These are Maui Scene Editor Rick Chatenever's mini-reviews, excerpts of wire service reviews and previews provided by studios and other sources.
Opened Wednesday
"Knight and Day" PG-13, 2:04, Kaahumanu 6 and Front Street Theaters.
This spy caper unites fugitive couple (Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz) as they wage a war between truth and trust while speeding across the globe in an attempt to avoid capture by a determined federal agent.
Opening Friday
"Grown Ups" PG-13, 1:57, Kukui Mall 4, Kaahumanu 6 and Lahaina Wharf Cinemas.
Fact Box
It's Showtime
Times in the movie ads are subject to change on the weekend. It's a good idea to call the theater, just to be sure. For showtimes at Kaahumanu 6 and Kukui Mall 4, call 1 (800) FANDANGO visit www.consolidatedtheatres.com.
For showtimes at Lahaina Wharf Cinemas, Front Street Theatres and Maui Mall Megaplex call 249-2222 or check www.gohollywood.com.
The death of their childhood basketball coach leads to a reunion for some old friends (Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock), who gather at the site of a championship celebration from years ago. Picking up where they left off, the buddies, with their wives and children in tow, discover why age doesn't necessarily equal maturity.
Special screenings
"Twilight," "Twilight Saga: New Moon" and "Twilight Saga: Eclipse" PG-13, Kukui Mall 4.
This special triple feature will fire up the frenzy as "Twihards" prepare for the next chapter in the Twilight series. Screenings of the first and second instalments of the vampire franchise begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, followed by the "Eclipse" premiere at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
"Twilight Saga: Eclipse" PG-13, Maui Mall Megaplex.
It'll be a battle of the heartthrobs as Team Edward and Team Jacob fans converge for "The Ultimate Girls Movie Night Out!" featuring an opening-day screening of this third installment of the vampire series. Hosted by Fashionista's Market, the movie begins at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, with a pre-party from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Maui Mall center stage.
Still playing
"The A-Team" PG-13, 2:12, Maui Mall Megaplex, Kukui Mall 4 and Front Street Theaters.
Chomping a cigar, Liam Neeson continues his action-hero career playing Col. Hannibal Smith, leader of a band of Iraq War Rangers on a righteous rampage after being sent on a military mission that turned out to be a trap. Spun off from the '80s TV series, the team includes Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Sharlto Copley, Quinton Jackson and Patrick Wilson in colorful roles that aren't too keen on military discipline or following the laws of physics in the noisy action that winds up trashing a container ship. Joe Carnahan directs.
"Get Him to the Greek" R, 1:47, Maui Mall Megaplex.
Russell Brand and Jonah Hill strike the same comic gold they mined in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" in this raunchy but lovable new comedy from the Judd Apatow brain trust. Brand plays an out-of-control British rocker suffering from every form of abuse available. Hill plays the recording company intern trying to get him to a concert in Los Angeles' famed Greek Theater to resurrect his career. Rose Byrne co-stars with Pink, Kurt Loder and Meredith Viera showing up in cameos. Results are clever, outrageous - and surprisingly endearing.
"Iron Man 2" PG-13, 2:20, Maui Mall Megaplex
After restarting his career as the most clever and interesting action hero in decades, Robert Downey Jr. returns as billionaire inventor-industrialist Tony Stark, here to save the world one more time. Gwyneth Paltrow, the real secret weapon of the first "Iron Man," returns as his faithful assistant with Don Cheadle on board as his new sidekick. Stark's nasty adversaries include Mickey Rourke as a cruel and unusual rival Russian inventor, Sam Rockwell as a business competitor and Garry Shandling as an unpleasant senator. Scarlett Johansson is here, too, but it's not initially clear whose side she's on. Samuel L. Jackson plays her boss. Recommended.
"Jonah Hex" PG-13, 1:36, Kaahumanu 6 and Front Street Theaters.
Josh Brolin gets an ugly brand horribly disfiguring his face and putting him on a path of eternal vengeance in this supernatural Western adapted from DC Comics. His Jonah is a bounty hunter with a price on his head who gets an offer of freedom when the military enlists him to track down his arch nemesis (John Malkovich). Megan Fox plays the prostitute in his life, and Jimmy Hayward directs the action.
"The Karate Kid" PG, 2:35, Maui Mall Megaplex, Kukui Mall 4 and Front Street Theaters.
