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• 4 STARS -- Excellent.
• 3 STARS -- Worthy.
• 2 STARS -- Mixed.
• 1 STAR -- Poor.
• 0 -- Forget It.
• NR -- Not rated

Returning first and foremost are "the guys" called Kevin, Oz, Finch, Jim and Stifler, who had a crash course in virginity loss in 1999. Now, after a lightly intellectual year in college, they're home for another summer rampage of lost innocence. Jim (Jason Biggs) is Honcho Uno, even though Steve "Stiffmeister" Stifler (Seann William Scott) makes the brassiest moves. Jim's glow spot is for "band geek" Michelle (Alyson Hannigan). Although darling, canny Michelle finally gets her Jim just where she wants him, it's the other guys who must tell Jim that, yep, he now has a girlfriend. Without their nudging, how would the nice dork know? Cast: Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Alyson Hannigan, Shannon Elizabeth, Eugene Levy, Tara Reid, Seann William Scott, Natasha Lyonne, Mena Suvari, Eddie Kaye Thomas. Running Time: 1 hr. 27 min. (Elliott) Rated R. 1 1/2 stars.

David (Haley Joel Osment) is a cyber-kid, "a robot that can love!" Such is the hope of Hobby, the benign Dr. Frankenstein (William Hurt). It doesn't seem to bother Hobby that he is giving David to a severely traumatized mother, Monica (Frances O'Connor). Her son Martin has been in a coma, but after some resistance, she accepts David as a substitute, then bonds with him. But then Martin (Jake Thomas) returns to active life, resenting his strange sibling. "A.I." rallies expansively as it becomes lonely David's fairy-tale journey, across space and time, in search of mom and lost paradise. Steven Spielberg can still "nail" an audience. But his maudlin fixation on saintly moms, lonely kids, teddy bears, beaming lights, huge moons and studio escapism is starting to look like a creepy merger of Walt Disney, Peter Pan and Dorian Gray. Cast: Haley Joel Osment, William Hurt, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, Jake Thomas, Sam Robards. Running time: 2 hrs. 24 min. (Elliott) Rated PG-13. 2 stars.

America's sweethearts are movie romancers Gwen Harrison (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Eddie Thomas (John Cusack). They are married, but estranged, because Gwen is keen for a Hispanic hunk, Hector (Hank Azaria). The director, a pothead genius played by Christopher Walken, has nabbed the film for zany personal editing. Until he turns up with it, there is time for dithering Eddie to pursue his fumbling fixation on former wife Gwen, who is such a narcissist that she hauls around her sister as a servant, masseur and ego prop. The sister is America's real sweetheart, Julia Roberts, as slavish Kiki. Eddie will fall from thrall to Gwen, and see the blooming light of Kiki. Cast: Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Cusack, Hank Azaria, Christopher Walken, Alan Arkin, Seth Green. Running time: 1 hr. 40 min. (Elliott) Rated PG-13. 2 stars.

This Disney cartoon has some retro stylings, but also fresh zip, and may be the snackiest Disney 'tooner since "Aladdin." It is packed with elements from old movies, but the undersea adventure and mythic Atlantis have energy and scope, and voices are well provided by Michael J. Fox, Jim Varney, Don Novello, Florence Stanley (very funny as Mrs. Packard), James Garner, Cree Summer, Leonard Nimoy as the king. 1 hr. 25 min. (Elliott). Rated PG. 3 stars.

Film historians of the later 21st century -- assuming that film is still studied then -- may wonder: Why was so much creative effort and money spent in our time to make animals' lips move? Well, obviously, so that we could have such comedies as "Cats & Dogs," which is about the proverbial war between cats and dogs. Some of the animals are simply fake, and even when they're real, their actions are so fakey that they might as well be toys. But any of the animal scenes beat anemic family sequences involving little Scott (Alexander Pollock), his frozen-'50s mommy (Elizabeth Perkins) and his Flubber-ish dad (Jeff Goldblum). Good luck, Jeff, on career recovery. 1 hr. 32 min. (Elliott). Rated PG. 2 stars.

