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Along Came a Spider

"Kiss the Girls" was probably off the radar in most people's minds as a picture that warranted a sequel. But "Along Came a Spider" weaves enough slick action sequences and screwy plot twists to give an audience its money's worth. And it manages to stay clear of its predecessor's over-worn contrivance of "the serial killer," instead focusing on an espionage-heavy tale. Morgan Freeman reprises his role as Det. Alex Cross, and he brings the requisite gravity to a thriller about a terrorist (Michael Wincott) who has kidnapped the young daughter of a U.S. senator from an elite private school. Despite Wincott's effectively restrained portrayal as the "bad guy," the rest of the cast flounders, especially bland blonde Monica Potter, who plays the secret service agent partner of Cross. Director Lee Tamahori ("The Edge") keeps the pacing lively enough that he doesn't allow the audience time to linger on the many plot implausibilities that pile up at an alarming rate. (R) -- JN

** 1/2 Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Angel Eyes

Despite the normally smoldering presences of Jennifer Lopez and James Caviezel ("Frequency"), "Angel Eyes" feels more like a tiresome flirtation than a flat out seduction. Dabbling with themes like street crime, dysfunctional families and the supernatural, writer Gerald Dipego and director Luis Mandoki (the team behind "Message in a Bottle") never commit to one idea long enough to really pull in a viewer. Lopez plays a feisty Chicago cop who develops a soft spot for an enigmatic man (Caviezel) who saves her life. Individually, the two leads are quite strong. Caviezel can deliver corny monologs and make them genuinely moving, and there's nothing sexier than watching Lopez bust a perp. Still, the match never feels real. So while "Angel Eyes" isn't truly awful, it disappoints because it falls far short of the divine. (R) -- DL

** Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Blow

Johnny Depp plays real-life cocaine smuggler George Jung, who helped popularize the drug in 1970s America. Depp doesn't quite make Jung likable, but he does make him human, despite the fact that our "hero" isn't terribly bright (he never figures out that actually leaving the business might make his life a little easier). Director Ted Demme tries to energize the script, but it's simply too repetitive and lacking in real tension. Ultimately, the strongest impression made by "Blow" comes from a last-frame picture of the real George Jung, looking like hell as he serves out his latest prison sentence. It's a gut-level reminder of how far someone can sink in pursuit of the twisted American Dream. (R) -- LL

** 1/2 Plaza Six, 2339 Iowa.

Bridget Jones's Diary

British author Helen Fielding's novel "Bridget Jones's Diary" has become such a part of popular culture that even those who have not read the book are likely to be familiar with the central character and her futile but amusingly optimistic quest for self-improvement. For the most part, novice feature director Sharon Maguire, working from a script by Fielding, Andrew Davies (the television adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice") and Richard Curtis ("Notting Hill"), manages to recapture the outrageous situations and the attitudes in the book. Texan Renee Zellweger's agreeable performance of the world's most famous English singleton helps keep the film afloat despite a limp romantic rivalry between Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. It's hard not to like a movie that features a funny cameo by persecuted "Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie. Bridget Jones's musings may have been funnier in print, but they don't lose their impact on screen. (R) -- DL

*** Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Chocolat

The latest flick from director Lasse Hallstrom is as light and charming as his "The Cider House Rules" was somber. A stiff, fussy French community is turned upside down when a single mother (Juliette Binoche, "The English Patient") opens up a chocolate shop in the middle of Lent. Her treats have an oddly medicinal quality that makes some locals addicts and the mayor (Alfred Molina) an enemy. While the supporting cast is splendid, Binoche's delightfully low-key performance anchors the flick. The endearing characters and the director's storybook tone make for some tasty (if fattening) cinema. (PG-13) -- DL

*** Plaza Six, 2339 Iowa.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

In the hands of director Ang Lee ("Ride with the Devil"), the fight between two warriors (Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh) and two bandits (Chen Pei-Pei and Zhang Ziyi) for ownership of a 400-year-old sword becomes as urgent as a Biblical prophecy come true. While Lee is known for more introspective fare such as "The Ice Storm" and "Sense and Sensibility," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is loaded with eye-popping hand-to-hand battle scenes. It also contains many of the low-key dramatic touches that marked Lee's earlier films. For example, the actors make statements that are at odds with what their faces are telling the camera. Because of the care and detail devoted to each frame, "Crouching Tiger" is one of those rare films where the spectacle never comes at the expense of the story. As with the fabled sword itself, the elements combine into a lethally potent alloy. (PG-13) -- DL

**** Liberty Hall Cinemas, 644 Mass.

Enemy at the Gates

Inspired by one of the Soviet national heroes of World War II, "Enemy at the Gates" is an engrossing tale of two opposing snipers amid the backdrop of the Battle of Stalingrad. Jude Law plays Vassili Zaitsev, a humble Russian marksman groomed by an idealistic Communist officer (Joseph Fiennes) who believes the sharpshooter can be a weapon of propaganda for an army that is losing hope. When the sniper's exploits reach Berlin, a deadly Nazi major (Ed Harris) is dispatched to kill him, and the two begin a game of cat and mouse through the crumbling remnants of the city. Director Jean-Jacques Annaud mounts an ambitious war story with some harrowing, frenetic battle scenes, which he often films through holes in rubble and cracks in architecture like a sniper adjusting his scope. If the movie has a vulnerable spot, it's that the viewer never reaches much of an emotional connection with the characters -- Fiennes' role is a particular dud. But the quality of the action and intriguing setting compensate for this central flaw. (R) -- JN

