The first one was silly fun, amusing and oddly inventive; the second is plodding, unfunny and almost cringe-worthy.

There has been a need for a big-screen feature about firefighter heroics since Sept. 11, but as drama, Ladder 49 falls short of even the second rung.

There's nothing like dumbing down a movie grown-ups love so it can be "sold" to teens who aren't going to go anyway. The savvy flyer will proceed to the gate marked The "Aviator" instead.

It bristles with exuberant numbers that strain beneath the weight of cliché.

Restless is a self-consciously quirky coming-of-age tale that's essentially a teenage hipster "Love Story."

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is a major step backward with an A-list actor in a C-grade military thriller.

Flyboys doesn't succeed as a wartime adventure story or as a period romance. Even the special effects, set in a historical context, are too ho-hum to save this over-long and tedious film.

Top-flight cast.

This reasonably entertaining movie falters by trying to be both a dark comedy and a sentimental treatise on family and country.

Yes, it's not for the squeamish or easily offended, but its sordidness is more superficially shocking than wickedly satirical.

From “Freaky” to the upcoming “Abigail,” Newton is quickly becoming one of horror’s freshest faces, and “Riverdale” veteran Sprouse showcases a gift for physical comedy with what amounts to a silent-movie role. His Creature alone is worth the watch, though the movie’s breakout gem is Soberano, who brings scene-stealing verve as the protective Taffy gets caught up in her sibling’s shady business.

It’s a denouement that ventures too far afield from familiarity, a good-vs.-evil slugfest more complicated than it needs to be, and a “Halloween” flick that should go out with a roar but instead closes with a masked wheeze.

Even for hardcore fans, Wish comes close to overdoing it with the, well, Disney-ness. That’s when Oscar winner Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”) becomes the movie’s saving grace, as a likable, idealistic teen heroine with plucky verve and powerhouse vocals.

There are some laughs, Murphy is appealing and the ancient theme of love conquering all is beguiling. But America's mean-spiritedness lingers after its pastel-pretty ending.

One thrilling shot of land's discovery - so good it's reprised at the end - hints at what might have been. But despite production values that advertise a first-class journey, 1492 is a long haul in steerage. [09 Oct 1992, p.8D]

Stilted film squanders an intriguing premise.

Molasses-paced fable.

Watching the Pulitzer-prize winning novel by E. Annie Proulx on the big screen is like being on an ocean liner stuck on a glacier.

Do yourself a favor and rent the 1996 original from Japan instead.

The combination of the two showcases fun chemistry and antics, although surrounded by a formulaic narrative that action junkies have all seen before.

Just be the most wildly derivative animated movie in ages.

As a forum for its actors and for the big-screen directorial debut of multi-Emmy winner Gregory Hoblit, the film is up to the job.

Packed with digs at Bush-Cheney that even Democrats could find heavy-handed, the movie's lumbering approach reminds us that, OK, Emmerich did "Independence Day" -- but also 1998's "Godzilla," which began sinking back into the sea in week two.

Writer/director Chris Columbus (Mrs. Doubtfire) delivers his usual slapstick and sap shtick, but the sitcom-slick results fall flat. (It's also based on a French farce - bad sign.) [12 July 1995, p.1D]

Oscar is a marathon of running gags, but few cross the finish line. [26 Apr 1991, p.4D]

Of all things, this movie has the same problem "Ghostbusters 2" had, which is this: You can't take bigger-than-life screen types and toss them into everyday, regular-folk situations.

Irresistible lives up to its title with an enchanting twist on a well-trod narrative and thankfully brings back the gifted satirical mind that our crazy world has sorely missed.

27 Dresses is like one of the many bridesmaid dresses featured in the film: frothy, predictable and over the top.