Perfectly named Vin Diesel stars as Dominic, a skinheaded auto beast, thief and ex-con. Dom, if not dim, is no intellectual. He is the king of the L.A. street dragsters. His gang, more like a mob, takes over whole precincts at night for races while the police dither around elsewhere, and Dom beats challengers of all ethnic brands and motor types. The new challenger in this macho, motor-gunning world is Brian (Paul Walker). His touch of vulnerable eye contact and his light voice balance Diesel's steely raptor gaze and sullen baritone, and the inevitable guy bonding has Brian and Dom warily fusing as equals, then friends, despite some tangled motives. Every so often, we need to pulverize our minds with something slickly generic and absurdly entertaining. "The Fast and the Furious" eats dust, sucks gas and offers up good mileage. Cast: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Rick Yune, Matt Schulze, Ted Levine, Ja Rule, Johnny Strong. Running time: 1 hr., 48 min. (Elliott) Rated PG-13. 3 stars.

Ever since "My Neighbor Totoro" in 1988, the Japanese have pushed the limits of elegantly "realistic" animation. In "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within," they hit another plateau - the most visually exciting sci-fi fantasy since "Blade Runner" (which wasn't Japanese, despite its rather Asian Los Angeles). The time of the story is 2065. Most of the Earth is prowled by aliens called Phantoms, gobs of red, boiling, sinister energy who seem to exfoliate like vast intestines on a rampage. The smaller but high-tech humans live in "barrier" compounds and are divided along the old line of polarization. "FF:TSW," despite conceptual gas that bloats it about 10 minutes beyond its best length, has exciting surge, sweep, detail and dazzle. There are wondrous techscapes, ruins and creatures that seem to be having a DNA riot. 1 hr. 45 min. (Elliott) Rated: PG-13. Three stars.

A brisk, dark, harsh, sometimes amusing streamlining of the series, with most of the Spielbergian flab gone. The dinosaurs roam again, mostly the killers known as raptors, and Sam Neill is back as the sage dino expert who finds himself on the bad end of the food chain, along with William H. Macy, Michael Jeter, Alessandro Nivola, Tea Leoni and a spunky kid named Trevor Morgan (plus a tiny, dull role for Laura Dern). Joe Johnston directed with a form of brutal expertise and the script doesn't always succeed in winking at the fear, which feels real. 1 hr. 32 min. (Elliott). Rated PG-13. 3 stars.

For the first few minutes, at least, "Kiss of the Dragon" hums with nervous energy. Liu Jiuan (Jet Li) arrives in Paris and hooks up with the unidentified leader of a gang of particularly nasty thugs based in a swanky Parisian hotel. Our hero is to help them with their security, but it takes only a few minutes for them to murder a drug lord and frame Liu for the deed. Machine guns chatter, splinters fly and bones splinter as Liu flees the scene via the laundry room. Where the film should be wildly entertaining, it comes across as calculated, almost detached: Through the (many) fight scenes Li seems robotic, hitting his spots dead-on, wielding make-do weapons efficiently, breaking necks on cue, ducking precisely when the choreography has arranged for him to duck; there's none of Jackie Chan's affable, rumpled, making-it-up-as-he-goes-along charm. 1 hr. 40 mins. (Salm). Rated R. 1 1/2 stars.

Angelina Jolie doesn't have to bare her breasts like Halle Berry. She has amazing, puffy, even buffed lips. Shielded by those lips and an English accent, she strides like a tiger, fires big guns, bungee-flies on wires and ropes through this gaudy fantasy of female empowerment (no friend of archaeology, she also wrecks valuable tombs). There are some good effects, generic villains, a vivid Angkor Wat and then a weak Siberian climax, sub-Bond and sub-Verne. Directed for maniacal velocity by Simon West, the film is radiant with commercial hunger. Jolie is an amusingly peppy, insouciant heroine, but the plot is such nonsense that the wild escapism seems to be fleeing itself; it's a video game of a movie (based, in fact, on a game). With John Voight as Lara's father, looking and sounding like Herbert Marshall. (Elliott). Rated PG-13; 1 hr. 42 min.