*** Plaza Six, 2339 Iowa.

A Knight's Tale

This weird blend of jousting matches, classic rock and 21st century attitude is entertaining almost in spite of itself. Depending on a viewer's mood, the story, about a young squire (Heath Ledger, "The Patriot") who tries to pass as a noble and becomes a jousting champion, can induce agreeable chuckles or groans of disgust. Fortunately, writer-director Brian Helgeland ("Payback") does come up with a couple of truly fun characters. Ledger's heartthrob looks may be used to sell the flick, but his willingness to make an utter goofball out of himself causes the movie to be watchable. "A Knight's Tale" does, however, belong to Paul Bettany, who is as hysterically funny as "The Canterbury Tales" author Geoffrey Chaucer. The film's Chaucer is an outrageous lad whose silver tongue turns out to be a bit of a liability ("I give the truth scope," he boasts). While the film could have used a few more characters like him, the Chaucer scenes at least remind a viewer of the lively spirit behind all those antiquated words in the textbooks. (PG-13) -- DL

*** Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Memento

"John G raped and murdered my wife." Normally, it's not a piece of information one would need to tattoo on his chest to remember -- unless, of course, if during the murder/robbery attempt he was injured and lost all short-term memory. Such is the fate of Leonard Shelby (Australian actor Guy Pearce), a former insurance claims investigator now "living only for revenge." Already the hero of writer-director Christopher Nolan's haunting "Memento" is operating under a set of rules unique to detective cinema. Yet Nolan also throws an additional twist to the proceedings: He films the movie in reverse chronological order. This tactic suits the material because it puts the audience in the same predicament as the hero, in that past information is a total mystery. While this also means the movie has the potential to be anti-climactic (it starts with a murder and spells out to the audience who committed it and why), the story is relentlessly compelling thanks to Nolan's tricky script. Despite a downbeat ending that also makes one question what has previously transpired, "Memento" definitely earns the distinction of being termed unforgettable. (R) -- JN

*** 1/2 Liberty Hall Cinemas, 644 Mass.

The Mummy Returns

Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz return in this sequel to the 1999 hit, proving Hollywood's contention once again that script and characters are irrelevant when you've got really cool special effects. This time, the desecration of an ancient tomb not only brings back the first film's mummy (Arnold Vosloo), but also sets in motion the raising of a fearsome general (wrestler The Rock) and his supernatural army. Writer-director Stephen Sommers keeps the action going non-stop, and outdoes himself at every turn. Sure, the dialogue is lame and the characters are all stereotypes, but who cares? It's got thousands of computer-generated anthropomorphic jackals rampaging across the Egyptian desert, and that's all anyone should really need. (PG-13) -- LL

** 1/2 Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The eccentric Coen brothers combine Greek mythology and the legends of the American South in this somewhat disappointing comedy featuring George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson as a trio of escaped convicts who inadvertently gain fame as a singing group. If the movie's narrative (taken from Homer's "The Odyssey") loses steam at points, the Coen's give Clooney his juiciest role to date (as a hair-obsessed con man). Thanks to some gorgeous imagery, courtesy of cinematographer Roger Deakins and digital tweaking, and a great folk music soundtrack, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is a decent question to ask even if the answer disappoints. (PG-13) -- DL

** 1/2 Plaza Six, 2339 Iowa.

Shrek

Imagine a "Fractured Fairy Tales" with computer animation and lots of bathroom humor, with several digs at the Disney empire thrown in. That's "Shrek" in a nutshell -- a movie that makes a hero out of an ogre, a villain out of a dashing prince and a butt-kicking dynamo out of a cursed princess. "Shrek" is always just this side of brilliant, with its smart satire frequently undercut by easy, often outdated jokes ("Babe" and the Macarena are hardly ripe targets these days). What's good about this movie is very good, however: off-the-wall humor, memorable characters and an irreverent attitude that Walt and Co. would never dream of. (PG) -- LL

*** Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Spy Kids

Normally known for churning out gory movies like "Desperado" and "From Dusk Till Dawn," writer-director Robert Rodriguez fashions an energetic kid's movie that features more creativity and excitement than the last few James Bond movies combined. Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara play a couple of youngsters who have to rescue their secret agent parents (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) from a villainous kiddy-show host (Alan Cumming). Rodriguez loads his film with nifty gadgets, like explosive bubble gum, and imaginative creatures (some of whom are literally all-thumbs). With a recent crop of indifferent flicks for children like "Recess: School's Out" and "See Spot Run," it's a pleasure to know that someone who makes these films still takes kids and the parents who have to accompany them seriously. (PG) -- DL

*** Plaza Six, 2339 Iowa.

The Tailor of Panama

In his latest outing, Pierce Brosnan returns to the screen as a womanizing, high living MI6 agent, but the most satisfying aspect of "The Tailor of Panama" is watching the actor skillfully demolish his James Bond persona. All those vices finally do catch up with 007. In order to redeem himself with his furious superiors, spy Andrew Osnard (Brosnan) takes a job in Panama and starts hitting up a well-connected tailor named Harry Pendel (Geoffrey Rush) for information. Pendel knows little. Nonetheless, years of flattering customers into thinking they are sartorial wizards comes in handy. When real revolutions aren't in the air, Pendel skillfully makes up new ones that prove a tad too convincing and life threatening. Veteran filmmaker John Boorman ("Deliverance") and espionage novel specialist John LeCarre (who wrote the source material and collaborated on the script) subvert the genre with mixed results. An intriguing storyline is marred by the director's ostentatious techniques (silly flashbacks and a curious proliferation of nudity). Like a faulty suit, "The Tailor of Panama" looks likes a good fit but unravels toward the end. (R) -- DL

** 1/2 Plaza Six, 2339 Iowa.