Still, it's not the iconic, be-all-end-all that Scott was certainly hoping for.

Spencer makes sure few people will ever forget Ma. She’s the primary reason this genre exercise works to the extent that it does, taking what easily could have been an early-summer eye-roller and turning into a genuinely enjoyable guilty-pleasure thrill ride.

Raggedy as it is, Don't Be a Menace offers at least a momentary comic antidote to the casual horrors that have become entirely too familiar to today's youngsters. [19 Jan 1996, p.L28]

Palmer is a tiny film, but it’s got a big heart, and that helps make it a pleasant and uplifting diversion at a time when many of us could use one.

The result is an exhausting and ungainly mish-mash of a movie that pretends to have something to say but doesn’t really. Similarly, it doesn’t know what it wants to be or — consequently — who its audience is.

The joy of Hysteria, like the joy of certain other things, isn't necessarily rooted in the element of surprise. Rather, it's in the pleasure of the path taken to get to that crescendo.

One heck of a fun film -- and the most enjoyable and rewarding superhero movie I've seen in a while.

Camp's handsomely shot new Benji manages to find that sweet spot between wholesome and enjoyable. It is cute without seeming desperate, nostalgic without feeling dated, values-based without being preachy, and sweet without being (too) cloying.

Blending old-school practical effects with computer-enhanced explosions of blood and viscera, Renfield tips its cap to the past without being overly reverential to it. Add in frequent outbursts of meticulously choreographed action sequences, and we end up with a film that is more fun than frightening.

Rather than focusing on the most fascinating part of the story -- that would be the establishment and subsequent dissolution of free state after which the film is named -- his film devolves into a series of belabored points, high-minded pontifications and audience manipulation.

This latest Goofy flick is, along with "Aladdin," one of the most contemporary in feeling of any of the recent Disney releases; its humor is distinctly of the moment, and references to current trend-setters abound. [14 Apr 1995, p.L28]

It's not really a Disney film. Rather, this is a product of Starz Animation. It's a key distinction, because -- well, because Starz Animation is no Disney, and it's certainly no Pixar. It proves that here.

Despite its adoption of that trendy (and more than a little tired) shooting style, there's an old-fashioned charm to Earth to Echo.

While Badham's film will be best appreciated by those unfamiliar with Besson's forerunner, "Point" has at least two major virtues of its own. The first is Fonda's bravura performance as Maggie, which rivals Anne Parillaud's strong work in the first film. And the second is the choice of music by Nina Simone (five tunes in all, including such master works as "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair" and "Feeling Good") to evoke Maggie's emotional states at various points during her strange journey. These two aspects of Badham's remake should make it a worthwhile, if inevitably redundant, experience for those who enjoyed "La Femme Nikita." And they help make it a real winner for thriller buffs who avoid subtitled imports. [23 March 1993, p.C5]

Thanks to Rochefort and Folch, as well as Trueba's delicate direction, it still manages to be an embraceable journey, one with its own quiet -- and artistic -- rewards.

In Tomorrow Never Dies, Brosnan sometimes seems about as dynamic as a Ken doll, but a new, minimalist toughness reveals itself in a tunnel-vision squint and graceful body tension. [19 Dec 1997, p.E9]

This is solidly a genre picture, and one that follows all the necessary conventions -- but it's also one that does it all very well. That means lots of big, dumb and loud action -- but it also means good, popcorny, summer fun.

Marking the Oscar-winning actress’ feature directing debut, it’s unquestionably a formula film, telling the story of a talented but troubled fighter whose must overcome long odds, crippling self-doubt and tragic life circumstances to achieve in-the-ring redemption. Familiar though that plot might be, it’s the way she fills in the blanks that gives her film a sense of something new.

Thank goodness for Rainey. Even when the story feels false, he never does, operating with an open-faced sense of easy honesty that is missing from much of the rest of the film.

If there’s a knock on the first Coming to America, it’s that its two-hour running time often felt a touch padded. But that’s better than the entirely forgettable Coming 2 America, which is pretty much all padding.

Regardless of how well-argued it is, when watching a film feels this much like homework, that's not likely to happen.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday presents Holiday as a victim and little more. Ignored is the fact that the self-destructive Holiday bears at least some culpability for the slow-motion tragedy that was her life — and for her all-too-early death at 44 years old. Daniels, who seems to have made the classic mistake of falling in love with his subject, apparently doesn’t have time for such nuance.

A rewarding, moving and satisfyingly original film.

She could stand to learn a lesson herself, from another magical governess -- you know, the one about the spoon full of sugar.

The new Superfly is, simply, a terrible movie. It is slick, and it boasts action, hot tunes and style to spare. But beyond the polish that a deep-pocketed studio backer can buy -- in this case, Sony's Columbia Pictures shingle -- this is a shamefully hollow movie that fails on multiple levels.

It feels more like a poor man's "Poltergeist, " minus the static-filled TV.

Part 2 really is a continuation of "Part 1," both from a story standpoint and from an artistic standpoint.

It's a shame to see Washington and Goodman, who share some ruefully humorous moments here trading philosophical banter as well as partnerly support, doing thoughtful work in such a thankless context. [16 Jan 1998, p.L22]