It’s a shame that extraneous material has been needlessly thrown into the mix, because viewers of all ages could otherwise have enjoyed a fascinating history lesson.

A steady focus on the believable characters who populate it elevates director Ric Roman Waugh’s engaging film above the status of a disaster movie. But the positive values displayed along the path of the quest for survival he and screenwriter Chris Sparling chart are offset by the disturbing nature of the mayhem they unleash.

It’s no lie to say that this “Pinocchio” is scrupulously faithful to the grotesqueries of its source material.

This black comedy-tinged drama wastes its opportunity to make morally legitimate points about a genuine social evil.

“Soul” a blend of drama and comedy, while often funny, fails to make a similar impact as past Pixar hits like “Up” and “Inside Out.”

The plot is silly, at times preposterous. But that’s not unexpected for an old-fashioned popcorn movie, a Saturday-matinee serial writ large.

Though director Luke Greenfield’s odd-couple road trip movie produces the occasional laugh, it’s effectively undercut by the fact that neither of its lead characters is a believable figure.

The most entertaining Stone Age family since the Flintstones returns to the big screen in “The Croods: A New Age” (Universal), a delightful animated comedy suitable for almost all ages.

Take “Peter Pan,” add a dash of “Alice in Wonderland,” stir in the poetry of William Butler Yeats and you have the recipe for “Come Away” (Relativity), an intriguing if slightly schizophrenic fairy tale.

The latest big-screen adaptation of London’s semi-autobiographical tale — an Italian-language film with English subtitles — offers a refreshing new take on the rags-to-riches saga.