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.