Brian Truitt

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.

If the original “Creed” was a straight-up knockout from bell to bell, the sequel takes its time with body blows – from all directions – to ultimately get you right in the feels.

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.

The not-so-secret sauce for why this Mulan works is Liu, a Chinese actress new to American audiences who sells every bit of her character, from rebellious youngster to conflicted accidental soldier to confident warrior woman.

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.

Director Joe Cornish grounded the alien-invasion genre with clever plotting and entertaining English youngsters with 2011's “Attack the Block” and does the same with epic fantasy with this clever “Kid.”

It’s always nice to see someone’s passion project come to fruition. Especially so when it’s this darn good.

Without Zellweger’s remarkable Oscar-worthy performance, it’s standard-issue biopic fare – with her, the cultural icon comes to life again, warts and all.

Wilder remains the gold standard of Wonka-dom. Yet there’s little connective tissue between his mad genius ― which featured a snarky edge and a hint of darkness ― and Chalamet’s version, who likely would never let a child blow up into a ginormous blueberry.

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.

Pattinson’s main man holds down a revamped Gotham that feels distinctively gritty with its blueprint of madness and mayhem, a place you would never want to live in but still would love to revisit as soon as possible.

In its own terms, Dumb Money probably should sell off sooner – nothing kills storytelling momentum like congressional Zoom hearings – but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better big-screen combo of rising stock prices and rousing joy.

A sense of family, the one you have and the one you make, strongly pervades every inch of the world that The Good Dinosaur inhabits.

While “Challengers” falls nebulously somewhere between a coming-of-age flick, dysfunctional relationship drama and snazzy sports extravaganza, Guadagnino nevertheless holds serve with yet another engaging, hot-blooded tale of flawed humans figuring out their feelings.

“Kingdom” aims to bring big ideas into a sprawling blockbuster atmosphere, though that gambit winds up weighed down by its own ambitions.

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.

For grown-ups, however, Deadpool avoids enough pitfalls to both embrace and flambé the superhero genre while also finding time for romance, doling out equal handfuls of bullets, barbs and warm fuzzies.

Deadpool 2 is chock-full of all the cartoonish ultraviolence, meta commentary and pop-culture references you’d expect. Where it surprises — and why it works so well — is how it balances an actually touching undercurrent alongside superhero subversiveness.

The best thing O’Connor does here, as he also did with the underrated “The Accountant,” is let Affleck remind us once again that he’s a first-class actor – just in case anyone forgot after his brief stint in an infamous cape and cowl.

On one hand, the core conceit – about elderly people suffering thanks to crooks and legal loopholes – is upsetting and infuriating on the surface. But Blakeson puts such a colorful, over-the-top sheen on it, plus lets Pike and Dinklage loose on each other, that you can’t help but be entertained by the criminal carnage and extreme shenanigans.

Whether together or solo, Blunt and Miranda are endlessly charming.

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.

While Face the Music is best when you don’t think about it too hard, it's also a movie that knows exactly what it is and doesn’t bother to have an insincere moment.

American Made points out an unfortunate time in our history when government shenanigans ran amok internationally and people did bad things in the name of greed and power. But hoo-boy, does Tom Cruise have fun with it.

Wan leans into the real history of the 1977 Enfield poltergeist legend, too, though it’s not like he needs any extra inspiration for his fright fest — when it comes to horror, the man pulls no punches or screams.

You’ve heard of an October surprise. This is a November disappointment.

Steamy, twisty, demented and not exactly subtle in its aim to entertain film fans and BookTok alike. Director Paul Feig’s movie doesn’t hit all the marks of its addictive source material, but the thing is plenty wild enough to be a holiday guilty pleasure.

It has the best action sequences of all four chapters, though its revolutionary message gets bogged down by a meandering plot and some good old-fashioned overacting.