Avatar
*** ( 3 STARS)
$31.2
million
$595.7 million
7 weeks
Rated : PG-13
Running time : 2:40
What it's about : A paraplegic ex-Marine (Sam Worthington, above) controls the body of an "avatar," a body of a creature on another planet, and gets caught up in a struggle between the humans and the natives.
Our take : James Cameron has delivered the most-anticipated blend of live-action and motion-capture animation to date, but the story's simplistic.
Edge of Darkness
*** (3 STARS)
$17.2
million
$17.2 million
1 week
Rated : R
Running time : 1:57
What it's about : Mel Gibson (above) plays a Boston homicide detective whose daughter's murder opens the door to a conspiracy.
Our take : It's a pretty good adaptation of the 1985 British TV miniseries; Martin Campbell directed both versions, and the new one benefits from some ripe, cynical invective provided by co-writer William Monahan ("The Departed").
When in Rome
* 1/2 ( 1 1/2 STARS)
$12.3
million
$12.3 million
1 week
Rated : PG-13
Running time : 1:31
What it's about : On a trip to Rome, a lovelorn New Yorker's (Kristen Bell, above) luck changes when she impulsively steals some coins from a reputed fountain of love.
Our take : With a weak fantasy element pilfered from "Three Coins in the Fountain," this movie lacks invention and true magic in the worst way.
Tooth Fairy
* (1 STAR)
$9.9
million
$26.1 million
2 weeks
Rated : PG
Running time : 1:41
What it's about : A bad deed on the part of a tough minor league hockey player (Dwayne Johnson, above) results in an unusual sentence: He must serve one week as a real-life tooth fairy.
Our take : A meager family offering that should be rinsed and spat out.
The Book of Eli
*** ( 3 STARS)
$8.9
million
$74.5 million
3 weeks
Rated : R
Running time : 1:58
What it's about : In a post-apocalyptic future, a lone warrior (Denzel Washington, above) must protect a book that holds the secrets to saving mankind.
Our take : A good, righteously wrathful genre picture. We've been down similar roads before, but the directors work the apocalyptic turf in medium-budget style.
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