Public Enemies (Crime Drama/Action: 2 hours, 20 minutes); Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard; Director: Michael Mann; Rated: R (Violence, strong language and sensuality)

Movie Review: Surprisingly, many big names are a part of this film, yet their roles are reducible to mere cameos or small insignificant bits. Amazingly, some actors’ roles are so brief to a point you rarely recognize them before bullets fly and chase scenes start. A manhunt describes this action drama, but any attempt to find solid characters is like pulling teeth without Novocain. Rule number one: Plot is good. It builds character.

Plot is a trade-off for bullets and chase scenes as the criminal life of John Dillinger (Depp) is chronicled. Dillinger is a wanted man in 1933. Law-enforcement officials avidly pursue him. He and a group of associates are bank robbers, which, according to Dillinger, rob banks in about one minute 40 seconds flat. Dillinger moves to Chicago, and the action picks up as FBI agents, led by Special Agent Melvin Purvis (Bale), pursue Dillinger and his gang. However, Dillinger is bold. He enters a police station boldly viewing his wanted pictures before leaving to resume his colorful life. The FBI finds they must also be bold hunters to find Dillinger, a crook living brazenly in the open.

Johnny Depp is a superb actor. He dominates this film. In fact, he is the only pivotal point of “Public Enemies,” a film with plenty of big-name stars who barely make any presence. With all Depp’s talent, his role as John Dillinger is weak because Ronan Bennett’s screenplay plays as a bad Western — a shootout a minute — without allowing the actors to act. The biggest problem is audiences have little time to get to know Dillinger. The plot starts immediately without giving any historical background scenes. Perhaps, the producers forgot many people living today were not around during the 1930s. Dillinger is a familiar name to many, but just how many people know the full story outside of the fact he is a bank robber? Depp’s Dillinger and Bale’s Purvis are interesting characters, but this film fails to show what motivates them.

“Public Enemies” is one shootout after the next, but it is not completely like a Western. It plays more like a gangster film from the 1950s and 1960s. A very straightforward plot pushes tangent storylines to the fringes, only focusing on Dillinger the crook and his minor romance with Academy Award-winning actress Cotillard. The uncomplicated concept of the plot works, neutralizing some negative aspects of this film.

Grade: C+ (No public enemies, yet)

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Animation/Adventure: 1 hour, 34 minutes); Starring: Ray Ramono, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah and Simon Pegg; Directors: Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier; Rated: PG (Moments of peril, violence and thematic elements)

Movie Review: “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” is a follow up to the very funny “Ice Age” (Director Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha, 2002) and “Ice Age: The Meltdown” (Director Carlos Saldanha 2006). While the series feels repetitive at this stage, it never gets boring.

Manny (Ramono), Diego (Leary), Sid (Leguizamo) and Ellie (Latifah) are once again surviving the Ice Age. Manny, Diego and Ellie must rescue the sloth Sid from a tyrannosaurus, after Sid adopts three eggs, not knowing the unhatched are among the most ferocious of dinosaurs.

Some smart dialogue makes this outing worth it for the mammalian clan. Sid is always a treat in every film. Nonetheless, the surprise character this time is Buck, an Aussie weasel nicely voiced by Pegg (“Star Trek’s” new Lt. Cmdr. Scotty). In a pivotal scene, as the group hunts for Sid, they walk through a cavern. As wind funnels through the cavern, it yields a howling sound that induces Pegg’s Buck to say, “The wind is talking to us.” When asked what it was saying, Buck responds, “I don’t know. I don’t speak wind.” Some of the humor appears very elementary, but the deliverance is sound, making this a fun, humorous adventure.

In addition, the adventures of Scratch (Chris Wedge), the squirrel chasing a single acorn, continue. Scratch is like a version of the old Looney Tunes cartoons of yesteryear. Scratch says little but provides plenty, and he has a potential female mate now named Scrate, who fights him for an acorn. Scratch’s antics remain funny. Thus, “Dawn of the Dinosaurs” is two for the price of one. The animals search for Sid in one movie, and Scratch and his acorn activities form another worthy adventure.

Grade: B (Still far from the dawn of extinction)