Capsule reviews of movies showing at local theatres:

Knocked Up — Everything you’ve heard is true: “Knocked Up” is even more riotously and consistently hilarious than its predecessor, Judd Apatow’s 2005 sleeper hit “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” with even greater heart. No small feat. As writer and director, Apatow has the rare ability to find just the right tone all the time — a bold yet delicate balance of humor that’s raunchy but never mean, sweet but never saccharine. Seth Rogen, a scene-stealing supporting player in “Virgin,” emerges as an unlikely but likeable leading man as a goofball of a slacker-stoner, who has a drunken one-night stand with an up-and-coming entertainment reporter (Katherine Heigl from “Grey’s Anatomy,” showing an unexpected knack for comedy) who’s way out of his league. Eight weeks later, she realises she’s pregnant — and, to borrow from Madonna, she’s made up her mind, she’s keeping her baby — forcing both of them to make major changes in their lives. Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Jonah Hill and Apatow’s wife, Leslie Mann, are among the perfectly chosen cast. (R) — Little Theatre

Fracture (R) — Yes, Anthony Hopkins is indeed doing a version of his patented Hannibal Lecter shtick in “Fracture.” So yes, you have seen him do this before. But he does it so richly and it’s still so entertaining, you may as well just give in. Hopkins and co-star Ryan Gosling get lively, challenging material to work with in the film from director Gregory Hoblit (“Primal Fear,” “Frequency”), with a script from Daniel Pyne and Glenn Gers. They get to needle each other, spar with each other, and generally enjoy fantastically smart, zippy banter. Fracture” is suspenseful and darkly stylish; Kramer Morganthau is a cinematographer on the film, which has some Hitchcockian touches and was shot in a vividly recognisable Los Angeles. But it also has an unexpectedly dry sense of humour. It’s actually a lot funnier and a lot less stiff and self-serious than such a thriller might look. — Neptune Theatre

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End<$> — It’s way too long and massively convoluted and ultimately just plain silly. But still, it’s a lot of fun a lot of the time. The third movie in the freakishly successful “Pirates” franchise feels substantial and looks impressive and fulfills the hype surrounding it in a way the other thirds — Spidey and Shrek — haven’t so far. Having said that, it is, of course, a giant meandering mess that leaves you feeling as if you’ve been tossed about on the high seas for three hours, but theoretically that’s also part of the allure of these movies. And yet, within the enormous action sequences, there are enough individual “wow” moments that make you appreciate just how inventive and complicated an achievement this was. As for the plot — not that it ever matters — this one’s more confusing than ever. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) must rescue the wily Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) from the purgatory of Davy Jones’ Locker, where he wound up last year at the end of “Dead Man’s Chest.” They also must round up the Nine Lords of the Brethren Court, sort of a UN of unsavoury behaviour, hoping that their combined power can stop the Machiavellian Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) from ridding the world of pirates. (PG-13) — Liberty Theatre

Shrek the Third<$>— It begins with a death, and from there the movie itself steadily dies. This third installment in this monster of an animated franchise still subverts the fairy tales we grew up knowing and loving, but it’s smothered in a suffocating sense of been-there, done-that. Thankfully, as the films go along, they rely less on gratuitous pop culture references. And visually this “Shrek” is more dazzling than ever, especially in the realistic background details. But it also lacks the zip of its predecessors; it feels draggy and, at the same time, rushed. This time, the lovably cranky ogre Shrek (voiced reliably as always by Mike Myers) struggles with the prospect of becoming king of Far, Far Away after the death of King Harold, father of his wife, Fiona (Cameron Diaz). (Why Fiona can’t take over in a fairy-tale land where all the other rules have been upended is never addressed.) So Shrek sets out with chatty Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and the suave Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas, still a scene-stealer) to find the only other possible heir to the throne: the nerdy, insecure Artie (Justin Timberlake). (PG) — Southside Cinema