for bodyguard duties (see: the Transporter trilogy). But since his ends-justify-the-means methods often trend towards large-scale mayhem and wanton destruction, it got me thinking: Would you really be appreciably safer under Jason Statham's care?

As a public service, we broke down who might want to seek out Statham's help, and who might want to seek cover.

His Friends:
Safe writer/director Boaz Yakin is pretty clear on this one, considering the majority of the film's opening is spent reinforcing just how unsafe it is to even so much as talk to Luke. After accidentally winning a fight he was supposed to lose, apparently murdering his wife wasn't punishment enough for the Russian mob, so they warn Luke that they'll also kill anyone he befriends in the future. And since their definition of "friend" is more liberal than others', this also seemingly extends to small talk and random acts of kindness. Even his landladies are threatened by Luke's sheer presence, forcing him into homelessness.

And the rest of Jason Statham's film friends haven't fared much better over the years. For a guy who usually plays a tight-lipped loner, his characters have always gotten by with a little help from his friends -- whether they're doctors, mechanics, fellow assassins, or whatever Efren Ramirez was supposed to be in Crank. Given their impressively high mortality rate however, you might want to reconsider sending that Facebook request.

Verdict: Unsafe.

His Love Interests:
As you might have guessed, things don't work out so well for Statham's on-screen wife in Safe. And not to heap on the guilt or anything, but getting involved with mobsters doesn't seem like a very responsible move for someone with a wife and kid on the way. Especially when you're a former professional-assassin-turned-super-cop-turned-cage-fighter. (It's an eclectic resume, even for an action hero.)

But that's not the only reason Mrs. Wright should've seen it coming. She could've watched Death Race (or In the Name of the King). Because when it comes to a Jason Statham movie, promising to love him "for better or for worse" usually means "worse." Girlfriends, however, have fared only marginally better; and any leading lady looking at the former male model as potential arm candy should probably also plan on accessorizing with a bulletproof vest. To know Jason Statham may be to love him, but it's also to be shot at.

Verdict: Ultimately safe, as long as you don't put a ring on it.

Restaurant Patrons:
With its broad-daylight shootouts and indiscriminate attitude towards upping its body count, innocent bystanders don't fare too well in Safe. But oddly, it's restaurant patrons who bear the brunt of the collateral damage. In a little under 24 hours, Luke manages to get unsuspecting diners shot at, used as hostages and otherwise ruin their nice night out in not one, but two restaurants (to say nothing of what he did to the restaurants' Yelp ratings).

Unlike the rest of his painful past, we don't get any helpful clues as to what Luke has against fine dining, but I don't think it's a coincidence that when he finally eats, someone else gets him take-out.

Verdict: Unsafe. Grab the check and a take-out container as quickly as possible.

Children:
After Safe, I'm betting Jason Statham isn't going to get many requests to watch people's kids for a few hours. And while you could definitely do better in the A-lister babysitter department (I hear Vin Diesel's got great references), the man does get the job done, whether it's protecting Mei, or the little boy in Transporter 2. Sure, his methods may seem slightly extreme -- like, say, driving the wrong way down a busy one-way street while taking heavy gunfire -- but at least he always makes sure kids wear their seat belts.

To be fair, the MPAA wouldn't let you get away with exposing your own kids to the amount of R-rated bloodshed Mei witnesses thanks to Luke. But considering her adopted Triad father is prone to pairing her home-schooled business lessons with execution-style headshots, we're thinking child protective services would probably see Luke as an upgrade.

Verdict: Safe. Just like the title promises.

Moviegoers:
As we saw with the Crank movies, not even his own heart is all that safe around Jason Statham. He's leveled city blocks, destroyed more cars than we can count, and put countless henchmen on worker's comp. But as long as you're not expecting much more out of Safe than Transporter 4 with an R-rating, you're in relatively good hands. Once again, Statham moves through a familiar plot and kicks the requisite amount of ass, while Yakin layers on the generic grit. Just about the only real danger in Safe comes from being forced to listen to its painful dialogue.

Overall Verdict: A little too safe.

]]> Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:06:05 EDT 1456008 Gareth Evans and actor Iko Uwais joined forces for "Merantau," which introduced audiences to the traditional Indonesian martial art silat, along with the most exciting new action hero to come out of Southeast Asia since Tony Jaa.

And in 2011, Evans and Uwais brought their bone-crunching follow-up "The Raid: Redemption" to the Toronto Film Festival, where it took home the coveted Cadillac People's Choice Midnight Madness Award -- an honor that's launched numerous genre films and stars over the years (including Jaa himself).

Moviefone sat down in the AOL/Alliance Films Lounge during TIFF with Evans, Uwais and fellow "Raid" star Joe Taslim to talk about what fans can expect from the action-packed martial arts film, which opens soon in theaters.

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