OPENING
The Bad Batch (R) This English-language Western by Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night) stars Suki Waterhouse as a woman who’s set adrift in a dystopian wilderness populated by cannibals. Also with Jason Momoa, Jada Fink, Diego Luna, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, and Jim Carrey. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Transformers: The Last Knight (PG-13) The latest installment of the saga traces the robots’ history with Earth back thousands of years and to the present day. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Hopkins, Josh Duhamel, Laura Haddock, Isabella Moner, Santiago Cabrera, Stanley Tucci, and John Turturro. Voices by Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Jim Carter, Omar Sy, Ken Watanabe, Steve Buscemi, and John Goodman. (Opens Wednesday)
The Women’s Balcony (NR) This comedy is about a tightly knit village in Israel that threatens to come apart after an extreme Orthodox rabbi (Avraham Aviv Alush) takes over the synagogue. Also with Igal Naor, Yafit Asulin, Orna Banai, Itzik Cohen, Sharon Elimelech, Einat Saruf, and Herzl Tobey. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
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Alien: Covenant (R) A big pile of eh. Ridley Scott returns to the series with an installment that supposedly focuses on horror instead of the backstory like Prometheus did. The trouble is, his horror-movie instincts seem to have deserted him here. The xenomorphs have no new dangers to reveal, and since the events here are taking place before the story of the first Alien movie, we know that the humans can’t just kill all the aliens. The crew members are underwhelming, with Katherine Waterston failing to impress in the lead role and Michael Fassbender playing two lookalike androids and managing not to be interesting as either one. Even Danny McBride gets few opportunities to wisecrack as a Stetson-wearing pilot. The most wrongheaded of the Alien films at least gave you something to think about. This one has nothing. Also with Billy Crudup, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Jussie Smollett, Amy Seimetz, Callie Hernandez, and uncredited cameos by James Franco, Guy Pearce, and Noomi Rapace.
All Eyez on Me (R) This biography of Tupac Shakur stars Demetrius Shipp Jr. as the legendary rapper. Also with Danai Gurira, Kat Graham, Lauren Cohan, Jamal Woolard, Dominic L. Santana, Deray Davis, Clifton Davis, and Hill Harper.
Baywatch (R) Is there an actor around who’s better at playing dumb than Zac Efron? He brings his act to this big-screen version of the 1990s babes-and-bikinis TV show as a disgraced Olympic swimming champion who joins the lifeguard corps and winds up helping bust a crime ring, protesting all the while (as no one did on the show) that it’s a job for the police. The comedy here is more self-aware than that dopey TV program and Efron’s comic interplay with Dwayne Johnson as the head of Baywatch is good, but the women are eye candy once again, even Priyanka Chopra as the villain. Also with Alexandra Daddario, Kelly Rohrbach, Ilfenesh Hadera, Jon Bass, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Rob Huebel, Hannibal Buress, Oscar Nuñez, David Hasselhoff, and Pamela Anderson.
The Book of Henry (PG-13) This low-budget thriller by Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) stars Naomi Watts as a single mother who hatches a plot with her child-prodigy son (Jaeden Lieberher) to rescue the girl next door (Maddie Ziegler) from her abusive stepfather (Dean Norris). Also with Jacob Tremblay, Sarah Silverman, Bobby Moynihan, Tonya Pinkins, and Lee Pace.
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (PG) Dav Pilkey’s children’s books are turned into an animated film about two troublesome schoolkids (voiced by Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch) who hypnotize their principal (voiced by Ed Helms) into thinking he’s a superhero. Additional voices by Jordan Peele, Nick Kroll, Kristen Schaal, Brian Posehn, and DeeDee Rescher.
