2 FAST 2 FURIOUS (PG-13) It's hard to imagine that once-respectable director John Singleton is responsible for this tepid time-waster, a sequel so shoddy it makes the idiotic but entertaining original look like Citizen Kane. Former cop and driver extraordinaire Brian O'Connor (blander-than-ever Paul Walker) is back, this time teamed with a fast-talking black buddy (Tyrese) and working undercover to set up a nasty Miami drug lord. The script is mindless, the acting atrocious, and not even the action scenes are particularly exciting (the biggest crowd-pleasers are a couple of cars flying through the air — shots not too far removed from what you'd see on an old Dukes of Hazard rerun). Add some painfully forced repartee between the salt and pepper leads and a hot Latina babe in the wings — whose main credentials seem to be possessing both Gina Gershon's lips and Cindy Crawford's mole — and you've got a near-total bust. Eye candy, pure and simple, but not even particularly good eye candy. Also stars Cole Hauser and Chris "Ludicris" Bridges. 
28 DAYS LATER (R) The country's been devastated by a strange virus and small bands of ragtag survivors fight off hordes of snarling, once-human creatures in this horror movie for the New Dark Ages. Despite the occasional burst of warmth and light, 28 Days Later is a fiercely gritty and even ugly affair, made even more so by jittery editing and the flat, no-frills look of its digital video footage. Danny Boyle, who hasn't made a film this strong since Trainspotting, draws inspiration from all sorts of horror movies, both classic and contemporary. The debt to George Romero's zombies is unavoidable, of course, as are the nods to the you-are-there video verite approach popularized by The Blair Witch Project. The movie doesn't add much that's new to this mix but, for the most part, it holds its own with the macabre past glories that it references. Many will find the tone a little too faux-hip frenetic (flying in the face of tradition, these zombies move fast), but the raw power and ambitious scale of this blood-drenched journey into the heart of darkness can't be denied. Stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns and Brendan Gleeson.
ALEX AND EMMA (PG-13) Inoffensive but dull, drab romantic comedy from rob reiner, a director who's done this sort of thing much better in films like When Harry Met Sally. Art imitates life and vice versa when a frazzled writer (Luke Wilson) begins to fall for his spunky but, wouldn't you know it, terribly attractive stenographer (the ever adorable Kate Hudson). Mirror images of the pair begin appearing in the novel-in-progress as romantic sparks supposedly fly both on the page and between the storytellers themselves. The negligible Wilson-Hudson chemistry doesn't make those sparks particularly believable, though, and the jokes are too weak for us to focus our attention elsewhere. As for the story-within-the-story that Wilson's character is writing — it's a badly written bore. And unfortnately reiner forces us to sit through long, painful stretches of it. Also stars Sophie Marceau and David Paymer.
ANGER MANAGEMENT (PG-13) Another drab installment of recycled humor starring Adam Sandler, the most typecast comic actor of our time. Sandler plays Dave Buznik, a neurotic who struggles to masquerade his angst by being non-confrontational. And after an altercation with a flight attendant, Dave is court ordered to participate in an anger management program. His therapist, Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson), takes an unconventional approach in treating him. Jack Nicholson is the only new element in this formulaic Sandler flick. The plot relies on the same mold as his other films. Reoccurring characters and gags are aplenty. Also stars Marisa Tomei, John Turturro, Kevin Nealon and Woody Harrelson. —Corey Myers
BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM (PG-13) A far more satisfying spin on modern gals grappling with Old World cultural values (and cliches) than My Big Fat Greek Wedding. At the center of the story is Jess (Jesminder to her parents), a nice Indian girl who just wants to follow her dream to play soccer, much to the dismay of dear old mum and dad. Much of what follows is fairly predictable but ultimately winning stuff. Director Gurinder Chadha (Bhaji on the Beach) toys with scores of cliches and conventions, but manages to transcend them all by keeping a firm grip on the bottom line: creating appealing and believable characters, and giving them an interesting and convincing world to live in. The movie gives us a little bit of everything, crossing smoothly from genre to genre and packing all of its elements tightly together in one groovy little package: romantic comedy, coming-of-age drama, sports movie. Stars Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Anupam Kher.
BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE (PG-13) Steve Martin and Queen Latifah star in what the previews reveal to be the standard Hollywood comedy that starts with a wacky Internet match-up but winds up with Ms. Latifah as helper-to-the-rescue a la Mrs. Doubtfire. (Not Reviewed)
BRUCE ALMIGHTY (PG-13) You've seen the trailers and you get the drift: Jim Carrey is endowed with omnipotent power when God decides to sit back and let him run the show for awhile. It's a premise that should have led to great comedic things, but it's almost completely wasted by a lazy, by-the-numbers script that doesn't do a single thing we weren't expecting. There's a nice moment toward the beginning where Carrey parts the waters of a bowl of tomato soup, but it's all downhill from there. It's still fun watching Carrey bounce around and mug for the camera, but the movie simply lacks the imagination to provide any support or follow-through. It all feels like a weak sitcom and makes for one of the most lifeless projects the actor-comedian's ever been involved with. Also stars Jennifer Aniston and Morgan Freeman.
CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE (PG-13) If you liked the first one, odds are this sequel will do the trick too. Full Throttle follows the same exact model as the first Charlie's Angels movie and piles on more of everything that made the original so popular. There's more comedy (pretty much everything here is played for laughs), more silly sexual innuendoes, bigger explosions and more costume changes and cute outfits. The girls all seem to be having the time of their lives as they giggle, shake their booties to MC Hammer and divide their time between ogling boys and kicking some serious male butt (although some of the choicest scenes are the cat fights, of course). Demi Moore shows up, too, flashing her hard body and blinding white smile, the bones in her face jutting out at such dramatic angles it feels like you could cut yourself just by looking at her. The film's appetite for bouncy, crowd-friendly anarchy is pretty much boundless, so much so that the whole experience really feels more like a slumber party than a movie. Stars Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu and Bernie Mac.
CHICAGO (PG-13) Rob Marshall pulls out all the stops in this lavish, big-screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical about a 1920s chorus girl who shoots her lover, goes to jail and becomes a big celebrity. Taking place simultaneously in gritty reality and in the projected fantasies of its characters, the movie cleverly folds its story into a series of show-stopping musical numbers. Stars Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John C. Reilly and Taye Diggs.
CORAL REEF ADVENTURE (G) Another quality IMAX production from the acclaimed team of MacGillivray Freeman (who seem to be able to do this IMAX thing in their sleep), Coral Reef Adventure is a fascinating and somewhat frightening look at an exotic and rapidly disappearing underwater world. Music by flag-waving hippie diehards Crosby, Stills and Nash brings home the environmental message concerning the destruction of the reefs (from a deadly combo of over-fishing and global warming), but the movie has its moments of fun as well. 1/2
DADDY DAY CArE (PG) Eddie Murphy is back with another mediocre comedy aimed at pleasing children. Murphy plays Charlie, a family man who loses his well-paying product development job and finds himself reluctantly in the role of a stay-at-home dad. After discovering that fellow co-worker Phil (Jeff Garlin, HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm) is in the same boat, the two decide to go professional with their parenting by opening a day care center. Predictable disaster ensues as the two find out the do's and don'ts of child care while desperately trying to stay afloat financially. Although mostly recycled potty humor and lame slap-stick, the movie features some undoubtedly cute and naturally funny kids. It also helps that Murphy's sometimes mechanical performance is stabilized by Garlin and Steve Zahn (National Security), who win more laughs than Murphy. The movie succeeds at entertaining younger audiences, but fans of old-school Eddie Murphy (raw, 48 Hours) will be disappointed. Also starring Angelica Houston. 1/2—Leilani Polk
