While some of the darker threads in the movie are welcome – Guardians was in danger of becoming overtly jokey – it suffers from many of the same problems that have dogged the latest round of comic book movies: a too-long running time, not enough genuine excitement, a generic villain, and a weak ending that doesn’t justify all the build-up.

The story is pure exploitation but the style bespeaks a more artistic bent. The film can be enjoyed (to the degree it can be enjoyed) for its excesses, perverse humor, and excursions into blood, barbarism, and violence, but the narrative doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Unfortunately, Kelly’s reach exceeds his grasp and the movie’s thematic content comes across as muddled and superficial.

Wolfs is a pleasant enough experience. At 108 minutes, it’s not too long and, putting aside the aggravating manner in which Watts ends the story, it goes down easily.

Sadly, about the nicest thing I can say about What Happens in Vegas is that I didn't hate it - although I suppose that's something.

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

The result, while capable of painlessly occupying 90 minutes, isn't remarkable enough to recommend as more than a home video rental.

If The Player set the bar high for this sub-genre, Levinson's attempt, which too often falls prey to self-indulgence and tedium, comes up significantly short.

There's real heart to be found in the story but it comes along with borderline saccharine sentimentality, a too facile ending, and clean outcomes that aren't earned.

Certain plot elements that made sense in the original are less logical in this one, especially when one considers the differences in bonds between mothers and children and fathers and children.

This movie was made to be shown to junior high history classes, not audiences in a movie theater.

The problem with The Book of Eli is that the narrative isn't a match for its sentiments. The script feels like it's an iteration or two short of a final draft.

Though Kansas City has its share of arresting moments, the production as a whole is too superficial to be considered amongst the director's best work.

It’s an adequate horror movie with the requisite atmospherics and jump-scares, and it provides Conjuring fans with their fix. However, as the latest chapter of what is now a trilogy, it’s a disappointment.

Larry Crowne should not be mistaken for a masterpiece. It is summer entertainment: genial, undemanding, lightweight.

Deadfall suffers most obviously from a sense of not being adequately developed.

The movie as a whole is pleasant, generally satisfying, and has a heart as big as its funny bone. For an early January movie, this is sometimes as good as it gets.

The real problem with Fahrenheit 9/11 isn't that it attacks the current Republican administration, but that it does so clumsily and with poor focus.

A serviceable thriller - no more, no less.

So howlingly awful that it has unwittingly found a place in that elite group of films that can claim to be "so bad they're good."

From start to finish, A Life Less Ordinary feels like a group of sometimes amusing, sometimes clever, and sometimes tedious skits forced to fit together.

The similarities between Daddy’s Home 2 and last week’s release, "A Bad Moms Christmas," are striking. Not only are the two films sequels to successful first installments but they follow the similar template of bringing back the most popular elements of the first movie, stirring veteran actors into the mix, and finishing everything off with a big kumbaya moment.

Wyatt Earp's attempts to cover so many years lead to too many scenes with little emotional power. The film doesn't shoot blanks, and it is better than Tombstone, but, considering the names involved, a little disappointment isn't out of the question.

187 offers some thought-provoking ideas and several effective performances, but the script ultimately lets down both the actors and the audience members who are watching them.

The best medium in which to view Countdown to Zero is on The History Channel, not in a theater.

If all it took was verisimilitude and atmosphere to define a movie, The Witch would earn a near-perfect rating. Unfortunately, despite a creepily effective setting and authentic setup, the movie suffers as a result of a frustratingly uneven screenplay.

Twilight isn't an especially good movie, but neither is it an abomination. At times, the dialogue is laugh-aloud bad - almost to the point of being hilarious.

While Straczynski should be commended for remaining reasonably true to the historical record, this results in an open-ended conclusion that isn't entirely satisfying.

Like its main character, the production rarely seems ready for prime time.

While the Peter Parker stuff is enjoyable, that’s only part of what the movie is giving us. Every time Peter puts on the Spidey suit, we know exactly what we’re going to get, beat-by-beat.

The central problem with Rise of the Planet of the Apes is that it feels more like a piece of something larger than a complete motion picture.

Suffice it to say that those who love the play will sit enraptured through Wicked for Good and not think it’s a minute too long. Those without the same depth of connection may leave wishing Chu had hired a less generous editor and made better use of his pruning shears.

While this sort of film has its share of pleasures, it runs out of steam long before the end credits arrive. At some point just past the middle, it goes on autopilot. The glimpses of cleverness become less frequent and the movie seems more interested in upping the body count than advancing the (admittedly thin) story.

P2 doesn't crash and burn, but its finale is more generic than what the effective first hour leads us to hope for.

Race, like "42," does a workmanlike job of bringing the lead character to life and explaining his historical importance, but it fails to transcend the genre.

