Can we ever get innocence back once it's lost? The ending suggests that we can. But at enormous cost.

It's also perfectly content to be an insanely violent, funny take on an established genre. And in that respect, Kick-Ass lives up to its name.

As an analysis of the causes of migration, it is one-dimensional and unconvincing. But as a social history of Latinos in America, it is provocative and fascinating. And as an indictment of decades of economic injustice and covert military action committed in the name of freedom, it is devastating.

Dumb Money isn’t a documentary, and it’s not a go-to guide for beginning investors. It’s not trying to be. It’s trying to be something a little less weighty and a lot more fun than that, and it succeeds.

Visually beautiful — stunning, in places — but somewhat stale in story, director Peter Sohn’s feature debut will certainly charm young audiences, and there is some nicely bracing grown-up material: love and death, the whole deal.

The true story, along with Boyega’s amazing performance, prop up what would otherwise be a lackluster thriller. From the trailer, I expected to like it a lot more than I did, but it doesn't do Brown-Easley's story the justice it deserves.

Maybe Pavarotti would be even more compelling if Howard had delved deeper into the contradictions and controversies. But the director does achieve the first goal on entertainment: Always leave them wanting more.

For fantasy fans who have dreamed all their lives of spending time inside Tolkien’s dazzling alternative reality, it’s a ride well worth taking.

Shot in verite style with handheld cameras and rule-breaking quick cuts, Cahill's film moves slowly between moments of heartache and quiet beauty.

Hill isn’t offering a sociological treatise. Mid90s is all about lived experience. It’s about a place and a time and offers little inkling of its characters’ futures.

Watching Garfield swinging through New York or toying with criminals after he captures them is reason enough to welcome another telling of the tale.

The film is a live-action cartoon down to its main character's name -- Wilee, "like the coyote." It's just a few sticks of dynamite and a 10-ton anvil short of going full Looney Tunes, and is all the worse for that restraint.

Boseman and Gad are both good. Marshall drinks and smokes and fights in a bar; certainly that's a side of him we haven't seen before. If anything, he's portrayed as a little too good at his job, a risk-taker whose every courtroom hunch pays off. It's an interesting approach to the story, but it also holds the film back a bit.

An unruly mix of science, morality, family dysfunction, horror and finger-down-the-throat gross-out ridiculousness.

It's never less than edge-of-your-seat fun.

The One I Love is an odd, unsettling and ultimately satisfying movie.

Erivo captures both Tubman’s defiance and her headstrong courage. But the film overall feels too conventional. It simply cannot fully capture the inspiring story of Tubman’s incredible life. Then again, what could?

More brains and less brawn probably isn’t a prescription for box-office success for a movie like this. But it’s a movie I’d rather see.

It’s all quite intricate and entertaining and terrific to look at. The “Fantastic” of the title might be stretching things a bit, but it doesn’t miss the mark by much. Better still, it makes you look forward to, and not dread, the next installment — and that’s real magic.

Obama is so smart and insightful, even in response to the canned and near-sycophantic questions during the question-and-answer sessions on stage, that it makes you yearn for a real interview, a tougher documentary, one that trusts both Obama and the audience more.

Elio is a good summer movie of intergalactic fun. It just plays it safe.

Part of the fun of watching Mountainhead, the entertaining first feature film from “Succession” creator Jesse Armstrong, is marveling at the antics of the tech bros who already run a good chunk of the world, and want to run more. Part of the horror is how realistic it all seems. Part of the disappointment is how far it falls into “Three Stooges”-level farce.

Deadpool 2 is, above all else, a lot of fun. (And yes, you must stay for the post-credit scenes.) Sometimes it maybe doesn’t take itself seriously enough (after about the 50th crack you do kind of want to tell Reynolds to hold off for a minute). But in a genre that takes itself so deadly seriously, this is like a breath of fresh air.

Puzzle just kind of chugs along at its own pace, one of those small movies that packs a bigger punch, one in which, sorry, all the pieces fit.

Thanks to Cranston’s performance — along with a game supporting cast — and Brad Furman’s tension-building direction, the movie works.

A comedy about an all-female collegiate a cappella group. And to paraphrase one of the characters in the movie, it's A-Ca-Awesome.

Emily Blunt is practically perfect in every way as Mary Poppins. Her comedic timing is incredible, and she embraces Julie Andrews' prim and proper British snark with grace.

Giroux's refusal to pass judgment on his characters prevents us from doing so, and the film is much more powerful for it.

Turns out You’re Next isn’t a slave to horror-movie conventions after all — rather, it’s having tongue-in-cheek fun with conventions while playing up to them, complete with a killer retro ’80s-horror synth score and a gruesome finale that recalls the excess of Peter Jackson’s “Dead Alive.”