DOWN WITH LOVE (PG-13) A jumbled misfire that strains to emulate those candy-color Doris Day-Rock Hudson romantic farces of yore, but winds up just lying there. Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger are the would-be lovers in this convoluted mess, generating even fewer sparks than previously managed by Doris and Rock (and he didn't even like girls). The self-consciously silly story is negligible: A swinging womanizer (McGregor) jumping through hoops to get a proto-feminist writer (Zellweger) to fall for him. The movie's real concern is to replicate the style of that era, or at least of its movies, from the clothes, cars and colors, to the Technicolor-vivid and blatantly (and deliberately) fake backdrops. Down With Love doesn't quite have the guts to present itself as full-blown camp, but it does constantly dip its toes in that territory, creating a confused and labored tone that's painfully coy and far too full of itself to be very much fun at all. Double entendres drift joylessly through the air, like Austin Powers' dialogue on Thorazine, each accompanied by an annoying nudge-nudge-wink-wink from the soundtrack, as the characters go through their paces in a standard war-of-the-sexes scenario, Hollywood-style, from the early days of the so-called Sexual Revolution. This kind of material wasn't all that much fun even when Doris and Rock were doing it, and it's downright painful to see it exhumed, perfumed and paraded about again. It's far less the cheerfully hip-retro homage it clearly wants to be and more like a grotesquely re-animated corpse trying desperately to look sexy. Also stars David Hyde Pierce. 1/2
DUMB AND DUMBErEr: WHEN HArrY MET LLOYD (PG-13) There's no Jim Carrey or Jeff Daniels here, just two bizarre, younger look-alikes in a prequel to the popular 1994 goof-fest. Mimi rogers is slumming in here somewhere too. (Not reviewed)
FINDING NEMO (PG) Although it doesn't quite scale the heights of previous Pixar projects like Monsters Inc or the Toy Story movies, this latest animated opus is still one heck of a fish story. The computer-generated visuals are as dazzling as ever, the characters are appealing and the gags are consistently clever (and typically savvy of pop culture, with frequent nods to everything from The Shining to 12-step programs). The story just feels a little less inspired this time out. This is the more traditional side of Pixar, sort of an underwater A Bug's Life — but there's still plenty of heart. The little hero's mama gets killed off in the very first scene, opening the way for a narrative that's as much about separation anxiety and overprotective (single) parents as Toy Story 2 was about childhood's end. Featuring the voices of Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould and Willem Dafoe. 1/2
FrOM JUSTIN TO KELLY (PG) The horror! The horror! If you're one of the millions of cynics expecting this to be one of the worst movies ever made, congratulations on being absolutely correct. On the other hand, if you're one of those sneaky subversives who suspected this just might qualify for instant cult status in the so-bad-it's-good category, you're right too (hence the half planet begrudgingly awarded below). There's essentially no story here, just a bunch of tragically charisma-challenged people walking aimlessly around South Beach, delivering cringe-worthy dialogue as if they're reading off cue cards and periodically breaking out in eminently forgettable song. The lip-synching is like some stunningly bad evening at the world's worst karaoke bar, the choreography clumsy and shapeless and the production values combine all the charm of a feminine hygiene spray commercial with all the pizzazz of a promotional travelogue for Chernobyl. It's tempting to call it the worst movie musical of all time, but I'm honestly not sure it deserves to be called a musical (or a movie, for that matter). On the plus side, a handful of scenes are so magically inept they generate genuine (albeit unintended) laughs, and, at a running time of 75 minutes, the movie is no longer than your average Disney flick geared for a 3-year-old attention span. It still feels like forever. Stars Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini and Katherine Bailess. 1/2 planet
HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE (PG-13) Once upon a time, Harrison Ford was a space cowboy and an adventurer, an action star whose charm and credibility took him quickly down the road to fame. What's happened to our hero. Ford has taken one lousy role after another and Hollywood Homicide is his latest blunder. Ford plays LAPD detective Joe Gavilan, a veteran of the force who spends his free time dealing in real estate and dating a psychic. Josh Hartnett is his young and unpolished partner, K.C. Calden, a spiritual soul who teaches yoga and who is not so secretly trying to pursue his "bliss" as an actor. In this latest version of the tired old cop/young cop match-up, the two are working together to solve a murder committed in a Hollywood club. Ford's acting is stiff and forced, as if he can't quite fit into the skin of his character, and Hartnett fares no better. Except for a few interesting cameos (look out for Lou Diamond Phillips), the numerous and unnecessary subplots make for a movie that drags along to its final, predictable end. Also starring Master P and Lena Olin. —Leilani Polk
