There is an elemental majesty to sailing that Ballard and his daring crew have magically transferred to the screen, and the consummate skills of the racing crews are a marvel to behold. Still, it's clear that the magic of Wind is in the wind itself, and not always in the movie that blows around it. [11 Sep 1992, p.22]

By film's end, the husband's reasons and rationalizations seem all but incomprehensible. That doesn't, however, prevent this from being a thoroughly engrossing tale. [11 Jan 1991, p.24]

The whole may be less than its parts, but the parts are pretty impressive.

The Intervention feels confident and accomplished: The cast immediately seems to bond as a group, with each playing a distinctive, recognizable character. And as the camera becomes a discreet ninth guest, you quickly find that you care about these people.

The result is the kind of competent, earnest, well-made but unexciting film that could just as easily have been produced for television. [20 Dec 1996]

Savoca's light directorial touch - specifically, her ability to make overstatement on the page look like understatement on-screen - disguises some of the script's flaws. [04 Oct 1991, p.22]

Crude as it sometimes is, this sequel should please plenty of Bradyphiles. But No. 3 might be overkill. [23 Aug 1996, p.F5]

After having been made and remade for the screen and converted into a long-running hit Broadway show, it might have seemed like “The Lion King” was a played-out property. “Mufasa,” under Jenkins’ poised and creative direction, proves there is still plenty of life left in the long-reining “King.”

Kids will love all the silliness, but oddly the greatest resonance of the Wayback Machine plot will be felt by the kids’ grandparents (if any find themselves in attendance) who were around in those bygone days.

Unfortunately, Kevin Anderson, the former Steppenwolf actor who was so impressive re-creating his stage role in Alan Pakula's film of "Orphans" and impersonating Bobby Kennedy in "Hoffa," can do absolutely nothing with the braying, sexist yuppie who rents the apartment out to Broderick and Sciorra. [1 May 1993, p.C9]

Kaufman can't raise the script far above the pulp material on which it's based, but it's a more intelligent adaptation than this summer's blockbuster movie of Crichton's "Jurassic Park." It's also a more interesting consideration of racial-cultural conflicts than such major-studio gaffes as "Mr. Baseball" and "Falling Down." [30 July 1993, p.D3]

[Neeson's] impressive physicality, (a tower among men), his rumbly basso-profundo voice and his impressive demeanor give him a natural gravity that allows him to rise above the most absurd material. And he does exactly that in The Commuter.

Combining rowdy concert footage and revealing offstage interactions of the band members, Mad Tiger is a well-executed portrait of a band coming apart at the seams.

Woodley and Claflin make an attractive pair, but they’re not particularly convincing playing people deeply, deeply in love. There’s something lacking in the conviction department there.

The cast is a likable bunch, and I can see how Tag might go down nicely with a couple of beers beforehand; it’s definitely funny in spots, in a we’re-making-this-up-as-we-go-along sort of way.

At times, Heart and Souls seems seriously interested in the kinds of ideas explored in "The Bridge of San Luis Rey," Thornton Wilder's fascinating attempt to account for why five people happened to meet their deaths in the same seemingly random circumstances. But any pretensions along those lines are quickly drowned by the cutesy special effects and Marc Shaiman's shamelessly overwrought score. [13 Aug 1993, p.D14]

It’s all big action. Big colorful visuals. Outsized vocal performances.

For Here or to Go? offers an insightful group portrait but lacks imagination in a romantic subplot and (except for a requisite Bollywood-style dance number) is visually dreary.

Despite claims to the contrary, Van Peebles has no apparent desire to accurately reflect history. Instead, he caters, with an ugly lack of integrity, to a twisted perception of "popular taste," spinning an ego-trip that steals a numbing variety of Western cliches while betraying them with contemporary flavoring. [14 May 1993, p.20]

Filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton (“Short Term 12”) can’t quite find that magical balance that Walls hits, and tilts the story too far toward sentiment.

