By the time the prey turns hunter, however, the tale becomes overly predictable. And it never taps Kingsley's potential as a ruthless father figure to the beauteous, almost-sympathetic creature. Still, Species is a kick to the finish, groaner ending and all. If anyone could make E.T. forget all about phoning home, it's Sil. [07 July 1995, p.12D]

Poignant and well-acted, it offers heartfelt moments leavened by subtle humor.

“Killing” clumsily flits between wry humor and serious drama for much of the runtime before finally finding its satirical bite.

A year ago next week, Debra Messing's "The Wedding Date" arrived DOA. And now this. In terms of movies that matter, it looks as if the wedding-funeral motif will continue.

Sometimes the most compelling real-life stories make better documentaries than dramas. Such would seem to be the case with The Children of Huang Shi.

Though better than most of Perry's broad comedies, The Family That Preys still suffers from excessive predictability and mawkish sentiment, which detracts from the story's believability.

It's not dumb-good. It's dumb-stupid.

With only momentary grandmaster flashes of brainless fun, too much of CB4 belongs in the hip-hopper. [12 Mar 1993, p.8D]

We'd all like to live in an Italian movie. So says a character in Nine, and it's probably the best line in this musical misfire.

30 Minutes or Less is "Pineapple Express" gone sour.

The material doesn't consistently do justice to their talents, but the movie is worth seeing for their chemistry and for the Motown-infused soundtrack.

Sharon Stone rides into a Western dust hole bent on revenge. Gene Hackman, virtually reprising his Unforgiven heavy, gives this goofy genre-bender some authenticity. [17 Feb 1995, p.4D]

As impressive as Kevin Spacey ordinarily is, this isn't the best vehicle for his considerable talents.

Though the plot ends up taking some potentially compelling twists, its telling always feels manipulative.

It does survive its 40-minute test drive before turning into a lemon.

It's the kind of material that is either going to make your day or not.

Brisk, brutal and unconcerned with collateral damage, The Mechanic doesn't pave much of anything new in the assassin-for-hire genre. But when it kills, it does so with style.

The corny love story is all the more disappointing given the pedigree of the octogenarian actors.

While McConaughey does his part, there’s just not enough treasure here in Gold to dig.

Rio 2 teems with colorful animated splendor and elaborate musical numbers, but its rambling, hectic, if good-hearted, story is for the birds.

While the filmmaker conjures beautiful imagery and a subtle exploration of fathers and their children, the good stuff is too often caught up in a muddle of well-tread crime clichés.

The time might be right for the Scary movies to quit on top, even though, alas, there are no term limits for sequels.

Graphically gruesome when it means to be a provocative look at vengeance.

While the rapping stars of House Party I and II bring a few fresh (as in cool) ideas to the premise, little about this cartoony comedy seems all that fresh (as in not stale). [05 Jun 1992, p.4D]

For those who like a little Grinch with their yuletide cheer, this movie isn't totally ho-ho-hopeless. In fact, you can even say it glows occasionally - especially with 2,500 imported Christmas bulbs a-twinkling on the Griswold abode. [1 Dec 1989, p.4D]

It's a shame that by its conclusion the movie feels like just another special-effects-driven story.

Nothing really fun, scary or exceptionally gross occurs.

This follow-up seems so similar to the 1953 Disney classic that it makes one long for a geriatric Peter.