It has the best action sequences of all four chapters, though its revolutionary message gets bogged down by a meandering plot and some good old-fashioned overacting.

True, most Christmas flicks tend toward the trite and predictable naturally but they just don’t have to be quite this insufferable.

No need to bury the lede: Spotlight is a masterpiece.

Peanuts is all about simplicity, and what the plot lacks in nuance and complexity is made up for with relatable characters whom people have spent a lifetime watching.

The clichéd ghosts of James Bond past haunt Spectre, an action adventure whose biggest failure is looking back on 007’s own success.

The movie unfortunately gets stuck between edgy drama and broad comedy, and most of the humor lands with a thud.

In its favor: a breakout performance from Palestinian newcomer Leem Lubany and maybe the most apropos use of Peace Train ever.

While not phenomenal, especially compared to the rest of the Spielberg oeuvre, Spies still hits the spot.

Sorkin's script is clever and knowing — at one point late in the proceedings, Jobs wonders aloud why “everybody gets drunk” and takes him to task five minutes before every event. It's a small moment that breaks the fourth wall in the slightest and smartest of ways.

The supporting cast is an embarrassment of riches for Scott, and Chastain is particularly strong as the concerned commander of the mission. Yet this is most definitely Damon’s movie and a throwback to the unabashed idealism of Hollywood past.

For those who want to feel like they're 110 stories up and living in the clouds, Hollywood does its job conjuring movie magic with a breathtaking Walk to remember.

For someone of De Niro’s reputation, this Intern gig is a thankless job.

Katniss and Tris might still be queen bees of the genre, but Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his fellow Gladers find a satisfying, teen-friendly way to combine rebellion, politics, science and a lot of jogging for a broad audience.

As notorious gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, Depp astounds with one of the best performances in his long career while co-star Joel Edgerton steps up equally well as John Connolly, an ethically questionable FBI agent who flirts with the wrong side of the law.

The low-budget thriller deftly mixes horror-movie moments, pure strangeness and comedy like a family-friendly David Lynch effort as it takes audiences on one really oddball trip to grandma's house.

A mostly dreadful reboot by director Camille Delamarre (Brick Mansions) that casts English youngster Ed Skrein in Statham's role as well-dressed driver-for-hire Frank Martin.

A plethora of beats drop but little else of note — musical or otherwise — happens in the Zac Efron DJ fest We Are Your Friends.

A lot Bourne and a little bong, the action comedy...is too earnest to be a stoner movie and too quirky to be an action flick. Therein lies the beauty of director Nima Nourizadeh’s Ultra: It exists to entertain in its own oddball universe, munchies optional.

While Mission: Impossible has found a popular way to reimagine an old show for modern times, Man is immersed in all things retro — from the ginchy fashion to a jazzy score — but for an action adventure, it’s a mostly tedious affair with fleeting moments of cool.

An unfortunate movie that does an embarrassing disservice to the decades-old property and is a frightful waste of all the talent involved.

Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation doubles as a two-hour celebrity episode of American Ninja Warrior for Tom Cruise.

While Southpaw doesn’t do anything innovative with the punch-drunk formula — there’s even a rousing final match, leaving you exhausted by the end — Gyllenhaal and Whitaker are real heavyweights who give the feature a winning combo.

A satisfying look at young unrequited love, bromances, independence and letting go.

Even with some familiar faces, The Stanford Prison Experiment feels like an honest-to-goodness documentary — a high compliment for a movie based on an infamous college project.

Tonally, Ant-Man is a little all over the place — at times, it's a quirky comedy, heist film, trippy sci-fi project and family drama, never able to really blend everything in a cohesive fashion.... That said, when it's on its game, Ant-Man does some of the best stuff ever in a Marvel movie.

There's a lot thrown in here for two hours, and Apatow could easily have lost about 30 minutes of high jinks and gotten the point across that everybody has their somebody. Yet with Schumer driving the action, Trainwreck may be his most impactful ride yet.

There can be too much of a goofily good thing.

Terminator used to be a sci-fi franchise defined by its cool time-travel concept and even better special effects. Unfortunately, it's "Hasta la vista, baby," to those good old days.

Ted 2 locks into a nice groove whenever it's just Ted and John being buds (and smoking bud), and Seyfried actually adds to the chemistry. If only the nonstop parade of craziness and lack of story coherence around them wasn't so hard to bear.

Newcomer Shameik Moore shines with geeky gusto in a breakthrough role in the coming-of-age comedy/drama, which tackles racial stereotypes and 1990s culture as a kind of spiritual descendant of "Friday" and "Do the Right Thing" while still featuring a singular voice.

