The essence of the London story is retained, with stouthearted Buck being annealed by adversity, overcoming brutality, confusion and loneliness and then responding to the kindness of Thornton to become the leader of the pack. And all that is accomplished with a soft touch. What we have here is the call of the mild

There’s nothing original in the movie. Indeed, the off-screen controversy that’s been consuming social media lately over the casting of pop superstar Styles and whether Pugh and Wilde are at odds overshadows the movie itself.

The sweet-natured rom-com I Feel Pretty has a well-meaning message, but it gets lost in the telling.

In the hands of lesser actors I shudder to think of what a slog The Mountain Between Us might be, with its endless catastrophes and near-deaths and melodramatic declarations. But Winslet — who gets her own superhero moment near the end — and Elba are so likable and charismatic together, they just about sell it.

With their white-boy blues grimaces, Aykroyd and Goodman are almost unwatchable.[06 Feb 1998]

There's not much any actor can do with material as woeful as this. Pierce seems as charmless at the end of First Kid as he is in the early scenes, while Sinbad seems lost without a stand-up shtick. [30 Aug 1996]

Franco makes the most of his showy scenes, and Garrett Clayton (known for “Teen Beach Movie” and other shows from the Disney Channel) is a convincing hunk. But only Christian Slater’s lonely voyeur suggests what “King Cobra” might have been.

Curiously though, director Michael Dougherty and his filmmaking team obscure the battle footage in darkness, smoke and downpours, making murky much of the imagery.

Anchored by Mara’s rigidly controlled performance and Taylor-Joy’s tremulous yet quietly menacing work, Morgan is an effective tension generator that unfortunately falls apart at the end.

Ultimately, Haunted Mansion feels like the ghost of a movie — just a fleeting shadow, one you can barely remember in the morning.

Unfortunately, Martin is the only perfection in the movie, which is plagued by a screenplay by Andy Breckman (Arthur 2) that slows down the pace by telegraphing every formulaic development. [29 Mar 1996, p.F6]

For a brilliant approximation of the man himself, watch Downey in this film. This is a performance created out of equal parts talent, hard work and love. It's uncanny. [08 Jan 1993, p.3]

Sonic the Hedgehog is bright. It’s cheery. It’s here and then it’s gone in a relatively compact 100 minutes, leaving little beyond a slightly sweet aftertaste to mark its passage.

Ultimately, this “Fantastic Beasts” has some moments of charm and energy, but falls prey to the same problem the two previous movies did: a story that’s both too complicated and unintriguing; in short, not well told.

Maudlin, schematic and surely scientifically unsound, Regarding Henry is a by-the-book tearjerker that has only one thing going for it: Ford's performance. But that's not enough to make up for Jeffrey Abrams' colorless script and Mike Nichols' uninspired direction. [10 July 1991, p.E7]

What follows is a post-setup hour of imaginative action and dazzling stunt work, all taking place on one of cinema’s great self-metaphors: a speeding train changing scenes every few seconds and heading toward an unknown destination.

Deschamps’ camera captures the emotional roller coaster Redzepi rode during that tumultuous time and shows his conflicted relationship with fame. He dismisses its importance but also clearly craves it. The end result is a revealing portrait of an artist wholly dedicated to his art.

The whale special effects, computer-generated of course, are genuinely spectacular.

Dog Days is in some ways a very strange movie, in the way it straddles the worlds of weirdo comedy and family-friendly fare. But ultimately, it’s the pooches who steal the show.

If Verbinski could have trimmed about an hour from the film (which weighs in at a portly 146 minutes), he might have had something.

With anybody other than a superstar like Tom Cruise in the title role, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back would just be a routine potboiler. With superstar Tom Cruise in the title role, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is … a routine potboiler.

There is real passion in DeBose’s vocal performance as she tries to elevate the rote music. I just wish she were in a better movie.

Scott and Bosch deserve credit for honoring the moral complexities and consequences of Columbus's conquests, but in trying to cram so much into a lavishly mainstream film, they've lost the impact of an adventure that is perhaps best relived in documentaries. [09 Oct 1992, p.3]

The effects work rivals the likes of “Saving Private Ryan” and, well, “Independence Day.” It’s spectacular and realistic-looking. That’s to be expected. What’s not expected is how serious-minded and well-acted the picture is.

