The Story: A father and his estranged son must outrun his lifelong friend, a gangster whose son they had a hand in killing. The Lowdown: A competent, often entertaining action flick that gets bogged down with its need for heavy plot dynamics.

The Story: A businessman and his two inept partners travel the world trying to seal one huge deal before their company turns to ruin. The Lowdown: Incredibly maudlin, overtly unfunny R-rated comedy with an aimless, unsatisfying plot and zero likable characters.

The Story: A con man and his one-time protege — and romantic interest — get tangled up in a scheme. The Lowdown: A clever and honestly surprising movie that’s held back due to the weak chemistry and miscasting of its two leads.

The Lowdown: After re-jiggering the past to suit their needs with their time machine made out of a hot tub, three buddies travel into the future to stop a murder. The Story: A flaccid, unimaginative and chuckleheaded raunchy comedy whose only novelty is that it exists in the first place.

The Story: A former high school football coach on his last chance takes up a job coaching cross country in a poor, Hispanic California town. The Lowdown: A wholly perfunctory, inoffensive and vaguely watchable uplifting sports flick that’s riddled with clichés and a lack of surprises.

The Story: Two children — sent to live with their grandmother — attempt to trek back home, only to find out the sister is entangled in a fantastical mystery. The Lowdown: A handsome looking film with a story that’s too basic to be memorable.

The Story: After the secret recipe to the wildly popular Krabby Patties disappears, SpongeBob and his archrival Plankton must travel through space and time to recover it. The Lowdown: A likable collection of bad jokes and casual nonsense that’s simply too long and exhausting.

The Story: Things soon get out of hand for a group of teens who build a time machine based on schematics found in a basement. The Lowdown: Nonsensical, pointless and meandering teen sci-fi junk, complete with pointless found footage conceit.

The Story: After the death of his wife, an alcoholic widower must fight for custody of his granddaughter. The Lowdown: A well-intentioned courtroom drama that’s not as intelligent or prescient as it wants to be.

The Story: A recently separated wife and mother sleeps with her young neighbor, only to bring his violent, obsessive nature upon her family. The Lowdown: Trashy nonsense that might be fun if it weren’t so inept and laboriously dumb.

The Story: This retelling of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream has fairies and their dark, evil counterparts duking it out, accompanied by pop songs. The Lowdown: A sanitized, airless kids movie that looks expensive but has no sense of whimsy or imagination.

The Story: A friendless groom hires a professional best man to help him with his wedding. The Lowdown: A likable Kevin Hart performance isn’t enough to prop up this tired, hokey comedy.

The Story: After a rogue hacker melts down a Chinese nuclear plant, an imprisoned hacker is set free to help track him down. The Lowdown: Occasionally far-fetched, sometimes idiotic and often run-of-the-mill action flick that tries to spruce itself up with some topicality.

The Story: After his ex-wife’s murdered and the crime is pinned on him, lumbering superspy Bryan Mills goes after the Russian mobsters responsible. The Lowdown: Dumb, pointless, noisy follow-up to the popular franchise and simply more of the same.

The Story: An English professor with a horrific gambling problem finds himself owing a lot of money to a lot of dangerous people. The Lowdown: While watching a man self-destruct for 100 minutes might not sound like the most fun time one could have at the movies, a smart script and game cast make it…

The Story: With the magical tablet that allows museum exhibits to come to life slowly corroding and failing, the museum night watchman who oversees it heads to London to find out the tablet's secrets. The Lowdown: More of the same from this drab little franchise, a mish-mash of generally unfunny comedy and flat adventure.

The Story: A wee hobbit and a handful of dwarves must defend a mountain stronghold full of treasure from a number of enemies. The Lowdown: A mostly dull, repetitive, surprisingly humorless end to the stretched-thin trilogy.

The Story: A comedian and actor — who’s trying his best to be taken as a serious artist — spends the day with a New York Times reporter on the weekend of his wedding to a reality star and the opening of his new, big film. The Lowdown: While it takes its time to get…

The Story: The three best friends at the center of Horrible Bosses are screwed out of a business deal and concoct a kidnapping plan to save themselves. The Lowdown: A generally entertaining — if none too spectacular — comedy with a few clever bits that’s held up by its cast.

The Story: A bamboo cutter and his wife find a tiny girl in a bamboo sprout and decide to raise her into a princess. The Lowdown: Visually beautiful but far too long a film for such a simple storyline.