THE HULK (PG-13) Ang Lee, that most poetic of filmmakers, makes a comic book movie that's — surprise, surprise — poetic. Unfortunately, it's also badly paced, convoluted and even a little bit annoying, with an endless barrage of split screens and other cleverer-than-thou pop visuals that just become too much. Eric Bana (resembling, from the right angle, a young Christopher Reeves with bad skin) plays mild-mannered scientist Bruce Banner, who, when angered, turns into the gigantic, Mean Green Machine beloved by fans of the original Hulk comic and TV show. Lee turns the story into an Oedipal freak-out about repressed memories, but the movie's freighted with silliness, beginning and ending with a blatantly computer generated central character who elicits more unintentional giggles than gasps of awe. And what can you say about a film whose big fight scene involves a mutant French Poodle? The movie follows the basic Spider-Man model — with the first half devoted to character development, and the later sections filled with action and special effects — but it makes us wait way too long for too little pay-off. Also stars Jennifer Connelly, Nick Nolte and Sam Elliott. 1/2
THE HUMAN BODY (PG) It's hard not to feel positively microscopic while watching The Human Body, what with all those gigantic internal organs and bodily fluids filling up that seven-story-tall IMAX screen. The movie was three years in the making, but The Human Body is the culmination of decades of technological advances. Pencil-thin endoscopic cameras, thermal imaging and time-slice photography (a Matrix-like freeze-effect) are only some of the cutting-edge techniques employed to great effect here. What couldn't actually be achieved by hook or crook was simulated through computer animation that's often difficult to distinguish from the real thing. The movie is a sort of day in the life of us all, a look at the routine functions performed by many of us in the course of our daily existences, albeit as seen from the inside. 1/2
THE ITALIAN JOB (PG-13) If you're longing for the flair of the Michael Caine original or even some exotic footage of Italy, beware (despite the title, only the brief prologue of this remake is set outside the United States). That said, this generic but energetically choreographed heist flick is passable, no-brainer fun for those able to leave expectations at the door. The movie's plot is nothing more than the boy-meets-girl of its particular sub-genre: a heist, followed by a double-cross, followed by a second heist devised and executed as payback for the first. There's the requisite geeky tech-wizard on hand, a beautiful safecracker, a dashing getaway driver, and the gang's mastermind (the ever-banal Mark Wahlberg), along with a trio of cool little red, white and blue Minis that all but steal the show. Most of the cast looks nearly as bored and robotic as Wahlberg, but several of the heist sequences are entertaining enough to compensate. Also stars Edward Norton, Charlize Theron and Seth Green. 1/2
L'AUBErGE ESPAGNOLE (r) An odd, jittery, lovely little movie about everything and nothing. No, it's not a feature-length episode of Seinfeld. L'Auberge Espagnole is the latest film from French director Cedric Klapisch (When the Cat's Away), and it perfectly captures the endless possibilities, sexy aimlessness and abrupt detours of youth. At the same time, Klapisch offers up a love letter to the city of Barcelona as poignant and perfectly realized as the cinematic poems to Paris dashed off by Truffaut and Godard all those many years ago. There's no real plot here, just a small group of international exchange students sharing an apartment in Barcelona, but the film never suffers from a lack of energy, emotion or artistic panache. Stars roman Duris, Judith Godreche, Audrey Tautou and Cecile de France.
THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN (PG-13) It's 1899 in an alternate England, where a group of "singular individuals" join forces to combat an evil genius who's about to plunge the world into chaos. Sean Connery stars as the legendary adventurer Allen Quartermain, leader of the titular League, a super-powered crew that also includes Captain Nemo, The Invisible Man, Dorian Grey, a vampiric acquaintance of Dracula's, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The mix-and-match isn't quite as absurd as it sounds, but the characters never quite click as a cohesive superhero unit, nor do they really engage us as individuals. Likewise, the movie itself is a somewhat clumsy mish-mash of a quaintly old-fashioned adventure story for boys and a modern special effects blow-out. Director Stephen Norrington gives the film a dark veneer not dissimilar to Burton's Batman's or even Norrington's own Blade, alternating between frenetic action sequences and gloomy passages in which the characters are obliged to engage in token brooding about their dark sides. Connery's not bad for a geezer, and Stuart Townsend has fun channeling a young Johnny Depp as Dorian Grey, but the rest of the cast is pretty much faceless. Also stars Shane West and Jason Fleming. Opens July 11 at local theaters.
