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R, 1:56, horror
Jordan Peele’s “Us” begins so spectacularly well and sustains its game of doubles so cleverly for most of its two hours that it’s an unusual sort of letdown when the story doesn’t quite hang together the way Peele managed with his 2017 debut feature, “Get Out.” In “Us” Lupita Nyong’o is particularly gripping. Adelaide (Nyong’o), genial, conflict-averse Gabe (Winston Duke) and their children are returning to their vacation home. Adelaide is subtly freaking out about Gabe’s plans to meet up at the beach with their sort-of friends. Back at home at night, the family spies a family of four in their driveway, all in crimson jumpsuits. They are versions of themselves.
PG-13, 2:04, action
At its best the film is more like the first, slightly square “Captain America” movie, which was set in the 1940s and went about its business with retro assurance. There’s a moment when Brie Larson’s character, Carol Danvers, is back on Earth after a six-year hiatus on the planet Hala, her memory of an ordinary childhood wiped nearly clean. She has been training with her Kree overseer Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) for battle in the war with the Skrulls, and the Skrulls have designs on Earth. Bit by bit the film reveals who she really was. Maybe a “Captain Marvel” sequel can expand on the tantalizing possibilities in this conflicted human/Kree hybrid, and really let Larson fly.
PG, 1:25, family
Perhaps it’s a post- “Inside Out” phenomenon that animated films aimed at children need to tackle complex emotions or psychology, translating it into terms kids can understand. This is the case with “Wonder Park,” a film that is part “Roller Coaster Tycoon,” part lesson on grappling with the fear of losing a parent. The wonders of Wonder Park are dampened by the pall of grief that the protagonist is experiencing. Wonder Park has been dreamed up by June and her mother (Jennifer Garner). There are some colorful and imaginative set pieces, but the tone of “Wonder Park” is odd as the gravity of June’s real-life issues invade the wonderful world of Wonder Park.
PG-13, 1:56, drama
A ruthless, unstoppable weepie about teen-age cystic fibrosis patients in love. A lot of the movie is routine, or worse. Haley Lu Richardson plays Stella, back in the hospital for the first time in six months. Her genetic disorder wreaks havoc with her lungs and her body, though not her spirit. Then a new patient checks in: sarcastic, brooding, fluffy-haired and wealthy Will, played by Cole Sprouse. Will’s complications put him at particular risk, so that he and Stella must maintain a physical distance between each other. Yet they grow closer. Richardson and Sprouse work well together.
1:44, PG, family
Writer-director Dean DeBlois lands this sequel on a warm and gratifying resolution to the tale of Hiccup, the improbable Viking leader, and Toothless, the inky-black dragon who has been his friend, protector and fetching machine since the first “Dragon” movie in 2010. Hiccup and his reluctant cohorts set out to find the hidden world where the dragons can live on their own. Jay Baruchel’s Hiccup, America Ferrera’s Astrid and Kristen Wiig’s amusingly aggravating Ruffnut lead a busy ensemble.
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