U.S. Release Date: 2019-05-31
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence, Mayhem, Destruction, Profanity)
Genre: Adventure
Director: Michael Dougherty
Cast: Kyle Chandler, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Aisha Hinds, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance, Sally Hawkins, Bradley Whitford, Zhang Ziyi, Ken Watanabe, Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, David Strathairn
An overlong, loud spectacle that owes as much to Transformers as kaiju.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-06-07
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence, Profanity)
Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: Simon Kinberg
Cast: James McAvoy, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, Alexandra Shipp, Nicholas Hoult, Jennifer Lawrence, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Michael Fassbender, Jessica Chastain
Suffers from a massive narrative condensation that not only mutes the film’s emotional impact but creates an erratic tone.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-06-07
MPAA Rating: "PG"
Genre: Animated
Director: Chris Renaud
Cast: Patton Oswalt, Bobby Moynihan, Dana Carvey, Lake Bell, Tiffany Haddish, Eric Stonestreet, Harrison Ford, Jenny Slate, Kevin Hart, Hannibal Buress
Although not “bad” in a conventional sense, it’s a disappointingly mediocre effort that doesn’t have a lot to offer potential viewers over age 10.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-07-12
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Gore, Profanity)
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Alexandre Aja
Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper
An old-fashioned B-grade monster movie made with 2019 technology.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-07-26
MPAA Rating: "NR" (Nothing Offensive)
Genre: Drama
Director: Shelagh McLeod
Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Colm Feore, Krista Bridges, Lyriq Bent, Richie Lawrence, Graham Greene
The film’s first half is promising but it is let down by the rushed ending and confusing changes in character motivations.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-08-02
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence, Profanity, Sexual Content)
Genre: Action/Comedy
Director: David Leitch
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, Eiza Gonzalez, Eddie Marsan, Helen Mirren
Johnson, Statham, and Kirby are tremendous together and (bloated running time aside) things are sufficiently loud and flashy to attract a large audience.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-08-09
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Scary Images, Violence, Profanity)
Genre: Horror
Director: Andre Ovredal
Cast: Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Zajur, Natalie Ganzhorn, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows, Austin Abrams, Kathleen Pollard
An engaging batch of campfire stories told from a fresh perspective, and that’s worth something in the stale world of PG-13 horror.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-08-16
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Profanity, Drugs)
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Richard Linklater
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Emma Nelson, Kristin Wiig, Judy Greer, Laurence Fishburne, Zoe Chao
Although it suffers from an ungainly structure and uneven pacing, the production as a whole is engaging and uplifting.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-08-16
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Profanity)
Genre: Drama
Director: Bart Freundlich
Cast: Michelle Williams, Julianne Moore, Billy Crudup, Abby Quinn, Alex Esola
Although competently made and appealing in an exaggerated soap opera-tinged fashion, it fails to make a strong case for its raison d’être.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-09-06
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Gore, Profanity)
Genre: Horror
Director: Andy Muschietti
Cast: James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean, Bill Skarsgard
Combining the two movies, there’s a clear beginning and ending, and if the latter isn’t as strong or promising as the former, at least the entire story is told.