LaBeouf, who appeared to hit a low in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," has sunk to greater levels of incompetence here.

Although it would be unfair to label Cars 2 as unwatchable, it is surprisingly tedious in parts and not as satisfying as one might expect.

The product is akin to a mediocre '80s sex comedy (with minimal nudity) and "daring" is a descriptor only the most naïve and puritanical would employ.

The result makes the movie seem assembled from bits and pieces of other superhero yarns rather than existing on a plane of its own.

The result is an effective portrait of a damaged individual uncertain about the meaning of love and commitment and the two key relationships in his life that teach him lessons about both.

Super 8 is in many ways a perfect summer movie: smart, exciting, heartfelt, and suffused with nostalgia.

The Tree of Life falls short of masterful but retains a power that far too many motion pictures lack. It's about SOMETHING and, even when it fails, it does so in a manner that is interesting and not infantile.

It's a deliciously amusing and sometimes surprisingly poignant look at the difficulties of being a 15-year old outsider whose chief goals in life are getting laid and making sure his parents don't split up.

The easiest way to summarize my reaction to X-Men: First Class is with a shrug.

A grim, thought-provoking drama. It aims to be both heartbreaking and (in an odd way) inspirational, although the former is more convincingly conveyed than the latter.

This is the most mature animated feature since "Rango."

It delivers what it's expected to deliver, and that's likely to make it a success with anyone who laughed his ass off two summers ago.

The film is constructed in such a way that suspension of disbelief isn't too hard because there's something universal in what Allen explores. Like Santa Claus, we know it's not real but the idea is so appealing that we go along with the fantasy.

As a movie, On Stranger Tides would have to be considered a failure. The story does not engage, the characters are stick figures, the action sequences are perfunctory, and the whole enterprise reeks of being a money-grab.

There are not a lot of laughs in Dan Rush's directorial debut, nor are there intended to be. Rush keeps the tone as light as possible, but no one would mistake this for anything other than a quirky, character-based drama.

Bridesmaids is bipolar filmmaking at its most disconcerting, with changes in tone so abrupt that they can cause whiplash. In part because of this and in part because the writing is often lazy and self-indulgent, the movie rarely works.

Perhaps the best thing that can be said about Thor is that it doesn't feel like a cookie-cutter superhero comic book origin story.

Overlong and at times tedious; the taste is gritty and lingers unpleasantly.

Satisfies on a visual and visceral level while leaving the intellectual one cold and shriveled and starving.

In some ways, it's a simple character drama, but the central conundrum disallows an uncomplicated interpretation. I was never bored.

Sadly, passion and romance are two ingredients missing from this melodrama, which does an excellent job of re-creating the Depression-era circus business.

Its unique take on a common subject lends freshness to the familiar and provides a worthy motivation for seeing this.

Scream 4 is so obsessed with the self-referential element that made the original Scream unique that it loses the capacity to be genuinely scary or funny.

The only thing surprising about this lackluster animated production is that it attracted an A-list voice cast.

It's amazing how a lifeless, pointless remake can provoke pangs of nostalgia about a mediocre movie.

Most of the humor in Your Highness is obvious, tepid, and often crude. There are some amusing one-liners but the majority of the comedy makes one realize how brilliant "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" is.

The movie's realistic portrayal of the ingredients that can lead to bullying and other forms of unkindness inflicted on outsiders by those in power, speaks strongly to viewers watching in the 21st century.

It's better than most dramas showing in multiplexes.

Although it would be an exaggeration to claim that Hanna "has it all," it is a richer and more compelling white-knuckler than the average roller coaster ride into tension and mystery.

If there's a complaint to be made about Insidious, it's that the film's second half is unable to live up to the impossibly high standards set by the first half.

Well paced and energetic; it's unlikely to bore anyone.

This movie isn't bad in the way some incompetently made movies are bad; this is bad because there's much skill evident in a pointless endeavor.

The special effects budget is on the high side but those effects serve the story rather than the other way around, and Paul is all the better for it.

The problem with the movie isn't the acting, it's the story, which falls considerably short of the promise of its premise. For a plot about super-intelligent people, the screenplay is surprisingly dumb.

