NOW PLAYING

Capsule reviews of first-run films now showing at Calgary theatres

After Earth ★ ½

Will Smith stars as a futuristic space soldier who crash lands on an uninhabitable Earth and must rely on his son (Jaden Smith) to find help. It’s clunky and boring.

Before Midnight ★★★★

The third film in Richard Linklater’s series that started in 1995 with Before Sunrise, this effort once again stars Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke as lovers.

The Big Wedding ★

Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton and Susan Sarandon star in this tediously predictable remake.

The Conjuring ★★★

A horror movie supposedly based on the true story of a family that moves into a haunted house. Lili Taylor has some good moments as the mother, and Vera Farmiga is strong as a clairvoyant. It’s like a combination of every horror movie ever made.

Despicable Me 2 ★★★ ½

Super-villain Gru (Steve Carell), who has become a devoted father, is recruited by agent Lucy (Kristen Wiig) to capture a new criminal. It lacks the heart of the first film, but the madcap anarchy never stops.

Epic ★★★ ½

Amanda Seyfried voices a young woman who becomes a latter-day Alice in Wonderland after she shrinks to the size of an insect. This eco-themed movie from Ice Age director Chris Wedge delivers big entertainment. Escape from Planet Earth (Not

reviewed)

Astronaut Scorch Supernova finds himself caught in a trap when he responds to an SOS from a dangerous alien planet.

Fast & Furious 6 ★★ Vin Diesel and Paul Walker act their macho hearts out in this sixth instalment of the franchise about a group of rogue street racers with a talent for saving the world.

The Great Gatsby ★★★ Baz Luhrmann’s version of the classic novel is a stylized exercise in production design.

Grown Ups 2 ★ ½ Adam Sandler returns with most of the same cast as the first Grown Ups for a story about juvenile husbands who do idiotic things but love their families.

The Hangover III ★★★

A criminal kingpin (John Goodman) kidnaps Doug (Justin Bartha) and holds him until his friends track down Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong).

The Heat ★★ ½ Prim Sandra Bullock and vulgar Melissa McCarthy can’t get much chemistry going in this buddy film about two police officers on the trail of a drug gang.

The Internship ★★★ Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson star as two recently unemployed salesmen who land jobs at Google, where they come face to face with the next generation. Jack the Giant Slayer ★★★ Feckless Nicholas Hoult plays a naive farm boy who climbs a beanstalk into the land of giants to rescue a princess (Eleanor Tomlinson). The special effects are better than expected, but the thin plot can’t support Bryan Singer’s epic storytelling. The Kings of Summer ★★★★ ½ Three 15-year-old boys run away from home, improbably build a cabin in the woods, and live free of parental supervision.

The Lone Ranger ★★ Armie Hammer is boringly stolid as the masked man who must avenge his brother’s death. And while Johnny Depp, cast as Tonto, adds an eccentric energy, the film is mostly tiresome irony.

Man of Steel ★★★ Zack Snyder’s reboot of the Superman legend stars Henry Cavill as an absurdly muscled superhero, Michael Shannon as a campy villain and Amy Adams as the perky Lois Lane.

Monsters University ★★★

Designed as a prequel to the massively popular Monsters, Inc., this new reel lacks the imaginative power of its predecessor but it still proves entertaining. Much Ado About Nothing ★★★ Joss Whedon puffs up Shakespeare’s romance with a cast of veteran character actors, including Canada’s Nathan Fillion. Because the performers are having a palpably good time, this black and white comedy delivers a palatable dose of fluff.

Mud ★★★ ½ This tells the story of a sympathetic fugitive (Matthew McConaughey) who forges a bond with two

teenage boys down South.

Now You See Me ★★ ½ This magic-themed heist movie is a fresh idea and the introductory scenes are enticing. But then the plot gets increasingly illogical.

Oblivion ★★ ½ A confounding but stylishly designed sci-fi film about the last man (Tom Cruise) on a ruined Earth.

Pacific Rim ★★★ ½ Director Guillermo del Toro blends the best of Godzilla and Blade Runner in this story of an epic war between extraterrestrial monsters and human beings.

The Purge ★★★ ½ Director-writer James DeMonaco spins a modern morality tale as he paints a picture of a prosperous but grim future.

Red 2 ★★★ Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren head the cast in this sequel to the comic book about Cold War spies recruited to save the day. In this take, Willis and his new girlfriend (Mary-Louise Parker) try to cook up a romantic comedy side dish that goes nowhere while the movie cruises on the action movie cliché played out by older folk. The Reluctant Fundamentalist

★★★ ½ A Pakistani go-getter comes to America to make his fortune, but he gets shunted aside in post9/11 paranoia. Director Mira Nair has created a slightly unwieldy version of Mohsin Hamid’s bestseller, but the film remains a

subtle examination of our difficult times. Some subtitles.

R.I.P.D (Not Reviewed) Robert Schwentke brings Peter M. Lenkov’s comic book to the big screen, directing this tale of a slain cop (Ryan Reynolds) who joins a team of undead police officers in the R.I.P.D., which aims to protect the living from evil spirits. Paired with officer Roy Pulsipher (Jeff Bridges), he tries to find the man who murdered him.

Some Girls ★★★ Smart writing only makes the depths of denial more disconcerting as this film nails a variety of modern male attributes Star Trek Into Darkness

★★★ ½ J.J. Abrams takes a joyride through the galaxy of action genre and classic fable in this second Trek mission.

Turbo ★★★ ½ Ryan Reynolds voices the character of Turbo, a little garden snail with big dreams of winning the Indianapolis 500. Director David Soren and his cast still come up with enough new turns to keep this underdog story from becoming summer roadkill.

This is the End ★★★ ½ While attending a party at James Franco’s house, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel and many other celebrities face the apocalypse.

World War Z ★★★ Brad Pitt stars as a UN investigator who attempts to save humankind from a virus that turns people into rabid, flesh-eating zombies.