Temple shows a better path for horror films to follow but the screenplay is too threadbare and the characters too poorly developed for it to really work. This is about 2/3 of a solid effort – unfortunately, the other 1/3 was never made.

I'm not convinced there was a compelling reason to remake La Femme Nikita. The original stands well on its own, and, having been made only a few years ago, it's definitely not dated. Nevertheless, mainstream American audiences hate subtitles, so this won't be the last foreign language film to receive this treatment. In terms of style and originality, Point of No Return can't compare to its inspiration, but, for a Hollywood thriller, it's more than adequate.

It's an awkward technique that outlived its usefulness more than four decades ago. I like the movie, but hate its presentation.

Weaknesses in the movie’s final 15-20 minutes don’t detract from how enjoyable the rest of the film is with its over-the-top gore, wild misdirections, surprising twists, and unsubtle stereotype-based lampooning.

This is a beautifully shot motion picture, and there's no doubt that the lush scenery upstages the actors.

The most enjoyable parts of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty are his fantasies, such as one in which he stands up to his boss in a way he never would in real life.

Although The Eclipse is technically a horror film, dealing as it does with issues of the supernatural, it has the heart of a romance and the tone of a drama. It's slow, thoughtful, and melancholy - at times seeming to forget that a ghost story is supposed to be at least marginally scary.

Take away the performances, and all that would be left is a cheapish B-grade motion picture.

Wonder Woman 1984 is overlong, tonally inconsistent, and poorly paced. Although it raises the bar during its final hour, the viewer has to navigate about 90 minutes of action-deficient, sometimes nonsensical narrative to get to the point where the title character (again played to perfection by Gal Gadot) does something other than moon over her lost love, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine).

The film's dramatic underpinning and the way it addresses impending empty nest syndrome are solid but the comedy varies from mildly amusing to achingly awful.

A movie that is relentlessly inoffensive and completely unoriginal –- two qualities that combine to make it only sporadically charming and rarely (if ever) compelling.

Although The Muppet Christmas Carol doesn’t really work as an adaptation of the beloved Dickens novel or as a Muppet movie, it nevertheless works on its own terms for a niche audience. It’s the kind of high concept family film that can be carted out every Christmas season and enjoyed in the same way as “Frosty the Snowman”, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, or “The Year without a Santa Claus.”

As a follow-up/homage, Chapter 1 isn’t bad but it feels superfluous, adding little substantive to what was previously provided by The Strangers and the second film in the series, 2018’s The Strangers: Prey at Night.

The movie, which features numerous dead-end side-stories and glaring plot holes, is short on narrative and long on allegory.

I appreciate that Ponsoldt doesn't go for cheap tears through over-sentimentality, but his detached, low-key approach distances viewers from the characters. I watched the drama unfold from afar but was never involved on an emotional level.

Aquaman refuses to do anything original or unpredictable and turns into a by-the-numbers tale of how the trident-carrying King of Atlantis becomes a protector of both land and sea. It accomplishes this by hoping that special effects saturation will compensate for screenplay weaknesses.

The film's notable quality is the music and as soon as one song is finished, we're ready for the next one. Unfortunately, there are often long passages of dialogue and narrative to endure before getting there.

The problem with Rocket Science is that the character at the center of the drama isn't very energetic or, truth be told, interesting. This makes it difficult at times to remain engaged in the unfolding tale.

For those who enjoy the saturation style of humor and appreciate the way in which parody is not pushed too far into the absurd, Walk Hard is not without merit.

Aside from the lip service paid to the pros and cons of releasing free hydrogen onto the world market, Chain Reaction doesn't contain anything that we haven't already seen this summer. The explosive destruction that wipes out a portion of Chicago looks like it could have been excised from Independence Day. The action sequences recall Mission Impossible, Eraser, and The Rock, albeit with less energy. The concept of government agents being bad guys has been used so often that it has long since turned into a tired cliche. Chain Reaction isn't dull -- the film is paced to keep audiences attentive -- but the lack of originality dampens its enjoyability. As a result, box office reaction will almost certainly be more like a spark than an explosion.

Whatever the reason, the characters often seem only half-formed and there's a strange artificiality about the entire endeavor. Egoyan has never been a realist, and his style has contributed to his ability to deliver a knockout punch. Here, that punch is missing.

Perfect Sense offers an epic tale seen through the prism of a tiny, intimate story. It's the inverse of "Contagion," which sacrificed character to scope.

With Mexican-born director Everardo Gout at the helm (DeMonaco having stepped away from directorial duties following Election Year), the Forever Purge is adept at providing the violence and gore fans expect from an exploitation flick. And, despite its pretense of offering political commentary, that’s really all this movie is.

In the end, there's a sense that director Olivier Assayas is more concerned about making a point than telling a story.

The scenario explored by Ben is Back starts out strongly but, with writer/director Peter Hedges unwilling to remain firmly rooted within the hard, mundane rhythms of a family drama, it loses focus and borders on the preposterous as it races toward an improbable climax.

It is not as engaging as "The Royal Tenenbaums," but about on par with "Rushmore" and "Bottle Rocket."

