CINEMARK DENTON

2825 Wind River Lane off Interstate 35E. 940-535-2651. www.cinemark.com .

MOVIE TAVERN

916 W. University Drive. 940-566-FILM (3456). www.movietavern.com .

RAVE MOTION PICTURES

8380 S. I-35E, Hickory Creek. 940-321-2788. www.movietickets.com .

SILVER CINEMAS

Inside Golden Triangle Mall, 2201 S. I-35E. 940-387-1957.

OPENING FRIDAY

Mamma Mia! (**1/2) ABBA’s insanely catchy hit inspired a hugely successful Broadway musical a decade ago and now is the basis for a big, summer movie. Mamma Mia! is a massive mess, but it’s fun — exuberantly goofy, sloppily crafted fun, especially if you’re not in the mood for thinking too hard. If it works on any level at all, it's through the sheer radiance of Meryl Streep, clearly having a blast letting loose as its star, the former rocker chick Donna. Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls) is also solid as her daughter, Sophie, who is getting married on a Greek island and invites three of Donna's former flames to determine which one is her father. Rated PG-13, 108 minutes. — The Associated Press

NOW PLAYING

Bloodline (**) Absurdly self-conscious documentary rides the coattails of The Da Vinci Code in following the attempts of filmmaker Bruce Burgess to find a bloodline linking Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The film works hard to stir controversy with a maze of conspiracy theories and interviews with underground wackos, but it takes itself way too seriously. The subject matter might be of interest to religious scholars, but comes off as laughably loopy to the rest of us. Not rated, 113 minutes. At the Angelika Dallas. — Todd Jorgenson

Get Smart (**) What began life on TV as a classic sitcom that cleverly satirized Cold War espionage has been transformed for the big screen as just another standard action picture. Pity, too. Steve Carell as Agent Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway as a butt-kicking Agent 99 find themselves in a series of increasingly elaborate, explosive scenarios. It all plays out in big, loud, obvious fashion, as if the filmmakers figured the audience wouldn’t be interested in the sort of sly absurdity that gave the show its original charm. Rated PG-13, 111 minutes. — AP

Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot (***) Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys directs this lively documentary about a September 2006 basketball game at Harlem’s famed Rucker Park that brought together 24 of the best high school players in the country, including recent NBA draft picks Michael Beasley and Kevin Love. The film goes behind the scenes a bit, but the highlights are the stylish game sequences and pulsating hip-hop soundtrack that make it a slam dunk for fans. Rated PG-13, 90 minutes. At the Angelika Dallas. — T.J.

Hancock (**1/2) Hancock has a crisp, entertaining set-up — Will Smith as a superhero who hates everyone and is hated in turn for the chaos he causes. With nowhere to go after that, the filmmakers let the story devolve into a lame variation of the very action genre they aimed to flip on its head. But it’s Will Smith and it’s another passable movie, largely because he is Will Smith. Rated PG-13, 92 minutes. — AP

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (****) Words don’t really do justice in attempting to describe the wondrous array of misfits and monsters Guillermo del Toro has concocted here. In following up the original Hellboy and his Oscar-winning Pan’s Labyrinth, the director has outdone himself in both absurd humor and wild imagination. This time, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense must stop a power-hungry, underground prince (Luke Goss) from awakening a dormant army of indestructible golden soldiers. Rated PG-13, 110 minutes. — AP

Journey to the Center of the Earth (***) Brendan Fraser stars in this latest take on Jules Verne’s 19th-century classic novel. Fraser plays a nerdy scientist who stumbles onto a passageway that takes him, his nephew (Josh Hutcherson) and their Icelandic guide (Anita Briem) to a series of exciting adventures at the earth’s core. Obviously meant for young audiences, but the special effects, including the 3-D gimmickry, work their magic. Rated PG, 92 minutes. — Boo Allen

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (***) Kid-friendly period piece based on the collection of books and dolls about a precocious young writer (Abigail Breslin) in the 1930s who finds her happy childhood turned upside down when the Depression causes her father (Chris O’Donnell) to lose his job. The film is slick and predictable, but at least it’s well cast and manages to provide a simplified instead of dumbed-down history lesson for its preteen target audience. Rated G, 91 minutes. — T.J.

Kung Fu Panda (*** ) Animated feature about the king fu-obsessed Po (voice of Jack Black), an awkward young panda who works in his family’s noodle shop. To save his family and community, he must face down the threat of Tai Lung (Ian McShane), a ferocious snow leopard. Fast-paced and filled with cuddly creatures. Colorful visuals complemented by fine cast of voices. Rated PG, 90 minutes. — B.A.

Meet Dave (*1/2) Meet Dave. Or don’t. Eddie Murphy doesn’t particularly seem to care one way or the other. Essentially phoning in the broad, family-friendly shtick that has become his trademark over the past decade, Murphy stars as both a human-sized spaceship that has landed on Earth and its itty-bitty captain, who’s at the controls from inside the head. It’s a high-concept premise from screenwriters Rob Greenberg (Frasier) and Bill Corbett (Mystery Science Theater 3000), but the execution is mostly lowbrow. Director Brian Robbins ( Norbit) runs through a variety of bland fish-out-of-water scenarios in workmanlike fashion. Rated PG, 90 minutes. — AP

WALL-E (****) Pixar’s track record remains impeccable with WALL-E, essentially a silent film in which the two main characters, a mismatched pair of robots, communicate through bleeps and blips and maybe three words between them. Seven hundred years after Earth was abandoned, WALL-E is still doing the job he was programmed to do. It's only upon the arrival of the sleek, shiny Eve that he realizes how lonely he's been. Rated G, 97 minutes. — AP

Wanted (***1/2) Based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones, Wanted follows the transformation of Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) from miserable cubicle dweller to master assassin. Fox (Angelina Jolie) yanks him from his dreary life and introduces him to The Fraternity, a secret society of freakishly skilled, highly trained killers. Rated R, 110 minutes. — AP