Cars 3 (PG) Basically, this is like Creed with talking cars. In this latest Pixar installment, Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) faces his sporting mortality after a bad run of results and makes drastic changes to his training regimen thanks to a new billionaire sponsor (voiced by Nathan Fillion) who’s so nice that he can’t possibly be a good guy. Once Lightning’s new young trainer (voiced by Cristela Alonzo) is shown topping out over 200 on a racing simulator, we know where this is going. Even so, the base material has a power of its own as the old veteran finds he has to dig into a bag of tricks to stay competitive with the younger racers, and Pixar’s customary in jokes and throwaway gags help it all go down easy. Check for F1 champion Lewis Hamilton as an electronic assistant named Hamilton. Additional voices by Larry the Cable Guy, Chris Cooper, Bonnie Hunt, Armie Hammer, Tony Shalhoub, Lea DeLaria, Margo Martindale, Kerry Washington, Bob Costas, Darrell Waltrip, Richard Petty, Kyle Petty, Cheech Marin, John Ratzenberger, and the late Paul Newman.
Churchill (PG) Brian Cox overacts intolerably in this biopic that shows the British prime minister in the 48 hours before the D-Day invasion, cutting a far less than heroic figure as he sinks into a black depression, tries to make wholesale changes to the war plans, snaps at everyone around him, and — of course — drinks way too much. As we’re told again and again, he’s haunted by the loss of life he was responsible for during the First World War and fears a repeat of history. Perhaps director Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man) means all this to be exhausting, as life with a depressive personality must be, yet he and screenwriter Alex von Tunzelmann shed little light on either the condition or the man at the center of this. You may not walk out of this understanding more about depression, but you will go out feeling depressed. Also with Miranda Richardson, John Slattery, Ella Purnell, Julian Wadham, and James Purefoy.
Dean (PG-13) Demetri Martin stars in his own comedy as a man trying to prevent his father (Kevin Kline) from selling the family home after his mother’s death. Also with Gillian Jacobs, Christine Woods, Kate Berlant, and Mary Steenburgen.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (PG) Jason Drucker takes over the role of Greg Heffley as the series based on Jeff Kinney’s books reboots. Also with Alicia Silverstone, Tom Everett Scott, Charlie Wright, Owen Asztalos, and Dylan Walters.
Everything, Everything (PG-13) Nicola Yoon’s YA novel about a teenage girl whose immunodeficiency disorder forces her to spend her life indoors becomes this intermittently inspired film starring Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games) as a girl who falls in love via text message with the cute guy (Nick Robinson) who moves in next door. The physical separation leads to some nice little touches in the early going by director Stella Meghie, but she loses her spark when the heroine risks her life to travel to Hawaii and the two lovers are finally together. As teen romances go, this one could have done with a bit fewer hearts and flowers and a bit more adversity. The big revelation in this story is some kind of messed-up. Also with Anika Noni Rose, Ana de la Reguera, Taylor Hickson, Danube Hermosillo, and Sage Brocklebank.
47 Meters Down (PG-13) Mandy Moore and Claire Holt star in this thriller as two sisters trapped in a shark cage that comes loose from the boat that lowered them down. Also with Matthew Modine, Yani Gellman, and Santiago Segura.
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 (PG-13) More goes right than wrong in this sequel, in which our band of ragtag space rogues crash-lands on a distant planet that’s sentient, can take human form (Kurt Russell), and happens to be the long-lost father of Peter “Star-Lord” Quill (Chris Pratt). There’s tons more funny business, some involving baby Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) dancing and bringing the wrong items to Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Yondu (Michael Rooker) as they’re trying to break out of prison. I just wish the sequel had retained more of the original’s caper feel instead of making all its characters go through some hackneyed emotional arc — our Star-Lord was more fun as a common thief than as a guy with superpowers and daddy issues. Still, enough of the original’s jokey spirit remains to prime you for the third mix. Also with Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen GIllan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Sean Gunn, Chris Sullivan, Ving Rhames, Michelle Yeoh, Sylvester Stallone, and an uncredited David Hasselhoff.
It Comes at Night (R) Less a horror film than a psychological thriller, this second film by Trey Edward Shults (Krisha) is about a family hiding out from a mysterious pandemic in a cabin in the woods when the arrival of another family upsets the psychic balance of the place. The movie doesn’t have any standout performances, nor does it have the ruthless inevitability of similar films like The Witch and 10 Cloverfield Lane, but Shults paints some fearsome pictures with the woods at night and the teenage son (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) who has fearsome nightmares after watching his infected grandfather (David Pendleton) get executed by his parents. The film is beautiful, but its story about social bonds coming apart under duress doesn’t ping the way it should. Also with Joel Edgerton, Carmen Ejogo, Riley Keough, Christopher Abbott, and Griffin Robert Faulkner.