Joe Klein's novel -- is a cynical satire of life on the campaign trail. It's harsh, blistering, and possesses an edge that the film, a warmhearted comedy/drama, lacks.

For action fans, Shelter scratches an itch, even if it’s destined to be little more than a passing distraction.

Dream Lover is a classic example of a movie setting up its viewers. Half the fun lies in recognizing that at the end. Artsy dream interludes and some rather silly dialogue mar the production, but these things fade into near-obscurity in the face of the climax. Dream Lover will never be considered a classic, nor even a particularly memorable example of its genre, but that won't stop those who watch it from enjoying themselves -- even if that means playing into writer/director Nicholas Kazan's hands.

For zombie movie-fans, Army of the Dead provides a good blend of the fast and the familiar, all blended together into a concoction that hits the sweet spot. Snyder takes some chances, doesn’t skimp on the gore, and offers a shock or two. Perhaps that’s the best a zombie movie can hope to accomplish in 2021.

Mixed together, all of this makes for a fascinating viewing experience, but the unfortunate ending diluted my enthusiasm for the film as a whole.

For those who expect a tightly-written mixture of the detective and science fiction genres, Time After Time is bound to be a disappointment. It's more of a lighthearted fantasy/romance with a few thriller elements thrown in.

Overwrought and disjointed, Ewan McGregor’s directorial debut is surprisingly faithful to aspects of the text but the overall presentation is conventional and disappointing.

Solo Mio is pretty much what one could reasonably expect from a Kevin James romantic movie: genial, good-natured, and ultimately pretty bland.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age lacks the intricate plotting that characterized its predecessor. The screenplay is more action-oriented but not as smart, and some of the dialogue is downright cheesy.

The PG-13 rating is an indication of how much the material has been neutered. And, although the lead character’s arc remains troubled and conflicted, the ending makes her seem more like a superhero than the material warrants.

Crank 2: High Voltage is the freak show act at a carnival. It's so over-the-top that the phrase ceases to have meaning in this context. It's a bizarre concoction of testosterone, adrenaline, and psychedelics. It seeks not only to top its predecessor, "Crank," but to outdo itself at every turn.

More of the same. One senses viewers wouldn’t want anything different.

In general, parodies may not rely overmuch on plot, but they need more in this department than Death to Smoochy possesses.

It's refreshing for a romantic comedy not to follow the formula by rote. I only wish I could be as enthusiastic about the amount of screen time accorded to certain characters who are more tedious than endearing.

A moderately entertaining but overlong film that emphasizes visual razzle-dazzle over narrative backbone.

The movie doesn’t exactly do Philip Marlowe a disservice but neither does it successfully re-invent the character for a new era and its attendant audience.

There's no shortage of material on the screen in Bee Season - it's just not assembled in a satisfying manner.

An individual’s appreciation of Cats may rest on a previous love of the stage play; others are more likely to throw up a hairball than purr in contentment.

It would be nice to argue that the good outweighs the bad in The Switch, but it's a wash.

Notting Hill does an adequate job, but this isn't one of those landmark romantic comedies that dozens of subsequent movies will seek to emulate.

It appears that Marvel has given up trying to broaden the tent. Although Thor: Ragnarok, the third film to focus on the exploits of the titular Norse God, boasts a lighter tone, when the flippancy is stripped away, it’s the same-ole-same-ole.

The resulting tale of friendship and family touches plenty of crowd-pleasing buttons but comes across as more than a little derivative.

Admittedly, mediocre Sayles is still watchable, but, relative to expectations, Casa de los Babys is a disappointment of significant proportions.

Ghost in the Shell is visually compelling but tone deaf.

In the interval between the release of "Super Troopers" and its sequel, we have moved on. For better or worse, Broken Lizard hasn’t. As a result, some of what would have been side-splitting in 2001 barely provokes a chuckle in 2018.

Splice is as much a psychological thriller and drama about bio-ethics as it is a horror movie. Like the vastly superior "The Fly," it uses gore sparingly; delivering shocks to the audience is a secondary consideration.

Calling The Angry Birds Movie an “animated film” is giving it airs. It’s a cartoon. Deal with it.

The problem is one of tone. The Five Year Engagement, despite its serious thesis, tries desperately to be funny. Some of the comedic material provokes laughter and some doesn't, but nearly all of it feels wrong.

The tone is lighthearted and the performances are effective but, in the end, the feature is so inconsequential as to leave no lasting impression.

There are times when iconic characters should be left alone to bask in the glory of a single appearance and, unfortunately, that's the case with Gordon Gekko.

The basketball star's power might be the drawing card for Space Jam, but the Looney Tunes group steals the spotlight – at least as often as Pytka will let them.

If nothing else, Unfriended does an excellent job portraying the frenzy that is on-line teen interaction. This is the new equivalent of "hanging out."

2 Days in New York splits its time between being a quirky comedy and a quasi-serious drama. Comparisons with Woody Allen may be inevitable, in part because of the setting, although none of the characters in this film are neurotic enough to match vintage Allen.

In the end, it's the self-mocking aura that save this film from being a waste of two hours.

It packs in a few scary moments and offers a nicely ambiguous conclusion. In Silent Hill, atmosphere trumps storyline.