In the best tradition of mystery thrillers of this sort, it satisfies enough on an emotional level that we're willing to forgive any intellectual, procedural, and logical shortcomings.

Jane Eyre is good enough to provide lovers of classic literature with a reason to venture to theaters without being subjected to a salacious or demeaning adaptation.

At least the werewolves in Red Riding Hood have teeth and, when in human form, they don't parade around shirtless.

Watching Battle Los Angeles is akin to observing someone else play a video game with top-notch production values. For a while, it's fun, but immersion is born of involvement.

Rango is the poster child for those who are anti-3-D, and a great reminder that genuine creativity doesn't need a gimmicky crutch to appeal to audiences.

Beastly was made with tween girls in mind. It's the kind of love story a viewer can believe in when she is indiscriminating enough to ignore bad acting, bad writing, and mediocre filmmaking.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about The Adjustment Bureau is that, irrespective of the misdirection of the trailers and T.V. spots, this is more of a romance than a science fiction thriller.

The appeal of Drive Angry is much the same as that of "Piranha": a willingness to revel in absurdity to the degree where the exhilaration is infectious.

Hall Pass isn't by any means flawless, but its ability to integrate extreme scatological humor with moments of genuine feeling is rare.

The recycling goes as deep as the dialogue, which is a mangled and blended refrain of clichés.

Yes, Unknown is preposterous. That in and of itself is not a reason to avoid the movie. The problems lie in the way the absurdity is presented and the manner in which the screenplay resolves once the "truth" is revealed.

Akin to watching a bad sit-com that never ends.

Nothing if not versatile. And, although perhaps not as funny as one might expect given the setup, it successfully grows the main characters beyond their stereotype roots.

Although it's true that a father/son relationship lies at Sanctum's emotional core, the movie is at its best when it highlights the defiance of the protagonists to yield to despair and give up.

It's refreshing to find a horror movie interested in more than slashing and gashing.

It may work for those in search of a good cry but as a story of a damaged woman to touch the soul, it misses the mark.

Adequate light entertainment for those who enjoy thrillers, but it is uneven and the underwhelming ending will disappoint those who enjoyed the delicious irony served up by its predecessor.

There are fitful sparks between him (Kutcher) and Portman, but he is unable to sustain viewer interest in his character. She becomes the dominant figure and that throws off No Strings Attached's balance and impacts the all-important chemistry.

The cumulative experience leaves an aftertaste that, although not bitter, is too strong to be easily washed away. That's the mark of a worthwhile motion picture.

Even as a mindless diversion, it's weak.

The Dilemma downshifts from slapstick to melodrama and back so abruptly that it is at times jarring.

Season of the Witch teeters on the edge of slipping into the "so bad it's good" camp, but ultimately ends up being merely bad.

The only arena in which Gulliver's Travels plays an adequate game is in visual effects.

This movie works best as a sleep tonic. Somewhere isn't just frustratingly slow-moving; it's inert.

Uncompromising, painful, and at times difficult to watch, this movie lays bare more than a few raw nerves. Some viewers will find it too real, too immediate. It's an experience, to be sure, but I wouldn't classify it as entertainment.

Watching Little Fockers is a depressing experience. Rarely does a comedy bring such an overpowering sense of sadness.

Delivers solid drama with a rousing climax - a fully satisfying and uplifting period piece that achieves its dramatic potential without sacrificing historical accuracy.

The Coens have fashioned one of the best Westerns in recent years - a modern reworking of a classic that never feels superfluous.

Made in Dagenham is a useful lesson in history and a reminder that we yet have a distance to travel to attain the goal, but the narrative is dry, safe, and predictable and, as a result, not fully satisfying.

Above all, however, Kevin Spacey is the reason to see Casino Jack. This movie will stand alongside "The Usual Suspects" and "American Beauty" as examples of what the actor is capable of accomplishing when he is properly motivated.

The problem with the film has little to do with the central triangle, which is engaging enough in a formula-driven way, but with the myriad uninteresting subplots that dot the cinematic landscape and have the unfortunate effect of padding the proceedings to the point of unwieldiness.

