“The Exorcist”: A horror film like no other. Upon its 1973 release, the movie was denounced by Billy Graham, championed by the Roman Catholic Church, embraced by film critics and finally by the Academy Awards, where it won two of 10 nominations. It came during the last golden age of Hollywood and was groundbreaking, shaking audiences with its depiction of Regan (Linda Blair), a 12-year-old girl who is gradually – then violently – possessed by the devil. Everything that happens to Regan – the head-spinning, the projectile vomiting, levitations and her remarkably raunchy mouth (beautifully dubbed by Mercedes McCambridge) – is window dressing. What the movie really is about is the discovery of religious faith. Though some might argue otherwise, the film really isn’t about Regan’s transformation but the transformation of her movie-star mother (Ellen Burstyn), who initially resists the idea of religion, and the priest (Jason Miller) who comes to help them, a man fighting his own demons. With its relationships established, the film becomes about their journey into themselves, with Regan’s possession a catalyst for change and personal reawakening. The reason the movie works so well is that it puts its characters first. Before their lives are torn apart, these are people we come to care about. Those qualities are missing from many of today’s horror movies, which rush to violence, but they are what made “The Exorcist” a classic. Rated R. Grade: A

“License to Wed” DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray: License revoked. This junk romantic comedy has such disdain for its audience, it’s impossible to let it pass without taking it to task. Mandy Moore and John Krasinski are Sadie and Ben, two grinning lovebirds who meet at Starbucks, fall for each other over the coffee beans, then agree to marry when Ben pops the question. Enter the Rev. Frank (Robin Williams), a creep of the first order who agrees to officiate their marriage, though not without a hitch. First, they must take Frank’s pre-marriage counseling course, which is meant to mirror the presumed hell that is married life. Frank’s thinking is this: If Ben and Sadie can survive his bizarre boot camp, they should be able to survive marriage. As such, he puts the kibosh on sex, going so far as to bug their apartment to make certain there is no canoodling. He saddles them with fake infants who cry so incessantly, they could put Angelina Jolie off children forever. The film’s cynicism isn’t just an irritant, it’s the monster in the room. Presumably, Frank’s meddling is meant to make Ben and Sadie a stronger couple, but it’s only there to tear them apart so the film can have an excuse for its cloying reconciliation. Rated PG-13. Grade: BOMB

“Meet the Robinsons” DVD, Blu-ray: Where would Disney be without orphans, those tots (or animals) longing for a family they either lost or never had? They’d be up the creek, likely. Still, while it might seem cliched that the studio still is manufacturing films with those story lines, their latest animated tale, “Meet the Robinsons,” again proves they know how to do this formula right. In “Robinsons,” a 12-year-old boy named Lewis (voice of Daniel Hansen) is saved from an uncertain future at the hands of one sinister-looking villain when into his life comes Wilbur Robinson (Wesley Singerman), a boy with a time machine who snatches Lewis into the future, where he meets Wilbur’s eccentric family. Though Lewis would prefer to travel back into the past to face the mother who abandoned him, he is at the mercy of the plot, which has a point to make – keep moving forward, kids, don’t look back – and where it takes him is to a new level of acceptance and understanding. The pacing is problematic – it’s an uneven, scattershot rush – but the film rarely is dull and the retro-looking animation recalls “The Incredibles.” Rated G. Grade: B

“Spider-Man” Blu-ray: Upon its 2002 release, Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” wasn’t just a smash hit, it also re-established faith in the web as a moneymaking venture. Smart and often thrilling, it respected the franchise while giving audiences an exhilarating kick. Based on the comic book series Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created for Marvel Comics in 1962, the film stars Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, the nerdish 17-year-old high school boy from Queens, N.Y., who went on to realize great things from a spider bite. A great deal of the film’s fun comes from watching Peter’s transformation after the bite, which isn’t just physical as his wiry body thickens with muscle, but almost spiritual as he realizes the confidence that has eluded him. When he first takes flight through the concrete canyons of Manhattan, spinning his tangled webs and swinging high through the skyscrapers like Nureyev on ecstasy, it’s doubtful anyone watching won’t be caught up in the moment – or floored by the sheer artistry of John Dykstra’s special effects. Those effects look smashing in this series’ new incarnation on high-definition Blu-ray disc. Rated PG-13. Grade: A-

“Spider-Man 2” Blu-ray: Legs down, it’s a winner. The special effects remain something to behold, as does Tobey Maguire’s performance as Peter Parker. What makes the actor such a perfect fit for the role are the very qualities that made him so appealing in “The Ice Storm” and “Wonder Boys” – the shrewd intellect simmering beneath his bemused detachment and charm. Director Sam Raimi leans hard on those traits, but this time out, he pulls something deeper from Maguire – the sense of isolation, doubt and sadness that have crept into Peter’s soul as the full weight of being Spider-Man becomes clearer to him. Rated PG-13. Grade: A

“Spider-Man 3” DVD, Blu-ray: Legs up, it’s a loser. After the terrific first two films, “Spider-Man 3” suffers from a fatigue of familiarity. The same was true for “Superman III” and the third Batman movie, “Batman Forever,” which suggests that when it comes to superheroes, perhaps two films are enough. What’s missing in “Spider-Man 3” is the delight of watching Peter Parker become Spider-Man. We’ve seen it before and frankly, his swing has lost its zing. Also gone is the spark between Parker and Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), which was critical to the success of the previous two films but which now finds the duo reduced to squabbling, a separation and, near the end, an awkward rush of tears. Director Sam Raimi returns to helm the project, but this time his gift at finding the human within the superhuman is something the movie lacks. This is the longest “Spider-Man” yet, the story feeling derived not from inspiration but from a sense of desperation. And why not? When you spend nearly $500 million on a movie, as they did here, the urge isn’t to underplay your hand, it’s to feed the masses with overkill. While some of that overkill can be fun to behold and the special effects are indeed impressive, the story stumbles through a cluttered haze of plot threads, the likes of which eventually form a noose from which the movie doesn’t recover. Rated PG-13. Grade: C+

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays, Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle, as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.