Megan Leavey (PG-13) Kate Mara stars in this biopic about a Marine corporal whose bond with her military combat dog saves the lives of hundreds of fellow soldiers during the Iraq War. Also with Tom Felton, Bradley Whitford, Geraldine James, Will Patton, Common, and Edie Falco.
The Mummy (PG-13) Great, now that Disney and Marvel have built a whole continuous universe of blockbuster films, everybody else has to have one of those, too. Universal’s attempt to redo all its horror classics is incredibly lame as Tom Cruise plays a soldier-turned-tomb raider who unleashes an undead Egyptian princess (Sofia Boutella) on the world. At different points, everything stops so that some character can unload gobs of exposition about ancient Egyptian mythology, and when Russell Crowe introduces himself as Dr. Jekyll, it seems like nobody has read the Robert Louis Stevenson book. If Alex Kurtzman’s direction were a bit more energetic, then the whole thing would be laughable. As it is, it’s just dull. Also with Annabelle Wallis, Javier Botet, Jake Johnson, and Courtney B. Vance.
My Cousin Rachel (PG-13) Based on Daphne du Maurier’s novel, this 19th century-set thriller stars Sam Claflin as a young Englishman who investigates whether his cousin (Rachel Weisz) might be responsible for the murder of his guardian. Also with Iain Glen, Holliday Grainger, Poppy Lee Friar, Andrew Knott, Vicki Pepperdine, and Andrew Havill.
Paris Can Wait (PG) Eleanor Coppola’s filmmaking debut stars Diane Lane as an American woman who drives from Budapest to Paris with her husband’s friend (Arnaud Viard). Also with Alec Baldwin.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (PG-13) The same goes for dead franchises. Much like its three predecessors, the fifth film in the series goes madly in circles as it brings on a new pair of young lovers (Kaya Scodelario and the flavorless Brenton Thwaites) to join Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) as he’s pursued by an undead Spanish captain (Javier Bardem) seeking revenge on Jack for his death. The story is powered by rote action sequences and so much mumbo-jumbo about a magical gadget that controls the seas. It’s harder to laugh at Depp’s comic drunk act now, when you’re wondering whether it’s really an act. The Norwegian directing team of Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg (Kon-Tiki) fail to bring anything in the way of originality to this. Also with Geoffrey Rush, Kevin McNally, David Wenham, Stephen Graham, Golshifteh Farahani, Paul McCartney, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley.
Raabta (NR) Sushant Singh Rajput stars in this Indian comedy as a man whose love for his girlfriend (Kriti Sanon) is thwarted by a reincarnated girlfriend from a past life. Also with Deepika Padukone, Rajkummar Rao, Varun Sharma, Satendra Bagasi, Rahul Kohli, and Jim Sarbh.
The Recall (R) This science-fiction thriller stars Wesley Snipes as a mysterious man who must guide five friends vacationing in the woods to safety when the planet is invaded by aliens. Also with RJ Mitte, Niko Pepaj, Jedidiah Goodacre, Hannah Rose May, and Vicellous Shannon.
Rough Night (R) Scarlett Johansson stars in this raunchy comedy as a bride-to-be who experiences a wild weekend with her friends after her bachelorette party goes lethally awry. Also with Jillian Bell, Zoë Kravitz, Ilana Glazer, Kate McKinnon, Paul W. Downs, Ty Burrell, Ryan Cooper, Karan Soni, Enrique Murciano, Dean Winters, and Demi Moore.