A ditzy comedy about a ditzy young woman who comes to learn that maybe she's not so ditzy after all. It might have had something going for it if it weren't for the ditzy script, the ditzy directing and the generally ditzy performances. Reese Witherspoon is the legal blonde, Elle, who elevates this unoriginal concoction above the level of downright appalling. Elle is flabbergasted when she gets dumped by her Harvard Law School-bound beau, a blue-blooded cad, for a similarly well-bred filly. Determined to become the woman he desires, Elle actually studies for the LSAT, makes a cheesecake video in lieu of writing an essay, and gets herself admitted to Harvard Law. A respectable zinger zings across the screen every so often, but the script relies mostly on, if not dumb, then at least shallow blonde gags. A Metro Goldwyn Mayer release. Director: Robert Luketic. Writers: Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith. Cinematographer: Anthony B. Richmond. Composer: Rolfe Kent. Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis. Running time: 1 hr. 36 min. Rated PG-13 1 1/2 stars.

A new recruiting poster for a war we won decisively 56 years ago. The film's attack sequence lasts about 43 minutes, after 80 minutes of "romantic" buildup. After the attack, we get around an hour to feel better about our cause by seeing the 1942 raid on Tokyo. This film has too many phony, padded scenes to be a valid or meaningful tribute to the 2,390 American dead. The dusty dialogue, weak use of newsreel material, dull attempts at montage are dwarfed by the deeper folly of thinking we now need this kind of shock show and revenge crusade as a summer "event" movie. Cast: Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Alec Baldwin, Jon Voight, Cuba Gooding Jr., Mako, Colm Feore, Dan Aykroyd, William Fichtner. Running time: 3 hrs. (Elliott) PG-13. 2 stars.

A brisk, dark, harsh, sometimes amusing streamlining of the series, with most of the Spielbergian flab gone. The dinosaurs roam again, mostly the killers known as raptors, and Sam Neill is back as the sage dino expert who finds himself on the bad end of the food chain, along with William H. Macy, Michael Jeter, Alessandro Nivola, Tea Leoni and a spunky kid named Trevor Morgan (plus a tiny, dull role for Laura Dern). Joe Johnston directed with a form of brutal expertise and the script doesn't always succeed in winking at the fear, which feels real. 1 hr. 32 min. (Elliott). Rated PG-13. 3 stars.

Disney targeted a narrow audience: Those old enough to care about a teen beach party, but too young to retch when a girl confides to her mother that "I think I might get my first kiss." It seems that 15-year-old Mia's (Anne Hathaway) long-absent and now-dead father was heir to the throne of a vaguely Balkanesque country. Mia receives this info from her grandmother, the queen (Julie Andrews), who must convince Mia to take her rightful place. Ignore the film's obsession with appearance and casual trashing of democracy, and what's left is a fizzy Beach Blanket party leached of hormones, with a soundtrack redolent of stale bubble gum. It's all in fun, except there isn't any. Running time: 1 hr., 51 min. (Salm). Rated G. 1 star.

Involved in "Rush Hour 2" are the world's leading action star, Jackie Chan, and one of its rising comedy stars, Chris Tucker. Directing, as with "RH1," is Brett Ratner. What have they achieved? More of the same -- a little louder, slicker, puff-chested with the glow of a franchise hurtling forward. Tucker is the cute cop from L.A., on a vacation visit to his H.K. cop pal (Chan). As extra recreation, they sleuth and kick around the crime plot. Much of the preview crowd had a good time. They like Tucker and Chan, even if their chemistry seems cooked in a studio lab. The movie is sort of like "Laugh-In" on steroids or "Get Smart" with black attitude, and the end brings Chan's trademark scene bloopers, often (as usual) funnier than the stuff delivered in the story. Cast: Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan, John Lone, Alan King, Zhang Ziyi, Harris Yulin, Roselyn Sanchez. Running time: 1 hr., 38 min. PG-13. 2 stars.

