Although the outcome is as predetermined as a prix-fixe menu, the storytelling is as smooth as goose-liver pate through a pastry nozzle.

The CGI effects are a familiar sort and so is the heroic-quest motif. The principal virtue in this modest entertainment is that the young characters act like real teenagers.

It's not that anything is terribly wrong with Muppets From Space. It just could have been better had the humans been funnier or the story more sharply conceived. Suffice it to say, Jim Henson, you are deeply missed. [14 July 1999, p.E3]

It's a credit to the cast and to the worthiness of the idea that this overlong movie works at all. But those of us who already know that racism is bad could use a little more challenge and a little less help.

The zombie scenes are startling, but only PG-13 horrifying. That will probably be just fine with most Jane Austen fans.

Despite its many shortcomings and periods of ridiculousness, it's a fast-paced, often humorous, entertaining piece of work. [13 Dec 1991, p.3G]

Strange hybrid of science lesson and Saturday-morning cartoon.

ALTHOUGH deranged baby sitters have become standard suspense thriller fodder, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle offers a few chills despite its hard-to-swallow premise and tedious, predictable ending. [9 Jan 1992, p.5E]

Not all of it makes sense, but for disaster movie fans, Into the Storm has enough destruction to go around.

A flawed but intriguing new chapter in animation.

I can't imagine a true ''Rocky & Bullwinkle'' devotee who won't enjoy ''Boris and Natasha.'' [17 Apr 1992, p.9F]

As cop comedies go, Ride Along 2 gets the job done.

While Green is force-feeding us this hard-boiled hokum, he doesn’t distract us with many memorable images, as he did in his earliest films.

The best excuse for watching The Gunman is Penn. His first mainstream leading role in a decade is worthy of comparisons to Matt Damon in the “Bourne” movies; yet it’s also disappointingly shorn of the humor and humanity of which this great actor is capable.

It's a breezy piece of fluff that moves along rapidly and has a few good twists, the kind of comedy that would have been called a summer movie not too many years ago. It also has Paulina Porizkova, who adds a lot of charm, a winning smile and an adequate delivery in a role that is so implausible as to be ridiculous. But if you look at the actress and don't try to make sense of her actions or her lines, that's enough suspension of disbelief to make Her Alib' almost work. [3 Feb 1989, p.3G]

Hit and Run isn't a catastrophe, but it leaves loose ends and a more adventurous map by the side of the winding road.

The father-daughter chemistry between Pullman and Ricci seems good. And the ghosts - who look sort of like the result of 24 double exposures a second - are engaging, courtesy of the computer and animation wizards at Industrial Light and Magic. [26 May 1995, p.7C]

The difference between McKay and Efron is like the difference between a Broadway spectacular and a high school musical.

The real disappointment is that director Carroll Ballard delivers such powerful racing scenes and seascapes that you wish he could have done better on dry land. But you can't argue that Ballard doesn't deliver an original, often breathtaking, view of nature. [17 Sep 1992, p.4E]

The Arrival is no Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but it does provide a solid second choice at the multiplex. [31 May 1996, p.5E]

With a deadly slow beginning and an unnecessary overload of special effects, this sequel is incredibly average, doubling the number of explosions and cinematic tricks, but cutting back on story, plot and characters. [24 May 2000, p.E4]

Like the first movie The Purge: Anarchy, is trash masking as social commentary, and its depiction of unrelenting, sanctioned violence can be hard to stomach.

This topsy-turvy flick is fitfully funny, but more often it's just odd, like the first draft of a "Twilight Zone" episode that's missing its moral.

The plot is murky, the acting is melodramatic and the movie is way too long, but the target audience will salivate over the inventively choreographed set-pieces.

Working from a screenplay by Jason Fuchs, director Joe Wright seems overwhelmed by the material, and he fails to make us care about any of the characters.

A colorful indictment of corporate infestation, but it's missing a prescription.

Taken as low comedy, Army of Darkness is fairly successful. The violence, although there is plenty of it, seems even more cartoonish and less gory than in the earlier movies. I have a feeling boys of about 11 or 12, with their normal penchant for bad puns and gross-out tactics, would be the most likely audience for this silliness, which often has the feel of an old "Tales From the Crypt" comic book. [19 Feb 1993, p.3G]

If you'd pay to see a film called "Hotel Rwanda: Maniac Manager," you might be receptive to this mixed-message movie, but skeptics should keep one eye on the exit.