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Shared, multi-franchise universes are all the rage right now, with many studios jumping on board to milk the cash cow. Cinelinx takes a look back at the five best combine universes in film.

The Avengers have made shared universes the big film craze of recent years. DC/Warner Bros. is planning to copy Marvel/Disney’s unified universe success with their own cross-franchise world, anchored by the Justice League. Disney is also spreading out its Star Wars universe, with annual solo films alternating between the main franchise and spin-offs featuring characters like Obi-Wan, Yoda and Boba Fett. Universal Studios has begun building their own monster-verse, starting with Dracula Untold. Fox is planning to merge their X-Men/Fantastic Four franchises. Paramount is looking at sequels and spin-offs to the Transformers series, making it into a multi-franchise story. Sony is toying with the idea of a combined universe built around the legend of Robin Hood,...

There isn’t long left to go now before WWE 13 slams its way onto shelves and can we help it if we’re excited? WWE 12 represented monumental change for the franchise after implementing a brand new engine in the Predator technology and from my hands on playtime at the recent Thq summer showcase, it looks as though they’re in the process of making more significant improvements.

To follow up our recent preview, we were able to net some interview time with the head honcho himself – Game Director Cory Ledesma. Here’s how it went down:

Sb: Hey Cory. First off, thanks for retweeting our WWE 13 Hands on Review; we got quite a bit of buzz around it so we appreciate that!

Cl: Yeah no problem. It was a great article, we had no problems putting it out.

Sb: Well you know, I’m a huge fan of the series...

We all know what a mediocre, likely forgettable film looks and sounds like. They more often than not make back their budget, get lukewarm reviews, occasionally entertain but ultimately leave a sour taste in the mouth, sometimes disappointingly.

But sometimes said films, whether they be popcorn fodder or absurd escapism folly, offer just a little extra, in the form of vital lessons to be taken into superior efforts. They can, it seems, provide a silver lining. Here are some examples.

Predators Teaches Us That Adrien Brody Is an Unlikely Badass

While it may be full of winking in-universe references and generally adventurous action stunts and set pieces, Nimrod Antal’s Predators proved to be a fairly underwhelming and generally unsuccessful attempt to breathe life back into the Predator franchise after the gag reflex testing Alien Vs Predator films.

And fans of the first two movies were downright puzzled when a...

Of all the films in the series, the biggest concern with the upcoming "Alien Anthology" Blu-ray set was by far James Cameron's "Aliens", the film I wouldn't call the best ever made but the one I'm proud to call my single favourite film of all time.

Having undergone a re-release in 2003, Ridley Scott's "Alien" got a major restoration job then so its DVD transfer in the best-selling "Alien Quadrilogy" boxset was similarly impressive. Similarly Scott himself has shown strong work with Blu-ray transfers of his catalogue titles like "Kingdom of Heaven," "Black Hawk Down" and "Blade Runner". His involvement in the Blu-ray transfer of "Alien" was a given and thus it comes as no surprise that it'll look great on Blu-ray.

Cameron on the other hand hasn't been so involved in the format, so there was no guarantee of his supervision. "Aliens" was shot on a film type...