DAREDEVIL (20th Century Fox). Director: Mark Steven Johnson. Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Michael Clarke Duncan, Colin Farrell. (PG-13)

Take One: Dark, gritty superhero tale is faithful to ‘80s comic-book stories of blind hero Daredevil, his lover-antagonist Elektra, crime-boss Kingpin and assassin Bullseye. Take Two: With sometimes unnecessarily rough violence and an indifferent depiction of a nonmarital affair, this isn't kid fare; other drawbacks include weak casting and an anticlimactic final act.

Final Take: Adult fans of the source material will appreciate the film's better-done aspects; others may want to take a pass (see “Spotlight: Daredevil“ for more information).

HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS (Paramount). Director: Donald Petrie. Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey. (PG-13)

Take One: Romantic comedy in which Hudson tries to drive McConaughey to dump her so she can write about the experience for a magazine, while McConaughey tries to woo Hudson so he can win a bet with his boss.

Take Two: Hudson's behavior is insufferably obnoxious, while McConaughey endures misery and humiliation that induce more squirms than laughs. These two aren't having any fun, so why should we?

Final Take: Unpleasant premise is only aggravated by embarrassing sex-related dialogue and an implied nonmarital affair.

CHICAGO (Miramax). Director: Rob Marshall. Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere. (PG-13)

Take One: Big-screen adaptation of cynical Fosse musical uses fantasy and imaginative set pieces to tell story of “jazz slayers” Zellweger and Zeta-Jones playing the system with shyster Gere's help.

Take Two: Another decadent musical on the heels of Moulin Rouge, but without that film's idealism, Chicago revels in its naughty anti-heroines but has no admiration for its lone innocent character.

Final Take: Is it a cynical caution-ary tale about justice and responsibility in mass-media culture — or simply morally nihilistic and heartless? Chicago doesn't commit.

THE JUNGLE BOOK 2 (Disney). Director: Steve Trenbirth. Haley Joel Osment, John Goodman, Phil Collins. (G)

Take One: Another lightweight sequel to a classic Disney cartoon, JB2 revisits Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera and Shere Khan, along with the young village girl glimpsed at the end of the original.

Take Two: Looking and feeling exactly like direct-to-video fare, JB2 has no new story ideas, no memorable new songs and no fewer than three renditions of “The Bare Necessities.”

Final Take: Original it isn't, but at a time when a movie as dicey as Kangaroo Jack can be fobbed off as “family fare,” there's something to be said for a movie that will entertain children and not offend adults.

SHANGHAI KNIGHTS

(Touchstone). Director: David Dobkin. Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, Fan Wong. (PG-13)

Take One: Master of martial-arts comedy Chan re-teams with Wilson for this London-based sequel to kung-fu Western Shanghai Noon, which boasts the longest and most elaborate stunt sequences of all Jackie's Hollywood films.

Take Two: Action sequences aside, the humor is weaker — and more objectionable — and the story lamer than its predecessor.

Final Take: Jackie's buoyant, stylized action comedy remains the draw. But, despite a couple of brilliant tributes to Gene Kelly and the Keystone Cops, only dedicated Chan fans will want to sit through this outing.

Steven Greydanus is editor and chief critic of DecentFilms.com.