Frenzied and overwrought, Baz Luhrmann'sThe Great Gatsby is a glitz-filled folly.

The director has fashioned a gaudy long-form music video — all kaleidoscopic spectacle and little substance — rather than a radiant new take on an American literary classic.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's epic tragedy is lost amid the lavish excess (** out of four; rated PG-13; opens Thursday night in select theaters and Friday nationwide).

So much effort seems to have gone into the eye-popping production design, swooping camera work and anachronistic musical score that the result is hyper-active cacophony rather than enthralling entertainment.

For those who don't remember their high school English classes, The Great Gatsby is the tale of the mysterious self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby, as seen through the eyes of his next-door neighbor Nick Carraway.

Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) has bought an impossibly luxurious mansion on Long Island for one purpose: to grab the attention of Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan), the socialite he has obsessively loved since they courted five years before. He throws outlandishly sumptuous parties in the hopes that one day she will stop by.

Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) and lives across the water from Gatsby. Nick (Tobey Maguire) is her distant cousin. When Gatsby learns of their connection, he persuades Nick to invite Daisy to tea, intent on rekindling her affections.

For a while their passion flares, but things end badly for this party-hearty bunch.

Luhrmann is drawn to tales of impossible love — see his William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge! So Gatsby would seem to be in his wheelhouse. But while his version is undeniably resplendent, the story's emotional beats fall flat.

In the novel, when no one shows up for Gatsby's final gathering, it's a poignant moment. But in the movie that scene is almost glanced over.

The performances are generally lackluster. DiCaprio has some of the haunted qualities of Gatsby, but also comes off as dully aloof. He and Mulligan lack chemistry. Edgerton plays the role of Tom as if twirling a villain's mustache. Maguire is serviceable, but bland.

Luhrmann's 3-D visual flourishes feel superfluous: Occasionally, words pop out across the screen as Nick feverishly writes Gatsby's tale, and feathers, confetti and streamers fly toward the audience during Gatsby's orgiastic soirees. None of it contributes to a sense of immersion.

The melange of hip hop, pop and jazz might have worked if the rest of the film hadn't been bent on overkill. Interspersing the music of Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Lana Del Rey makes commercial sense for attracting young audiences. But it feels more calculated than artfully integrated.

The film conveys the decadence of a moneyed crowd in the Roaring '20s. But nothing about the story is moving, or remotely subtle. While it can be argued that Fitzgerald employed rather overt symbolism, his words were also marked by nuance, which Luhrmann essentially obliterates.

A key scene stands out for its significance: Gatsby takes Daisy on a tour of his estate. Elated to have her in his house and conscious of his vast wealth, he goes into his bedroom, pulls out dozens of custom-made tailored shirts and throws them on the bed. Daisy buries her face in the shirts and sobs at their beauty.

It's as if Luhrmann used that scene for his template. His version of The Great Gatsby is stylish, colorful material piled on in excess and tinged with overheated melodrama.

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A vicious hit man is at the center of the gritty crime thriller The Iceman (*** out of four; rated R; opening Friday in select cities).

But almost as ominous as the sight of his throat-slittings and cold-blooded shootings is a scene in which he loses his temper over a minor fender-bender and takes his family on a harrowing car chase, with his terrified wife and daughters screaming for him to stop.

Michael Shannon gives a haunting performance as real-life New Jersey contract killer Richard Kuklinski, who on the one hand is a doting family man and on the other is a cold-blooded murderer of more than a hundred men.

"You and the girls are all I care about in the whole f------g world," he tells Deborah.

Initially Kuklinski tells his wife Deborah (Winona Ryder) that he dubs Disney films; later he claims to be in finance. He actually works for local mobster Roy Demeo (Ray Liotta), collecting debts and dispatching those who don't pay or otherwise displease Roy.

"Somebody wants somebody dead, who am I to question it," is his rationale.

Shannon is brilliantly unnerving as he callously dispenses with people, then returns home to maintain his façade of a loving husband and father. One minute Kuklinski is reciting a sweet poem at his 16-year-old daughter's birthday party, the next he is approached by a gun-toting Roy.

"What are you gonna tell your wife when I blow your kids' heads off," Roy snarls, as only Liotta can.

Director Ariel Vromen interweaves flashbacks of Kuklinski's father beating him mercilessly, implying that the origins of his savagery likely began in childhood. Vroman deftly cuts back and forth between Kuklinski's vicious kills and suburban family life. He impressively captures the era, with minor film noir elements—from the mid-'60s to the mid-'80s.

Chris Evans is terrific (and almost unrecognizable) as the greasy-haired, mustachioed Robert, aka Mr. Freezy, a cold-hearted killer who drives an ice cream truck. Robert works for several Mafia families and shows up for the same contract killing as Kuklinski. On the outs with Roy, Kuklinski suggests they partner up. But no good can come of this.

James Franco plays Marty, a prospective hit. David Schwimmer plays Josh, Roy's right-hand man, and Stephen Dorff plays Richard's estranged, imprisoned brother Joey.

Kuklinski was finally arrested in 1986, tried and sentenced to two life terms. Up until then, his wife and daughters claimed to have no idea about his profession.

His concluding words maintain the contours of his double life: "I never felt sorry for anything I've done, other than hurting my family," he says, as his wife and daughters cry in court. "I'm not looking for forgiveness. I'm not repenting. I know I'm wrong. I do want my family to forgive me."

He died in prison in 2006, without ever seeing his family again.

While the gun-for-hire biopic is no Godfather, Vroman explores the lead character's complexity, intriguingly cutting between vicious killings in sleazy settings and family tenderness.

