‘RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES’

★★★ 1⁄2 (out of four)

More morality play than typical summer blockbuster, this “Planet of the Apes” envisions a not-too-distant future in which human greed and arrogance lays the groundwork for the primate-run society first seen in the 1968 film with Charlton Heston. Our primary human protagonist is medical researcher Will Rodman (James Franco, looking way too spaced out to be believable as an M.D.), an altruistic lad who is working tirelessly to find a cure for Alzheimer’s, the disease that is slowing destroying his father (John Lithgow). After a lab mishap involving an aggressive ape leaves him without a prime test subject for his regenerative “cure,” Will secretly takes home that ape’s offspring, named Caesar (played by Andy Serkis, king of the blue-screen), to conduct private research.

‘COWBOYS & ALIENS’

★★ 1⁄2 

I always appreciate it when a film makes an effort to show me something I haven’t seen before, and I’m willing to forgive a great many oversights in exchange for that spark of creativity. “Cowboys & Aliens” (based on the comic book by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, but credited to no less than eight screenwriters) offers up an intriguing blend of the Western, adventure and science-fiction genres, and that alone is a novel enough concept to pique my interest. The film has a lot of fun with the madcap mixup and even includes several blink-and-you’ll-miss-them nods to such genre staples as “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “The Searchers,” and I can honestly say that I’ve never seen anything quite like it. 

‘HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS: PART 2’

★★★ 1⁄2 

There’s something to be said for a book franchise that has almost single-handedly instilled a love of reading into a whole generation of youths, and a movie franchise that has brought genuine joy to hundreds of millions of people. In the end, the positive residual effects of Pottermania easily trump the cynicism and greed that went into its creation. And despite its status as a studio product, I defy any old-fashioned, entertainment-seeking moviegoer to see “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” and come away dissatisfied.

‘HORRIBLE BOSSES’

★★★ 1/2 

  “Horrible Bosses” is a hard-R comedy filled with more than its share of boundary-pushing humor and, admittedly, lapses in logic and plausibility. It is not concerned with filmic issues like editing and cinematography. It has but two goals: to engage you with its characters and their plight, and to make you laugh. That it succeeds so thoroughly on both counts leaves one no choice but to declare it some kind of mini-masterpiece of comic timing and momentum.