Soren Andersen

Everything in the picture, from the characters’ clothes and hairstyles to the vessels they sail, bear the stamp of authenticity. But Moana’s greatest strength is the verve in which they move the action along and the sheer joyousness evident in every aspect of their storytelling.

The movie becomes an immersive experience that sweeps the audience into all-encompassing venues of imagination.

The Rise of Skywalker rates right up there with the 1977 original, “A New Hope,” and 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back.”

Linklater gets it right in every significant regard.

Gosling, who previously worked with Chazelle on “La La Land,” is perfectly cast.

Röhrig’s performance is an extraordinary feat of minimalism. His expressions convey a deadened spirit. Yet behind his eyes and at the corners of his mouth are signs of a spirit that won’t be crushed.

Both star and director are at the top of their game here, and that’s as good as movies get.

It’s a detective story. It’s an insightful commentary on the state of us, which is to say us, the U.S., in this divided, disjointed, distracted age. It’s a comedy, sharp and frequently hilarious. It is, above all, consistently surprising.

It’s remarkable.

“Fury’s” pace is delirious, the stunts are incredible — such crashes, such explosions, such a lot of flying bodies — Hardy’s performance is a marvel of subdued conviction and Theron brings an impressive gravity to her work as Furiosa. Put it all together, and you’ve got a rousing crowd-pleaser that hits on all fast-revving cylinders.

“Oppy” is a salute to the best of what humans are capable when they unite in a common purpose to expand their knowledge of matters beyond the realm of the known.

There are plot levels here that are deeper than the original, which is quite complex and moving in its own right.

DiCaprio’s performance is an astonishing testament to his commitment to a role.

Zootopia delights, in ways big and small.

Under Chukwu’s steady, sensitive direction, Deadwyler’s performance is such that it overshadows everyone else in the movie.

Though his character bears Fails’ name and the picture is autobiographical, it’s not a documentary. Fails and co-screenwriter Rob Richert have embroidered on his experiences to create a story that melds realism with make-believe.

Wachowski has taken the familiar and modified it in such a way to make it seem new. It’s a brilliant act of transformation.

It’s heart that’s overflowing with love, poignancy, humor, color and music.

Jolie draws restrained, naturalistic performances from her all-Cambodian cast, particularly young Sareum Srey Moch. There’s a stillness and a stoicism in her portrayal that makes her an unforgettable figure in this unforgettable movie.

The fourth time is truly the charm in this long-running franchise.

T2 is a sequel that is at least the equal of the revered original.

Capernaum is a searing, unforgettable work.

What Warner undergoes in Crown Heights is difficult to watch. Yet in the end, remarkably. there is triumph. And, finally, justice.

Sometimes hilarious, ultimately poignant, Swiss Army Man is a picture like no other.

After having been made and remade for the screen and converted into a long-running hit Broadway show, it might have seemed like “The Lion King” was a played-out property. “Mufasa,” under Jenkins’ poised and creative direction, proves there is still plenty of life left in the long-reining “King.”

These filmmakers have made arguably the best Halloween since that first one.

Sachs’ A Space Program is a disarmingly delightful out-of-this-world trip.

A fast-moving, clever and funny picture.

Under the direction of Joseph Kosinski (“Oblivion”), a large cast headed by Josh Brolin and Miles Teller bring great vitality and sensitivity to their performances.

Eggers’ depiction of the family’s psychological decay and his relentless piling up of deeply disturbing imagery make The Witch an unnerving and fresh-feeling horror masterwork.

With intelligence and great moviemaking skill, [Reynolds] has created a classic variation on a venerated ancient theme.

Despite its flaws, Flight/Risk is a comprehensive and stinging critique of a once-proud company that has lost its way and is struggling to make a comeback. And it’s a tribute to the people who died and the families who mourn them.

Big, bold and bordering on the unbelievable, Gladiator II delivers, big time.

The new version amplifies and deepens all that is good in the original. The key is in the visuals. Photorealistic computer-generated imagery renders its African landscapes and animals with astonishing realism.

