Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

HOME MOVIES

- KAREN MARTIN

Despicable Me 3, directed by Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin, Eric Guillon

(PG, 1hour, 30 minutes) The popular 3-D computer animated movie franchise keeps the fun rolling around — in what may be too many directions at once — when Gru (voice of Steve Carell) discovers that he has a twin brother named Dru. Sibling rivalry commences.

Along with newfound family foibles, Gru is at odds with Balthazar Bratt (voice of Trey Parker), a childhood star from the 1980s who, like Netflix’ Bojack Horseman, is obsessed with the character that he once played and is now on an all-encompassi­ng quest for world domination.

It’s noisy and frantic, colorful and confusing, with a creeping sense of annoyance. Although still a good time, this multi-series romp may be nearing the end of its run.

With voices of Kristen Wiig, Steve Coogan, Julie Andrews;

Split (PG-13, 1 hour, 57 minutes) Convoluted and none too scary, but with a decent concept and interestin­g performanc­es, this horror drama concerns a curious patient with dissociati­ve identity disorder who has exhibited 23 wildly different personalit­ies to his psychiatri­st. There’s one more lurking inside him, ready to burst forth, with the power to dominate all the others and a penchant for kidnapping teenage girls. With James McAvoy, Haley Lu Richardson, Betty Buckley, Jessica Sula; directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

Better Watch Out (R, 1 hour, 29 minutes) The genre of

home-invasion horror is becoming awfully commonplac­e, but this suspensefu­l approach brings a fresh, violent and surprising­ly nasty perspectiv­e with a story of a babysitter (Olivia DeJonge) who is intent on standing up for two youngsters (Levi Miller, Ed Oxenbould) when intruders bust in on a wintry evening. Or do they? With Dacre Montgomery, Aleks Mikic, Patrick Warburton; directed by Chis Peckover.

Crash Pad (R, 1 hour, 31 minutes) Here’s what happens in a witty wisecracki­ng comedy when a younger man falls for an older woman, then finds out she’s toying with him to get back at her distracted husband. Blackmail is threatened, but the husband comes up with a much more original concept intended at re-educating himself as to what women want. With Domhnall Gleeson, Thomas Haden Church, Christina Applegate, Nina Dobrev; directed by Kevin Tent.

The Osiris Child (not rated, 1 hour, 35 minutes) A lively, promising low-budget intergalac­tic sci-fi adventure in which yet another deadly disease threatens those on a newly colonized planet, with desperate measures taken by a man intent on saving his young daughter from annihilati­on with the help of an escaped prisoner. With Kellan Lutz, Isabel Lucas, Rachel Griffiths, Luke Ford; directed by Shane Abbess.

American Assassin (R, 1 hour, 52 minutes) A mediocre, violent, profane espionage thriller in which action and combative characters take the place of a decent plot and worthwhile performanc­es. It concerns Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien), yet another CIA undercover recruit (there are a lot of them around lately) under the control of veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton); they’re assigned by CIA deputy director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) to investigat­e seemingly unrelated attacks on military and civilian targets. Think they’ll find a pattern? With Taylor Kitsch, David Suchet; directed by Michael Cuesta.

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