Not that the intended core audience of children is likely to notice, but many of the adults who take them will find that there’s something oddly mechanical and even maladroit about “Sonic the Hedgehog” (Paramount)
Movie: ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’
Movie: ‘Fantasy Island’
Film fans looking for the cinematic equivalent of rich Corinthian leather will be sadly disappointed by the muddled horror flick “Fantasy Island” (Sony).
Movie: ‘The Photograph’
Aesthetically impressive but morally flawed, “The Photograph” (Universal) is a mature romantic drama leavened with some canny humor.
Movie: ‘Les Miserables’
“Les Miserables” (Amazon) has no connection to Victor Hugo’s classic novel of the same name other than its setting — the rundown Paris suburb of Montfermeil, where the poor still struggle and continue to distrust authority figures.
Movie: ‘Downhill’
Awkward moments abound in the comedy “Downhill” (Fox Searchlight) while laughs are likely to be far less frequent
Movie: ‘Birds of Prey’
The DC Comics adaptation “Birds of Prey” (Warner Bros.) — which, for the record, carries the exhausting subtitle “(And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” — is presumably intended as a tart treat. Instead, it comes across as a sour exercise in random mayhem.
Movie: ‘Gretel and Hansel’
This film covers the familiar outlines of the old story, with two children negotiating a dark and very foggy forest as they escape a famine-scarred home life in search of food and security.
Movie: ‘The Turning’
Over the years, Henry James’ classic 1898 novella-length horror story “The Turn of the Screw” has proved fertile soil for movie adaptations.