DIVERGENT (2014)

Set in a future, dystopian Chicago where society has been divided into five factions depending on virtues, young Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) - when tested - learns she is Divergent, a mix of more than two or more factions, really fitting into no one group.  Problem is, for some reason the governing society is threatened by and seeking to capture and destroy all who are Divergent, so after joining the wild Dauntless faction that holds guard over the city, she changes her name to Tris and tries to navigate her training into her new life, all the while trying to hide who she really is while avoiding the unwanted scrutiny of the hardened, mysterious Four (Theo James).  This movie seems like one people either really love or really hate, and if so I'd lean toward the former; shutting off my brain, I just enjoyed the ride, finding it much more entertaining and involving than, say, the oft-compared The Hunger Games, particularly with Woodley in the lead.  I guess one good sign I liked it: I bought the book almost immediately after watching the film. (rated PG-13)  ****

DIVERGENT trailer

MALEFICENT (2014)

Though I've never been a particular fan of Angelina Jolie's (neither liking nor disliking her work), her as Maleficent - one of Disney's most iconic villains, and a personal favorite of mine - was something worth checking out.  And she's great in the role; sadly, it's Disney who screwed things up a bit.  The story purports to tell you the "real" story of Maleficent, and in doing so pretty much strips the character of all the wickedness that made her so enthralling in the first place.  She even wimps out on her own curse, in cursing Aurora with the sleep curse, taming it down to "true love's kiss" being the solution instead of the third good fairy changing her curse - and the three fairies themselves, here, come off as bumbling fools who only raise Aurora out of duty and intimidation, not love.  Well-acted, well-made, and nice to look at - entertaining - but turning Maleficent from evil fairy to fairy godmother to tell her tale was just a bit too much of a stab in the back to the character, for me. (rated PG)  ***

MALEFICIENT trailer

MUPPETS MOST WANTED (2014)

Picking up literally where the previous one left off, the Muppets are enjoying their regained success and popularity - especially in the form of Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais), a big-time theatrical manager who wants to send the gang on a world tour to capitalize on their new fame.  Kermit, the group's current manager, is against the idea but eventually agrees ... only to learn that Dominic is in league with the world's most cunning villain, Constantine, an evil frog who resembles Kermit exactly (with the exception of a mole on his face) and has just escaped a Russian gulag in Siberia.  The innocent Kermit, after getting a fake mole attached to his face by Constantine, is captured by the Russians ... as Constantine, using a horrid Kermit impersonation, starts the Muppet gang on their world tour - in reality, a cover for a series of daring robberies around the globe.  The film is funny at times (kids should love it), but this one lacks the real heart and soul that made the first one so terrific, a few weak musical numbers also dragging it down a bit. (rated PG)  ***

MUPPETS MOST WANTED trailer

THE ROVER (2014)

The Australian outback, not looking this desolate since Mad Max, features as the third main character in this beautifully-filmed drama, set "ten years after a global economic collapse" in which a tough-as-nails loner named Eric (Guy Pearce) stops one day for a cool drink, only to have his car stolen by a trio of outlaws.  Pursuing them in the truck they'd abandoned, it's obvious from jump that Eric is possessed with getting his car back, but they elude him - that is, until the young brother of one of the crooks, the mentally-challenged Rey (an incredible Robert Pattinson), finds the truck, Eric essentially kidnapping the young man, the two starting out on a road journey to find Rey's brother and the car.  The film is violent, bleak, and - thanks to Pattinson's understated and wholly believable performance, especially - an intense, riveting watch.  Pearce has often been brilliant in front of the camera, but it's Pattinson here who steals the show. (rated R)  ****

THE ROVER trailer 

A HAUNTED HOUSE 2 (2014)

Though containing humor just as R-rated and dumbed-down as the first one, there are three great reasons why A Haunted House 2 is worth seeing.  The plot - such as it is - like most sequels parrots the first; Malcom (Marlon Wayans), having dumped his demonically-possessed first girlfriend Kisha, has just moved into a new home with his new girlfriend Megan (Jaime Pressly) and her two kids.  But evil spirits aren't done with Malcolm yet, and soon invade his home, particularly in the guise of a very disturbing doll who looks very much like the one in The Conjuring, who Malcolm ... umm ... ends up "getting freaky with," only to regret it (this storyline being reason #1 to watch).  The humor is crass, very R-rated, at times eye-rollingly lame and at others hilarious - and, in the cases of an early scene with Malcolm and his fluffy white dog, or later as Malcolm tries to kill a rooster as a sacrifice, pee-your pants funny (reasons #2 and #3).  Wayans has yet to learn how to construct a good ending, but in terms of humor this one's actually better than its predecessor. (rated R)  **1/2

A HAUNTED HOUSE 2 trailer

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014)

Coming back after decades of being put "on ice", Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is still adjusting to life in an America that isn't the flag-waving, uber-patriotic place he left behind.  But sticking to his ideals and beliefs become even more important when a vicious (and pretty awesomely-filmed) assassination attempt at S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) forces Rogers to distrust even those around him he's thought of as his closest allies.  Suddenly seen as a traitor by his own organization, as Captain America he becomes determined to get to the truth of who is friend and who is foe - all the while chasing down the elusive Winter Soldier, an enemy who will strike much closer to home than he'd ever realized.  Incredible action, fight sequences, effects, all wrapped around a beautifully-crafted film with Evans' sympathetic hero at its center, make this one of the best "superhero" films ever made.  In fact, if I may so so, it's downright "Marvel-ous". (rated PG-13)  *****

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER trailer

SHARKNADO 2: THE SECOND ONE (2014)

If you could get your doctor to digitally record your next colonoscopy ... you'd be better off watching THAT than Sharknado 2.  Everything that was so endearing about the first film - the B-movie acting and production values, the earnestness of the actors/script in taking all the zaniness seriously on-screen (as all the best B-movies and monster movies do) is gone here in a pretentious, hideously-written, self-absorbed mess that's full of unbelievable stupidity, multiple cameos of celebrities who were popular a decade or more ago, and more plastic surgery on the faces of at least half of the main characters than Joan Rivers has gotten in her entire lifetime.  So bad it's not even laughable - just irritating.  If looking for the perfect summer film that will make you want to gouge your eyes out when it's over (btw, it will also be THE longest 85 minutes of your life), by all means see this one.  Hands down, the worst film I've seen so far this year. (TV-14)  1/2-star (and that's being generous)

SHARKNADO 2: THE SECOND ONE