Mostly, by story's end, we're just glad they and their unfortunate clothing are out of our sight for good.

Oz the Great and Powerful is an oppressive, bloated bore.

Joyful Noise is too tone-deaf to put its few blessings to good use.

If "Casino Royale" and "The Bourne Ultimatum" represent the new breed of 21st century action, then Rush Hour 3 is Stone Age stuff. The movie aims for irreverent, but delivers irrelevant instead. Let's hope the Rush Hour series stalls here.

The things that stay with you are the dull, boilerplate love story, the laziest performance of Liam Neeson’s career as a murderous gunslinger and the distracting amount of makeup Seth MacFarlane sports in the film.

Director Coline Serreau has a deft touch with sugary material. Her Three Men and a Cradle is a slick, confident comedy that moves from point to predictable point without a surprise, but moves so gently and gracefully that it seems by the end something more than it is. [23 May 1986, p.D5]

This movie couldn’t be more fantastical if dragons swooped down and incinerated London, Paris and the south of France.

Last Man Standing is utterly bereft of humor -- Hill plays every scene perfectly straight -- and it's a drag. There's no cleverness to Smith's machinations, no joy in watching his plans come to fruition. [20 Sep 1996, p.6G]

A devilish little comedy whose urbane, satirical humor will probably sail right over the heads of audiences weaned on Scream.

Isn't riveting, but it's diverting enough.

With all the obvious work that went into this beautifully detailed, giant-scale movie, and considering the historical importance of the subject matter, was it too much to ask for a trace of intelligence, or maturity, or even insight?

It's pretty stupid, although it's never exactly boring.

In the sequel, Weitz lays on a pop song and slow-motion during a critical scene involving the sudden reappearance of a fearsome villain, giving everything an MTV-slick, teen-friendly gloss and reminding you this is just a movie -- a somewhat silly and hollow one.

The movie is quick and breezy for its first half-hour, then seems to grind down to a deadened pace: The actors' routines lose their freshness, and the nonexistent story line becomes apparent. The jokes get worse, too. Fortunately, at 80 minutes, the film is too brief to drag. [21 April 1992, p.E7]

The Legend of Tarzan doles out big beats of action at regular intervals to keep you awake, like a drunkard clashing trashcan lids in an alley late at night. But your eyelids grow heavy anyway.

Stomp the Yard hasn't an original bone in its fierce, sweaty body, but explosive choreography, high-energy moves and a generous helping of hot, frequently shirtless guys offer plenty of entertainment.

A large part of the movie's appeal can be attributed to Wilson, more dour than he's been in ages and yet more interesting, too.

No, it’s not all that sophisticated. But compared to glib junk like Zoolander 2, The Brothers Grimsby is practically high art. Unlike Ben Stiller, at least Cohen is trying.

The fact that Innocent Blood works so well comes as a surprise, since Landis (Oscar, Spies Like Us) hasn't made a satisfying movie in years. But this second foray into the comedy-horror genre seems to have revitalized him: At times, Blood rises to the level of some of Landis' funniest stuff, including Trading Places and Animal House. [25 Sept 1992, p.G5]

You know this supposedly risqué comedy is in trouble when the funniest gag involves a foot cramp during sex.

From the first strains of its overly dramatic, self-important score -- come on, this is not by any stretch of the imagination "Citizen Kane."

It's blunt, to the point, aggressively manipulative and, at 86 minutes, not a minute longer than it needs to be.

Amounts to little more than a downbeat soap opera as half a dozen squatters -- hustler, junkie, stripper, queer, fallen Madonna and skank, with a mentally challenged roomie thrown in for good measure -- try to hold their lives together in a grungy New York loft just days before Christmas. Think "Rent" without the music.

The plot in Angels in the Outfield plods some, enough to make younger kids fidget. Once the premise is established, the movie relies on a noisome reporter threatening to expose the celestial help to add suspense. The humor is aimed squarely at kiddies and is of the nerdy-guy-sits-on-a-tray-of-nachos variety. [15 July 1994, p.G4]

Satisfaction, an adolescent saga about a teeny-bopper rock band hoping to make it big, has Bateman trying to be hip and heavy at once. She comes off like Mallory, the mall-hopping phone monger from the sitcom. [17 Feb 1988, p.D6]

If not for some of Candy's inspired bits, Who's Harry Crumb? would have been nothing more than a watered down Ruthless People. [06 Feb 1989, p.C5]

The movie, while no big deal, makes for much more entertaining viewing than other highly touted vehicles currently fighting for your moviegoing dollars. [25 Apr 1994, p.C2]

It's like an afternoon at the quarter slots -- lots of effort, small payoff. [11 Oct 1982, p.B6]