Brian Truitt

It fumbles because neither of the characters are particularly likable.

Legend of the Sword’s overemphasis on the supernatural and the visually spectacular mortally wounds an often-rollicking adventure.

Just like the first one, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a winning and wonderfully relatable gem of crazy.

Hyperviolent, highly watchable action comedy.

Your mileage may vary when it comes to the over-the-top carnage and in-your-face machismo, but it’s impressive just how bonkers Fate is, like a litter of kittens hopped up on grade-A catnip.

Colossal is as refreshingly different a monster movie as it is a clever, timely take on bullying, domestic abuse and toxic masculinity.

The film is decidedly emotionally manipulative without being cloying, and often finds real humor in the complicated situation that arises around a genius 7-year-old, played by Mckenna Grace.

Despite the beautiful eye-popping world it creates, the sci-fi film Ghost in the Shell is a defective mess with lifeless characters, missed chances for thematic exploration and a minefield of political incorrectness.

It’s far from perfect, but Life’s worth living for two freaky hours.

The last half hour is filled with cheeseball visual effects, B-movie monsters and Banks — by far the most enjoyable aspect — hamming it up the best she can.

It’s when there's a distinct lack of King Kong that Skull Island turns into a plodding affair.

Here’s some Disney magic for you: The new Beauty and the Beast actually improves upon the animated classic.

Director Ry Russo-Young’s drama does manage to smartly dig into the real-world consequences of bullying and arrive at a provocative conclusion by having its main character live her final day on Earth over and over until she gets it right.

As funny and bitingly satirical as one would expect from his Key & Peele sketches.

Easily the best Wolverine outing, Logan is The Dark Knight of the mutant-filled X-franchise, a gripping film that transcends the comic-book genre by saying something important — and for Logan, that means coming to grips with needing loved ones in his life.

The Great Wall crumbles mainly because of its wholly predictable plot, wretched dialogue and dud of a filmgoing experience from noted director Zhang Yimou (House of Flying Daggers).

There are a lot of negative things to be said about Fifty Shades Darker. But it does impress in one sense: The erotica lite sequel somehow manages to be worse than the stupefyingly bad "Fifty Shades of Grey."

While The Dark Knight won't be supplanted any time soon as tops among Bat-movies, the new film makes a strong argument for second-best simply by taking time to explore the core of Batman that others haven’t: He’s a complicated mess who can’t get out of his own way long enough for the greater good.

There’s fish-out-of-water hijinks as the Martian boy looks for the dad he never knew, but the whole sci-fi narrative collapses into a mess of illogical story beats and groan-inducing quasi-tragic bits right out of "Love Story."

While McConaughey does his part, there’s just not enough treasure here in Gold to dig.

What resonates more is his more subtle exploration of how people deal differently with trauma and the power of connection. That message — and a captivating McAvoy — will stick with you long past the thrills of a cool twist.

There is a certain jittery edginess to Keaton’s Kroc but the actor imbues his character with such folksy likability that it’s a subtle turn from working-class go-getter to greedy bad guy.

In other hands, Patriots Day could have been a paint-by-the numbers action thriller, but strong performances and well-paced momentum make it an engrossing watch.

While the filmmaker conjures beautiful imagery and a subtle exploration of fathers and their children, the good stuff is too often caught up in a muddle of well-tread crime clichés.

Monster offers a cathartic study in overcoming loss and traversing the fine line between childhood and adulthood under tragic circumstances.

The film's big breakout is Monáe, the Grammy-winning musician who impressed in a small role in Moonlight but showcases a wealth of talent as the youngest and most opinionated of the three main women.

In a year full of talking-animal hits, Sing isn't quite as strong a number. It's a tale that might not be particularly thought-provoking but sure is toe-tapping.

One of the deeper and most thoughtful projects in Scorsese’s career. It feels as though his entire Hollywood career has culminated in this grand quest, which while excessively long, effectively explores the brutal costs of unbending faith.

An unseasonably cynical assault on the holiday spirit.

Washington has put together a troupe that crafts a retro story that’s still completely relatable, no matter one’s race, and brilliantly plays a protagonist that finds the sweetest spot between lovable and loathsome.

Rogue One is often undermined by its close ties to George Lucas’ original trilogy, and more emphasis is put on its central mission than its fresh-faced characters.

La La Land is both delightful confection and life-affirming food for the soul.

The iconic first lady is given emotional complexity and rich understanding through a stirring and ambitious performance by Natalie Portman.

The intelligent, timely and twisty thriller Miss Sloane introduces an antiheroine feared by both Republicans and Democrats. Jessica Chastain is all hellfire and high heels as powerful Washington lobbyist Elizabeth Sloane.

Unsurprisingly, the finale is manipulative in every way, squeezing out the emotions of the audience. But Lion’s well-plotted narrative and thoughtful characters suck you in so much that the journey there is totally worth it.

Ridiculously attractive spies fall hard for each other in Allied, but don’t expect "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" with Nazis.

Tthe writer/producer/director/star’s first film in 15 years struggles with its tone and is a solid if unspectacular effort, though Beatty smartly takes a supporting role to the youngsters by playing the kookily eccentric Hughes.

From the bizarre opening (featuring a plethora of naked obese women) to the film’s parallel narratives conceit, there's no shortage of style, though incoherence butts in from time to time.

Manchester finds a way to weave together truly wrenching sequences with a clever sense of humor, and Lonergan pulls extraordinary performances from his entire cast, especially Casey Affleck.

