Barker, who wasn't involved with the earlier Candyman, has never yet matched his stunning 1987 writer-director debut Hellraiser-and he never will if he keeps coming up with projects like this. [17 Mar 1995, p.J]

With a weak script, utterly unsympathetic characters and a nonsensical plot, it can barely keep plodding along.

The directive behind this sequel, clearly, was non-stop action. Let's think about that phrase a second. Do we really want our action movies to deliver action that does not stop? Ever? I get a little tired of action sequences that won't stop.

With all the songs, gowns and corny jokes, kids under 10 will likely love it, and frankly, that’s who this is for, not the millennials or Gen Z kids who grew up with Brandy or Hillary Duff.

The plot thickens and thickens and thickens until it chokes on a tangled mess of double-crosses.

Whimsical, well-crafted comedy-mystery in which detective Chevy Chase returns to Earth in the body of that charming little mutt, Benji. A surprisingly adult film in several ways -- there's some middle level profanity and as much wit and pathos as there is cuteness. [11 July 1980, p.8]

Serves up horrendous lead acting, murky cinematography, bland atmosphere, unengaging romance, mug-crazy cameo performances, bash-on-the-head satire and ill-timed slapstick gags that look like outtakes from a Bozo the Clown show gone berserk. [20 Oct 1995]

Without the brute vigilante junk, this 82-minute picture would be approximately 2 minutes long.

She`s Having a Baby wants to be everyone`s story, but its hollowness makes it no one`s.

Though it does know how to hammer home a point, Hardware doesn't always have matching nuts and bolts. It has an anarchic quality, a jolting, disorienting rhythm that makes us unsure of time frame in certain stretches and of motivation in others. [14 Sep 1990, p.I]

Likable but relentlessly trivial.

It may entertain you if you don't mind senseless stories and screaming soundtracks.

Were it not for young star Amanda Bynes' energetic good nature in the face of drab dialogue and wooden stereotypes, What a Girl Wants might have been a career-ending movie violation rather than just an embarrassing fender-bender.

Home Again" is pure fantasy, all softly-lit, perfectly styled, looking like the cover of Sunset magazine. A world where a 40-year-old single mom is pursued by no fewer than four handsome men. But within that fantasy is also a wonderfully deft demonstration of feminine autonomy in matters of sex, love and marriage.

This “Last Dance” may be shaggy, silly and even a little bit stupid — and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, especially when it’s winking so hard at its own genre play.

The jokes seem lame and the rivalry fraudulent, as the two boys play with their big guns.

It's hard to imagine what prompted Eastwood to direct and star in such a creaky vehicle unless this was his commercial payback to Warner Bros. for letting him make his excellent, financially disastrous White Hunter, Black Heart this year. [07 Dec 1990, p.C]

A half-silly, half-earnest indie with the soul of a John Hughes-era sex comedy.

Arkin in particular can barely hide his lack of enthusiasm for the material. Some of the looks he shoots his co-stars appear to contain a secret code of some kind, deciphered as: 'Well, at least I'm in 'Argo.'"

More of a physical achievement in moviemaking than a piece of storytelling, but I do recommend it on that basis. [15 January 1999, Friday, p.A]

There are some cute visuals now and then, but overall Good Burger may raise your blood pressure and, if you suffer through the entire 94 minutes, perhaps even lower your IQ.

Hellbound offers a consistent, low-level queasiness, an effect more of revulsion than horror. It's nothing that a good shot of Pepto-Bismol wouldn't take care of.

It has moments of Guest-like faux earnestness that instantly mark it as one of the smartest and most insightful comedies of the year. But imitation only takes you so far, and by the film's sagging final 30 minutes, it's evident "NBT" isn't quite up to the master's standards.

Let's say you find yourself at the multiplex, and the first 20 minutes of Mr. Woodcock happen to correspond with the 20 minutes you need to waste before your movie of choice begins. Those are the ideal 20 minutes to spend with this marginally promising--but ultimately unfunny--comedy.

Despite a few interesting moments, Iron Eagle looks and sounds like an extended televison commercial that encourages young people to be all they can be . . . in a supersonic fighting machine. [20 Jan 1986, p.3C]

The most interesting story about this movie would be the amount of money Hawn and Sylbert got paid for ripping off ''Private Benjamin,'' and how they managed to lure the usually talented director Michael Ritchie (''The Candidate,'' ''Smile'') into joining their caper. Their story of wheeling and dealing would make a more exciting movie than ''Wildcats,'' which concludes with--you`ll never guess--a championship game between Goldie`s dirty two-dozen and the seemingly invincible crosstown rivals....Believe me: The tension will send you immediately to the candy counter.

Thanks to the director, what they do makes for painless “avoidance viewing” — something to kill 100 minutes or so while you’re avoiding something else, delivered in an impersonal but not unskillful manner.

A dish that's pretty easy to swallow, but if it could have borrowed some of Isabella's more potent spices, it might have boasted a more lasting flavor.