The Boxtrolls (PG) Not as dark or deep as Coraline or ParaNorman, but this stop-motion animated movie continues the winning streak for the studio responsible for all three films. Based loosely on Alan Snow’s Here Be Monsters!, the movie centers on a boy named Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead Wright) who must find a way to make peace between the underground-dwelling creatures who raised him and the humans hunting them down. Neither Eggs nor the boxtrolls are particularly interesting, but writers Irena Brignull and Adam Pava bring sophisticated wit to this kids’ movie, and the animators match them with some inventive action sequences and a great, disgusting gag about the villain (voiced by Ben Kingsley) and his lactose intolerance. This is excellent light family entertainment. Additional voices by Elle Fanning, Jared Harris, Toni Collette, Richard Ayoade, Tracy Morgan, Nick Frost, and Simon Pegg.
Dolphin Tale 2 (PG) If you or your kids are having trouble sleeping, here’s a nice cure. Nathan Gamble returns for this sequel to the 2011 film as a kid growing up near a water park that needs to find a companion for its amputee dolphin or risk being shut down. Nothing that happens here comes as any sort of surprise, and the jokes will have trouble making a 2-year-old laugh. Save your money for a trip to the aquarium. Also with Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Cozi Zuehlsdorff, Harry Connick Jr., Charles Martin Smith, and Kris Kristofferson.
Dracula Untold (PG-13) Chalk up yet another big-budget horror flick that throws expensive CGI effects on the screen instead of actually trying to scare us. I mean, does that ever work? Luke Evans plays the 15th-century Transylvanian count who turns himself into a vampire to fight off Turkish invaders. Supposedly the movie returns to the roots of the real-life inspiration for Dracula, Vlad Tepes, but the real guy was far nastier than the patriotic tragic hero we see here. In any event, this movie deserves to be forgotten along with all the other Dracula stories that have been told and told again. Also with Dominic Cooper, Sarah Gadon, Art Parkinson, Paul Kaye, Diarmaid Murtagh, and Charles Dance.
The Equalizer (R) Denzel Washington re-teams with Training Day director Antoine Fuqua for this reboot of the 1980s TV series that plays a bit too much like other Denzel thrillers of late. He plays a former CIA hitman suffering from OCD and insomnia who pisses off the Russian mob when he takes retribution on a pimp who brutally beats an underage prostitute (Chloë Grace Moretz). The early scenes between Washington and Moretz are well-played, so it’s a shame when she leaves the movie. (Where does she go?) Fuqua tries for elegance and brutal efficiency in depicting the hero’s killings (accomplished, as in the TV show, without a gun), but those qualities aren’t in this director. This isn’t really bad. It’s just stuff we’ve seen before. Also with Marton Csokas, David Harbour, Haley Bennett, David Meunier, Johnny Skourtis, Alex Veadov, Bill Pullman, and Melissa Leo.
Fury (R) Exhausting and not in a good way. Brad Pitt stars in this World War II movie as an American tank commander who tries to keep his crew alive in Germany during the war’s endgame. Writer-director David Ayer (End of Watch) comes up with a good combat sequence with the tank trying to win a one-on-one battle with a German Panzer boasting superior armor and firepower, but he also fills this movie with one-dimensional characters, stupid machismo, and gaseous sentiments about the brotherhood among soldiers. The movie wants to be serious and reverent, but it’s too undercooked to pull that off. Also with Logan Lerman, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Peña, Jon Bernthal, Scott Eastwood, Anamaria Marinca, Alicia von Rittberg, Brad Henke, Xavier Samuel, and Jason Isaacs.
Gone Girl (R) This movie tastes like death, and I mean that in a good way. David Fincher’s complex, black-as-the-grave murder mystery stars Ben Affleck as a man who becomes the publicly demonized prime suspect when his wife (Rosamund Pike) disappears. Gillian Flynn adapts this from her own bestselling novel and writes like a seasoned veteran, while Fincher expertly tightens the screws. Supporting actors (Tyler Perry, Kim Dickens, and Carrie Coon especially) give tasty performances, and composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross provide a fearsomely detached score. Both Fincher’s nihilism and Affleck’s talent for playing flawed, self-loathing guys receive a great showcase in this movie that flatly dismisses the illusions peddled by romantic movies. Also with Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Fugit, David Clennon, Lisa Banes, Missi Pyle, Emily Ratajkowski, Boyd Holbrook, Lola Kirke, Scoot McNairy, and Sela Ward.
The Good Lie (PG-13) This drama about the Sudanese genocide has its heart in the right place, but where is its brain? Arnold Oceng, Emmanuel Jal, and Ger Duany play three African refugees who resettle in Kansas City in 2001. The movie never explains why it’s left to their employment counselor (Reese Witherspoon) to help them acclimate to a strange new country. The big canvas seems to defeat director Philippe Falardeau, whose storytelling is so poor that bureaucratic rules are explained to be insurmountable in one scene, then solved in the very next one. It’s good that the movie isn’t about a heroic white woman rescuing the refugees, but the Africans are still reduced to one character trait apiece. Oceng manages to convey a sense of maturation all the same. He deserved a better vehicle than this. Also with Corey Stoll, Kuoth Wiel, Peterdeng Mongok, Femi Oguns, and Sarah Baker.