The series shows no signs of stopping (there are not one but two postcredits teasers), and with each iteration, there are diminishing returns on this character and formula, but as long as they keep up the silly, fourth-wall breaking humor, and earnest messages of teamwork and unity, the Sonic franchise just might have some legs.

You wish Perkins would have shown up with his red pencil during the screenwriting stage, when he might have done some good.

Given the time-tested durability of a decent boy-and-his-dog adventure, Iron Will can't steer too far off course. [14 Jan 1994, p.D20]

What the picture lacks is a certain spark. It’s a workmanlike effort that diligently covers a lot of bases...but never achieves a transcendence that befits a figure like Owens.

Unrelentingly bleak, somewhat pretentious and rather too long, Sean Penn's feature debut as writer-director nevertheless shows some promise. [04 Oct 1991, p.28]

The film is an absolute triumph for Adams, who attacks her role like — yes, sorry — a dog with a bone.

Deadpool & Wolverine is the ultimate love letter to Marvel fans: The cameos and references are aplenty and brilliant (the audience at the press screening gasped more than once), the source material is treated with respect and, best of all, it’s pure, unadulterated fun. It finally looks like Marvel is back in fighting shape. (P.S. Yes, the equally sweet and crude credits are worth sticking around for.)

It's sweet and funny one moment, melodramatic and contrived the next. Blending the moods, and often holding the film together through sheer force of personality, Ryder gives her most affecting performance to date. [14 Dec 1990, p.26]

The movie zips along quickly, full of popcorn-worthy moments.

There's not much to save this formulaic suspense film from seeming both ridiculous and predictable, but if you can get past the groaner dialogue and hysteria that follow the opening credits, the midsection of "Extreme Measures" does generate some tension. [27 Sept 1996]

French Exit isn’t without its pleasures; but you watch it dreaming of the movie it might have been.

The plot tries too hard to incorporate elements that drift toward melodrama.

Contrived but sassy, silly but fresh, British director Michael Caton-Jones' first American film is almost too sweet to be believed, but just cheeky enough to be enjoyable in an undemanding way. [02 Aug 1991, p.21]

An outrageously dark comedy that defies death, laughs at funerals, and lends a whole new meaning to the phrase maintaining one's appearance. [31 July 1992, p.3]

Though I’d have preferred Fast X to have a little more driving and a little less fighting, and was disappointed to realize that the film’s climactic moment is pretty much in the trailer, this movie is good, silly popcorn fun — with a couple of scenes at the end (stay put during the first half of the credits) indicating even better times ahead.

It’s predictable — throughout the film, I kept thinking that I’d seen it before — and a bit sentimental, yet thoroughly pleasant.

There’s a lot to like in The Running Man, so it’s all the more disappointing that its most interesting elements get such short shrift. As a humorous action film, it’s an enjoyable experience. As a social commentary on a dystopian America, it mostly just trips over itself.

The movie jerks tears shamelessly, it smugly mocks the political and fashion trends of the early 1970s, its characters make no sense at all, and it even makes fun of senility. [27 Nov 1991, p.C1]

Unlike the cheapie late-1970s Mexican exploitation movie Survive!, this sobering account of a 1972 Andes plane crash has a spiritual quality that makes the tougher aspects of the story easier to handle. [15 Jan 1993, p.16]

While the perpetually charming Lawrence isn’t the worst habit a filmmaker can develop, she’s valiantly miscast here in a story that never quite hits its mark.

The film is a loving tribute from a son to a father figure, but perhaps Deen is too close to the story to have much perspective on it. We’ve seen this story before and Brave the Dark doesn’t shed new light.

The movie murmurs, when it — and others — should be shouting.

There are moments in Love Affair that take your breath away, sending you back to a time when class and discretion were the movie rule, and not the rarefied exception. [21 Oct 1994, p.H36]

[Martin Campbell's] a master at rejuvenating tired warhorses, and he pulls it off again with this one.

