John Mulderig

In a timely move, the folks behind the slick, vibrant espionage thriller “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” have added an experimental Artificial Intelligence project run amok to their roster of villains.

In theory, the tale of a shy but enthusiastic high schooler who is really a sea creature rather than a human might make for a pleasant diversion. But the major feminist and minor gay agendas that underlie the animated adventure “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” (Universal) spoil any potential fun the film might offer.

The story of Ballard’s battle against the sexual enslavement of kids — a horrifying form of depravity that’s disturbingly widespread — makes for a valuable and ultimately uplifting experience.

A fundamental message about accepting both the good and bad that befall us is mixed up with ingredients that make this a doubtful proposition for the teens at whom, along with grown-ups, the movie is presumably aimed.

Thanks to its rich blend of ethnicities, the United States has long been referred to as a melting pot. In the animated romantic comedy “Elemental” (Disney), director Peter Sohn substitutes for that metaphor a fable featuring embodiments of the four elements, using the dynamics of their imaginary world to explore the immigrant experience.

The film is less a profile of the titular saint, Padre Pio, played passionately by Shia LaBeouf, than a portrait of San Giovanni Rotondo, the Apulian town of his Capuchin monastery, in the period immediately after World War I.

Director Rob Savage’s feature-length screen version of horror-meister Stephen King’s yarn arrives as the above-average chiller “The Boogeyman” (20th Century).