Guardians of the Galaxy (PG-13) The funniest Marvel Comics movie so far. Chris Pratt stars as an intergalactic thief who has to team up with a green-skinned assassin (Zoë Saldana), a revenge-minded alien (Dave Bautista), an insanely angry talking raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and his walking tree sidekick (voiced by Vin Diesel) to stop a blue-skinned overlord (Lee Pace) from doing bad things to the universe. The five main characters make a terrific comedy team, with Pratt anchoring the proceedings well and the raccoon stealing lots of scenes. Director/co-writer James Gunn (Slither) festoons the soundtrack with splendidly cheesy 1970s and ’80s rock anthems. Most superhero movies treat their characters with earnest reverence, and Gunn gleefully throws a pie in the face of it all. Also with Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, John C. Reilly, Djimon Hounsou, Ophelia Lovibond, Wyatt Oleff, Benicio del Toro, and Glenn Close.
The Judge (R) So close to being good, it’s infuriating. Robert Downey Jr. stars as a soulless big-city corporate lawyer who returns to his small home town in Indiana for his mother’s funeral and winds up staying to defend his estranged, retired-judge father (Robert Duvall) from a murder charge. The drama is entirely predictable, with the son’s old flame (Vera Farmiga) still good-looking and single, and every courtroom scene set at Dramatic Lighting O’Clock. The lead actors and a heavyweight supporting cast do some good work, but they can’t overcome the inappropriate humor that makes this movie feel like a long, bad sitcom. Also with Billy Bob Thornton, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jeremy Strong, Dax Shepard, Ken Howard, Emma Tremblay, Balthazar Getty, David Krumholtz, Denis O’Hare, and Leighton Meester. — Cole Williams
Left Behind (PG-13) Astonishing how little this remake seems to have improved upon the 2002 film version of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins’ novel. Nicolas Cage stars this time as an airline pilot who struggles to cope with what has happened when the Rapture takes away his co-pilot and half his passengers. The special effects are amateurish, as are many of the performances — Cassi Thomson is downright gruesome as the pilot’s daughter. If I want a movie about the Rapture, I’ll stick with This Is the End. Also with Lea Thompson, Chad Michael Murray, Nicky Whelan, Martin Klebba, Quinton Aaron, William Ragsdale, Lolo Jones, and Jordin Sparks.
The Maze Runner (PG-13) The shadow of The Hunger Games looms heavily over this dystopian science-fiction thriller starring Dylan O’Brien as a boy who awakens without his memory in a community full of similarly amnesiac boys trapped in the center of a giant maze. The film’s look is derivative, and the acting is mostly anonymous, aside from the beauteous Kaya Scodelario as a girl who mysteriously shows up late in the proceedings. Still, the central mystery (taken from the James Dashner novel this is based on) is well handled, and the plot’s twists and turns are employed dexterously to reveal enough information to keep up the intrigue. Other YA novels have been turned into far worse movies. Also with Aml Ameen, Ki Hong Lee, Blake Cooper, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Will Poulter, Jacob Latimore, and Patricia Clarkson.
Men, Women & Children (R) Jeez, when did Jason Reitman turn into such a joyless scold? Adapted from Chad Kultgen’s novel, his latest movie is an endless litany of parents in Austin screwing up their kids, including one mom (Judy Greer) who hypersexualizes her daughter by pushing her into a modeling career, another one (Jennifer Garner) who fanatically denies her daughter any online privacy, and one couple (Adam Sandler and Rosemarie DeWitt) who look elsewhere for sexual gratification. The romantic subplot between Ansel Elgort and Kaitlyn Dever is worth rooting for because their characters suck less than anybody else, but the suburban alienation in this movie is cheap, cheap stuff. Also with J.K. Simmons, Dean Norris, Dennis Haysbert, Olivia Crocicchia, Elena Kampouris, Shane Lynch, Travis Tope, and Will Peltz. Narrated by Emma Thompson.
The Skeleton Twins (R) Saturday Night Live alums Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader give excellent, low-key performances as estranged siblings struggling to cope with a family legacy of depression and suicide. Director/co-writer Craig Johnson knows that the subject threatens to be too gloomy, so he gives these comic actors opportunities like a big dance number set to “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” For all that, the two leads are even better in the movie’s big dramatic explosions near the end. Their performances convey the love that drives these two damaged people to try to prop each other up, and that makes this dramedy into something deeply moving. Also with Ty Burrell, Boyd Holbrook, Joanna Gleason, and Luke Wilson.
Art and Craft (NR) Sam Cullman, Jennifer Grausman, and Mark Becker’s documentary profiles Mark Landis, a Mississippi art forger who spent 30 years donating his works to museums.