The main voice actors all fit their animated personas, especially Poehler and Black. Poehler brings a unshakably quirky optimism to Joy while Black takes his acerbic stand-up routine, makes it a smidge more family-friendly, and turns up the juice for Anger.

Deftly juggling humor and heartache while always exuding a lovable quirkiness, the excellent art-house comedy/drama showcases three teenagers who pop off the screen with originality and, unlike a lot of the current coming-of-age ilk, just the right amount of unpredictability.

Jurassic World gives us enough dino-mite action to stave off excitement extinction.

Feig blends a keen sense of physical comedy and exquisite timing with all the requisite spy-flick tropes, from the trippy and stylish opening credits to surprisingly violent, bone-breaking action scenes that he refrains from playing for laughs.

The cringeworthy dialogue and unmoving earnestness are the biggest disasters in this mostly forgettable action flick.

A spectacular ride for most of it, and while you're a little let down at the end, you kind of want to jump back on and do it all over again.

While just a jot less fun than its predecessor, Pitch Perfect 2 is a worthy sequel in tone, even if the story feels padded with a few too many montages.

When the original filmmaker upgrades and expands on an idea and uses new technology while retaining the essence of the original story, it can be just the ticket for jaded moviegoers. Such is the case with Mad Max: Fury Road, an operatic extravaganza of thrilling action and nearly non-stop mayhem.

While Kristen Wiig fully commits to her bizarre, mentally ill character in Welcome to Me, the result still feels more like an extended sketch than a movie.

Downbeat but humanistic, Maggie is the rare zombie tale that's less about the appetites of the walking dead and more about their complicated emotions.

Hot Pursuit is this week's "Paul Blart." Which is to say, it's ill-conceived, not funny, overbearing and not in any way worth watching.

The D Train is long on high-concept comedy, then runs out of steam and becomes a forced and far-fetched drama.

The latest version of Hardy's 1874 classic works on all levels. Foremost, it is brilliantly directed by Thomas Vinterberg,who also made two other masterful dramas, 2012's "The Huntand" 1998's "The Celebration."

Director Joss Whedon knows how to make a wryly funny, action-packed extravaganza, as he proved with 2012's "The Avengers." So why did he overstuff the 2½-hour sequel?

The story feels like a less complicated companion to "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Obvious logical questions are ignored. For instance, if she remains 29, does that make her immortal?

Crowe's performance is the best thing about the ambitious historical drama, which takes some artistic liberties.

Unfortunately, Leo is the only well-developed character in a handsomely mounted but tedious drama with an impressive international cast.

True Story is an intrinsically fascinating and occasionally riveting tale marred by unnecessary embellishments.

Blowing this small-screen cyber horror tale out to the big screen makes for fresh and fearsome fun.

Alex Garland, the screenwriter of "28 Days Later" and "Sunshine," makes an auspicious directorial debut with this suspenseful mystery.

Slavishly follows the well-worn and soggy Sparks path.

It will be hard for audiences to remain even vaguely attentive during this slog of a feudal vengeance tale.

Furious 7 offers edge-of-the-seat excitement with outlandish action sequences, inventive stunts, hilarious cartoonish moments and even some touching emotion.

Who's more pretentious: hipster Millennials or bourgeois Gen Xers? It's a question While We're Young toys with, if only to provide a context for a sharply observed and witty dark comedy.

Get Hard is hard to sit through and hardly funny. So unless you're really hard up for entertainment, stay away from this tone-deaf raunchfest.

Home could have fashioned a more original story, dug deeper into a theme of cultural understanding and jettisoned the toilet humor.

This second installment, based on Veronica Roth's series of YA novels, feels cobbled together and less focused than 2014's Divergent, and lacks tension and excitement.

The only redeeming feature about The Gunman is its exotic locations.

Kikuchi brought humanity to the robots-vs.-monsters action of Pacific Rim in a small supporting role, and she ups that much more with the meek title character of Kumiko, directed by David Zellner from a screenplay co-written with brother Nathan.

Like an uneven album, the movie has some harmonious, authentically lilting moments and other off-putting ones.

Director Kirby Dick has gone from examining sexual assaults in the military in 2012's "The Invisible War" to investigating rapes on college campuses. His is an impassioned and well-researched film that will incite outrage.

With its vibrant sparkle and enchanting visuals, Cinderella almost makes you believe in magic.

These movies can't possibly be the best chance Neeson has got. Certainly he's offered more nuanced dramas that call on subtler acting skills and don't entail a mounting body count.

More like a serving of lukewarm treacle than savory tikka masala.