Burton’s command of this material and his masterful visual sense makes this Dumbo an engaging delight. Like that winsome elephant, it really does soar.

The characters are well-defined and Rockwell holds the picture together as he conveys Mr. Wolf’s shifting emotional states: suave, vexed and morally conflicted. Kids will love The Bad Guys and there’s plenty of substance for adults as well.

The picture is a long tease, artfully constructed. Mood is all-important, and it’s a mood designed to keep the audience off balance and on edge until the very end.

See the movie. It’s a treat. And educational, too.

Egerton is commanding throughout. His performance is truly a marvel. Rocketman as well.

The effects work rivals the likes of “Saving Private Ryan” and, well, “Independence Day.” It’s spectacular and realistic-looking. That’s to be expected. What’s not expected is how serious-minded and well-acted the picture is.

Martial-arts action, excitingly mounted, is all part of the package as Po battles a glowering, green-eyed bull (J.K. Simmons) and tries to whip peaceable pandakind into a fighting force to defeat the villain. One-liners fly as fast as kung-fu fisticuffs in this sweet and satisfying picture.

The interweaving of animation and nonanimated footage gives the picture a kind of surreal quality that befits the sense of the survivors of how unreal the event seemed to them.

In the midst of that hostile physical and psychic landscape, de Clermont-Tonnerre has made a stringent tale of a struggle for redemption.

It’s a detective story. It’s a spy thriller. It’s a cautionary tale. And it’s true.

Adapting a prizewinning novel by Canadian writer Patrick deWitt, Audiard has made an atmospheric Western in which the four lead actors portray their characters with remarkable subtlety.

The silence in Silence is deep and profound.

Into the Spider-Verse is pure fun, nonstop from start to finish.

The spell Miss Hokusai casts is a powerful one that lingers long after the lights go up in the theater.

Thewlis voices Michael with weariness and despair until the character encounters Lisa. Leigh mixes eagerness...and an abashed vocal quality that emphasizes her character’s vulnerability.

Complex and lively, The Wild Robot is thoroughly delightful on every level. It’s a rare treat, not just for kids but for adults as well.

All in all, a brilliant piece of work.

Directed once again by Chad Stahelski, the one-time stunt man who has become a first-rate visual stylist and master of pacing over the years of directing “Wicks,” “Chapter 4” is dazzling.

Conversations about competing business strategies, which take up a great deal of The Current War, would seem to be a recipe for a dull movie. But the fervor and intelligence Cumberbatch and Shannon bring to their roles make for a gripping experience.

No previous screen rendering of the Rudyard Kipling classic — not the 2016 Disney live-action epic and certainly not the jaunty, tuneful 1967 Disney animated version beloved by generations — has been so very dark and wild and, surprisingly, thoughtful.

"Guardians” stands apart because it’s somehow truer to a comic book’s essence than any Marvel or DC-derived picture you can name. Which is to say it’s pulpy, kind of cheesy and giddily exaggerated (and aware of it) in a way that, say, the “Thors,” the “Captain Americas” and Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies are not.

Last Jedi is deep. It’s also rollicking. It’s right up there with the very first “Star Wars” in terms of its enjoyability factor. It’s a triumph.

Director Caple Jr. takes his time allowing Ramos and Fishback to develop their characters as they fight being marginalized and dismissed in ‘90s New York. They’re no mere cardboard characters but rather fully dimensional individuals, a rarity in “Transformers” movies.

The acting in all roles is first rate, but in this one De Niro regains the title of undisputed champion.

There is grace in Sarandon’s performance. And heartbreaking power.

See How They Run is the Saoirse Ronan show. Start to finish. Top to bottom, Now and forever. Amen.

It’s a world of fantasy, but as depicted in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, it has a solidity and imaginative depth that makes it seem astonishingly real.

What the movie makes clear is that that deeply spiritual moment represented a triumph of management.

The special-effects sequences are up to the usual high standards of Marvel excellence, but by far the best elements of “Homecoming” are the writing, which brims with humor, and the performances.

With her wonderfully expressive face, Clarke carries the picture, navigating her character’s gradual transformation with grace and conviction.

