‘Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li’

'Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li' {2stars} (Orlando Sentinel) Anyone who remembers the godawful 1994 Jean Claude Van Damme/Raul Julia film based on the ancient video game "Street Fighter" will be shocked at how much better the new film built around the game's characters is. No, it's not particularly good. The villains are either ninja-clones or generic black-suited thugs. The story is a straight vengeance tale about a daughter seeking to punish the man who murdered her dad. But the casting works, the settings (Bangkok and Hong Kong) are exotic and the martial arts brawls professionally mounted. (PG-13 - 88 minutes) S, V.

Mai Island Grill, 3.5 stars

Students line up for healthful, Hawaiian-style mixed plate lunches at this Tempe Grill.

‘Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience’

(Associated Press) Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas are presented as so much glossy, superficial packaging. Sure, there are behind-the-scenes moments wedged between the perky performances, but these moments feel self-conscious, staged, and consist mainly of the brothers marveling at how many screaming fans are gathered outside their hotel/car/wherever. (G - 75 minutes).

‘Wendy and Lucy’

Michelle Williams is outstanding as a woman hoping to better her life in Alaska, but who breaks down in Oregon, losing her car and, more importantly, her dog. She spends the balance of the movie looking for it, and trying to maintain her tenuous grip on her life. Ostensibly a simple story, it's also a parable for our increasingly desperate times. (R - 80 minutes) P.

George and Dragon English Restaurant and Pub, 4 stars

Enjoy hearty pub food and British hospitality at this warm, inviting pub on Central Ave.

‘Madea Goes to Jail’

'Madea Goes to Jail' {2stars} Tyler Perry always mixes the comedic with the serious, but here he overdoes it with an unlikely romance mixed with the over-the-top antics of Madea, his most-popular character. He would have had to change the title, but one wonders how much better "Madea Goes to Jail" would have been without Madea. (PG-13 - 103 minutes) S, V.

‘Che’

(USA Today) “Che” is a mass of contradictions, perhaps like the iconic revolutionary himself. But we’ll never really know, since the full dimensionality and presumably complex character of Ernesto “Che” Guevara is not sufficiently revealed. For a very long film that aspires to be the definitive epic on a controversial figure, it is surprisingly shallow [...]

‘Coraline’

(Bill Goodykoontz) Creative, imaginative 3-D animated tale of a girl (voice of Dakota Fanning) who discovers a secret world much like her own, only better. There, her parents (Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman), are doting and loving - but have buttons for eyes. All, in other words, isn’t what it seems. Truly innovative, but scary, as [...]

‘He’s Just Not That Into You’

(Bill Goodykoontz) Derivative, predictable film about the love lives of a revolving group of beautiful people, including Jennifer Aniston and Scarlett Johansson. Ginnifer Goodwin is the anchor of the film, playing a needy young woman desperate to find romance. Competently made, but not particularly affecting. But it should clean up at the box office; it [...]

‘Pink Panther 2′

(Bill Goodykoontz) Idiotic, unnecessary sequel that brings Steve Martin back as the bumbling Clouseau. This time around he’s part of an international “dream team” of investigators trying to solve a series of daring thefts, including the taking of the Magna Carta and the Pope’s ring. Andy Garcia, Lily Tomlin and Jeremy Irons are somehow present [...]

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