Chappie is meant to inspire questions about what it means to be human, and at times it does. However, director and co-writer Neill Blomkamp doesn't explore its intriguing premise deeply enough.

A bland road-trip film that falls flat while heaping on the raunchiness.

Focus never quite comes into clear view. It's a muddled and twisting romantic caper that at times feels like Steven Soderbergh lite.

If a pointless and nasty Hollywood satire filled with vile characters and no one to root for sounds like a good time, go see Maps to the Stars.

With its homages to "Frankenstein," "The Exorcist" and "The Shining," director David Gelb's The Lazarus Effect is at least smarter and tenser than last year's crop of tame horror films.

If you've seen "Mean Girls" or "Easy A," you've seen a far better version of The DUFF.

A cross-cultural charmer, an endearing true story told with intelligence and warmth by director Niki Caro (2002's Whale Rider).

Some of the gags are stupid-funny, others are just puerile, making for a hit-or-miss experience.

Mashing up satire, subtle social commentary, clever gadgetry, keen wit and high-octane style, this spy saga — based on the comic book series The Secret Service — is bolstered by a terrific cast.

Sitting through the turgid and tedious S&M melodrama that is Fifty Shades of Grey may feel like its own form of torture.

The quirky film is simultaneously bizarre, humorous, disturbing and suspenseful.

Moore goes into operatic mode as Mother Malkin, a nasty witch who morphs into a menacing winged dragon. The worst performance, however, belongs to Jeff Bridges as a marble-mouthed, curmudgeonly knight named Master Gregory.

The live-action elements — mostly in the person of Antonio Banderas as cranky pirate Burger Beard, who spends most of his time addressing a flock of seagulls — don't mesh seamlessly with the animated sequences. It almost feels like two movies awkwardly melded together.

The sci-fi film's reported $175 million budget must have gone largely into loopy production design, wild costumes, outlandish hairstyles and colorful make-up. It certainly didn't go into developing a coherent script or coaching believable performances.

Claustrophobic, compelling and suspenseful.

Give Binder credit for addressing racial divides even if not as profoundly as one would hope.

What was once fresh and innovative now is tired and overdone.

With a varied wardrobe of retro men's finery and a hirsute upper lip, the title character of the silly comedy Mortdecai is the center of a whirlwind of horrible British accents, too much gagging, not enough good gags and weak dialogue that, while not exactly terrible, is terribly boring.

Predictable and foolishly unsuspecting characters react in ways that make you want to shake them. But there's an undeniable sense of silly fun in this erotic thriller.

Strange Magic is strange all right, but hardly magical.

Whishaw, Hawkins and Downton Abbey's Bonneville strike just the right notes. Imaginative production design, which occasionally brings to mind Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom," adds to the story's appeal.

Blackhat is a tedious, preposterous and incoherent cyberthriller that is anything but thrilling.

A deeply moving film, it's a powerful reminder of a time not so long ago when, for a large group of Americans, attempting to register to vote could result in a serious threat to their lives.

This intriguing and well-acted gender-bending story occasionally feels like "The Crying Game" meets "Looper."

While this third installment offers a jot more humor (mostly unintentional), the action scenes are disjointed, badly staged and mind-numbing.

Despite its patina of stylishness, The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death is sorely lacking in thrills.

Aniston's portrayal feels honest, but the film doesn't rise to the level of her performance.

The Gambler is a hollow, overwrought and glibly cynical remake of a '70s drama about a self-destructive academic.

As directed by Angelina Jolie, it is occasionally powerful, with soaring visuals. It also is, however, stately and slow to the point of tedium.

Big Eyes is a fabulous match of artist — Burton — and material. While it's one of the director's more low-key works, his trademark sly wit infuses the mesmerizing stranger-than-fiction biopic.

American Sniper's wartime sequences are well-paced and harrowing, reminiscent of those in 2008's "The Hurt Locker." Like that film, Sniper can be interpreted either as a patriotic salute or as an incisive anti-war movie. In either case, it's a powerful, moving and tragic tale.

The notion that children are raised on fairy tales and the question of how those early stories affect us all — even into adulthood — remains fascinating and is delivered here with visual panache and musical flair.

The third installment of the Night at the Museum franchise, Secret of the Tomb, is better than its predecessors, funnier and more adventurous, thanks to a visit across the pond to the British Museum.

Quvenzhané Wallis is adorably plucky as the lead in Annie. She and Jamie Foxx as the newfangled Daddy Warbucks character have an appealing chemistry and their songs together are the best moments in the movie. But the rest of Annie is banal, shallow and markedly cynical.