Following are ratings and capsule reviews of recently released films. The reviews are by Catholic News Service in conjunction with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of Film and Broadcasting.

For full reviews of these films, as well as earlier releases, visit www.usccb.org/movies

This list will be updated periodically as the reviews are supplied by Catholic News Service.

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“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (Disney)

The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

Generally inoffensive but routine fantasy adventure about an ordinary New York City college student (Jay Baruchel) who discovers he is the long-prophesied heir to legendary magician Merlin’s wonderworking skills. He struggles to master his powers under the supervision of a good wizard (Nicolas Cage) so he can aid in the fight against an evil sorcerer (Alfred Molina), though his pursuit of the gal (Teresa Palmer) he has loved since childhood proves a constant distraction.
As directed by Jon Turteltaub, the special effects-driven proceedings — which include unbloody battle scenes too intense for tots — fall well short of movie magic. Extensive stylized violence, brief scatological humor.

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“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” (Summit)

The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

A well-behaved vampire (Robert Pattinson) and an equally courtly werewolf (Taylor Lautner) overcome their natural antipathy and temporarily unite to protect the teen mortal (Kristen Stewart) they both love from the threat posed by a vengeance-driven bloodsucker (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her plasma-hungry minions. Director David Slade’s third installment in the hugely popular Gothic romance franchise — based on the best-selling novels of Stephenie Meyer — draws on self-referential humor to leaven its potentially ridiculous, and occasionally over-familiar, proceedings as it ramps up the mostly bloodless supernatural battling, but shifts the basis of the main couple’s chaste interaction from a matter of constraint to one of choice.
Considerable stylized violence, an off-screen rape, a scene of nongraphic sensuality, a birth control reference and a few mildly crass terms.

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“Despicable Me” (Universal)

The Catholic News Service classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

This enchanting 3-D animated comedy about a slightly wicked but ultimately softhearted rogue (voice of Steve Carell) follows his rivalry with a nerdy newcomer (voice of Jason Segel) for the title of world’s most terrible villain — during which they compete to steal the moon, no less. It charts the life-altering effect a trio of orphans (voices of Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier and Elsie Fisher) have on him after he takes them under his wing, initially for his own nefarious purposes.
Co-directors Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin — who also provide voice work for the main miscreant’s army of comically mumbling undersized minions — serve up a delightfully humorous conversion tale spun around themes of loyalty and the transformative power of family love with only a few effects that might scare the most timid and a touch of mild bathroom humor to raise concern among some parents.

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The Last Airbender” (Paramount)

The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

Strained 3-D fantasy adventure, set in an alternate world where some human beings have the power to “bend,” that is, control, one of the basic elements of fire, earth, air and water, and where a brother and sister (Jackson Rathbone and Nicola Peltz) assist a child (Noah Ringer) who is the latest incarnation of a global peace-giver in his quest to restore order to society by ending the oppressive rule of a warlike, imperialist nation (led by Cliff Curtis and Aasif Mandvi). Though free of objectionable language or behavior, writer-director M. Night Shyamalan’s live-action adaptation of an animated TV series — which also features Dev Patel as a disgraced prince out to prove his mettle by capturing the boy wonder — fails to gain dramatic traction, bogging down in stilted dialogue and endless explanations of its back story, some aspects of which suggest pantheism or nonscriptural beliefs.
Potentially confusing religious themes and much nongraphic martial arts and combat violence.

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“Predators” (Fox)

The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Dreary sci-fi sequel in which a random collection of human warriors and criminals (most prominently Adrien Brody, Alice Braga and Topher Grace) find themselves unwillingly and mysteriously parachuted into a jungle by the invisibility-cloaked aliens of the title who then hunt them for sport. Despite a half-hearted last-reel lesson about the need to maintain civilized values, director Nimrod Antal’s addition to the thriller franchise that began with 1987’s “Predator” is mostly a survey of nasty ways to die, while Alex Litvak’s script is chockablock with obscenities.
Frequent graphic violence, some of it gruesome, a few uses of profanity, pervasive rough and crude language.

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“Grown Ups” (Columbia)

The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Meandering, scattershot comedy, of interest mainly to devoted Adam Sandler fans, in which co-writer Sandler and director Dennis Dugan set out to tell the tale of five friends (Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider, along with Sandler), all once members of a championship private-school basketball team, who reunite with their families at a New England lake cabin after their coach dies, but this weak entry mostly offers up stale riffs and physical comedy in lieu of a strong story.
Some mild sexual and scatological humor, including a running gag about a 4-year-old boy who still breastfeeds, brief rear nudity, fleeting crude and crass language, a few instances of innuendo.

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“Knight and Day” (Fox)

The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

This good-natured, though intermittently violent, action-and-romance combo sees an everyday woman (Cameron Diaz) unwittingly caught up in the conflict between a highly skilled but apparently rogue CIA agent (Tom Cruise) and his former colleagues (led by Viola Davis and Peter Sarsgaard) as they battle each other and an evil Spanish arms dealer (Jordi Molla) for possession of a recently invented (by young geek Paul Dano) energy source with revolutionary potential. Director and co-writer James Mangold’s breezy diversion takes a largely bloodless toll on the extras while the adroitly portrayed central relationship progresses, for the most part, innocently enough.
Frequent, though mostly nongraphic, action violence, at least one use of profanity and of the F-word, some crude language, a few instances of sexual humor.

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“The Karate Kid” (Columbia)

The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

Stirring, satisfying update of the 1984 hit shifts the action to modern China, where an unassuming kung fu master (Jackie Chan) teaches an undersized American boy (Jaden Smith) how to confront a bully while imparting other life lessons. Director Harald Zwart balances fealty for the crowd-pleasing original with embellishments that, aside from a manipulative musical score, enhance the appeal of the timeless underdog story.
Hard-hitting and occasionally cruel but not graphic martial arts violence, including a boy being struck across the face by an adult, the use of a crass term for the human posterior, some mild toilet humor, one instance of sexual innuendo, an unnecessary kiss between pre-teens.

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“Killers” (Lionsgate)

The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Very much the definition of mindless fun, only if you enjoy anything Ashton Kutcher says or does. Director Robert Luketic and screenwriters Bob DeRosa and Ted Griffin play explosions, gunfire and car crashes by rote in this combination of marital comedy and espionage thriller, very much derivative of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and others of the genre, but the comic bickering between Kutcher and co-star Kathleen Heigl is usually stale and insipid.
Fleeting crass language, mild sexual banter, and all violence is played for comic effect, making this acceptable for older adolescents.

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“Splice” (Warner Bros.)

The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Director Vincenzo Natali’s perverse tale of modern science run amok chronicles how genetic engineers (Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley) who create new life forms by “splicing” together genes from different animals decide to take the next step and use human genes to create “Dren” (Delphine Chaneac), a monster with the body of a beautiful woman. The trio morph into a happy if unconventional “family” until Dren grows up and her hormones start raging, with deadly results.
Generally sympathetic presentation of human cloning, genetic engineering and embryo destruction; nudity; nonmarital sexual activity; rape; rough language; and bloody scenes of violence and torture.