John Mulderig

Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.

Nearly a quarter-century after its predecessor premiered, “Gladiator II” (Paramount) takes moviegoers back into the ancient arena. The result is a spectacular but sterile historical epic whose unsparing depiction of life-or-death combat greatly circumscribes its appropriate audience.

Lady of letters Gertrude Stein once famously observed of Oakland, Calif., the city in which she was raised, “There is no there there.” As it turns out, there’s not much there to the drama “Here” (TriStar), either.

Considered purely from an artistic viewpoint, the lavish musical “Wicked” (Universal) represents a confluence of the best both Broadway and Hollywood have to offer. On a moral level, however, the film’s content, while largely free of overtly problematic material, nonetheless demands careful assessment.

Co-writers and directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ chiller “Heretic” (A24) probes the nature of faith.

Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.

Designed to present a portion of the Gospel narrative to fans of mixed martial arts fighting and heavy metal music, the biblical drama “The Carpenter” (Purdie) adds a whole new meaning to the term muscular Christianity.

A trilogy of Marvel Comics adaptations that launched in 2018 comes to a dull close with “Venom: The Last Dance” (Columbia). Hobbled by the apparent exhaustion of the franchise’s trademark wit, writer-director Kelly Marcel’s wrap-up feels less like a waltz out the door than a stagger to the finish line.