Despite the admirable ambitions and the prestigious names involved, including stars Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons as well as producer Guillermo Del Toro, it doesn’t really work either as metaphor or engaging, thought-provoking entertainment.

The action scenes are dynamite, layering POV camera work with great, thundering, bottle smashing stunts. It knows it’s silly, but it’s still a good time.

Sudeikis, in particular, shines in this unusually dramatic role and exhibits a depth he touched on in films like “Sleeping with Other People” and “Colossal” but that he really gets to live in here.

BRAINSTORM, despite its tragic history, emerges as a well made, thought provoking, exciting piece of science fiction. [7 Oct 1983]

Teamwork. Friendship. Family. Playing for the game’s sake, not money. All these themes come together in a warm-hearted but highly predictable way.

John Frankenheimer is an old hand at directing this kind of macho confrontation, and he masterfully builds the tension. The bone-chilling terrain (actually Canada) adds immeasurably to the film's effectiveness. [20 Mar 1990]

Hemsworth is re-joined here by Marvel Comic Universe–screenwriter Joe Russo and stunt-specialist-turned-director Sam Hargrave, but their ace-in-the-hole is cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel. He creates impossibly long single takes of complicated fighting or driving scenes that put the viewer directly into the action like few other thrillers.

With the help of Williams' quirky charm and a rock-solid performance by Kurt Russell, the feat is made believable. Well, most of the time. [3 Feb 1986]

What to make of this glorious, intergalactic mess? There is no better answer than to swipe one of our hero’s catchphrases: “What a classic Thor adventure, Hurrah!”

The solution is a bit pat and anticlimactic, but it is heartening to find a movie that concerns itself with real and present social issues. [21 Oct 1982]

The film somehow manages its own witchcraft in finding the perfect un-sweet spot — it’s too scary for little kids, not scary enough for older ones, not funny or clever enough for their parents, and too redundant for everyone. Poof! Watch the audience disappear.

Despite the compelling source material, “Ordinary Angels” is one of those movies where you can predict developments with certainty.

You’re probably not coming to Finch for lessons, you’re coming to Finch for Hanks. The good news is that he’s not just the reason to show up, he’s the reason to stay around as well.

Parallels to “My Best Friend’s Wedding” come early and often.

Wrath of Man finds Ritchie in a moody midlife mood, his urge to be quirkily unpredictable now contained, even as his camera still swings around, going backward, ahead or soaring above. There is menace, a dull darkness and stillness, as if he’s watched “Heat” too many times.

Central to the effectiveness of the film is the performance of Sally Field as Betty. She is magnificent. No star is more proficient at portraying the American woman beset by woes not of her own making. In her unadorned face are reflected the compassion, the sense of betrayal, the suffering, the maternal love and the gumption to escape her bondage. [07 Jan 1991]

Just when you thought that sophistication had vanished from the silver screen, along comes Legal Eagles to gladden the heart and charge the intellect. [16 July 1986]

For all of the inherent drama, it becomes clear that Burden, the man at the center of a film which bears his name, is really just a cipher, a sponge upon which we put meaning.

There were some lofty ideas behind “Immaculate” that seem underserved (about bodily autonomy and such) and she gets several memorable movie star moments, but I want more for Sweeney than whatever this adds up to.

The word distraction has started to lose all meaning this deep into our home lockdowns, but there is a certain comfort in curling up with a big, silly action pic like Extraction. It reminds you of something you might have spent money on to see in an ice-cold theater on a hot summer day.

Mufasa: The Lion King has one very important thing going for it: an original story.

For a not small segment of the audience for Minions: Rise of Gru, only one thing really needs to be said. The Minions are in it. That’s enough.

Collet-Serra’s genre mechanics, stylized and sober, are efficient. His trains run on time, even if — especially in The Commuter — a rush-hour’s worth of implausibility eventually wrecks the thrill.

It is a sobering and worthwhile film for its exploration of the subject of police brutality and race and how little has really changed in over a century.

Hosoda grafted “Beauty and the Beast” into “Belle,” to sometimes awkward, sometimes illuminating effect. But in “Scarlet,” he struggles to bridge “Hamlet” to today. It’s a big swing, the kind filmmakers as talented as Hosoda should be taking, but it doesn’t pay off.

Migration is vividly animated with warm cartoon tones that would do Daffy proud. But it never quite spreads its wings.

Nonnas, like comfort food, may be a little obvious, a little safe, but that’s the point.

Say what you like about Iron Will - that it's corny and predictable - it's still an irresistibly sweet and upbeat adventure and if it doesn't make your heart pound a little faster, call a cardiologist. [10 Jan 1994]