Brian Lowry

Somehow, the film manages to feel like a throwback to the action movies of old while featuring people who were seldom allowed to occupy prominent roles back then. If the finish is a bit too busy to be as rousing as intended, by then, The Woman King has made the most of its formidable arsenal.

Once you get past admiring de Armas’ immersion into the role, that’s the only itch that Blonde seems to know how to scratch.

Grappling with middle age, Clerks III turns out to be unexpectedly sentimental and nostalgic, reflecting that writer-director-editor-co-star Kevin Smith inherently recognizes this will likely be the gang’s final visit to Quick Stop Groceries. If so, it’s an uneven if gentle way to hang out the “We’re closed” sign.

Even taking it as a given that Disney’s animated classics will all receive live-action makeovers eventually, Pinocchio feels like an unnecessary exercise – a movie so flat that it never sparks to life, and barely feels as if it’s making the leap into a different medium.

While “Honk for Jesus” isn’t a perfect movie, give it praise for at least being an interesting one.

Running With the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee suffers from zooming in too close on its subject, leaving a documentary that’s chaotic and exhausting but offers less enlightenment than a more sober approach might have yielded.

An animated, comic-book-inspired opening turns out to be the best part of Samaritan, a very by-the-numbers superhero tale that casts Sylvester Stallone as the long-retired title character, and otherwise feels like and exhibits the production values of a 1990s TV pilot. While tolerable on its own terms, the charitable thing to do critically speaking would probably be to ignore it.

The amount of new information in "The Princess" will likely depend on one's personal Royals-related media consumption, but the packaging of this stark and intimate documentary -- marking the 25th anniversary of Princess Diana's death -- serves as a sobering reminder of how the press hounded her from the moment of her engagement until her tragic death.

Some of the elements in “Secret Headquarters” are mildly pleasant, but the film seems too content to color completely within the lines. The resulting picture might be enough of a diversion for younger kids, but even they won’t be missing much if what’s in the movie stays secret.

It’s the kind of star-driven vehicle that yields obvious benefits to Netflix even if, qualitatively speaking, it doesn’t deserve to see the light of day.

Horror movies are no strangers to social commentary, or the desire to be cathartic in how they use violence. Yet the latest example of those impulses, They/Them, illustrates how tricky that proposition can be, in a story that at various times feels creepy, exploitative and preachy, without becoming particularly tense or scary.

The thrills don’t look cheap, exactly, but the whole thing feels a bit cheaper, as if this were the pilot for an anthology series titled “Tales of the Predator,” charting periodic visits through history.

Bullet Train certainly moves at an appropriately brisk pace, with Brad Pitt heading a sprawling cast. But the breakneck action is offset by a smart-alecky tone that proves both uneven and occasionally too cute for its own good, along with a mashup of styles – from the music to the visuals – that comes across like a Quentin Tarantino wannabe, with a dash of “Deadpool” for good measure.

Not Okay isn’t the kind of movie that’s going to amass a vast audience (hence its debut via Hulu), but it is one of those of-the-moment ideas that makes you take inventory of where we are, and the manipulation that can play into who commands the spotlight.

Who's a good movie? Not "DC League of Super-Pets," a big colorful idea that proves promising in theory -- tailor-made for a two-minute trailer -- but a rather tedious slog as a full-length animated film.

Placing a trans teen at its center adds some heft to material that would in an earlier era would have been presented as an after-school special, but the uplifting and timely messaging can’t completely elevate this earnest but thin Amazon movie.

If “Get Out” refreshed the genre in part by weaving in themes that invited a thoughtful conversation about race and racism, Nope is more modest in its intentions in a way that makes it more enjoyable the less you dwell on the details, ultimately feeling quirky without fully paying off its more intriguing ideas.

Zombies 3 is creatively dead on arrival, reviving the concept at least once too often.

Ultimately, The Gray Man is an unintentionally appropriate title to describe a movie that exists within such a narrow band of the cinematic spectrum. While a step up over the Russos’ last streaming effort, the bleak “Cherry,” it’s the equivalent of an old-time “B” movie with an A-level cast and budget.

Newman’s direction maintains the mystery through the gasps and sneers from the gallery during the trial sequences, leading to the eventual determination of Kya’s fate. It’s a satisfying conclusion that doesn’t overplay its hand.

The impressive mix of tones and styles that director Taika Waititi pulled off in “Thor: Ragnarok” largely fizzles in “Thor: Love and Thunder,” which isn’t as funny as it wants to be, as stirring as it needs to be or romantic as it ought to be.

For anyone wondering why "The Princess" is premiering on Hulu in the US, not sister service Disney+, the movie answers that in the first five minutes, when the title character brutally dispatches a pair of guards sent into the tower where she's being held. While the timing seems right for a princess who rescues herself, there's precious little substance to this violent fantasy, featuring Joey King figuratively letting down her hair.

"Minions” certainly has to be evaluated in the modest context of what it’s trying to achieve – like fueling fast-food giveaways and toy sales – but even compared to the earlier movies in the franchise, this one feels particularly limited in its scope and ambitions.

Trevor: The Musical can't help but feel partly encumbered by the "important" label, bringing lessons about self-acceptance to Disney+, whose parent company has been a ripe target for controversy. Yet this filmed version of the off-Broadway show works as a triumph for the young cast and especially the relatable lead, powering past its lesser aspects with infectious energy and a touching message.

"Elvis” has entered the theaters, but in a package that often recalls the excesses associated with his Vegas-residency years: Looking bloated, gaudy and at times bordering on self-parody. Those missteps, courtesy of director Baz Luhrmann and an ill-used Tom Hanks, squander Austin Butler’s brilliant moments in the title role, which deserve a much better movie.

Sure, it’s another throwback intended to wring value out of nostalgia, but one executed with a level of relentless silliness that, like its “stars,” won’t ever be accused of over-thinking things.

Taking place almost entirely inside a hotel room, it’s a movie bathed in poignance and sweetness as well as sex and longing.

This is one of those movies that’s forgotten almost as soon as it ends, and it doesn’t even require any chemical intervention in order to erase the memory.