Jaden Smith - Will and Jada Pinkett's kid - leaps into the starring role in this update of the heartwarming 1984 action-drama about a boy who has to learn martial arts from an unexpected master to ward off bullies' attacks. In this version, he is forced to move from Detroit to China after his single mom (Taraji P. Henson) is assigned to a new job there. He gets a big boost when his school's janitor turns out to be Jackie Chan. Harald Zwart directs, right to the top of the box-office charts.
"Killers" PG-13, 1:55, Maui Mall Megaplex, Kukui Mall 4 and Lahaina Wharf Cinemas.
Ashton Kutcher looked like the perfect match for Katherine Heigl when she met him in a romantic Mediterranean resort. So she married him. Imagine her surprise three years later to discover that in his previous life he was an undercover government-sponsored assassin. Now there's a multimillion-dollar contract for his life, forcing her to get into the same line of work in this madcap romp. Tom Selleck and Catherine O'Hara co-star; Robert Luketic directs.
"Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" PG-13, 1:43, Kaahumanu 6.
Imagine "Aladdin" recast as a video game and you get the concept of this sixth-century action comedy. Jake Gyllenhaal stretches into the action-hero game, playing the resourceful swashbuckling Dastan who gets in and out of danger quicker than you can say, "shazam!" Gemma Arterton co-stars as Princess Tamina, sharing the adventures, romance and snappy banter.
"Princess Kaiulani" PG, 1:52, Maui Mall Megaplex.
It's hard to fully appreciate Gabriel Beristain's gorgeous cinematography because of the mist in your eye from this painful history lesson well known in the islands. "The New World's" Q'orianka Kilcher is luminous in the title role, playing the mixed-race niece of childless King Kalakaua, sent by her Scottish father to Great Britain at age 13 to escape the political upheavals in the Kingdom of Hawaii while furthering her Victorian education. The overthrow of the monarchy in 1893 sends her to the U.S. to plead before President Cleveland for the reinstatement of the kingdom after its overthrow by American business interests. While the film sparks debate about historic details and its treatment of its subject, it wins points for making this chapter in Hawaii's history understandable to viewers not previously familiar with it. Winner of the audience award at the Hawaii International Film Festival, it co-stars Barry Pepper, Shaun Evans, Jimmy Yuill, Julian Glover, Will Patton and Ocean Kaowili. Recommended.
"Sex and the City 2" R, 2:26, Kaahumanu 6.
Just the ticket for girls'-night-out parties, this sequel reunites Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Kim Cattrall and Cynthia Nixon on a junket to Abu Dhabi. The desert and the occasional camel ride are only slight impediments to the ladies' fondness for fashion and the high life. Now that their single days are mostly over, their focus has shifted to the joys - or not - of marriage and motherhood, but those, too, are minor distractions from life in the fashion lane.
"Shrek Forever After" PG, 1:48, Kaahumanu 6 (in 3-D and 2-D).
Shrek's not the ogre he once was in this fourth installment of the comedy franchise. Married to Fiona with 1-year-old triplets, he's going through a midlife crisis that makes him long to get his groove back. Under the influence of the truly obnoxious Rumpelstiltskin, he sets out for Far Far Away but gets stuck in a parallel universe instead. Mike Myers once again heads the cast with Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas giving voice to Fiona, Donkey and Puss in Boots one more time. Mike Mitchell directs. With Fiona getting centerstage this time, the formula isn't as fresh and original as it used to be, but its wacky, whimsical approach to fairy tales still brings smiles.
"Splice" R, 1:59, Maui Mall Megaplex
Sarah Polley and Adrien Brody star as a pair of rebellious researchers who do the ultimate no-no when it comes to genetic engineering: they splice together human and animal DNA. The result is a new organism they name "Dren," who may have been a hideous looking infant, but grows into an enticing winged human with dangerous tendencies. Vincenzo Natali writes and directs this thriller that made quite an impression at Sundance.
"Toy Story 3" G, 2:04, Maui Mall Megaplex (3-D, with ticket surcharge), Kukui Mall 4 and Lahaina Wharf Cinemas.
Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen) and cowgirl (Joan Cusack) return in the third installment of this franchise - the first in 3-D - that put Pixar and computer animation on the map. Once again the toys confront their own mortality as their boy grows up and heads for college, leaving them with the options of being boxed in the attic or put out for the garbage man. They get a new lease on life when they wind up in a day care center, but that also turns dangerous when they get placed in the toddler room. Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Don Rickles, Estelle Harris and new addition Ned Beatty add their voices to the mix under Lee Unkrich's direction.