A charming film. Not a great one, but a good one.

It is affecting, surprising, heartbreaking.

Rogue One stands on its own, an entry that is at once part of the “Star Wars” franchise (obviously) but also separate – a tougher, grittier film.

To say Bennett carries this film on her back is an understatement. She takes on the challenge of depicting romance, passion, grief, strength and perseverance.

Despite all its noble qualities, the movie boasts a stiffness that keeps it from ever feeling fully alive.

McKenzie and Taylor-Joy are both affecting as two sides of not-quite-the-same coin. Their performances are the best thing about the film, which is good — but not as good as it might have been.

In theory, we go to movies for enjoyment. Director Rodrigo Cortés inverts that notion with Buried, a terrific, claustrophobic, fist-clenching film in which he tortures his audience in exquisite fashion.

Wood’s terrific direction and an outstanding performance by Morgan Saylor make it an involving cautionary tale.

The lyrical book is filled with touches of magical realism. On the other hand, the movie is sorely lacking in both magic and realism. It’s all very empty and blah.

If anything, the movie's third act is the only thing that feels a bit a disappointing. The plot is carefully constructed, the performances are rich (both girls are excellent), the characters are believable and a sense of dread grows throughout. Heck, the movie is even great to look at, with its period sheen and slightly muted colors.

Make no mistake, Daniels is gunning for awards here; the movie has that sheen, that Big Important Feel. But the performances keep it grounded. Let someone else decide winners and losers. Just enjoy “The Butler” for the sometimes-moving experience it is.

Perseverance is the theme of Life, Above All, a drama that is deeply affecting, if also overwhelmingly bleak.

This is real edge-of-your-seat stuff, in a throwback way - no booming special effects, just old-school timing and execution.

It’s not going to be the blockbuster hit of the summer, but it’s a cute, feel-good movie that’s combines a lot of classic elements in a creative way.

This is very much a mainstream movie meant to shine a light on the plight of people who were ignored for too long. For that reason alone, it's well worth seeing.

It is fun, a hodgepodge of styles and technique and feathered hair that really evokes the late ’70s.

It's a small movie but an effective one, using found footage as a means to an end and not as an end in itself. More like it would be a welcome trend.

A surprisingly delightful adventure romp.

Bill & Ted Face the Music is sweet and hopeful and, of course, kind of stupid, but that’s a big part of the point.

The Boy and the Beast might not quite have the storytelling sophistication to win over every adult, but for teens and tweens in the midst of their own coming-of-age stories, it has the potential to be a wondrous eye-opener.

The film is a little too polished and slick to really provide the slap in the face of the U.S. government it intends to deliver. But as a means for Cruise to shake off the dust of movies like “The Mummy” for something more substantive, it more than succeeds.

Solid, enjoyable, good, but not great.

You’ve heard this song before and can predict all the emotional high notes before they hit, but sometimes that’s all you need from a summer bop.

Annette Bening is so good in Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool that it makes up for a story that’s slighter than it should be.

Last Flag Flying is a movie about a long road trip that sometimes feels like a long road trip — it's sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes poignant, and while the destination is never in doubt, occasionally the company drives you a little crazy.

The Conjuring 2 won't make anyone forget the first film, but it's good enough that you'll hope they make another.

A dark comedy thriller that could be a “Black Mirror” episode and leaves you with the same existential turmoil as Bo Burham’s “Inside.”

Lucky Them isn't a great film, all told, but thanks to the good-natured performances and the general vibe, it's an immensely enjoyable one.

If you're game, "Parnassus" is a richly rewarding experience. If not, it comes off like pretentious nonsense.

Butler keeps you hooked and keeps you hoping. It’s a really good performance in a good movie, and proof of Aronofsky’s versatility. There’s some virtuosity in there somewhere, too.

Good for its uncommonly level-headed characters, less so for viewers watching a movie in which not much happens.

The Runaways broke new ground. And if "The Runaways" doesn't, it's still a movie worth watching - and listening to.

While Zwick doesn’t dig as deeply as he might in searching for answers, the subject matter, combined with Tobey Maguire’s performance as Fischer, makes this a compelling film.

Her (Williams) performance is so engaging and complete, it's worth all the other shortcomings.

You wouldn’t want Kill Your Darlings to be the only information you ever get about the Beats. But it’s a decent introduction for the uninitiated, and interesting enough to those who know the story.

Suffice it to say that it's something that would make Austin Powers blush, baby, but it's not supposed to be funny.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2 is a dark film, in a dramatically satisfying way.

