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When a now-defunct celebrity couple attempted to make like Nick and Nora Charles meets “Mission: Impossible” in “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” two decades ago, the high-concept, high-budget results were a mixed bag — which didn’t stop them from being imitated ever since. The latest duo to step into similar matching marital bulletproof vests is Kerry Washington and Omar Sy, playing globetrotting “elite special operators” now hiding from their former colleagues in “Shadow Force.”

It takes a certain esprit to pull off this kind of bombastic yet larky star vehicle. Joe Carnahan’s film provides passable diversion for a couple hours, but the fun to be had is limited by uninspired action staging, less-than-sparkling dialogue and a maudlin streak of the “It’s about family!!” type. Lionsgate’s theatrical release looks likelier to find its primary audience once it reaches home formats.

Kyrah (Washington) and Isaac (Sy) are a couple who met on the job.

Stars: Anthea Neri Best, Shaan Sharma, Christopher Cendana, Chelsea Spirito, Elise Robertson, Jade Ramirez, Jénel Stevens, Alessandra Marandola, Al Thompson | Written and Directed by Justin Best

Sheryl, directed by Justin Best, offers a darkly satirical exploration of society’s obsession with beauty and perfection. The film centres on the titular Sheryl (Anthea Neri Best) a woman whose pursuit of physical flawlessness leads her down a macabre path of self-destruction and murder.

The film opens with Sheryl in a toxic relationship with her boyfriend, Ted, a narcissistic serial killer. Together, they engage in gruesome acts, but their partnership unravels after a botched murder, leading to their breakup. Ted’s parting words—that Sheryl isn’t “hot enough” end up serving as a catalyst for her descent into madness. Determined to attain the ideal face, Sheryl embarks on a killing spree, harvesting facial features from her victims to construct a grotesque mask...

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There are two things Jénel Stevens said she wouldn’t do as a stunt performer. They also happen to be her two biggest accomplishments. There’s getting hit by a car while doubling for Gabrielle Union in 2018’s Breaking In, which — while confidence-boosting — “wasn’t my most proud stunt,” she says. That title goes instead to a swan dive on the scrapped pilot for the Get Christie Love reboot, from atop a yacht more than 30 feet in the air and into the ocean in thigh-high-heeled snakeskin boots. She nailed it in one take.

It was a stunt Stevens only learned about halfway through the four-week job. Luckily, one of her coworkers knew a dive instructor. Soon after they connected, the stunt performer and martial artist wrangled up just six hours of instruction across two days at an Olympic platform diving pool. “I’m...

Gina Prince-Bythewood’s West African epic “The Woman King” begins with a combat sequence that uses action to show us both who the characters are as individuals and as a troop of elite warriors. We see how Izogie (Lashana Lynch), Amenza (Sheila Atim), and Nanisca (Viola Davis) — leaders of the Agojie, the all-female bodyguard of King Ghezo of Dahomey (John Boyega) in the early 19th century — all emphasize different movement and weapon styles and still intuitively fight together. They’re completely in sync as they carve through a village aligned with their enemy, the Oyo, which has taken Dahomey prisoners in order to sell them into slavery. The Agojie aren’t defined by impressive formations, mechanical efficiency, or physics-defying feats. They’re defined by respective prowesses that fit like puzzle pieces into the unit’s overall power; that collective confidence is what makes every single Agojie feel like a hero.