The world (or at least America) is suffering from too much show biz. The latest evidence is "Scary Movie 2." After they had a global hit last year (more than $200 million) with "Scary Movie," the talented Wayans brothers, led by director KeenenIvory Wayans, had to make a sequel. They've followed a rather likable gross-out comedy with one less likeably juvenile in its grossology. Mostly the movie is sex jokes, animal jokes (naughty parrot, cat from hell), body function gags. The nostril or any orifice seems to get Team Wayans into a giddy creative rush. But they are starting to suffer the malaise of overload that finally junked the films of Mel Brooks and the Zucker/Abrahams lampoons. The result is 'toonish and goonish, all skit and skedaddle. The payoffs, even when loud, are little. It becomes a draining approach, and it makes this short movie seem long. 1 hr. 18 mins. (Elliott). 1 1/2 stars.

"The Score" not only works an enjoyable twist on the old caper-movie routine, but it has a triple-layer extra: the supreme American film actor of the '50s and '60s, Marlon Brando (no full rivals); his heir in the '70s and '80s, Robert De Niro (one rival: Jack Nicholson)' and maybe the most exciting American actor to arrive in the '90s, Ed Norton (rivals: Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage). De Niro has the core role as Nick, a veteran thief safely housed in Montreal, robbing only in the States and Europe. Max (Brando) is his old chum and fence, living in a big Montreal mansion, but in risky debt to the Mob (some fate for a former Corleone). Sprucely directed by past comedy specialist Frank Oz and well shot for wide-frame nuances of Montreal by Rob Hahn, "The Score" is snug, but not too smug. 1 hr. 51 min. (Elliott). Rated: R. Three stars.

Shrek is a big, lovable ogre. He's green, ugly, lonely, not very happy about it. But he puts in dutiful ogre hours, trying to scare people and critters. Shrek has a nice dump in a swamp, and he isn't pleased when yappy Donkey (Eddie Murphy) moves in, then gloms on as a "sharing" pal. This wiseacre tags along as Shrek goes to save Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz), held captive in a dragon's castle. It takes this sweetie some time to realize that Shrek is (a) an ogre, and (b) has a princely soul. The villain is snooty, absurdly vain Lord Farquaad. As for Eddie Murphy's Donkey, you wonder if any of the writers thought: Do we really want our one black star to be voicing an animal most associated with Southern tenant farms? The cleverness, though adroit, seems pitched very hard to the wiseguys in high school. Voices: Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow, Vincent Cassel. Running time: 1 hr. 30 min. (Elliott) Rated PG. 2 stars.

John Travolta, as crime wizard Gabriel Shear, starts off with a weird, preening monologue that sets up one of the most horrific explosions yet filmed. The "hero" is Stanley (Hugh Jackman), world's finest computer hacker and just out of prison. Now living in a sort of "Blade Runner" nostalgia trailer, he is desperate to reclaim his daughter from her mother, who married a porn king. Hired by the insane "patriot" Shears to steal billions from a secret government account, pursued by an FBI man (Don Cheadle) nearly as ruthless as Shears, Stanley is in a bad jam. Jackman meets the challenge with calculated force of facial stubble. Ugly, fireballing cartoons like this, steeped in cynicism and devoid of sense, seem to be creating a new cinema, both cybernetic and Neanderthal. Cast: John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Vinnie Jones, Sam Shepard. Running time: 1 hr. 45 mins. (Elliott) Rated R. No stars.

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