If there are any "24" fans who have wondered what the TV series might be like if Liam Neeson replaced Kiefer Sutherland, Taken provides an opportunity to have that question answered.

One thing missing from Fight or Flight is the kind of Tarantino-inspired banter that elevated Bullet Train. In fact, the production is only fitfully successful in transcending the boundaries of a generic action film.

As YA romances go – and there are plenty to choose from – this is a lesser option.

Director Clark Johnson and screenwriter George Nolfi (adapting the novel by Gerald Petievich) do an excellent job of setting things up and getting the story underway. Unfortunately, some of their hard work is undone during the movie's final third.

To really work, The Bourne Legacy either needed to turn the title character into a 007-type who can change his face or bring back Damon in some capacity, even if just for a cameo. Neither happens and that works to the movie's detriment.

The Old Man & the Gun’s problems relate to a lack of balance. The movie is fine when it focuses on Redford – at least until the anti-climactic final act when it loses energy and momentum – but dead-in-the-water where the other actors/characters are concerned.

Wonderstruck is an evocative movie with a vaguely disappointing narrative that, although it reaches a conclusion, doesn’t justify the patience viewers must exhibit to reach that point

This is one of those middle-of-the-road art pictures that will impress some music lovers and attract a small audience, but won't really excite anyone. Copying Beethoven does not do for its title composer what Amadeus did for Mozart, and that's a shame.

The Shadow's problems have nothing to do with the basic premise; rather, they are flaws in execution. The setup promises something more invigorating than it delivers.

If there’s one thing that saves Us, it’s that, even as the movie descends into a narrative morass from which it never escapes, there are many individual scenes that, taken in isolation, pack a punch. The problem is that, once assembled into the larger whole, it doesn’t all work.

Inkheart looks good and is well acted but, in the end, it left me indifferent.

Indy's companions are weak; we don't identify with them the way we did with Marion and Sallah. There's less action and more overt comedy, and neither change works to the benefit of the story.

Maxxxine is the weakest of the three members of the X Trilogy. It’s as if West and Goth were too enamored with the character to let her fade away, so they contrived a scattershot and ultimately unsatisfying way to return her to the screen.

An interesting plot element or two and a stylish visual approach can't save James Foley's The Corruptor from coming across as a run-of-the-mill cop movie.

An example of a vampire movie for the new century -- stylish, gothic, gory, and loud.

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.

It's surprising to admit that the British comedian, known far and wide for his willingness to take risks, plays it safe in The Invention of Lying - a fault from which the movie never truly recovers.

Captain America falls into the prevalent pitfalls of origin stories. So much time and effort is expended explaining how the protagonist gains his super-powers (and exploring his initial usage of them) that there's not enough opportunity to develop a compelling storyline beyond his "baptism."

Kids will have fun, parents probably won’t be bored, but will anyone really care? Sing 2 is a product and, like many products, it exists mostly to distract and make money.

The movie is unpolished, unabashedly un-PC, and takes on as many "sacred cows" as it can uncover in a slightly-too-long 105 minutes.

This is a mixed bag - passable entertainment made palatable largely by Law, but the question of "Why?" (more than "What's it all about?") still lingers where this remake is concerned.

On a purely visual level, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets deserves mention among the most technically accomplished works of those three. But as a complete motion picture experience, it falls considerably short.

Given some of the dubious decisions made in crafting the 1987 film, there was ample opportunity to make vast improvements. Unfortunately, this Running Man fails to take advantage and, while stumbling on approach to the finish line, it trips and falls in the final moments.

The musical sequences throb with energy and this allows We Are Your Friends to maintain its trajectory when its momentum flags.

There are some problems but most are related to the uneven screenplay and not the performances of Cage or his co-star, Robin Tunney.

The movie is entertaining on a superficial level, but there's little beneath the surface.

One of the great unanswered questions in Hollywood is how Chevy Chase still gets work. Although his appeal is not as incomprehensible as that of, say, Pauly Shore, it's not obvious, either; "range" is one word no one will ever use in conjunction with Chase's acting ability.

Kristen Bell shines as Veronica, playing the character as a more mature version of her TV persona.

Escape from New York isn't really science fiction -- it's an action flick set in a futuristic setting. Epic potential for a masterful, gripping tale is abandoned in favor of cheap thrills.

While The Beta Test does a solid job of presenting Jordan as the kind of person ripe for a comeuppance and giving us a high-octane performance to go with it, the movie falls down when it comes to basic storytelling.

Instead of focusing on FDR as a president, this movie gives up half its length to tawdry soap opera.

The movie is pretty much what you might expect from a big-screen adaptation of a once-popular '60s TV series: good-natured, appealing, and sophomoric.

Despite its many strengths, Thank You for Smoking hovers around mediocrity, and its lasting impression is like a puff of smoke that is dissipated by a strong gust of wind.

