‘Despicable Me’
Rated PG
??1/2
An agreeable jumble, the animated feature “Despicable Me” sells its 3-D in ways you wouldn’t call sophisticated or witty. With a heavy Slavic dialect, Steve Carell voices the “Me” of the title, a sallow-complexioned baddie named Gru, who plans to steal the moon by way of a “shrink ray.” Along the way he grapples with his mother (Julie Andrews) and his nemesis, Vector (Jason Segel). The film finds its heart when Gru adopts three adorable orphan girls, and it’s by taking the “heart” part just seriously enough, that this movie saves itself from itself.

‘Grown Ups’
Rated PG-13
??
“Grown Ups” is a sure thing — a film you feel as if you’ve seen before, and probably saw somewhere a second time, so why not another? When Adam Sandler’s beloved middle-school basketball coach dies, the Hollywood agent and his far-flung pals (a comedy who’s who of Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade and Rob Schneider) reunite for the funeral back in New England. There, at a lakeside cabin over the July Fourth weekend, the guys relive all their old adolescent pranks and pratfalls, while their families look on, smiling.

‘Inception’
Rated PG-13
???
This elegant brain-bender affirms the prodigious imagination and clout of writer-director Christopher Nolan. Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Dom Cobb, works as an “extraction” expert, able to enter someone’s subconscious and purloin valuable information for a fee. The plot, I suspect, will not matter much to people interested in diving into Nolan’s rich, sleek series of collapsing surfaces. Oh, well. “Inception” may not be the ultimate trip, but Nolan’s filmmaking intelligence places him among our most persuasive contemporary fantasists.

‘Knight and Day’
Rated PG-13
?1/2
An outsize comedy thriller, “Knight and Day” stars Tom Cruise in his first summer action vehicle since “Mission: Impossible III” and Cameron Diaz as the one perpetually getting drugged and whisked away. Director James Mangold and a couple of movie stars can go only so far on fumes, and rely too heavily on an unGODly amount of computer-generated effects work flying around the actors’ heads..

‘Predators’
Rated R
??
“Predators,” plural, starts well and ends poorly. For a while, it’s a worthy successor, opening with a motley multinational crew of thugs dropping from the sky, having free-fallen from places unknown — Adrien Brody’s growling mercenary; Topher Grace’s befuddled physician; Laurence Fishburne’s wily survivalist — an impressive cast worth having in your killer-monster movie any day. Soon enough, they run into that old familiar dreadlocked monster with infrared vision (and a few other species of beastie as well!), but when the film reaches its midpoint, it sputters.

‘The Karate Kid’
Rated PG
??1/2
“New” being relative, the new version of “The Karate Kid” — which relies on the heart and cheery bloodthirstiness of the original — was shot on location in China. The old material has been successfully reworked to showcase Jaden Smith (Dre), a cool, unflappably stoic young performer. With Jackie Chan co-starring in “Pat” Morita’s old role, this reprise stays true to the original with its training montages and storytelling basics.

‘The Kids Are All Right’
Rated R
????
“All right” doesn’t begin to describe it. “The Kids Are All Right” is wonderful. Doctor Nic (Annette Bening) and her longtime partner, Jules (Julianne Moore), have two teenagers from the same sperm donor. When the kids make contact with the donor behind the moms’ backs, Mark Ruffalo’s easygoing restaurateur Paul shows up to stir this family’s pot a bit. Bening and Moore have never been looser on screen, and Ruffalo is the perfect foil. Writer-director Lisa Cholodenko weds simple technique to complex and satisfying comedy-drama.

‘The Last Airbender’
Rated PG
?1/2
“The Last Airbender” tells the first part of the previously animated TV series’ story, in which the world’s kingdoms are built around fire, air, water and earth. Some Water Nation war orphans discover, frozen in ice, young Aang (Noah Ringer), the reincarnation of the Avatar, who can control the elements and restore harmony. This is a world containing a flying furry bison and no shortage of battles. Not since “Dune” has a fantasy franchise tripped all over itself trying this hard to please.

‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’
Rated PG
?? 1/2
In “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” loosely based on the Mickey Mouse segment in “Fantasia,” Nicolas Cage plays Balthazar, a good sorcerer who can live forever and is trying to protect modern-day New York City and environs from the ravages of bad sorcerers played by Alfred Molina and Alice Krige. Once Balthazar presses young Dave (Jay Baruchel) into apprenticeship, the duo and Molina shoot fire-jets and balls of energy at one another’s heads. All in all, this latest Disney live-action feature isn’t bad as these things go.

‘Toy Story 3’
Rated G
???
If “Toy Story 3” had sprung, Slinky Dog-like, from any creative think tank besides Pixar, it might be considered a classic. As is, it’s a good sequel. Young Andy is heading off to college, and the long-neglected toys are headed for the attic. After mistakenly getting thrown to the curb as trash, the gang — cowboy Woody, spaceman Buzz Lightyear, cowgirl Jessie, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and the rest of the principals — has to bust out of the day care center in which they find themselves.
Make no mistake: This Disney/Pixar release represents a franchise taken seriously by its custodians.

‘Twilight: Eclipse’
Rated PG-13
<!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> ??
“Eclipse” finds Bella (Kristen Stewart) inching closer to her decision to marry Edward (Robert Pattinson) and become a vampire, thus breaking the werewolf heart of Jacob (Taylor Lautner). The wolves and the vamps must unite to take on an army of vampiric “newborns.” Already, “Eclipse” has garnered praise as the best and most action-packed of the series — which I don’t understand. For me it’s ponderous and sloppily directed, and by far the most deadening when the dramatic necessity known as “talking” must be confronted, in between battles.
— Tribune Media Services