LEGALLY BLONDE 2: RED, WHITE AND BLONDE (PG-13) LB2 has perky, perfectly put together Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) shaking up things in the nation's capitol when she goes on a crusade against animal testing. This sequel — which might have effectively been subtitled Blonde Ambition or Blonde Justice — isn't nearly as much fun as the original, which scored points for self-mocking irony and general pop silliness. This time out, the filmmakers opt more for sincerity, and the movie winds up too often just seeming blandly sanctimonious. The model here is clearly Frank Capra, and specifically his Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, but Reese's over-accessorized Everywoman has almost as difficult a time filling Jimmy Stewart's shoes as Adam Sandler did not so long ago. Also stars Regina King, Jennifer Coolidge, Bruce McGill, Bob Newhart and Luke Wilson. MAN ON THE TRAIN (R) Patrice Leconte, the gifted filmmaker responsible for such lovely cine-poems as Monsieur Hire and The Hairdresser's Husband, returns with this slight but elegantly bittersweet comedy about changing places. Leconte's latest is, in many ways, a fairly standard odd couple affair about a reserved teacher and a shifty crook who each envy the other's life, but the director's customary style and the amazing stars transform the movie into something that is anything but standard. The great Jean Rochefort delivers yet another memorable performance as the homebody yearning for danger, while French pop icon Johnny Hallyday is equally fine as the craggy thief who just wants a warm fire and a pair of cozy slippers. The stars' chemistry is irresistible and, despite an overly self-conscious faux-metaphysical finale, so is the film.
THE MATRIX RELOADED (R) Although this long-awaited, technically dazzling sequel to The Matrix doesn't quite succeed in positioning itself in that lofty pantheon of mythic epics that include the original Star Wars cycle and Lord of the Rings movies, it's not for lack of trying. There's more of just about everything here, from the quasi-spiritual questing of Keanu Reeves' hero-messiah, to the pumped up shock and awe of the ingenious special effects, to the sheer size of the movie's scenario. Humans are raging on against the machines in a seemingly endless series of illusionary worlds within worlds. Almost inevitably though, The Matrix Reloaded is only sporadically successful at conjuring up the sense of mystery and unlimited possibilities that took us by surprise and hooked us in the first installment. That said, if you can get past your own unnaturally high expectations, there's a lot here to make anybody sit up and take notice. The state-of-art action sequences are still as exhilarating as they come and there are moments of grand poetic excess sprinkled throughout. It all ends on a literal cliffhanger that ultimately makes it difficult to judge the movie as anything beyond a prelude to the series' grand finale. Also stars Laurence Fishburne Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Hugo Weaving. 1/2
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN (PG-13) The story here isn't much more than you'd expect from a theme park ride turned big screen blockbuster, but so what. The real reason to see Pirates of the Caribbean is Johnny Depp, who's a total gas-gas-gas as the Keith richards-inspired rock 'n' roll pirate Jack Sparrow. Depp flashes his gold teeth and mascara-lined eyes, swashbuckling and swishing about in an apparently perpetual stoned-out state of grace. Geoffrey rush is no slouch either as the scenery-chewing leader of a pack of zombie pirates straight out of an old Scooby Doo cartoon. The rest of the movie basically amounts to a skillful and modestly engaging blend of battle scenes and comedy (with just a sprinkling of romance and horror thrown in), all given a nice spit-and-polish thanks to director Gore Verbinski's usual high production values. The movie's too long by almost a full half-hour and some of the score seems directly cribbed from Coppola's Dracula, but, again, this is Depp's show all the way, and not much else matters. Also stars Keira Knightley. Opens July 9 at local theaters. 1/2
rUGrATS GO WILD (PG) Two batches of Nickelodeon cartoon characters for the price of one, although the fun factor is barely half of what you might reasonably expect from a project like this. This team-up of the animated kiddies from Nick's popular rugrats and Wild Thornberrys TV shows does feature one nice (albeit underused) gimmick — a scratch 'n' sniff card — but it's all downhill from there. The movie contains the requisite boogers and poop jokes and should do well with its primary 3- to 7-year-old target audience, but most adult chaperones will find little of interest. The script feels like it was knocked out in an afternoon, the animation has a cheaper-than-usual look, and there's almost nothing here as funny or interesting as the previous rugrats movies, or even one of the half-hour TV episodes. Featuring the voices of Bruce Willis, Jodi Carlisle, Christine Cavanaugh and Tim Curry.
SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS (PG) As animated adventure-fantasies go, Sinbad gets everything pretty much right. As the cliche goes, kids will love it, and adults will be reasonably entertained as well. A briskly told tale of Sinbad's adventures as he encounters various mythological beasties on his quest to recover a missing, mystical book. There's a good bit of Indiana Jones in Sinbad's DNA, and, indeed, much of DreamWorks' movie resembles Raiders of the Lost Ark more than the classic Sinbad legends of yore. The look of the animation is too closely modeled after DreamWorks' Prince of Egypt and The Road to El Dorado, with old-school 2-D drawings blending somewhat awkwardly with more immediately arresting 3-D computer-generated imagery. Featuring the voices of Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michelle Pfeiffer, Joseph Fiennes and Dennis Haysbert.
TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (R) Tempting as it is, we probably can't even say that the once-mighty Terminator franchise went out with a whimper, not with a bang. The sad truth of the matter is that The House That Arnold Built refuses to die, and this boring little mediocrity can barely contain its enthusiasm at setting us up for sequels to come. James Cameron wisely chose to distance himself from this faceless non-entity, which mostly just goes through the motions, recycling action riffs and catch phrases from the earlier Terminator movies and plopping them on the screen with little or no style, wit or imagination. The plot and dialogue are sophomoric, the acting forgettable (with the possible exception of Claire Danes), and the whole thing plays like a cross between a made-for-TV movie and a spoof of the original T1 and T2 as directed by the kid in Rushmore. No matter how low your expectations are for this one, they're apt to be shattered. Stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl and Kristannia Loken. 1/2
THRILL RIDE: THE SCIENCE OF FUN (G) IMAX technology captures every hairpin turn and stomach-turning drop of the history of thrill rides across the globe. (Not Reviewed)
TOP SPEED (NR) Another IMAX movie experience that is both entertaining and painlessly educational. Top Speed replicates the adrenaline rush of speed freaks and charts the endless human obsession of going really fast. (Not Reviewed)
WHALE RIDER (R) It's easy to see why this New Zealand import is attracting so much praise from critics and audiences alike. Director Niki Caro infuses a heartwarming coming of age story with just the right amount of ethnic exotica, mother earth mysticism and political correctness. It results in an adventure tale that has something for everybody, from folklore aficionados to feminists to plain old film lovers. Eleven-year-old Keisha Castle-Huges makes a memorable debut as Pai, a Maori girl who wants to be taken seriously in the male-dominated society of her people. Pai comes from a long line of chiefs but, even though it's clear she's destined to carry on that tradition, stern but loving grandpa Koro (Rawiri Paratene) won't have any of it. The love/hate relationship between the young girl and the old man is at the heart of the film, but Whale Rider's uplifting message, interesting local color, beautiful New Zealand locations and sweetly revisionist mysticism are the icing on the cake. Also stars Vicki Haughton. 1/2
WRONG TURN (R) Wrong Turn basically just amounts to a group of hard-bodied college kids being chased through the woods by a bunch of Inbred Cannibalistic Mutant Hillbillies, but the movie is appropriately atmospheric, briskly paced and includes a handful of genuinely creepy moments. There are even some valuable life lessons imparted: 1) Never, ever take the short cut. 2) Everybody in the rural South apparently has really bad teeth. 3) West Virginia, contrary to the PR, is not for lovers – unless they don't mind sharing quality time with I.C.M.H.'s. Stars Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku and Emmanuelle Chriqui. 1/2
X2 (PG-13) On the surface, Singer's film has all the black/white, good/evil dichotomies necessary to fuel a good action flick, but the movie also reveals all sorts of subtleties and ambiguities. This time, the mutants find themselves in the middle of a sinister plot hatched by various forces bent on jump-starting an all-out war between humans and mutants, forcing them to team up with their old nemesis, the uber-mutant Magneto (Ian McKellen). The movie is filled with uneasy alliances: conflicted heroes who do bad things and conflicted villains who do good things. Contradictory agendas blow up in more than one face, dangerous secrets are revealed and a main character or two bites the dust.
—Reviewed entries by Lance Goldenberg unless otherwise noted.
This article appears in Jul 10-16, 2003.
