MAN OF STEEL 2 stars. Zak ("300") Snyder attempts a Superman reboot, with English actor Henry Cavill as the Kryptonian-on-Earth and Michael Shannon as the maniacal villain dogging him around. What's particularly disheartening is that Superman's primacy has been forsaken for an excess of high-end generic effects. At least an hour of the pic's excessive running time is devoted to the sort of crash-and-burn, slamming-into-skyscrapers CG fight scenes that we've already seen in "The Avengers," "Spider-Man" and "Thor." 2 hrs. 23 PG-13 (violence, intense action, profanity, adult themes) - Steven Rea

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY 2/12 stars. Pixar's first prequel takes a look at how its "Monsters, Inc. stars, Mike and Sully (the voices of Billy Crystal and John Goodman), first met, in the ivied halls of a college campus where the multi-hued, multi-limbed, multi-eyeballed students learn how to be "scarers." Cute, funny, but not on the top tier when it comes to originality. 1 hr. 50 G (mild scares) - Steven Rea

MUD 4 stars. Matthew McConaughey has the title role, as a mysterious fugitive discovered by two boys on an island in the Arkansas Delta, in Jeff Nichols' scary, surprising, magical and downright remarkable film. An instant American classic. 2 hrs. 10 PG-13 (violence, profanity, adult themes) - Steven Rea

NO 3 1/2 stars. Gael Garcia Bernal stars as a hot young ad exec in 1988 Chile who joins the media campaign to oust military dictator Augusto Pinochet in this fictionalized piece of reeling, ricocheting history. 1 hr. 58 R (violence, adult themes) - Steven Rea

NOW YOU SEE ME 2 1/2 stars. A Vegas magic act, headed by Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson, pulls off an epic heist - "from the Vegas stage. The movie wants to be "Ocean's Eleven" with top hats and wands, but the rapport between its principals doesn't come close to approximating Clooney and company's (or Sinatra and company's) cool. And then there are the car chases ... With Michael Caine, Isla Fisher, Morgan Freeman and Mark Ruffalo. 1 hr. 52 PG-13 (profanity, action, sex, adult themes) - Steven Rea

OBLIVION 2 1/2 stars. Tom Cruise stars as a maintenance man stuck on post-apocalyptic Earth with only his drones, his Jetsons-meets-Zaha Hadid house, and his leggy British girlfriend (Andrea Riseborough). Everybody else has left. Everbody but a ragtag band of rebels, led by a cigar-chomping Morgan Freeman. Olga Kurylenko also stars, as a NASA pilot who shows up and turns Cruise's hero into a love-addled mess. Polished-to-a-sheen sci-fi. 2 hrs. 06 PG-13 (violence, profanity, adult themes) - Steven Rea

ON THE ROAD 3 stars. A handsome and honorable effort to capture the freewheeling spirit of Jack Kerouac's classic Beat novel, with Sam Riley and Garrett Hedlund as Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty, respectively (the Kerouac and Neal Cassady alter-egos), and Kristen Stewart and Kirsten Dunst as the women in their life (when there was time, or need, for them). Walter Salles' adaptation looks beautiful, but doesn't cut very deep. 2 hrs. 04 R (sex, nudity, profanity, drugs, adult themes) - Steven Rea

PANDORA'S PROMISE 2 1/2 stars. A stacked-deck, pro-nuclear energy documentary that makes a convincing case - but you can't help but wonder what facts have been left out, what scientific evidence ignored. Still, the debate about our energy future is a vital one, and no argument should be left unexplored. 1 hr. 27 No MPAA rating (adult themes) - Steven Rea

PEEPLES 2 1/2 stars. Craig Robinson stars in what could have been called "Meet the Peeples, as in "Meet the Parents, if the filmmakers wanted to attract some intellectual property litigation. He's a laidback, lowly children's entertainer in a relationship with the daughter (Kerry Washington) of an uppercrust and snooty African-American clan. Her parents don't even know he exists, until he invites himself to their Hamptons manse, where mischief and misunderstandings ensue. 1 hr. 35 PG-13 (sex, drugs, profanity, adult themes) - Steven Rea

