Maya Phillips

While Forgotten Island introduces a beautiful world of myth and adventure, it doesn’t go quite far enough to develop the relationships that keep it alive.

The most remarkable part of “Cocoon” is not just how neatly it tells a wartime story, but how tastefully it tells a story of the girls cut down before blooming during that brutal summer.

“Avatar Aang” succeeds both as a stand-alone film and one that stays true to the “ATLA” identity, while allowing the franchise to continue to grow. The movie connects the brand back to its beginnings, while creating a steppingstone for viewers to revisit the characters and find a new entryway back into the world.

Too many elements of Riley’s sophomore feature hang like excess fabric from what would otherwise be a stunning, smart ensemble.

Vázquez’s deadpan directorial style, which occasionally swerves into grim spoofs of Looney Tunes-style antics, perfectly suits the animated dystopia.

“Scarlet” is peppered with a few exceptional moments of inspiration, but ends up caught in an awkward push-pull between Shakespeare’s text and the fantastical spaces where Hosoda’s vision extends.

By narrowing the scope and condensing the logic of the action, this film undermines the excitement of the story, so even the day of an alien apocalypse starts to get tedious. That’s a great misfortune given the movie’s funky style.

The writer-director Jiao Zi uses equally expansive storytelling and visuals to deliver an epic, fantastical hero story about power hierarchies and the fall of institutions.

The Colors Within has such an aloof tone that the deeper motivations and stakes for each character, though alluded to, don’t feel substantial enough to provide the story with any sense of urgency.

“The War of the Rohirrim” is worth a watch for the Tolkien faithful, especially as a fresh way to adapt the author’s work.