Admit One 12/23
Assassin’s Creed
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, Charlotte Rampling, Michael K. Williams
Directed by: Justin Kurzel
Plot: Death row inmate Callum Lynch finds himself in the custody of the Abstergo Foundation, who want to use the memories of his Assassin ancestor Aguilar gained by using a device called the Animus to find a powerful artifact called the Apple of Eden.
Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 18%
Critic Consensus: “Assassin’s Creed is arguably better made (and certainly better cast) than most video game adaptations; unfortunately, the CGI-fueled end result still is still a joylessly overplotted slog”
Passengers
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, Andy Garcia
Directed by: Morten Tyldum
Plot: Two passengers on a 120-year journey to another planet have their hibernation pods wake them 90 years too early.
RT Freshness: 30%
Critic Consensus: “Passengers proves Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence work well together — and that even their chemistry isn’t enough to overcome a fatally flawed story”
Sing
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth McFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton
Directed by: Garth Jennings
Plot: A washed up koala theater owner stages a massive singing contest in a last ditch effort to save the theater.
RT Freshness: 68%
Critic Consensus: “Sing delivers colorfully animated, cheerfully undemanding entertainment with a solid voice cast and a warm-hearted — albeit familiar — storyline that lives up to its title”
Fences
Starring: Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen Henderson, Mykelti Williamson, Russell Hornsby, Jovan Adepo
Directed by: Denzel Washington
Plot: An African-American father struggles with race relations in the United States while trying to raise his family in the 1950s and coming to terms with the events of his life.
RT Freshness: 95%
Critic Consensus: “From its reunited Broadway stars to its screenplay, the solidly crafted Fences finds its Pulitzer-winning source material fundamentally unchanged — and still just as powerful”
Why Him?
Starring: Bryan Cranston, James Franco, Megan Mullally, Zoey Deutch, Cedric the Entertainer, Keegan Michael-Key
Directed by: John Hamburg
Plot: A conservative dad clashes with his daughter’s crazy, billionaire boyfriend.
RT Freshness: 35%
Critic Consensus: “Solidly cast but overall misconceived, Why Him? offers the odd chuckle, but ultimately adds disappointingly little to its tired father-vs.-fiancé formula”