What we have here is a solid war story with excellent performances, but a largely superficial look at Vietnam's atrocities. If Bat 21 says anything, it's that Hollywood is reluctant to release any more pure-action Vietnam pictures. However thin, there must be some message to the madness. [21 Oct 1988, p.E8]

The dance numbers grow tiresome after a while, and director/screenwriter Ramon Salazar throws in so many calculated oddities that it's impossible for anyone to become too attached to his characters.

Brothers is a collection of strong moments that don't add up to anything. The movie is all build-up.

The movie definitely belongs to the hyper-kinetic Hunter, who originated the role of Carnelle on stage. Still, no matter how many cartwheels or rifle twirls she gives us, Miss Firecracker never becomes more than a pleasant flash. [12 May 1989, p.5]

Jam-packed with plot and characters, Thunderheart nonetheless drags along from scene to scene, never building any momentum or cumulative dramatic effect. It's a dull, muddled whodunit, an exploration of the relationship between Native Americans and white Americans and a tale of soul-searching by an uninteresting character. And none of it works. [3 Apr 1992, p.G13]

Geronimo: An American Legend is noble but hopelessly bland. [10 Dec 1993, p.G4]

Prime may have its unlikely moments, but overall its heart is winningly untraditional and in exactly the right place.

A muddled fantasy revolving around a really good cruise ship piano player, doesn''t live up to its title.

Much of the charm in Tortilla Soup comes from Elizondo as Martín. He plays the devoted patriarch so alluringly.

It would seem Towne is too much in love with the book to recognize its fundamental limitations as a film.

Mildly entertaining but not terribly exciting. Agent 007 seems to have fallen victim to the foulest villainy he has yet encountered: mismanagement behind the camera. The movie cost $34 million, but you don't see it on the screen. [14 July 1989, p.4]

The story falters only at the end, but it's the ride, not the destination, that you remember and savor the most.

There will be opportunities to see the picture in regular 24 frames per second, but I recommend going the whole hog and sampling what Jackson has come up with - a new way to watch movies and a new take on a universe that seemed to have exhausted its narrative possibilities.

What does set Shrek the Third apart is the quality of its animation, which reaches a level of expressiveness in the faces that would make even Hollywood's heavily Botoxed live-action stars envious.

Explorers is good at probing the wrinkles of the 14-year-old heart and boys are always better than other-world beings.

The movie is an exceedingly slight tale whose entire second half consists primarily of special effects and wonderful set designs.

Isn't exactly memorable, and as far as its prison setting goes, it has nothing on HBO's infinitely more brutal "Oz." But as late-summer time killers go, you could do worse.

The Hollywood action genre, sliding into a lazy dependence on computer-generated fakery, needs this authentic kick to the head delivered by Jet Li.

Guaranteed to beguile anyone who can remember the joy -- and agony -- of anticipating the first time.

Even frothier and more frivolous than the first movie: It's a heist picture so laid-back and unconcerned, even the heist feels like an afterthought.

No one creates fantasy like George Lucas, and there's nothing quite like a big, cornball fantasy to start the summer. This one is the biggest yet, and it is hard to imagine anyone not being entertained by it. It is, as we used to say around the galaxy a long time ago, a tour de force. [25 May 1983, p.D1]

A brisk and lively cinematic Cliff's Notes of the 2005 nonfiction bestseller that made the lofty promise to reveal "the hidden side of everything."

Some episodes are funnier than others, but they're all underscored by a pervasive melancholy.

In Fading Gigolo, writer-director John Turturro turns what could have easily been a crass and unpleasant comedy into something soulful and substantial — with a lot of laughs, too.

Escape from Tomorrow is more of an experimental film than a traditional narrative, but intrepid viewers — or anyone who has ever visited a Disney park — will enjoy getting lost in this dark house of happy horrors.

In the end, a sports movie is only as good as the adrenalin rush it provides in the climactic match, and there, finally, Glory Road hits on all cylinders with nonstop action and a powerful emotional impact.

As it is, Gemma Bovery is as dry as day-old bread: Not inedible, but why bother with it if you can find something fresher?

We Bought a Zoo is the most formulaic movie Cameron Crowe has ever made: It is so generic, you could review it with a flow chart.