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Aladdin This live action remake of the 1992 Disney animation is more than a pleasant surprise. It’s a complete delight that stands up on its own and is, in many ways, an improvement on the original. It adds a full 30 minutes to the running time, and yet it seems to fly by. Rated PG. 128 minutes. — M. LaSalle

Always Be My Maybe Set in San Francisco, this rom-com stars Ali Wong and Randall Park (who are also credited as co-writers) as former childhood sweethearts who reconnect in adulthood. She is a celebrity chef, he is living at home and working for his dad. Not reviewed. Rated PG-13. 112

minutes.

Amazing Grace Held in limbo for decades by technical and legal issues, this Aretha Franklin concert documentary — shot in 1972 at a church in Los Angeles — testifies to the power of an artist at her peak. Then 29 and a mainstream star, Franklin was returning to her gospel roots, and her chill-inducing performances of songs such as “Mary Don’t You Weep” will put all viewers in touch with their higher power. Rated G. 87 minutes. — C. Meyer

Avengers: Endgame

It’s three hours long,

and it’s not boring, and that’s saying a lot for this final installment of the Avengers series. The new film, in which the irrepressible gang decides to go back in time, brings the Marvel series to a satisfying close. Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth are particular standouts. Rated PG-13. 181 minutes. — M. LaSalle

The Biggest Little

Farm Absorbing, fascinating documentary about a city couple who chuck it all and buy an abandoned farm, but face constant struggle to realize their dream of a self-sustained biodiversity. A film with life lessons, as well as an implied commentary on modern agriculture and climate change. Rated PG. 91 minutes. — G. Allen Johnson

Booksmart Two best friends, smart kids who’ve spent four years studying, go on a tear in their last day before graduation, hoping to pack four years of missed experience into one great night. Thought it has some lags, it’s a fairly fun movie, directed by Olivia Wilde and written by four women screenwriters. Rated R. 102 minutes. — M. LaSalle

Brightburn So it’s kind of like what happened to Clark Kent’s family, only different. This time the kid (who lands on the farm as a baby) grows into an evil monster, and there’s nothing his parents or anyone else can do about it. He’s just going to wreck everything — for a whole movie. Elizabeth Banks plays Mom, and that makes the movie bearable. Rated R. 90 minutes. — M. LaSalle

Captain Marvel Brie Larson makes for a bland superhero in this latest from Marvel, but then the movie itself gives her a boring, indistinct character. The movie has its moments, but if this was meant as an answer to DC Comics’ Wonder Woman series, it’s a weak answer. Rated PG-13. 124 minutes. — M. LaSalle Chasing the Dragon II This Hong Kong thriller, a sequel to “Chasing the Dragon” (2017), is an efficiently made police action-drama, but it fails to give us anything we haven’t seen many times before. Focusing on an undercover cop who infiltrates a kidnapping gang, the film is full of the requisite car chases, shootouts etc., but there’s little fresh here. In Cantonese with English subtitles. Not rated. 100 minutes. — C. Darling

Dark Phoenix One of the best X-Men movies, this one explores the

idea of mental illness: What happens if an all-powerful person becomes unstable and starts lashing out? Starring Sophie Turner in the title role and featuring a great villainess turn by Jessica Chastain, this is a more thoughtful sci-fi movie, albeit with the obligatory derailment in superhero battles in the last quarter. Rated PG-13. 113 minutes.

— M. LaSalle

A Dog’s Journey This tearjerker sequel to 2017’s “A Dog’s Purpose” continues the story of canine reincarnation, as one pooch in various bodies protects a young woman throughout her life. Both films are based on novels by W. Bruce Cameron. There’s a modest girl-power theme here and a few sequences that could soften the hardest of hearts, but a skyhigh saccharine quotient limits its appeal Rated PG. 108 minutes. — W. Addiego

Echo in the Canyon A highly entertaining look at the musical Golden Age of L.A.’s Laurel Canyon, around 1965 to ’67, when performers like the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and the Mamas and the Papas were creating groundbreaking work. Narrated by Jakob Dylan (who also executive produced), the film uses archival footage from the glory days and recent interviews with musicians such as David Crosby, Michelle Phillips, Tom Petty, Brian Wilson, Ringo Starr and Roger McGuinn. Dylan also leads a group of younger musicians — including Fiona Apple, Beck and Regina Spektor — in covers of the venerable hits. You can quibble about why some musicians were included and others left out, and the movie is certainly not a comprehensive history of the Laurel Canyon scene, but it’s great fun. Rated PG-13. 82 minutes.

— W. Addiego

The Fall of the American Empire Self-pitying delivery guy runs across a crime in progress and picks up two bags of money. With cops and bad guys on his trail, he teams with a high-end prostitute and an expert at money laundering to keep the money — and perhaps have it do some social good in the process. Veteran French-Canadian filmmaker Denys Arcand’s film fails at both noirish crime thriller and social commentary. Rated R. 127 minutes. In French with English subtitles.

— G. Allen Johnson

Godzilla: King of the

Monsters The monsters end up crowding out the people in this long, fight-filled movie, in which Mothra, Rodan, Ghidorah and Godzilla fight it out, while human beings sit passively by, looking up the whole time. Recommended only to people who really and truly love monsters. Rated PG-13. 132 minutes.

— M. LaSalle

The Hustle Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson play a pair of con artists in this comedy, a remake of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” (1988). The original movie was funny; this one is not — at all. The main problem is Wilson, who overplays every comic moment. Rated PG-13. 94 minutes. — M. LaSalle

John Wick 3 — Parabellum The Wick series has lost the emotional weight of the superb first movie, when the hitman protagonist was motivated by his dead dog. But the series remains very entertaining, with propulsive action mayhem and well-choreographed fights. Keanu Reeves continues to give max effort, while Halle Berry and her martial arts dogs are solid additions. Rated R. 131 minutes. — P. Hartlaub

The Last Black Man in

San Francisco San Francisco native Joe Talbot’s directorial debut is a strikingly immersive movie, a slow burn filled with subtleties and nuance, with its message