Megamind is largely what one might expect from an animated movie featuring a number of notable comedians in voice roles: an amusing diversion.

They had 28 years, and this is the best they could come up with?

Not without humor, but it lacks the explosive spontaneity of "The Hangover."

a 95-minute thrill ride from director Tony Scott, delivers the right level of adrenaline.

The result, bolstered by strong acting and an intriguing back story, is an unqualified success. Love and Other Drugs may be the most honest romance to grace the screens during all of 2010.

Grim but holds the attention; it does not, however, offer the kind of mindless action excursion that many will be anticipating.

As preposterous wannabe Hitchcockian thrillers go, this one is adequate.

Cast against type is Amy Adams. Normally tabbed for sweet and innocent roles, Adams here dons the persona of a confrontational bitch.

As a melding of new techniques and technology with old-fashioned methods of storytelling, it's an opportunity for the Magic Kingdom to remind audiences that, when it comes to putting fairy tales on screen, they remain on a higher level.

A small group of viewers will find in Burlesque a gem to treasure for years to come. It's a bad movie lover's wet dream. For the average multiplex stalker, however, it exists somewhere between inconsequential and a waste of time, so that's where I'll peg it.

Ultimately, the plot (irrespective of how faithful it is to real life) isn't the problem - it's the unevenness with which co-directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (both making their directorial debuts) approach it that limits the film's success and mutes the experience of sitting through it.

Despite providing an opportunity to spend 147 minutes in the company of people we have grown to know and love over the years and advancing the narrative toward its final cataclysmic confrontation, The Deathly Hallows Part One underachieves. At a time when Harry Potter should be soaring to new heights, it remains curiously grounded.

A dull, meandering storyline and visuals all-but destroyed by a second-rate 3-D conversion make this movie inferior to its predecessors.

The film, although deeply flawed, is at times compelling, even if it seems as if a reel is missing.

The look and feel of Black Swan, which captures the essence of a major New York ballet production, is one of Aronofsky's great successes.

Offers enough suspense to make it worth the price of admission.

Just plain bad. Boring. Unwatchable.

At times Client 9 feels frustratingly incomplete. Gibney hints at a conspiracy among Spitzer's enemies but is unable to fully substantiate this thesis.

The film is at its best when it is at its most goofy, at times coming close to the laugh-aloud outrageousness of Will Ferrell's "Anchorman."

This is a fascinating story of determination and survival that deserves to be told. It is ultimately uplifting but it's tough going to get to that point.

An entertaining thriller. That said, it's the weakest of the films, falling a length or two behind "The Girl Who Played with Fire," and considerably more than that with respect to "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

Monsters works not because of its representation of alien creatures or its somewhat derivative back story but because of the atypical manner in which it approaches the character-based narrative.

The clumsy and obvious byproduct of the financial success of its predecessor last Halloween, this movie has no reason for existing except to provide Paramount Pictures with a few extra shekels.

Hereafter is a fascinating, absorbing motion picture, but will work only for those willing to surrender to the story as it unspools at its own deliberate rate.

The strongest, most consistent performance is provided by Sam Rockwell, who displays a wide and convincing range of emotions.

The craftsmanship is impeccable as is the acting, but the storytelling is where the movie falls down.

It's a lot of fun and, because of the high quality of the cast, there's no need to feel guilty about praising such an inherently silly motion picture.

The story as a whole seems stale and overly familiar.

Cloying and at times annoying, Life as We Know It is egregiously manipulative, whoring itself out for a few unearned tears.

Whether this is an accurate depiction of how things are in real life, I cannot say, but it's almost always how they are in the movies.

One aspect of Let Me In that makes this motion picture unique is the sense of pathos underlying the various relationships.

Eisenberg, one of those young actors who has existed just below the radar for several years now (he was the lead in both "Zombieland" and "Adventureland," not to be confused with one another), deserves an Oscar for this dead-on portrayal of a temperamental genius.

Taken as a whole, Freakonomics feels almost like an extended episode of 60 Minutes with a lot of childish animation and some awkward connecting sequences.