If you're a fan of provocative, offbeat films such as "My Own Private Idaho" or "The Crying Game," you might want to give "Phillip Morris" a chance.

Quirky characters. A killer soundtrack. Vibrant imagery. Noah Centineo's adorable, squishy little grin. A teenage love story that's equal parts outrageous and delightful.

It's a sometimes-hilarious send-up of slasher movies that buries a surprising amount of sweetness under buckets of gore.

Everything Must Go leaves the resolution open, not telegraphing Nick's future. It is as unsettled as life, and the film is all the better for it.

Disney scholars may scoff that it’s not a warts-and-all portrayal of the struggle to bring “Mary Poppins” to the screen, but that seems almost churlish in light of the enthusiasm Hanks brings to the film, or the eventually melting icy facade Thompson puts up.

It’s quite good, thanks to the sturdiness of the story, the jaw-dropping visuals and, most importantly, the one thing the first film didn’t offer: Emma Watson.

It's wider than it is deep, but Andrew Rossi's documentary is a good primer on an issue that, in varying degrees, affects almost everyone.

X-Men: First Class isn't anywhere close to being a genre classic like "Spider-Man 2" or "The Dark Knight," but it is good enough to rejuvenate a franchise stuck on idle.

[Poitier] does a surprisingly strong job of directing (his initial attempt) this well-written, meaningful script by Ernest Kinoy. [16 Jun 1972]

Alien: Covenant is much better than “Prometheus,” in that it has plenty of scares and an actual plot, which, if sometimes predictable — all of these movies are in some ways the ultimate game of survival — is still satisfying.

It’s cute, funny, exciting to look at but not quite magical.

Crawford's documentary celebrates the legacy of CREEM in all its dysfunctional glory, not only addressing but owning all the things about it that would never fly in 2020.

It takes a strong stomach for extreme violence and over-the-top obscenity, but if you're willing to roll with that, Deadpool is a hoot.

SpongeBob, in whatever form it takes, does one thing and does it really well: absurdist humor with a sweet center. I’m hesitant to ever say that this-and-such thing is “what we need right now,” so I won’t say that about the film. But I will say that SpongeBob is what we need all the time. The more the merrier.

This is not a movie for the squeamish. It may not be a movie for the non-squeamish either. But it is a movie for those who like to see directors take big swings, seemingly unconcerned if they whiff every now and then.

While it necessarily lacks the joy of discovery the first movie brought, “The Lego Movie 2” is still a breathless romp, landing enough jokes a minute to discourage over-analysis. It’s a good time at the movies, which is all a Lego movie really owes us for the price of admission.

Hawkins is fantastic. She duplicates Maud’s gnarled hands, but doesn’t overdo it — she simply captures Maud’s struggle and portrays it as part of her life.

Wild Grass retains a literary feel with the help of an unseen narrator, who offers intriguing poetic observations. And Resnais' visuals are equally lyrical. What can you say: The French sure know how to make pretty pictures.

The film is cute and funny, but it’s also action-packed and much more thrilling than you might expect from a Disney movie, with the same heartwarming lessons you would expect. It's a gem in Disney's new catalog.

As an encore for Brand's Aldous, it's a welcome return. And for Hill, it's a chance to really shine.

It’s a surprising film in many ways. Both for its thoughtfulness and the way the plot unfurls into thriller territory as Casey falls deeper under Sensei's spell.

The film winds up being a collection of striking visuals without any emotional heft.

Don’t think about the details too much. Just enjoy the exquisite agony of watching people squirm, and you’ll like “Drop” just fine.

The film only works if Ethan Hawke is scary. And he is.

In the Fade is a tragedy in three acts, their varying tone and effectiveness held together, however tenuously, by a powerhouse performance.

It’s a jumbled, intriguing, inconsistent mess — and yes, it is uncomfortable by design.

The film’s intentions are noble enough, but its story doesn’t always live up to them.

It’s an interesting film, consistently entertaining, a mile wide and an inch deep.

By the end of the ride, we’ll see glimpse of happiness, sadness, joy, heartbreak, maybe even tragedy, if cell phone-shot recollections are to be believed. All bases are covered, in other words, in one late-afternoon ride, a ride Gondry and his cast will make you want to take.

It's a short film, weighing in at 79 minutes, but that feels about right. You probably wouldn't want to spend a lot more time with these folks, no matter how intriguing their company. You won't necessarily enjoy the visit, not all of it. But you won't be bored, and for grown-ups with kids looking for a night out, that's something.

An unorthodox delight.

It’s not the best movie of the summer, not by a long shot, but if there’s such a thing as smarter dumb fun, this is probably it.