Smurfs: The Lost Village (PG) Marginally more watchable than the partially live-action films that have come before it, this wholly animated film features Smurfette (voiced by Demi Lovato) leading an unauthorized expedition into the Forbidden Forest to get to a village of lost Smurfs before Gargamel (voiced by Rainn Wilson) gets to it. There’s a development that takes some (but not all) of the weirdness out of the fact that Smurfette is the only female in her village, but the jokes aren’t funny and the story’s emotional hooks don’t hook us. The best that can be said here is that Lovato is an upgrade on Katy Perry in her role. Additional voices by Michelle Rodriguez, Ariel Winter, Mandy Patinkin, Ellie Kemper, Jake Johnson, Gabriel Iglesias, Jeff Dunham, and Julia Roberts.
Snatched (R) Amy Schumer plays another woman-child, and you get the uneasy feeling that she has a better handle on the type than the filmmakers do. She plays an American woman who goes through a bad breakup and decides to take her risk-averse mom (Goldie Hawn) with her to Ecuador, only for the two of them to be kidnapped by Colombians off the beaten path. The movie has too many funny actors not to yield the occasional wisecrack, but the temperamental match between Schumer and Hawn is wasted and nobody even bothers to ask whether this mother may have been the one who raised such dysfunctional kids. Schumer should get back to writing her own material. Also with Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz, Tom Bateman, Christopher Meloni, Óscar Jaenada, Randall Park, and Joan Cusack.
Wonder Woman (PG-13) Not all that good, but still yards better than the other DC Comics movies. Gal Gadot plays the warrior princess who gives up her birthright and leaves her island to help an American spy (Chris Pine) bring a successful end to World War I. The origin story means that the other superheroes don’t get awkwardly shoehorned in for cameos, Wonder Woman has a character arc (wobbly though it is) that’s more satisfying than any of those superheroes have had, and the film owes a great deal to Pine and his comic instincts to the keep the story grounded. The movie does leave all sorts of things on the table and doesn’t appear to leave the heroine with much place to go as a character, but the good outweighs the bad, on balance. Never send a Man of Steel to do a Wonder Woman’s job. Also with Robin Wright, David Thewlis, Connie Nielsen, Elena Anaya, Lucy Davis, Ewen Bremner, Eugene Brave Rock, Saïd Taghmaoui, and Danny Huston.
DALLAS EXCLUSIVES
Band Aid (NR) Zoe Lister-Jones writes, directs, and co-stars in this comedy as half of a battling couple who try to save their relationship by starting a band together. Also with Adam Pally, Fred Armisen, Susie Essman, Hannah Simone, Ravi Patel, Majandra Delfino, Brooklyn Decker, Erinn Hayes, Jamie Chung, Daryl Wein, and Colin Hanks.
Beatriz at Dinner (R) Salma Hayek stars in this satire of race relations as a holistic medicine practitioner who finds herself stranded at a wealthy client’s house. Also with John Lithgow, Chloë Sevigny, Connie Britton, Amy Landecker, David Warshofsky, and Jay Duplass.
The Hero (R) Brett Haley (I’ll See You in My Dreams) directs and co-writes this drama starring Sam Elliott as a movie star coming to terms with his mortality. Also with Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter, Nick Offerman, Patrika Darbo, and Katharine Ross.
The Hunter’s Prayer (R) Sam Worthington stars in this thriller as a hit man who grows a conscience and helps save the life of his intended victim (Odeya Rush). Also with Verónica Echegui, Amy Landecker, Martin Compston, and Allen Leech.
Kill Switch (R) This science-fiction thriller stars Dan Stevens as a pilot who must save the Earth after an experiment to provide unlimited energy goes wrong. Also with Bérénice Marlohe, Mike Reus, Bas Keijzer, and Charity Wakefield.
Letters From Baghdad (NR) Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum’s documentary traces the life of Gertrude Bell, the archeologist and adventurer who shaped the future of the Middle East during World War I. Voice by Tilda Swinton.
Once Upon a Time in Venice (NR) Bruce Willis stars in this comic thriller as a detective determined to track down his missing dog. Also with Jason Momoa, Elisabeth Röhm, Famke Janssen, Kal Penn, Thomas Middleditch, Adam Goldberg, Wood Harris, and John Goodman.