Sure, the viewer who wants to see a tightly-paced thriller with gun-play and emotionally-satisfying moments won't be disappointed, but there is a little more here than simple escapism. Although it takes a number of wrong turns, Falling Down still has the power to disturb.

While Caché offers food for thought, the last third is muddled.

The plot is borderline ridiculous and certainly doesn't stand up to close (or even not-so-close) scrutiny, but there's a level of entertainment to be had watching it unfold in all its strangeness.

Enough conspiracies and secret codes to make Dan Brown sit up and take notice. All this and more can be found in David Robert Mitchell’s bizarre, trippy Under the Silver Lake, where the plot at times seems as perpetually stoned as Andrew Garfield’s lead character.

It ends up feeling a little like warmed-over "Strictly Ballroom" without Baz Lurhmann's over-the-top sense of style.

On the whole, this is another disappointing animated effort and it resides considerably lower on the totem pole than this year's current non-live action champion, "Ratatouille."

The cinematic equivalent of cotton candy: certainly not unpleasant, but not especially satisfying despite the sweet taste.

The arrival of the uncut Godzilla is a great boon to monster movie fans, but will have limited appeal to others.

Director/co-writer Gillian Robespierre is nowhere near as self-indulgent as Noah Baumbach but she’s aiming for the same audience.

Ultimately, the greatest fault with Killing Zoe may lie in Avary's ambition. In trying to do too much (crime film, love story, psychological thriller, and dissection of an alienated generation) with a ninety-minute motion picture, his focus becomes blurred. Regardless, with a style that alternately recalls John Woo and Sam Peckinpah, and a tone that is nihilistic in the extreme, he has created a movie that, while obviously flawed, isn't easily forgotten.

The key term here is "fairy tale," because, although the movie occasionally tries for dramatic moments, they're overplayed, undercooked, and divorced from reality.

The only thing that differentiates it from far too many other uninspired rom-coms is that some of the material is funny and there is an occasional edge to the repartee. Beyond that, however, it's a cookie-cutter movie, and the cookies are pretty stale.

Bland and forgettable - a romantic comedy with affable characters and some funny lines, but where love never really takes flight. It fizzles when it should sizzle.

Narratively, The Song of Sway Lake doesn’t have much going for it but when it comes to capturing the tone of a specific locale, the approach of director Ari Gold is without peer.

There's probably enough content here to warrant a three-hour movie but Good People is only 90 minutes long.

Although it’s being marketed as a love story, The Aftermath is more about grief and recovery than romance. In fact, the film’s illicit relationship is a cold, passionless affair that generates as much heat as a dying ember in a snowstorm.

Although the first half still works – largely due to the performance of Anne Bancroft as the iconic Mrs. Robinson – the second half is a mess with only a couple of funny lines to recommend it.

The problem with Beasts of the Southern Wild is that, like "The Tree of Life," it seeks to integrate its small, very personal story into a much larger, more ambitious tapestry.

I enjoyed The Osiris Child enough that, when it stopped with the complete story half-told, I felt a flash of irritation. For that reason, until more is made (if more is made – a prospect that seems questionable at best), I can’t really recommend The Osiris Child.

It's often diverting and occasionally funny, but it's ultimately inconsequential.

Into the Woods left me out in the cold. The long-gestating cinematic adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's fairy tale-infused Broadway musical, Into the Woods can claim a clever screenplay and a few enjoyable performances but little else.

The final half-hour of Broken Embraces is littered with facile contrivances and plot turns worthy of a soap opera. It's almost mystifying, and more than a little frustrating, to watch a movie cruising at such a high level suddenly suffer a complete breakdown and lose too much altitude.

Enjoyable, but it's a shallow enjoyment.

Booty Call isn't a source of nonstop laughs, and there are a lot of gags that fall flat, but, on those sporadic occasions when something works, the result can be hilarious.

Unlike the Harry Potter movies, The House with a Clock in Its Walls fails to find the sweet spot for cross-generational appeal.

The most important part of any thriller - even one as upper crust as this - is the resolution, and that's where Notes on a Scandal falls on its face. The ending itself isn't bad but the single act leading to it is unforgivable.

It's a fast-paced motion picture that fails the "reality test" but maintains a certain intensity for its entire running length. It's entertaining in the same way that an episode of "24" is entertaining.

Despite being sold and marketed as a thriller, the most interesting aspects of Shot Caller are the dramatic ones.

Despite rave reviews, film festival awards, and an Oscar nomination, Spellbound comes across as little more than a marginally compelling documentary -– the kind of movie that would be at home on PBS.

For the Watchmen fan, this may be as close to the Holy Grail as a motion picture could come. For everyone else, a sense of frustration and disappointment is not unwarranted. Watchmen is many things but it is not the Next Great Comic Book Movie or the film that will advance graphic novel adaptations to the next level.