Roeper's Movie Reviews: ‘Moana', ‘Rules Don't Apply', ‘Bad Santa 2'

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - Let's start off with some good news for parents, kids, and fans of all ages of great animated films.

SEE IT! Disney's "Moana" is a girl power film for our times. The title character is a 16-year-old island princess but she never twirls about and signs songs about pining for a prince. She's a smart, sweet, brave explorer who sails into the forbidden seas in order to save the people of her island.

Newcomer Auil'I Cravalho is amazingly good as Moana, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is terrific as Mauia, a demi-god who teams up with Moana on her adventure. With some infectious pop songs from "Hamilton's" Lin-Manuel Miranda, among others, "Moana" is the tropical sister to "Frozen."

SEE IT! Hollywood legend Warren Beatty returns to the big screen for the first time in 15 years with "Rules Don't Apply."

Beatty plays Howard Hughes-but that's a supporting role to the period-piece love story starring Lily Collins and Alden Ehrenreich.

This is an old-fashioned Hollywood romance with some strange and dark twists. Alec Baldwin, Matthew Broderick and Beatty's wife Annette Bening shine in supporting roles.

SKIP IT! Now for your cinematic holiday lump of coal.

I was a big fan of the cheerfully offensive "Bad Santa" some 13 years ago, but "Bad Santa 2" is a lazy, unnecessary sequel. It's set in Chicago, but come on, that's not Chicago, that's Montreal!

Billy Bob Thornton returns as the politically incorrect, alcoholic Bad Santa,  but he hardly seems interested in the character. The great Kathy Bates is terribly unfunny as his mom and Christina Hendricks from "Mad Men" has a demeaning role as the love interest.

This is one of the worst movies of the year.