“The Kid Who Would Be King”

3 stars

Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) is a 12-year-old who — along with his best buddy, Bedders (Dean Chaumoo) — is just trying not to be the daily focus of the school’s two main bullies, Lance (Tom Taylor) and Kaye (Rhianna Doris). A run for his life one night leaves Alex in an abandoned construction site, where he spots a sword sticking out of a chunk of rock. He pulls the sword from the stone with ease.

Both Alex and Bedders laugh at the idea this could actually be Arthur’s sword Excalibur, but they soon realize the truth. A young Merlin (Angus Imrie) shows up to convince Alex he’s the only person who can defeat evil Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson). Once convinced, Alex goes on a quest to find the answers he needs to stop the threat with help from a motley group of young knights that includes the two bullies.

It’s a joy to see director/writer Joe Cornish (“Attack the Block”) didn’t just cherry pick a few items, but went totally medieval to embrace Arthurian legend. Cornish’s modern take on the sword-in-the-stone saga is a witty and exciting mix of the best parts of the Knights of the Round Table with modern conventions. The result is a tale of bravery, friendship and respect.

“On the Basis of Sex”

3 stars

The film starts with Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”) as one of only nine women in a class of 500 allowed to attend Harvard Law School in 1956 and goes through the landmark tax case that she and her husband (Armie Hammer, “Call Me by Your Name”) argued that became a turning point in women’s rights. Director Mimi Leder (“Shameless”) blends Ginsburg’s legal and family worlds into a beautifully presented package.

The film presents all the valuable facts and historical moments that made Ginsburg one of the most important women of the past century, but it also presents her life as both a legal drama and an endearing love story.

There’s a line in the film where a woman meeting Ginsburg says: “I thought she would be bigger.” Through smart writing and fearless acting, “On the Basis of Sex” shows Ginsburg has been a giant in the legal world who also found time to be a wife and mother. That’s a story a larger audience than a documentary can attract needs to see.

“Aquaman”

2.5 stars

The latest film based on a DC Comics character starts with the origin story of Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), the half-human/half-Atlantian. The film includes the battle for power between brothers, the origin of the super villain Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), an underwater take on the tales of King Arthur, the introduction of Arthur’s love interest, Mera (Amber Heard), the history of the underwater kingdoms and a scenic trip to Italy. There’s one scene that is so much like a trip to a dinosaur movie franchise all that’s missing is someone greeting you with “Welcome to Jurassic Park.”

That’s just part of the story, presented in a visual style that at times looks a lot like scenes from “Tron” or “Doctor Strange.” Director James Wan (“Furious 7”) is so enamored with the computer-generated elements that make up 90 percent of the film he forgets the human elements. The whole love connection between Aquaman and Mera is painfully forced.

It doesn’t help that Mera is a far more interesting hero than Aquaman as Momoa tries to play him with the kind of dry humor that has made someone like Dwayne Johnson an action film star. It never quite works for Momoa. “Aquaman” isn’t all wet as it does present a relentless amount of action. In this case, a little less would have been a lot more.

“Tito and the Birds”

4 stars

Directors Gustavo Steinberg, Gabriel Bitar and André Catoto deliver a heartwarming and inspirational story through a lavish design that flows with beauty and strength. Their fluid style of animation wipes away the traditional stiff borders to make the film look like it is alive. The production is both staggeringly beautiful in look and story.

The film is a cautionary tale presented through a shy 10-year-old boy who is called on to do heroic things in a world on the brink of a pandemic. It is not a disease that threatens the world, but fear that manifests itself through the crippling and then transformation of people.

Tito realizes the research his father had been doing for years could provide the cure. All he has to do is find a way to utilize the local pigeon population and their songs to create a way to counteract the fear. That mission becomes more and more impossible as those around him are consumed by fear.

The release contains both the original Portuguese language version of the film with English subtitles, and the English language dub, as well as an interview with Steinberg and Bitar as a bonus feature.

“Vice”

2.5 stars

The idea of making a film based on the life of former Vice President Dick Cheney resonates with all the excitement of a documentary on the history of paint drying. But director/writer Adam McKay’s latest work, “Vice,” ignores the potentially boring elements to examine the rise of Cheney (Christian Bale) from a political second banana to a man so in love with power he convinces George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell) to give him more authority than any Veep has known.

It’s as if McKay took the silliness of politics he embraced with his story for the 2012 Will Ferrell comedy “The Campaign” and used the explanatory structure of his 2015 film “The Big Short.” McKay manages to make the story of Cheney, who served four Republican presidents, a slightly interesting look at the complicated world of politics, the obsessive need for power and the Shakespearean relationship between Cheney and his wife, Lynne (Amy Adams).