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PG-13, 2:09, thriller
“Glass” is a plodding M. Night Shyamalan lecture on the meaning of superhero origin stories. In “Unbreakable” (2000), Bruce Willis played the mysteriously durable survivor of a train derailment masterminded by Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson), whose lifelong case of brittle bone disease positioned him as the opposite of Dunn’s indestructability. “Split” got around to linking these two archetypes with the James McAvoy character(s). “Glass” sets up a showdown between the do-gooder vigilante, Willis, and one of the McAvoy character’s so-called “Hordes.” But however often Shyamalan references superhero tropes, his latest movie struggles to gather momentum.
PG-13, 2:05, comedy
“The Upside” stars Kevin Hart as a lazy, skirt-chasing ex-con hoping to reconnect with his estranged wife and son. He accidentally gets a job taking care of an obscenely wealthy New York businessman (Bryan Cranston) who became a paraplegic while hang gliding. The movie is based on a true story — and lifted from the 2011 French film “Les Intouchables” — but no one really worked on the shaky racial angle for an American audience. Hart, a comic force, reveals his limits as a dramatic actor in his fish-out-of-water role, while Cranston shows only a few glimpses of his formidable skills, especially when he turns steely.
PG-13, 1:44, action
Mexico’s 2011 Oscar entry, “Miss Bala,” was a searing slice of social commentary about the raging narco wars wrapped up in a sexy, action-packed thriller. Catherine Hardwicke helms the remake of the same name, starring Gina Rodriguez as Gloria, a young Mexican-American makeup artist from LA who gets caught up in the swirl of corruption and cartels while visiting a friend who is competing in the Miss Baja California pageant. The film is about Gloria’s journey through hell and back to save her best friend, Suzu. The problem lies in the rather bland script, and there’s a Hollywood ending that completely misses the point of what “Miss Bala” was and should be.
PG-13, 2:23, action
The DC Comics superhero Aquaman takes center stage, on land and under the sea, in “Aquaman.” Jason Momoa (“Game of Thrones”) is surly and charismatic. Screenwriters David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall stumble all over the place trying to set up simple origin-story exposition — how Arthur Curry, the lighthouse keeper’s son, was born to Queen Atlanna of Atlantis, and how he must prevent war waged by Orm, while aquamanning up to claim a leadership role. The film’s just sincere enough where it counts to float this soggy mediocrity for a global audience.
PG, 2:00, action
The animated “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” gives ensemble superheroism a good name while giving audiences a really good time. It derives most of its story from the character of Miles Morales. Exploring the subway tunnels with his uncle Aaron, Miles is bitten by a genetically altered spider. Soon he learns that he, like Peter Parker, has been chosen to take on the Spidey mantle. The second half’s a bit of a letdown, but by the end, we’re back where we need to be: captured by Miles’ story and the “Spider-Verse” notion of the mask being for everyone up to the task.
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