‘BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE’: The first “Bad Boys” came out in 1995, which means we’re officially entering the “aging action star” territory with this franchise. The fourth installment, “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” is directed by the filmmaking team Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, known as Adil & Bilall. Writers Chris Bremner and Will Beall offer a story that is wide but shallow. This convoluted yarn concerns the bad boys’ deceased Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano), who has been posthumously framed for corruption, accused of sharing intel with drug cartels. Marcus (Martin Lawrence) and Mike (Will Smith) seek to clear his name but find themselves at odds with Howard’s U.S. Marshal daughter, Judy (Rhea Seehorn), bent on vengeance, and their colleague Rita (Paola Nuñez), who has brought the charges with her attorney and mayoral candidate fiancé Lockwood (Ioan Gruffudd). Their only chance at fingering the real bad guy is Mike’s drug dealer son Armando (Jacob Scipio), who has been imprisoned for the bloody chaos he wrought in “Bad Boys for Life,” the previous movie. It’s a thin tapestry of lore with some interesting creative embellishments, but without any real interest in character, it feels flimsy and disposable. You could do worse, but you could certainly do better. 1:55. 2 stars. — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

‘FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA’: Without permits, caution or anything to prove except everything, director George Miller shot “Mad Max” in 1977 on some beautifully forlorn stretches of Australian road with an ensemble of eager maniacs activating — and hyperactivating — a tale of a desolate near-future. More than four decades of rough road later, here we are at the fifth “Mad Max” movie. Now 79, Miller remains an action fantasist of the highest order. “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth) is a prequel to 2015’s lavishly nutty “Mad Max: Fury Road” and is the work of a director full of living, albeit guided by an ever-darker vision of humankind barreling toward the cliff. As gratifyingly different as the “Mad Max” movies have been, at heart Miller is making ever-more-grandiose biker movies, but with more than bikes. Even amid new depths of misery, “Furiosa” still delivers the clean, electrifying, inches- above- asphalt camera perspectives that made the Cinemascope-shot “Mad Max” so arresting nearly two generations ago. 2:28. 3 stars. — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

‘THE GARFIELD MOVIE’: Since 1978, cartoonist Jim Davis has explored the quotidian dramas of pet ownership via the daily travails of beleaguered Jon Arbuckle, his eager dog Odie and the titular tubby orange tabby, Garfield. “The Garfield Movie,” the latest effort to bring Garfield to the big screen, is an oversized action- adventure film, replete with references and comparisons to Tom Cruise. Those Cruise- inspired Easter eggs are laid not necessarily for kids but the adults who have accompanied them to the theater, such as when the score references “Mission: Impossible” while an ox named Otto, voiced by Ving Rhames (who plays Cruise’s techie Luther in the action franchise), lays out the plan for a heist. Later, a triumphant climax featuring airborne food delivery drones offers the chance for a bit of the “Top Gun” theme while Garfield (Chris Pratt) brags that he does his own stunts, “just like Tom Cruise.” The heist plot allows for the action, adventure and suspense to come into play, as well as the aforementioned Cruise references, and nods to film noir and early silent films. Though the film is formulaic and somewhat annoyingly energetic, it’s cute and irreverent enough, and manages to bridge the generation gap, offering up a kid-friendly flick that can keep adults somewhat entertained for the duration, proving that even after all these years, Garfield’s still got it. 1:41. 2 1/2 stars. — Katie Walsh

‘GHOSTLIGHT’: The films of Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson are rare cinematic gems: simple but deeply felt portraits of people trying to do right by themselves and finding profound connections with others and within themselves. The filmmakers and life partners made their feature debut in 2020 with “Saint Frances,” written by and starring O’Sullivan, directed by Thompson, about an aimless 30-something finding a friend in the 6-year-old she’s nannying. Their second feature is “Ghostlight,” which they co-directed from a script by O’Sullivan, a similarly small-scale indie family drama with a huge heart that fearlessly tackles the kind of big feelings that can seem impossible to manage. As it’s a family affair behind the camera, it is in front of the lens too. O’Sullivan long had Chicago theater actor Keith Kupferer in mind for the lead role of Dan, a construction worker who stumbles into a community theater production of “Romeo and Juliet” during a time of personal turmoil, and Kupferer so happens to have an actor daughter, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, and partner, Tara Mallen, a stalwart of the Chicago theater scene, who slot perfectly into the roles of Dan’s fiery daughter Daisy and wife Sharon. The emotional mystery of “Ghostlight” is best left for the viewer to discover, as Dan’s story unfolds like the petals of a blooming flower opening up to reveal a devastating inner core. This is a beautifully life-affirming fable about the power of art to heal, but really, it’s the people making the art that heals. “Ghostlight” is a stunning, and incredibly moving tribute to that process. 1:50. 3 1/2 stars. — Katie Walsh

‘INSIDE OUT 2’: Pixar’s “Inside Out” (2015) leaned into old, turbulent emotions in a new way, all the way. The story dealt with 11-year-old Riley, a Minnesota girl into hockey, who relocated, uneasily, with her parents to San Francisco. A big move means big challenges for any kid — and any parent. Director Pete Docter and the “Inside Out” screenplay acknowledged Riley’s depression while underscoring her ability to manage it and flourish. The emotions depicted in the control room of her mind — Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, Disgust — navigated their increasingly tricky human charge, as well as their own clashing personalities. “Inside Out 2” is the engaging sequel that pits the now 13-year-old Riley against new challenges and a tangle of new insecurities. But there are new kids in town, in her mind. Emotion management center honcho Joy (Amy Poehler) must accommodate these new emotions led, anxiously, by Anxiety (Maya Hawke), along with Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) and the très French and consistently witty embodiment of Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos). Nostalgia pops in for a couple of appearances; June Squibb voices her, unerringly. Crucially, Phyllis Smith returns as the measured, morose voice of Sadness, alongside some new voices for familiar characters (Tony Hale in for Bill Hader as Fear; Liza Lapira in for Mindy Kaling as Disgust; Kensington Tallman replacing Kaitlyn Dias as Riley). It’s gratifying to see an ordinary and, yes, anxious 13-year-old’s life, like millions and millions of lives right now, treated as plenty for a good, solid sequel, and without the dubious dramatics of the first movie’s climax. What’s happening on the inside can be enough. 1:36. 3 stars. — Michael Phillips

RATINGS: The movies listed are rated according to the following key: 4 stars, excellent; 3 stars, good; 2 stars, fair; 1 star, poor.