At 2½ hours, Aquarius is about a half-hour too long for the story it tells, yet it feels like a privilege to be in the presence of such a powerful character and such a quietly commanding performance.

The film’s action scenes are masterpieces of stately choreography, with elements of humor incorporated.

Freidel illuminates the inner struggle Elser goes through as, buttressed by his conscience and his Catholic faith, he finds within himself a strength of character and brave defiance that defines him as a hero in the truest sense of the word.

In his third outing as the Captain, Evans seems totally comfortable in the role. He manages to convey his character’s goodness without making him seem like a self-righteous stiff. There’s an ease in his performance, and a sense of humor that makes him very appealing.

The friendship of George and Harold is celebrated, and the cheery vocal work of Hart and Middleditch gives the picture its sprightly spirit.

In terms of the imaginative ways it expands on the themes of the first movie, it is the rare sequel that is at least the equal of its iconic original.

All in all, this “Buster” is something else.

Gunn masterfully mixes humor and bloodshed and manages to give a surprising number of characters room to develop their personas. And when it comes to staging set pieces, he’s at his best.

The premise of accountant as action hero might seem absurd, but The Accountant makes it credible and fascinating.

Thanks to Walken’s superlative, multileveled performance and Edwards’ trenchant writing, this complicated guy...is a weirdly beguiling figure.

Solid storytelling, a longtime strength of the best Pixar pictures, elevates Cars 3 into the pantheon with the studio’s finest.

The acting and script are so strong that the picture is an outstanding achievement even in the 2D version that most people will see.

Frequent, fiery battle scenes are well mounted, and in between are tenderer moments.

It’s not the best Dracula movie of all time, though it aspires to that. Murnau’s original still leads the pack. But it certainly is the most stylish. Eggers is a filmmaker with astonishing visual flair.

The dialogue, the violence, the humor (largely provided by Grant’s character) and the intricacy of the storytelling make for a picture in which most everyone in it seems to be having a great deal of chatty, bloody fun.

Green Room is one nasty piece of work. And I mean that in a good way.

Along with the kids’ sorrow, Barras works uplift and lightness into the story, and there are moments of great joy. In the end, it’s positivity that prevails.

With its well-drawn characters (a Linklater trademark) and mood of quiet restraint, Last Flag Flying touches the heart at a deep level.

The essence of the London story is retained, with stouthearted Buck being annealed by adversity, overcoming brutality, confusion and loneliness and then responding to the kindness of Thornton to become the leader of the pack. And all that is accomplished with a soft touch. What we have here is the call of the mild

In this, his feature directorial debut, Möller makes a whole lot out of very little: a whole lot of dramatic forcefulness out of the most simple and basic of elements, a solitary man struggling to do the right thing.

Filmed in sepia tones to give it period flavor, infused with a sense of unrelieved tension and paranoia, and climaxing with a furious gunbattle, Anthropoid is a gripping picture.

Director Ma has made a quietly merciless picture, a horror movie, really, about a decent man, an ordinary man, left alone, bereft, embittered, ruined by his act of decency.

Who emerges as the winner of this “Civil War”? The audience. The picture delivers in a big, big way.

A surprisingly sweet-spirited picture about a man’s redemption and a boy’s initiation into the ways of the world.

Serkis again proves that in the highly specialized realm of performance-capture acting, he has no peer.

Hunter Killer grabs the audience by the throat and speeds ahead while disbelief wallows helplessly in its bubbly wake.

Though The Infiltrator breaks no new ground in its storytelling, it is nonetheless a riveting piece of work.

Shot in stark black and white, the picture’s sense of place and time is strong — pungently so.

Gore and guffaws attend this very dark horror comedy in roughly equal measure.

Director/co-screenwriter Scott Derrickson generally keeps the massive enterprise moving smoothly along. The trip’s the trip here, and it’s well worth taking.

The picture is a hugely entertaining crowd-pleaser studded with laugh-out-loud moments from beginning to end.

An engaging picture brimming with uplift.

The segments, though short, are nastily effective.

The eye is enchanted by the richness of the picture’s spectacle.