Handsomer and funnier than the original, Young Guns II is still a mediocre brat-pack western. It lacks the attention-getting novelty of the first film. [01 Aug 1990, p.E1]

If you don’t already care about Hank Williams, this movie isn’t likely to change that.

Reynolds is playing what amounts to the straight man to Jackson’s bad boy, and the back-and-forth between the two, with his character stewing and steaming in exasperation at the killer’s taunts, gives The Hitman’s Bodyguard its special fizz.

Although it's overly melodramatic and lacks the poetry and shading that could have turned it into a Latino Godfather, it comes considerably closer to that goal than last year's remarkably similar American Me, in which the central characters were never as carefully or sympathetically drawn. For all its flaws, Taylor Hackford has never directed a more interesting film. [28 May 1993, p.16]

A movie that numbs the head. [12 July 1995, p.E1]

This is disposable cinema for those who have an excess of time on their hands. Save it for video. Then you can do household chores while you wait for its occasional laughs. [26 Apr 1991, p.20]

Benjamin provides just the right balance of sincerity and snark to hold this dark action-comedy together. When combined with bloody good action choreography, the film mostly knocks any flaws aside.

There are some genuinely funny bits but, alas, far too few.

This $80 million disaster epic takes us back to the simple, tacky pleasures of Irwin Allen's "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972) and "The Towering Inferno" (1974), although Allen's blockbusters had more of a feeling for character and mythic resonance than "Daylight" ever demonstrates. [6 Dec 1996]

So it goes, with Sonic, fleet of foot and quick of tongue, racing from one dire situation to another. It’s exhausting, but the makers knew exactly how to tailor it to its game-mad audience.

The CGI is off the leash. The manufactured chaos is unrelenting. Monsters punching monsters. The pyramids are peril. Awesome deconstruction there.

This curio of a film could have gone deeper into what it means to be a gangster, but its core themes resonate all the same.

The characters are so thinly sketched that the audience feels little emotional investment in them, and the handheld (or rather head-mounted) cameras produce the same jittery visuals that many viewers found so off-putting in the original.

As it is, Only the Lonely offers a passable evening's entertainment, complete with teary-eyed moments and clever touches of bittersweet comedy. [24 May 1991, p.24]

With scenes of epic destruction uncorked with numbing frequency, the picture drags. It’s two hours and 10 minutes long and you feel every last second.

This one will likely only appeal to fans of the genre who appreciate reverence and twists on this kind of material, but it’s bloody — if lightweight — fun for those who enjoy this kind of good old-fashioned romp in the woods.

Love Potion No. 9 is no great shakes, but far worse comedies are routinely released without a second thought. [13 Nov 1992, p.28]

Unfortunately, the script is so hopelessly superficial that very little of this registers. It's the work of Eric Roth, who wrote the unspeakable Billy Crystal comedy, "Memories of Me," and Michael Cristofer, a playwright whose most prominent previous screen credit was the disastrous "Bonfire of the Vanities."

The dumbest, goriest bone-cruncher of the season: an unnecessary and Arnold-less sequel to the Schwarzenegger science-fiction hit of three years ago. [21 Nov 1990, p.C3]

In the middle of their mainstream pandering, Hughes and Columbus have an uncanny knack for developing cleancut sentiment that is calculated yet sweetly sincere. The key to their success lies in having it both ways: Kevin is smarter than all the adults, but he's still just a cute, frightened little boy who wants his mom. [20 Nov 1992, p.3]

A not-bad entry in the Pinhead series Clive Barker started. [29 Oct 2002, p.E1]

Watching Phoenix in his last film, I couldn't help thinking of James Dean's final performance, as the cranky loner, Jett Rink, in "Giant." [12 Nov 1993, p.D3]

Gringo has no spark, no fizz. Its scenes sag like overstretched taffy. Flavorless taffy.

It’s just a bad movie; a flat melodrama in which some lovely camerawork and a ferocious central performance from Winslet can’t conceal the rote tiredness of it all.

Try to remember this movie, a few days after seeing it, and you’ll find that — like magic — it’s disappeared.

