These are Maui Scene Editor Rick Chatenever's mini-reviews, excerpts of wire service reviews and previews provided by studios and other sources.
Opening Friday
"The Conspirator" PG-13, 2:02, Maui Mall Megaplex.
Article Photos
Universal Pictures photo via AP
Vin Diesel (left), and Paul Walker come out firing in “Fast Five”
"Dylan Dog Dead of Night" PG-13, 1:47, Maui Mall Megaplex.
Brasndon Routh stars as a "supernatural private eye" chasing monsters in the Louisiana bayou in this mystery-comedy. Dressed in his signature red shirt, black jacket and blue jeans, he puts his image on the line in this curious mix of laughs and horror. Anita Briem, Sam Huntington, Peter Stormare and Taye Diggs co-star; Kevin Munroe directs.
"Fast Five" PG-13, 2:25, Kaahumanu 6, Kukui Mall 4 and Lahaina Wharf Cinemas.
Dwayne Johnson climbs into the driver's seat to join the automotive action of this fifth installment of "The Fast and the Furious" franchise. He plays a relentless federal agent trying to keep up with the always-on-the-run Vin Diesel, and his former foe now turned buddy Paul Walker. Jordana Brewster is also along for the ride, directed by Justin Lin with an emphasis on speed and stunts not to try while taking your driver's license test. Past "Fast and Furious" rowdies including Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges and Sung Kang join in the reckless driving antics in this "Ocean's Eleven"-style heist romp.
"Hoodwinked Too: Hood VS Evil" PG, 1:25, Maui Mall Megaplex (3-D and 2-D)..
Hayden Panettiere takes over from Anne Hathaway providing the voice of Red Riding Hood in this animated sequel to the 2005 fractured fairy tale. Mike Disa directs this time, casting the familiar characters -Wolf (Patrick Warburton), Twitchy (an overcaffeinated squirrel voiced by Cory Edwards) and Granny (Glenn Close) -as special agents in the Happily Ever After Agency. The dapper, long-legged frog Nicky Flippers (David Ogden Stiers), gives the orders as they pursue the kidnapped Hansel (Bill Hader) and Gretel (Amy Poehler) when they're taken by a witch (Joan Cusack).
"Prom" PG, 1:58, Kaahumanu 6 and Front Street Theaters.
Disney's take on the prom theme comes clean and wholesome, targeted at tween girls who are still looking forward to the magic night in their lives. The lovable stereotypes include the tall misfit, Lloyd (Nicholas Braun); the straight-arrow good girl (Aimee Teegarden), destined to be paired with the motorcycle-riding rebel (Thomas McDonell) and more. Joe Nussbaum directs
from a script by Katie Wech, and while everything is a whole lot more squeaky clean and predictable than any real high school, they find a certain sweetness and charm amidst the cliches.
Special screenings
"Do Something Real Film Festival" Kukui Mall 4, 6 tonight.
Whole Foods Market concludes its inaugural series of screenings in honor of Earth Day at 6 tonight. The screenings of films highlighting food, environment and community service culminate with tonight's "Vanishing of the Bees" exploring the collapse of bee colonies.
Still playing
"African Cats" G, 1:29, Kaahumanu 6.
The Disneynature label marks another Earth Day with this tale of two cat families -one lion, one cheetah - living on opposite sides of a river in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Samuel L. Jackson provides the narration and Keith Schaley and Alastair directed this two-year project that plays out like a real-life version of "The Lion King."
"Arthur" PG-13, 2:05, Lahaina Wharf Cinemas; ends tonight at Kaahumanu 6; opens Friday at Maui Mall.
It's all Russell Brand all the time at the movies as the British party boy follows his vocal star turn in "Hop" with this remake of the Dudley Moore classic. Brand plays a maturity-impaired billionaire who's arranged-marriage plans to dragon lady Jennifer Garner are rearranged when he falls in love with the lovely but poor Greta Gerwig. Helen Mirren changes the gender of the original John Gielgud role to play his tough-love nana. TV's "Modern Family's" Jason Winer makes his big-screen directoral debut, scoring at the box office, but falling well short of the heart or humor of the original.
"Hanna" PG-13, 1:54, Maui Mall Megaplex; ends tonight at Kukui Mall 4.
Part fairy tale heroine, part 16-year-old killing machine, young Saoirse Ronan fascinates in the title role. She grows up in isolation in the frozen north where former CIA operative Eric Bana teaches her to hunt, fight and speak many languages. It helps her when she comes back to civilization in territory familiar to watchers of the "Bourne" series. Joe Wright nimbly directs a cast co-starring Cate Blanchett, Olivia Williams and Jessica Barden. Recommended.
"Hop" PG, 1:34, Maui Mall Megaplex; ends tonight at Lahaina Wharf Cinemas.
Russell Brand tones down the outrageousness to star as an Easter Bunny on the run in this cute blend of live action and animation targeted at family audiences. He doesn't want to follow his dad into the Easter Bunny business, it seems, and enlists reluctant human James Marsden as his ally in the rainbow-hued tale full of warm, fuzzy co-stars. Tim Hill directs.
"Insidious" PG-13, 1:42, Maui Mall Megaplex.
Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne play a couple who move into a charming old craftsman with their three young children only to discover way too late that they've got company. "Saw" director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell play all the haunted-house cards in the deck skillfully, making the audience very uncomfortable before the relief of the final frame.
"Limitless" PG-13, 2:00, Maui Mall Megaplex;
Bradley Cooper plays a dead-end aspiring writer who turns his life around after happening onto a magic pill. Before he knows it, he's smart, rich, famous and hooked. It turns out the path to the top has a slippery slope heading down the other side. A guilty pleasure, the film interweaves two cautionary tales -about drug dependency and striking bargains with the devil - but is fun anyway. Abbie Cornish and Robert De Niro head the supporting cast; Neil Burger directs.
"The Lincoln Lawyer" R, 2:14, ends tonight at Maui Mall Megaplex.
Matthew McConaughey brings his Southern drawl and natural swagger to the role of a confident L.A. defense attorney in this action drama. The title refers to his car -a Lincoln Continental -that doubles as his office. The star's charisma is in high gear in the script full of moral dilemmas in and out of the courtroom. Ryan Phillipe, John Leguizamo, Frances Fisher, Michael Pena, Marisa Tomei and William H. Macy co-star. Brad Furman directs.
"Rio" G, 1:36, Kaahumanu 6, Kukui Mall 4 and Front Street Theaters.
Colorfully perched atop the box-office charts is this wacky love story of two exotic birds set against the sensual setting of Rio during Carnaval. Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg lovingly head the vocal cast also featuring George Lopez, Jamie Foxx, will.i.am and Tracy Morgan. The script is witty and warm-hearted with Brazilian director adding lots of knowing detail to his love letter to his homeland. The 3-D animation adds to the overall effect, which is to delight young and old alike. Recommended.
"Scream 4" R, 1:58, Maui Mall Megaplex, ends tonight at Kukui Mall 4 and Front Street Theaters.
Original cast members Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette and Mary McDonnell in a cameo reunite with director Wes Craven for this fourth installment of horror-comedy. "Howl" is more like the target response in this mix of slasher blood and laughs, many of them self-referential based on the lore and legacy the horror franchise has spawned. Campbell plays the celebrity victim who has turned her initial run-in with Ghostface into a lucrative career, Cox is the still obnoxious journalist chasing the story and Arquette is the doofus cop on the case. Emma Robert, Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin, Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell provide fresh meat for the cleaver.
"Soul Surfer" PG, 2:00, Kaahumanu 6, Kukui Mall 4 and Front Street Theaters.
Bethany Hamilton's inspiring true story, well-known in Hawaii where it continues to take place, comes to the screen with AnnaSophia Robb playing the surfing heroine. A 2003 attack by a
14-foot tiger shark may have taken her arm, but not her spirit, as she was back in the water a month later competing in a professional surfing contest. Now 21, she still is. Carrie Underwood plays Bethany's youth group leader in this story that also touches on the deep faith of the Hamilton family. Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt co-star as dad and mom; Sean McNamara directs and co-writes.
"Source Code" PG-13, 1:33, Maui Mall Megaplex; ends tonight at Lahaina Wharf Cinemas.
Jake Gyllenhaal is the latest action hero to find himself dazed and confused in this sci-fi action thriller directed by Duncan Jones. He plays an Army captain decorated for his service in Afghanistan who wakes up on a commuter train traveling with beautiful Michelle Monaghan, who acts like she knows him better than he knows her. And that's only the beginning of the brain-tickling puzzle as the brings the audience along on his time-warping mission to figure out who he is and what's going on. Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright co-star. Recommended.
"Tyler Perry's Madaea's Big Happy Family" PG-13, 2:01, Maui Mall Megaplex and Lahaina Wharf Cinemas.
Tyler Perry once again goes into drag and plays all the parts on both sides of the camera in his latest slice-of-life-in-the-black-community dramedy. Tough-love matriarch Madea has to go into action when her niece receives devastating health news. Loretta Devine, Cassi Davis, Shannon Kane, Isaiah Mustafa, Natalie Desselle and Rodney Perry co-star.
"Water for Elephants" PG-13, 2:16, Maui Mall Megaplex, Kukui Mall 4 and Lahaina Wharf Cinemas.
Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson make romantic sparks as director Francis Lawrence's adaptation of Sara Gruen's best-seller lumbers onto the screen. Set in the Great Depression, he plays a young veterinarian who winds up caring for the animals in a traveling circus starring the horseback-riding Witherspoon. Their attraction for one another is inevitable, which doesn't please her sadistic husband (Christoph Waltz), who takes out his displeasure on both his wife and the circus' elephant star. (It's all acting and special effects; no real animals were hurt in filming, the studio is quick to point out.).
"Your Highness" R, 1:57, Maui Mall Megaplex; ends tonight at Lahaina Wharf Cinemas.
James Franco and Danny McBride ride the Pineapple Express back to the Middle Ages to play slackers in shining armor in this stoner comedy. Their mission is to rescue the ravishing but abducted Zooey Deschanel from the clutches of bad sorcerer Justin Theroux, with some help from ye olde archer babe Natalie Portman. Gordon Green directs, throwing in raunchy anachronisms and drug jokes wherever possible.
* Times in the movie ads are subject to change on the weekend. For up-to-date movie time changes visit www.mauigateway.com/~ rw/movie/online.
