The handling of the faith aspect is actually one of the stronger parts of the film. Some movies like this lay it on thick, basically existing as a religious recruitment video. Here, and here alone, Ellis lays off and lets the audience think things through. The message is more effective this way.

The “Toy Story” saga felt fully complete without it, which makes this a movie that doesn’t really need to exist, but whose existence doesn’t diminish the whole, either.

“Last Black Man” pulses with undeniable energy and the promise of other, even better films to come. As director Joe Talbot’s first movie, it’s impossible to imagine it will be his last.

The buddy comedy Papi Chulo could go wrong in all sorts of ways, so it’s kind of a minor miracle how much it actually gets right. Funny, empathetic and tender, it pretty much sneaks up and catches you off-guard with its sly charms.

It’s ironic that a film about bucking formula is itself so formulaic. There’s nothing wrong with such inoffensive pleasantness, but if Late Night wants to advocate setting fire to the system in pursuit of more meaningful art, it should have led the charge.

The Dead Don’t Die isn’t bad, exactly. It’s just that with all this talent and all this beautiful weirdness at hand, it could have been so much better.

In the end, this may be a case of a pop-culture icon being dragged down by the weight of trying remain relevant past its prime. It’s not woke, but you can’t call it racist. Maybe racist-ish. Misogynistic-ish. Entertaining-ish.

If you insist on seeing Men in Black: International, do yourself a favor and zap yourself with an official MIB neuralyzer, erasing all memories of previous films in the franchise.

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.

The animation is clean and colorful, and punchlines hit their mark with adults and children under director Chris Renaud's guidance for a second time. But they also heavily hit audiences with action from three loosely tied story lines, making many "meanwhile" breaks between stories. It is a movie for kids, after all.

Loopers: The Caddie's Long Walk treads far too lightly upon a decades-long racial divide between caddies and golfers, falling silent on the subject as a hushed gallery during a backswing.

You come to a Godzilla movie for the epic fights, and on that front, Dougherty delivers.

Ma is one loony little horror film, and Octavia Spencer has a grand old time being the craziest thing in it.

Give in to the fantasy and it's a fun and fascinating ride that offsets moments of real pathos (from heartbreaking portraits of childhood rejection to him literally hitting bottom in his swimming pool) with scenes that definitely capture the exhilaration of becoming Elton John

The pacing and writing are as smart as the film's title. Early moments are worth a chuckle, but the laugh-out-loud, top-shelf jokes happen when night falls.

As much as Swinton Byrne and Burke add lived-in qualities to their characters, there's really not much to like about the leads or their toxic relationship that unravels at a mind-numbing pace.

It all has the air of a community theater troupe performing in a Disney parade, overeager in the exaggerated artifice. That's well enough for an amusement park, but on film it's embarrassing.

While the film’s last 30 seconds are refreshing, they hardly redeem the previous 90 minutes of utter predictability.

Under the perfectly paced direction of Ry Russo-Young (“Before I Fall”), Shahidi and Melton develop an easy chemistry on the way toward a satisfying denouement that’s neither tear-jerking tragedy nor fairy-tale wish fulfillment.

How do you make a legend as imposing as Shakespeare flesh? All Is True suggests you can't, if not even Branagh, Dench, McKellen, et al. can bring him down to earth. Maybe it's for the best that the real man is unknowable, that man is simply the work itself.

Happily, this is a movie about not just idealism but practical idealism, and the struggle that maintaining it requires. It looks drop-dead gorgeous and, despite a few storytelling short cuts, it's unexpectedly moving.

It doesn’t just maintain the momentum built in the previous chapters but further ramps up the emotional stakes and physical complexity. It’s like gorging on candy for two hours, only you get to walk away from the theater without a stomachache.

Even though Trial by Fire is less than a masterpiece, it still came as a gut punch that forced me to examine my own complicated feelings on the issue. In short, it taught me something, and that was a surprise.

Director Dome Karukoski guides the actors well with a perfectly British script containing dry, witty humor. However, the movie leaves one longing for a little more.

Shadow is a terrific film — gorgeous, violent, Byzantine, inventive, just a joy to watch. Once it gets going.

The movie relies on the chemistry between Reynolds and Smith plus nostalgia, but it works well. This might be the best video game-based movie yet. So when it comes to tickets, movie-goers gotta catch 'em all.

Long Shot is a love story for underdogs, whether they're gifted but out-there wackos or glamorous glass-ceiling breakers. It's unsurprising that this raunchy dark horse could charm anyone to hit the polls.

It’s long on violence and short on storytelling. It aims high, working in the realm of myths, but it does so in hit-or-miss fashion.