With its boyhood-to-manhood tropes (growing up means getting a girl’s attention and winning an idol’s respect), London Town can’t be taken too seriously. But it’s nice to see part of the Clash’s populist legacy in a fan’s journey.

Medieval is a film with an identity crisis, caught between its lowbrow sword-and-splatter charms and grander ambitions. As a quick and dirty 90-minute corker, it could have been a nice and nasty slice of genre filmmaking, but Jakl aims for something more epic in scope, and the film drags, easily 30 minutes too long.

Although the sense of being inside a video game is strong, one critical element is lacking: interactivity. Players are always working their controllers to send characters on their complicated journeys. They’re participants. A movie, by its very nature, turns everyone into spectators. We watch, but have no control over what we see. And what we see in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is nothing more than empty-calorie visuals.

Under Petrie's competent direction, the action-genre nuts and bolts are firmly in place. Machine guns are fired and bombs blow up. But the subject of real interest here - how a kid might come to terms with authority even if his boarding school weren't taken over by Colombian terrorists - gets lost in the showdown. [26 Apr 1991, p.24]

The Addams Family suffers from an acute case of the cutes.

We can’t travel these days, so it’s fun to wallow in the scenery and its vivid colors. Want a great movie? Go watch the original Rebecca instead, but you probably knew that already.

As it is, Tommy Boy is funny enough, but with Farley in the spotlight you shouldn't settle on playing it safe. [31 Mar 1995, p.G25]

It may be treacly and unrealistic, but “Book Club: The Next Chapter” has heart and soul, and it’s as sweet and quaffable as an Aperol spritz on a hot day.

Even if the weave is loose and the big final reveal takes such a hard-left turn it could cause another traffic fatality, Honey Don’t! is a bleak and breezy good time. Don’t overthink it.

Unfortunately, King Arthur is somewhat less compelling than the "Lord of the Rings" movies; there's serious intent here, but an often thudding execution.

Director Corin Hardy lards on the frights so relentlessly that the moments don’t build to any sort of sustained narrative momentum.

The performances are more interesting than the convoluted plot. [24 Apr 1992, p.26]

Danny Strong’s film, which stars Nicholas Hoult as Salinger...isn’t terrible; it’s just one of those period films that never catches a spark — you find yourself admiring the elegantly lit rooms and the meticulous 1940s costumes, rather than becoming immersed in the drama.

Ultimately, however, the film belongs to Turner and Quaid, whose obvious pleasure extends to Shaw and especially Tucci, who after playing really nasty villains for years reveals some heretofore unknown comedic flair.

Miscast and nervously directed. [11 Oct 1996]

The film’s bleached colors and Reeves’ trademark woodenness add to its emotional remoteness, though Basso, Zellweger and Belushi create a convincing family in crisis. Zellweger, especially, delivers a fascinating, complex performance as a damaged survivor.

It’s all good, goofy fun; make it an air-conditioned double feature with “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” and you might just have the very definition of “summer movies.”

Ultimately, it’s a wild experiment that mostly falls flat.

The picture’s ultimate destination is marked with an obviousness so bright it can be seen from space.

If you plan to build an entire movie around a whining boor, his whining should have some accuracy or wit. His boorishness should at least suggest complexity, some motivation beyond the obvious. [09 Sep 1994, p.H32]

Even viewers put off by the old Hanna-Barbera animation style may want to give this one a chance. The figures are as bland as ever, but the computer-enhanced universe they inhabit couldn't be more lively. Light, goofy, fun to watch, it's a perfect summer movie for the little kids and the adults who accompany them. [6 July 1990, p.20]

The Mighty Ducks hasn't got a single fresh idea in its 100 fluffily formulaic minutes, so it's surprising that the film is quite easy to enjoy. [02 Oct 1992, p.27]

It isn’t “Working Girl” — Second Act is more earnest and less funny — but it’s a pleasant enough diversion, helped along immensely by Lopez’s warm screen presence and by a first-rate Sassy Best Friend performance by Leah Remini.