So consistently unexciting, so monumentally unconvincing, so silly. [28 Sept 1990, p.22]

With a ruthlessly pared-down approach and compelling performer in Dynevor, who carries the film effortlessly, “Inheritance” is a throwback thriller that hearkens to the retro days of the Y2K era. And while its style eclipses its substance, it’s the style that makes this cinematic curio worth watching.

This Wuthering Heights is a mess, but an occasionally irresistible one.

It’s an undeniably fun picture but rather too self-impressed. It’s Ritchie at his limited best.

The script’s weaknesses are difficult to ignore.

Spirals into a twisted, unsettling finale that'll have you either rewinding several times or relinquishing your deposit to stomp on the tape. [31 Oct 1999]

Clifford the Big Red Dog has a decidedly innocent throwback appeal.

The film distinguishes itself by what it lacks: simple, unrealistic answers to Perry’s regrets and the hole in his soul. His path to authenticity might not lead back to glory days, but contentment is closer than he thinks.

Unfortunately, Money Monster, though perfectly competent, is one of those movies that promises more than it delivers.

Yesterday offers no answers or explanations. It presents its idea and runs — and you either buy it or you don’t.

The biggest, baddest, berserkest Purge so far.

Even with that major miscue, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase works well for its target audience. It shows that anyone can stand up to peer pressure, bullying or even a ghost if they are smart and strong enough. As for the mystery of how good the movie is, the case is closed on a positive note.

Turned out much better than one might have hoped, especially when the emphasis is off the chimp and focuses on the monkeys running the fictional UBC network, where most of the action takes place. [09 Nov 1995, p.G39]

Ultimately there's more guilt than pleasure to be found in The Craft. [03 May 1996]

The Kids' first movie is just all right. But there's enough good stuff in it to merit a sequel. [12 Apr 1996, p.F5]

Megalopolis is a misfire from the start.

It seems director James Wan had one overarching goal in making “Aquaman.” His prime directive? Crush the audience into submission.

The picture is a hugely entertaining crowd-pleaser studded with laugh-out-loud moments from beginning to end.

It’s nuts. It’s fun.

The gore quotient is high in this one (lots and lots of exploding heads) and the one-liners flow freely. Bloody good fun, but not for the whole family. That R rating is well-earned.

Coerced jollity is the order of the day in the kingdom of trolldom in this animated kids movie from DreamWorks. And I do mean order.

At times it's laugh-out-loud funny. In this ode to the passing of childhood, circa 1962, screenwriter David Mickey Evans has partly succeeded in mythologizing something that everyone treasures: the proverbial perfect summer of youth. [7 Apr 1993]

Their performances lend the movie a touch of class, even if they can't make up for the superficial writing and Schumacher's anything-for-a-jolt direction.

It's as if a television sitcom director had tried to remake Robert Altman's Short Cuts, making sure that all the rough edges, ugly moments and untidy endings were removed. [22 Jan 1999]

Sky, despite its Hitchcockian beginning, is no thriller; instead, it’s a character study of a woman seeking a second act, and of a landscape that gradually transforms from foreign to welcoming.

Conversations about competing business strategies, which take up a great deal of The Current War, would seem to be a recipe for a dull movie. But the fervor and intelligence Cumberbatch and Shannon bring to their roles make for a gripping experience.

There is fun to be had here. Adults can appreciate the verbal byplay. For the kids, there’s frenzied noise, and those toys.

The new version amplifies and deepens all that is good in the original. The key is in the visuals. Photorealistic computer-generated imagery renders its African landscapes and animals with astonishing realism.

As a movie, The Good Liar is just so-so, but as a master class in performance and star quality, it’s a pleasure.

Cézanne et Moi sounds more fascinating than it actually is; essentially, it’s just under two hours of exquisitely art-directed conversation, little of which is especially compelling.

In space, everyone can hear you yawn.

The plot’s a mess, the run time is overlong and ultimately the movie feels like a slew of good actors trapped in a gorgeous place, wearing beautiful clothes and gazing at the impossibly blue water.