Director David Yates’ entertaining introduction of awkward hero and magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) is a confident and surprisingly funny adventure that’s more charming than most of the eight Harry Potter films.

A disappointing effort from a master filmmaker, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk trips in all the wrong places.

The "Hamilton" creator and the island personalities of Moana make beautiful music together in this charming seafaring epic.

Arrival is such a beautiful and thought-provoking film that it almost singlehandedly makes up for every bad aliens-coming-to-Earth film you’ve ever seen. Yes, even Independence Day: Resurgence.

For the most part a no-frills, almost sedate affair, the drama finds its real power in two strong lead performances.

Like a bag of Skittles come to life, there’s more sugar and style to Trolls than substance — with the exception of a “Find your own happiness” theme — but you’d be hard-pressed to keep from smiling throughout the trippy dance sequences and clever banter in this feel-good confection.

Brutally intense and elegantly crafted, the film showcases the stellar acting chops of Andrew Garfield and Vince Vaughn, and it’s director Mel Gibson’s best work behind the scenes since 1995’s Oscar best-picture winner Braveheart.

Even with a wealth of talent involved, Inferno is missing some serious heat.

Derrickson (Sinister) crafts a trippy phantasmagoria for Strange to fly screaming through as he begins his path to sorcerer supreme. The only thing missing is a Doors jam as the sequence unfolds a dizzying blend of psychedelia, geometric oddities and nightmarish dreamscapes.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is a major step backward with an A-list actor in a C-grade military thriller.

Ben Affleck brings needed nuance to old-fashioned brains and brawn as an action hero with high-functioning autism in The Accountant.

Parker creates a fascinating portrait of Nat Turner as neither hero nor villain. In the end, he’s portrayed as a man faced with tough decisions.

The major whodunit here is who made a best-selling thriller so darn boring.

This is pretty much Burton doing an "X-Men" movie, with a plucky yesteryear vibe and evil Samuel L. Jackson thrown in for extra fun.

While Deepwater Horizon effectively shows its mettle as a proper action film, it goes the extra mile and drills a little deeper to unearth a lot of heart as well.

Good news, parents: Storks is bound to entertain you and your little ones. Bad news: Get ready to answer a lot more awkward questions about where babies come from.

The Magnificent Seven is like a long-fused stick of dynamite: It takes forever to get interesting but does at least unleash an explosive finale.

There is no lack of Disney-fied melodrama, for sure, yet Queen fights through all that with outstanding acting, deft filmmaking choices and the introduction of a new talent in Madina Nalwanga.

While it unabashedly leans into its chick-flick nature, returning director Sharon Maguire — who helmed 2001’s franchise-starter "Bridget Jones’s Diary" — manages to craft the strongest and funniest film of the series.

Snowden’s a polarizing whistleblower portrayed as an American hero here but in too pedestrian a fashion for such a hot-button topic, and the movie seems at times as awkward as its brainiac subject.

Hanks invokes gravitas, deep introspection and even sly wit as Sullenberger, yet the one thing he can’t make up for is the distinct lack of onscreen danger in what could be considered a decently tame disaster film.

Well-acted but often painfully melodramatic.

Even though the film can’t focus on one subject, Hands of Stone does boast notable performances from its leads, especially Ramirez.

It is definitely the summer for talking animals taking over the cinema, but Kubo manages to rise above the rest of its peers with a wondrous coming-of-age tale full of ancient soul.

The film is loaded with a gripping plot and enjoyably sketchy characters but hobbled by an uneven tone that ricochets between zany comedy and serious crime thriller.

Packed with surprising depth as it utilizes complete lunacy and clever bites to cobble together something wholly different in the cartoon space, even though at times the wacky film does itself a disservice by aiming for shocks rather than smarts.

All one needs to grasp is the hope and inherent magic of a kid and a dragon being BFFs, then let the feels flow from there.

Compared to its ilk, Suicide Squad is an excellently quirky, proudly raised middle finger to the staid superhero-movie establishment.

The movie is a by-the-numbers action film that's not nearly as strong as its Damon-led predecessors.

The galactic adventure might be an uneven one, but the combination of gravitas, a little mirth and old-school Trek themes makes Beyond a decently entertaining trip to the final frontier.

McCarthy and Wiig are solid as the two pals who have to mend fences amid paranormal goings-on, but Jones is great as the quartet’s boisterous voice of reason and McKinnon is the film’s biggest and quirkiest standout.

Secret Life anchors itself on an oh-so-familiar concept but sparkles most when imagining some of its crazier shenanigans.

While it looks great with its gorgeous computer-generated foliage and realistic animals, the story focuses too much on its stiff hero and a one-note villain rather than the big-picture ideas it raises in passing.

John Williams composes a sprawling, effervescent score that, while not his best, certainly captures the musical magic that makes his partnership with Spielberg so special.

Ridiculousness needs to abound somewhat in a film like this — reality takes a seat early and often here — but Resurgence pushes everything to an egregiously over-the-top and often infuriating degree.

Characters only exist as empty archetypal vessels and some of the wackier elements are laughably campy, but Refn’s sumptuous visuals and disco-synth score help give Neon Demon undeniably sinister style.

While the animation is still top-notch and a slew of new waterlogged personalities buoy the story, it doesn’t have nearly the same sense of heart, wonder and awe as Nemo.

Warcraft wins by not trying to be the second coming of a 10-hour cinematic trip through Mordor with Hobbits and jewelry. Rather, it’s a simpler, yet still wholly entertaining tale of magic and larger-than-life soldiers in a battle for survival.