Judgment Night is almost completely lacking in conviction and originality. But Leary does a fair Dennis Hopper imitation, Gooding does his best with an insulting role, and the ending is witty enough not to give us the undying villain it leads us to expect. [15 Oct 1993, p.D27]

It’s bland and forgettable, and director Falcone still hasn’t figured out how not to sabotage his supporting cast (why hire the hilarious Chris Parnell if you’re not going to let him be funny?), but it’s a movie a lot like the presence of McCarthy herself — there’s an inner sweetness that shines through.

Originality was on vacation when this picture was made.

Cameos by Mel Brooks and Whoopi Goldberg add nothing, and there's not much of a storyline to stitch together the gags. [05 Aug 1994, p.E3]

Shanley demonstrates a fresh, giddy talent for visualizing his eccentric comedy ideas. [9 Mar 1990, p.20]

Director Michael Cuesta and a platoon of credited screenwriters have dutifully checked all the usual spy-thriller boxes but bring nothing new to the party.

The plot is so filled with inconsistencies and lapses in logic, especially during the desperate concluding reels, that it's difficult to take seriously its proposition that some people are born evil. [24 Sep 1993, p.D12]

Only the super-speedy Flash, played by Ezra Miller, lightens up the proceedings. Miller’s goofy eager-beaver take on the character, very reminiscent of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, is the picture’s saving grace.

A more disagreeable collection of cynical, backstabbing, self-aggrandizing, shallow, vicious and vile specimens of humanity gathered together in a single motion picture would be difficult to conceive of.

Kids will likely be diverted by the colorful excess of A Minecraft Movie, but fans of the game may feel it misses the mark. More creativity, please.

That Unforgettable is watchable, at least before it disintegrates into generic violence near the end, is due to the touches of wit in the directing, and to the two lead performances.

Although it's got a skeletal plot lifted from such comic books as "The Punisher" and lasts in the memory about as long as a Life Saver lasts on the tongue, there's something about Sniper that grabs your attention and holds it, loosely but firmly, with just enough Adrenalin to keep your pulse just a beat or two above normal. [29 Jan 1993, p.23]

Lesser actors would have drowned in the muck, but these two almost sell it.

It’s colorful. It’s predictable. And also quickly forgettable. Genuine wonderment is in short supply in Wonder Park.

Unfortunately, everyone's trying too hard to recapture the original's wry tone, and Culkin lacks the gawky, impish charm that Billingsley brought to Shepherd's childhood alter ego. [06 Jul 1995, p.E1]

What began as a feature-length toy commercial instantly disintegrates into MTV fodder. [22 Mar 1991, p.24]

The whole thing, for me, never got past its one-joke premise. Zombies in Austenland! Funny! But … then what? Why, then … More hacking and whacking and cutting and cleaving and heaving (as in bosoms in those Empire-waist frocks); it’s all a horror fan could wish for.

You watch wondering what good actors like Lively, Law, Jeffrey and Sterling K. Brown (as a former C.I.A. officer) saw in this muddy screenplay, and why Morano, best known for the Hulu series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” couldn’t find a way to make them spark.

Snatched is one of those movies that feels like a rough draft of itself. A few more rewrites, a few more laughs, a little (well, a lot) more attention, and maybe it would have been an amusing summer comedy.

You wait and you wait, through many overamped special-effects action sequences, for the cavalry to save the day, but by the time it finally appears, the picture has been long dead.

You sense that this woman has spent a lifetime not saying things, and that all she wants is to quietly be allowed to fade away.

It is, by any rational measure, an absolute mess....But we should all know by now that Lynch cannot be judged by "rational measures," and if you're a "Peaks" aficionado who can easily shift into Lynch's gear, Fire Walk With Me will cast an undeniable spell.

Angel Has Fallen plays out exactly as you would expect from a potboiler of this type. No surprises here, other than that it exists at all. It’s the kind of movie one expects to be released at the shank end of summer. Time to turn the page to fall.

Although Stella is intelligently made and generally well-acted, there were plenty of dry eyes at a packed preview screening earlier this week. [2 Feb 1990, p.25]

Only two things need to be said about Rampage: It’s really terrible, and I enjoyed it immensely.

This sports comedy starts out as a rowdy delight in the tradition of "Slapshot," but it loses its sense of the outrageous and quickly turns ho-hum.