If you're a fan of James Brown's oeuvre, the film will keep you interested. If you're not, Get on Up will quickly become tedious and will wear out its welcome long before the end of its 133-minute run.

It wants to be funny, charming, scary, and dramatic. It ends up being a little of each but not successful as any one.

The bad news is that Silent House is 88 minutes long, and the final half hour represents a descent into an anticlimax that ends with a scene as dumb as it is disappointing.

Hicks has made a technically adept film, but one that, for all of its strong acting and vivid photography, left me less moved than I should have been.

Ultimately, however, the movie is so desperate for a conventional ending that it subverts everything it was willing to try earlier.

Looks great and has some raw, unsettling moments, but the overall impression is of a production that fails to achieve what it sets out to do.

A bleak, black satire that occasionally strays all the way into "Pulp Fiction" territory.

A tighter version of the same story might have captured and held my interest, but this one had the proceedings wandering like the riderless camels in the desert.

It is neither deep nor intelligent, but it's not intended to be either. The saving grace of the otherwise generic product is that Bell's vivacity and Duhamel's rakish charm allow the viewer to root for them.

Paced more like an action movie than a drama, and, when a pause finally occurs at the end credits, we realize that it hasn't been an altogether satisfying ride.

For all his passion to tell this story, Heckler doesn’t seem sure of the best way to conclude it.

The problem with The Soloist is that, while Wright shows admirable restraint in dramatizing the interaction between the two principals and does not fall into the trap of following a "movie of the week" formula about mental illness, there is little emotional resonance in the story.

The Witches feels like a throwaway feature rather than a fully-realized fantasy adventure.

Those yearning to make use of a small package of tissues may be willing to overlook the movie’s deficiencies but I can’t help but wonder whether a conventional telling of the same story might have been more effective in the long run.

The book tore at my heart; the movie left me strangely unmoved.

The movie voids a lot of good will with a cheesy ending. This is just the kind of denouement I was hoping Taking Lives wouldn't sink to, yet it does.

Despite its overly praiseworthy tone, there are areas of interest.

All the explosions and fights are filmed with consummate skill, and are thrilling in their own right. But that's where it stops. The pacing is erratic and the level of tension ebbs and flows.

Unfortunately, Picture Perfect uses embarrassing contrivances to sabotage what should have been a pleasant excursion down a familiar road.

Parodies are hard to do well, as is shown by the mediocrity of so many recent attempts. No matter how ripe a genre is for satirizing, unless you know how to do it, there are no guarantees. Fortunately for Men in Tights, Mel Brooks has been doing this kind of thing for decades.

One could argue that Crank works best as a comedy. It's occasionally funny, and some times VERY funny.

Rushmore is one of those films that's so inconsequential that its memory threatens to fade away before the end credits have finished rolling.

Director Roger Donaldson has a lot of fun with his premise. The top-notch special effects, which use a lot of seamless computer animation, make the climax look very nice. The rest of the film is essentially one long chase sequence with a couple of nude scenes and maulings added to liven up the proceedings. No matter what genre you identify Species as, it's not top of the line, but there's also quite a bit of room beneath it.

A degree of unevenness is expected and that’s what Barbie delivers: a delightful confection at its best, an unfocused jumble at its worst.

The venerable series is looking outmoded and outdated. Media saturation and age have taken their toll.

It's a perfect choice for a mother/daughter evening out...decently constructed, solidly performed, and not too naïve.

Too often, it simply makes no sense.

It's lively and vivid but ends up leaving the viewer indifferent to the central character, his life, and his dubious place in British pop culture.

Characters are left half-developed or undeveloped so that as much plot as possible can be crammed into two hours. The result, while not wholly unsatisfying, will disappoint those used to the cinematic richness we have come to expect from this collaboration.

One of those romantic comedies that never quite clicks. At times, its humor is effective, provoking chuckles and laughs. At other times, the comedy feels forced and awkward.

This picture doesn't have deep enough currents to succeed as a psychological thriller and, as a ghost story, there are times when it has trouble treading water.

When this movie is quiet and introspective, it speaks with a clear voice. That insight gets muddled, however, the more forceful Singleton becomes.

Glass, the third film in what has become a trilogy, comes across as a mix of half-formed ideas baked into an uneven casserole. Overlong, talky, filled with meta references, and with a strangely low-energy tone, the movie never fully gels.

An intriguing blend of globetrotting neo-noir and road trip plot elements, The Wedding Guest often seems on the cusp of greatness without ever getting there. The film classifies more as a disappointment than a success because, despite its little triumphs, it fritters away too many opportunities and suffers through a turgid middle act.

All These Small Moments offers a mix of honesty and artifice. Some of the scenes simmer with truth; others are too obviously the construct of a screenplay.

Although advertised as a family-friendly feature, A Wrinkle in Time is a poor choice for younger children. The glacial pacing of the first half-hour, coupled with less-than-easily-digestible chunks of exposition will cause many kids under 10 (and a few adults as well) to squirm in their seats with impatience.

An offbeat romantic comedy that almost - but not quite - works. The characters and situations are a little too quirky for their own good.