A PLACE AT THE TABLE 3 1/2 stars. A powerful and alarming documentary about hunger in America. Advocacy journalism at its best, lining up its facts, illustrating the widespread problem with a few trenchant, compelling cases, and offering solutions, too. 1 hr. 24 PG (adult themes) - Steven Rea

THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES 3 1/2 stars. Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper star in this roaring drama about a motorcycle stunt rider bank robber and the cop who chases him down. Riveting and electric, and boldly ambitious, with great performances from Eva Mendes, Ben Mendelsohn, Harris Yulin and Ray Liotta. 2 hrs. 20 R (violence, profanity, drugs, sex, adult themes) - Steven Rea

SHADOW DANCER 3 stars. Andrea Riseborough gives a fierce, focused performance as a woman in 1990s Belfast who plants a bomb for her IRA cohorts, and then is swayed to turn against them by an MI5 officer (Clive Owen). A slow-burning drama, thick with layers of deceit. 1 hr. 41 R (violence, profanity, adult themes) - Steven Rea

SIGHTSEERS 3 stars. A brilliant, deliciously wicked, and thoroughly enjoyable road film set in the gorgeous upland vistas of the Peak District in northern England, "Sightseers" is about an average thirtysomething couple from average middle-class homes who go on a deadly holiday with their smart new camper caravan. It's "Bonnie and Clyde" by way of "EastEnders" and "The League of Gentlemen." 1 hr. 28 No MPAA rating (profanity, sexual situations, murder) - Tirdad Derakhshani

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS 3 1/2 stars. J.J. Abrams' reboot sequel is as good, if not better, as the 2009 "Star Trek." James T. Kirk is in trouble with the admiralty, Spock and Uhura are having a lovers' spat, and a new bad guy (Benedict Cumberbatch) threatens to wreak havoc across the universe. Smart, fun, with exhilirating action and spectacular visual effects. Beam us up, Scotty. 1 hr. 52 PG-13 (violence, interspecies sex, adult themes) - Steven Rea

STORIES WE TELL 4 stars. Actress and filmmaker Sarah Polley's smart and revelatory investigation into the life of her mother, Diane, who died when Polley was 11. An extraordinary meditation on family, memory, truth, love, fidelity - at once intimate and personal, and universal. 1 hr. 48 PG-13 (profanity, adult themes) - Steven Rea

TO THE WONDER 2 stars. Terrence Mallick follows up "The Tree of Life" with what appears to be a parody of same, with Ben Affleck in the role of the brooding, clench-jawed handsome lug, and Olga Kurylenko and Rachel McAdams as the women in hislife. Feels like a very long and exquisitely shot perfume ad. A new iteration of Chanel, perhaps, wispy and redolent of regret? 1 hr. 52 R (nudity, sex, adult themes) - Steven Rea

THE WE AND THE I 2 stars. A group of Bronx high schoolers act out and experience relationship changes while riding the bus after the final day of the school year. 1 hr. 43 No MPAA rating (profanity, nudity, sexual situations) - Elizabeth Horkley

WHITE HOUSE DOWN 2 stars. Jamie Foxx is the president and Channing Tatum is the only man who can save him from deadly insurrectionists in the Oval Office in this formulaic action film. Add gunplay and explosions. Get the picture? 2 hrs. 11 PG-13 (Violence, profanity, adult themes) - David Hiltbrand

WORLD WAR Z 3 stars. Brad Pitt goes running around the world - and driving, and helicoptering, and bicycling and jet-planing - in a desperate attempt to find the cure for a zombie pandemic. A relentless horror thriller. First stop: Philly. 1 hr. 56 PG-13 (intense scares, zombie violence, adult themes) - Steven Rea

RATINGS:

4 stars: Excellent; 3 stars: Good; 2 stars: Fair; 1 star: Poor