TOP 12 FILMS AT THE BOX OFFICE
Sequels reigned supreme at the weekend box office. The buddycop comedy “22 Jump Street” debuted in the top spot with $57.1 million, followed by the animated adventure “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” which opened with $49.5 million.
Internationally, though, “Dragon” dwarfed “Jump Street” with $24.8 million to $6.9 million, respectively.
1.
22 JUMP STREET, Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill are back as undercover cops in this consistently inventive, laugh-out-loud funny sequel to “21 Jump Street.” There’s just a bit of an energy dip about 20 minutes before the end; otherwise, this is a terrific comedy. (R) 112 minutes — Mick LaSalle
$57.1 million; one week
2. HOWTOTRAIN YOUR DRAGON2, Hiccup and his dragon, Toothless, explore new lands and do battle with a bloodthirsty, dragontrapping tyrant. This sequel is darker in tone and more layered than its popular predecessor, but that’s definitely a good thing. Like the original “Star Wars” trilogy and “Toy Story” series, the makers of this franchise are allowing the films to grow up alongside loyal young viewers. (PG) 102 minutes — Peter Hartlaub
$49.5 million; one week
3.
MALEFICENT, This is a reimagining of the Sleeping Beauty story, as presented from the standpoint of the wicked fairy who casts the sleeping spell. In this telling, though, the fairy isn’t exactly wicked; she’s just Angelina Jolie, which means she’s stern, but she has her reasons. Jolie never leaves us with a second’s mystery as to her thoughts and motives, and her behavior is invariably tied to something deep. (PG-13) 97 minutes — M.L. $18.5 million; $163 million; three weeks
4. EDGE OF TOMORROW, Tom Cruise stars in this imaginative, propulsive and often funny sciencefiction film, in which a soldier, killed in battle in his first day of combat (against invading space aliens, of course) falls into some time loop in which he gets to relive the same day — and improve his combat performance. Co-starring Emily Blunt, the film is directed with wit by Doug Liman (“The Bourne Identity”), who rightly depends on Cruise to bring home the comedy. (PG-13) 113 minutes — M.L. $16.5 million; $57 million; one week
5. THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, ½ It’s hard to be definitive about this film, which is exploitative in the most obvious ways yet sincere; a project of market calculation, yet well-acted; well-made, yet nothing you’d ever want to put yourself through again. In short, it is cynically prefabricated, yet lovingly, achingly assembled. Manipulative in the worst way, it’s also manipulative in the best way, in that it takes a willful act of disengagement not to be moved by it. It’s a teen romance about kids with cancer, and it’s acted beautifully by Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. (PG-13) 125 minutes — M.L. $14.8 million; 80.8 million; twoweeks
6. X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, ½ The best of the X-Men series so far tells a timetravel story in which Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) goes back to 1973 to alter history, with the help of the young Magneto (Ian McKellen) and Charles Xavier (James McAvoy). McAvoy is the moral center of the movie and gives the pivotal performance, though Jennifer Lawrence is eye-catching as Raven, in form-fitting blue skin. (PG13) 131 minutes. — M.L. $9.8 million; $206.3 million; four weeks
7. GODZILLA, ½
The first 45 minutes, with Bryan Cranston as a scientist in Japan who figures out that something is going very wrong underneath the ground, is gripping and full of human touches. Most of the rest is monster battles designed on a computer and blown up to the size of a movie screen. It’s OK, if you love that sort of thing. (PG-13) 123 minutes — M.L. $3.3 million; $191.5 million; five weeks
8. AMILLIONWAYS TO DIE IN THEWEST, Seth MacFarlane gives you 10 jokes where other comedians give you one, so if five of them don’t appeal to you, you’re still way ahead. This is a good and, occasionally, very funny comedy about a sheep farmer who gets involved (inadvertently) with the wife of a cold-blooded murderer. Along the way, the movie is a strident rebuke of old Western values in favor of modern times and modern ways. (R) 115 minutes — M.L. $3.2 million; $37.1 million; three weeks
9. NEIGHBORS,
The fourth winner in a row from director Nicholas Stoller (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Get Him to the Greek,” “The Five-Year Engagement”). This one wasn’t written by Stoller but has what is now his familiar combination of surface hilarity with a serious undercurrent. In this case, a loving couple (Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne) have to contend with noise and nonstop parties when a fraternity moves in next door. It’s an escalating battle with lots at stake. (R) 97 minutes — M.L. $2.4 million; $143 million; six weeks
10.
CHEF, ½
One of the best movies so far this year, with writer-director Jon Favreau as a chef going through a crisis. It’s really the portrait of an artist, told in a free-flowing style, full of warm moments, good comedy and effectively written scenes. (R) 115 minutes — M.L. $2.2 million; $14 million; six weeks
11. BLENDED, ½
Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore star in a sloppily made and poorly written “Just Go With It” rehash, a movie hampered by a deluge of unfunny jokes and situations. He plays a widower and she plays a divorcee, but Sandler and Barrymore are not a winning couple, and so we don’t anticipate their getting together with the usual romantic-comedy enthusiasm. (PG-13) 117 minutes — M.L. $1.7 million; $40.1 million; four weeks
12. THEAMAZING SPIDER-MAN2,
This very modern blockbuster mixes the best of old and new. Its action sequences will appeal to people looking for the usual pyrotechnics, but the core of the movie — and the source of the audience’s interest — is emotion. (PG-13) 142 minutes — M.L. $953,927; $198.4 million; seven weeks