The weekend warriors for February 22, 2013 includes Dark Skies and Snitch. Box Office Battlefield is a recurring rundown of all the movie releases for the weekend. Every week, movie studios select candidates to enter the glorious battlefield for your hard earned dollars. Box Office Battlefield is here to help you decide which movie(s) will take priority over the others.

Last weekend, A Good Day to Die Hard barely stole the show from Identity Thief. Warm Bodies hung in there while Silver Linings Playbook slumped out of the top 5 for the first time in six weeks. New releases haven’t done so well, though it is that time of year – awards season. After the Oscars air on Sunday, we should get back into the swing of things.

March has 21 and Over, Stoker, The Last Exorcism: Part 2, Oz the Great and Powerful, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Admission, Olympus Has Fallen, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and The Host. Not great movies, but we’re getting there.

Can The Rock beat down on some skinny grey men from mars? We come in peace. This is the Box Office Battlefield:

Dark Skies (Rated PG-13) – (Directed by Scott Stewart) Starring Keri Russell, Jake Brennan, Josh Hamilton, Dakota Goyo, and J.K. Simmons

Synopsis: As the Barret family’s peaceful suburban life is rocked by an escalating series of disturbing events, they come to learn that a terrifying and deadly force is after them.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics – 38% • Audience – 50%

Dark Skies has been on my radar ever since the first trailer hit. The movie made my anticipated horrors of 2013, but I reserved my full excitement due to the fact that the antagonists were revealed in the trailer. It is nothing we haven’t seen before, but the film has fine execution. It builds tension fairly well and the acting isn’t terrible. If you like Insidious and Signs, you’ll most likely have a good time. And although it is rated PG-13, Dark Skies brings many eerie moments that work well under the constraint. MATINEE IT!

Snitch (Rated PG-13) – (Directed by Ric Roman Waugh) Starring Dwayne Johnson, Susan Sarandon, Jon Bernthal, and Rafi Gavron

Synopsis: A father goes undercover for the DEA in order to free his son who was imprisoned after being set up in drug deal.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics – 53% • Audience – 81%

Despite the last half of the trailer implying a full-throttle action flick, Snitch is more of a drama thriller. Dwayne Johnson does some of his best work in a while, but the screenplay hurts the film the most. It’s very bare bones and the last quarter of the movie could have been more thought out – it’s very linear. There isn’t any kind of strong message here, but if you like movies based off “true events” than you may find an interest in Snitch. RENT IT!

Movie synopses courtesy of IMDb.com