Capsule reviews for March 4

Ava’s Possessions

We’ve seen plenty of on-screen exorcisms, but what about the aftermath? That forms the amusing premise of this quirky deadpan comedy about a teenager (Louisa Krause) trying to put her life back together after a bout with demonic possession. She attends group therapy sessions, returns to her job, and hangs out with old friends in an effort to regain normalcy, as long as she doesn’t suffer a relapse. There are some clever chuckles along the way, but the screenplay by director Jordan Galland (Alter Egos) can’t sustain its concept at feature length. Instead, it veers into conventional horror and feel-good territory, gradually losing its edge. (Rated R, 89 minutes).

Camino

This ridiculous low-budget thriller takes place in the jungles of Colombia, where a war photographer (Zoe Bell) begins tracking the good deeds of some missionaries, only to capture an image of the group’s eccentric leader (Nacho Vigalondo) that reveals a sadistic secret. Suddenly the shutterbug winds up as a mercenary fighting for her life. Bell conveys charisma as the tough-minded and resourceful heroine, Vigalondo gleefully portrays the twisted villain, and director Josh Waller (Raze) shows flashes of visual flair. Yet those efforts are squandered on an incoherent screenplay that jettisons any provocative exploration of its multicultural subject matter and devolves into a mindless ultraviolent bloodbath. (Not rated, 103 minutes).

London Has Fallen

A highlight reel of gunfire and explosions masquerading as a political thriller, this sequel to the action flick Olympus Has Fallen is even more ridiculous and incoherent, if that’s possible. After the sudden death of the British prime minister, several world leaders gather in London for the funeral, when an elaborate terrorist attack begins decimating the city. The U.S. president (Aaron Eckhart) is the primary target, but escapes along with his resourceful secret-service chief (Gerard Butler). Just as the first film obliterated the White House, this follow-up does the same for several London landmarks, taking itself far more seriously than can be expected of any moviegoer. (Rated R, 99 minutes).

Men Go to Battle

Admirable more for its effort than its execution, this ambitious period piece shows that it’s possible to re-create the Civil War on a shoestring budget as long as you’re more focused on capturing mood than historical nitpicking. That’s where this stylish debut for director Zachary Trietz succeeds most — in its evocative telling of a bleak story involving two mischievous brothers (Tim Morton and David Maloney) who become separated when one of them joins the Union army while the other is left to care for the family farm in Kentucky. The storyline turns tedious and meandering, although there are some scattered powerful sequences along the way. (Not rated, 98 minutes).

The Wave

The Scandinavians try their hand at a disaster movie with this stylish but predictable effort about a collapsing Norwegian fjord that triggers a rockslide, which leads to a tsunami that threatens a seaside town. Apparently it has some basis in geological fact. At any rate, the film achieves some genuine white-knuckle tension during the pivotal wave sequence and its immediate aftermath, although the flimsy human story about a seismologist (Kristoffer Joner) trying to rescue his family and the doubting townsfolk is considerably less compelling. Falling somewhere between campy and sincere, the result feels more like a Hollywood knockoff than a subversion of genre clichés. (Rated R, 104 minutes).