Elba, always a powerful presence in whatever role he takes on, does the best he can in Beast, but the threadbare nature of the plotting and dialogue ultimately defeats him.

The casting is flawless - including a choice bit for Franken's former "SNL" colleague Julia Sweeney - and out of so much anguish Franken fashions an upbeat ending that feels genuinely well-earned. [12 Apr 1995, p.E4]

With the dour drudgery of “Last Rites,” it has never been more clear that it’s time to move on from their story, even as the memories of better installments linger.

Harrison is more interested in teasing than frightening an audience to death, but he still manages to deliver several strong jolts. So does the cast of first-rate actors, who obviously had a marvelous time turning themselves into goons, cannibals, gargoyles and ghouls. [04 May 1990, p.28]

Joe Bell is a tale of emotional redemption for a man who relearns what it means to “be a man,” and his moments of triumph are the quietest ones.

The fourth time is truly the charm in this long-running franchise.

The House of Seven Gables probably has the strongest reputation as a film, thanks mostly to the casting of George Sanders and Vincent Price, Lester Cole's serviceable script, Milton Krasner's moody cinematography and Frank Skinner's Oscar-nominated score. [21 May 1988]

If you can convince yourself that this movie has a reason to exist (I can't), then this big-screen recycling of the popular early-'70s TV series is not half bad. [17 Feb 1995, p.13]

Betrayals, narrow escapes and much battle action ensue in the course of the picture’s paint-by-numbers plotting.

It carries the stale odor of something that was stuck in a drawer long ago and could easily have gathered more dust. Worst of all, there's something inauthentic and phony about the way Gale and Zemeckis crank out racial taunts and four-letter-word dialogue. The result is a movie that isn't just a throwaway but borderline offensive. [26 Dec 1992, p.C7]

The script may be a fantasy about late-19th-century American poverty, derived more from old movies than fresh observations. But at least Brooks doesn't sweep the subject under the rug, and just enough of his jokes sting. [26 July 1991, p.20]

If nothing else, this offbeat comedy delivers a handful of satisfying laughs and proves that four-year "Saturday Night Live" veteran Mike Myers can safely escape his "Wayne's World" alter ego. [30 July 1993, p.D12]

The acting in all roles is first rate, but in this one De Niro regains the title of undisputed champion.

Despite the twee being occasionally laid on too thick, Goodbye Christopher Robin is ultimately a pleasant enough wallow in British childhood.

A Walk in the Clouds suffers from an inferiority complex. This familial fable, rife with biblical references, overcompensates for its simplicity in story with aspirations of visual grandeur. [11 Aug 1995, p.E1]

Thanks to the excellence of its two key performances, “Stockholm” an uncommonly effective thriller, one with a heart and a brain.

It’s a remarkable true tale of great heroism. It’s also an account of a clash of cultures.

Ting, to her credit, is more interested in the battle between heart and head, instinct and obligation, than in what follows. “Already Tomorrow” is about ambivalence, not gratification, and is more interesting for it.

The results are uneven. Almost any scene with Hawkes is alive and satisfyingly showy. You feel his absence when he isn’t there, though Joanna Cassidy, Crystal Reed and Robert Forster all have their moments.

The director, John Schlesinger ("Midnight Cowboy"), and writer, Colin Welland ("Chariots of Fire"), have captured the period with contagious affection, but there are only two first-rate performances to carry the story for 141 minutes. [03 Oct 1991, p.F3]

As written by Ron Shelton - who with "The Best of Times," "Bull Durham" and "White Men Can't Jump" has turned the sports movie into his own cottage industry - a crowd-pleasing story has been crafted into a sharp indictment of modern sports as a business, in which victory isn't so much earned as it is bought. [18 Feb 1994, p.D3]

The script isn’t great, but the plot turns and visuals can be striking, and Jess Weixler has fun as the bad-girl sister Ben finds.