Shannon's restrained and mesmerizing portrayal, bolstered by an excellent offbeat supporting cast, makes for an edgy and compelling Mob yarn.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

It's the winter of Tony Stark's discontent.

Amid the Christmas holidays, Tony, aka Iron Man, is suffering from anxiety attacks and chronic insomnia.

But, like another famous Tony — Soprano — the angst doesn't fully dent his swagger. He may be emotionally damaged, but it doesn't get in the way of his motivation and wry humor, nor the overall entertainment of the action-packed Iron Man 3 (*** out of four; rated PG-13; opens Thursday in some theaters and Friday nationwide).

Tony (Robert Downey Jr.) is still a genius superhero. He remains hot for Pepper. That's Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), his former assistant who now runs his company, Stark Industries. He saved New York City from annihilation in The Avengers, but it left a psychic toll. His bluster masks trepidation that, in the event of another attack, he won't be able to save the one he loves. Beneath Tony's taut muscles and iron armature, there's a soft underbelly.

This third installment (after 2008's Iron Man and 2010's Iron Man 2) has such a surfeit of visual dazzle and eye-popping stunts that it teeters on overload. But Downey reins it all in with his perfectly-timed dry wit.

The Marvel universe is well-served here by director Shane Black as he pits the sardonic Stark against a corps of terrorists who take control of the airwaves. They bomb Tony's spectacular Malibu mansion to smithereens and viciously harm his top security guy, Happy Hogan (former Iron Man director Jon Favreau).

In his home lab Tony was accustomed to working knee-deep in holographic 3-D diagrams. But when he finds himself in a snowy corner of Tennessee, minus his high-tech gadgetry, Tony is forced to reconfigure his heroic alter-ego in fundamental ways. That's where he meets young Harley (Ty Simpkins), and his cheeky repartee with the boy is particularly acerbic.

Both Pepper and Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Don Cheadle) move further into the spotlight, hitting all the right good-guy notes. Rhodey emerges almost as heroic as the iron-clad Tony. Ben Kingsley is terrific as an Osama bin Laden-style terrorist called The Mandarin. Guy Pearce is solid, but not memorable as Aldrich Killian, the head of Extremis, a biological enhancement project that creates fiery super-humans.

A massive wall of credits attests to the manpower required for the ubiquitous digital effects. Action sequences are impressive, particularly a scene involving an exploding plane and a dozen plummeting passengers who form a human chain.

The rambunctious Iron Man 3 is a briskly paced thrill ride until about 90 minutes in, when the excitement wanes. A few late-breaking surprises re-invigorate the tale, however.

While seemingly more explosive than its predecessors, it shoehorns in a couple of sedate scenes from the Masterpiece Theatre phenomenon Downton Abbey. It's a funny juxtaposition that helps the audience catch its collective breath.

But, it's also an intriguing reminder that it is possible to be both a Downton Abbey aficionado and an Iron Man fan.

And perhaps Iron Man 4 could use an assist from steely Maggie Smith.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Star Trek Into Darkness may be going not so boldly back to the archives, but it serves up an exhilarating spectacle, with noteworthy moments of intimacy.

Spectacular special effects, superbly crafted action sequences, plenty of humor and terrific performances render it a cut above most summer blockbusters.

Director J.J. Abrams' sequel (* * * ½ out of four; rated PG-13; opens Wednesday on IMAX screens and Thursday nationwide) is only a jot less fresh than his 2009Star Trek, and it continues to re-invigorate the 50-year-old franchise. Four years ago, Abrams made being a Trekkie cool again. And with this follow-up, the cool factor remains staunchly intact. Abrams knows just how much to reference and re-boot from the series and previous movies. Yet he also sets an exhilarating new course in this nimbly twisting feature, which pays homage to 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

DARKNESS CLIP: Harrison vs Kirk

Though the focus is on fun, there's a sense of grace amid the excitement. Familiar characters are injected with new life, and there's renewed affection among them — even a bromance.

This gleeful adventure should please both hard-core fans and those unfamiliar with Gene Roddenberry's original mid-'60s TV series. While densely plotted, it manages to be both nostalgic and forward-looking. The adventure takes place in 2259, so the skylines of London and San Francisco look stunningly futuristic. But the uniforms aboard the starship Enterprise look strikingly similar to the mod styles from the iconic show.

While the production design is vividly rendered, the characters are the most enthralling aspect. The youthfully attractive and diverse crew members from 2009 return for this tale. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are spot-on as Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock, respectively. Zoe Saldana as Officer Uhura makes a wonderfully feisty action heroine. Simon Pegg's a delight as Scotty, and Karl Urban is very funny as Dr. "Bones" McCoy.

Benedict Cumberbatch is a brilliant addition as John Harrison, an elegant but sneering, genetically enhanced rogue Starfleet officer. A top-notch villain, he reveals a coiled menace beneath his glacial calm.

The less said about the twisting plot here, the greater the potential for viewer enjoyment. The USS Enterprise, led by Kirk and first mate Spock, is given a mission to nab a terrorist (Cumberbatch). In the process, the crew encounters warlike Klingons, starship malfunctions and internecine strife. Volcanic eruptions are thwarted, buildings blow up and a great airborne mano-a-mano clash intensifies the excitement. A particularly suspenseful scene involves Kirk and Harrison donning jet packs and transferring to another ship, under Scott's command.

But though it's exciting to see the vessel in intergalactic peril, what makes the story surprisingly moving is the bond between Kirk and Spock as they risk their lives to save each other. (Though in a fit of pique, Kirk snarls that he'd like to rip the bangs off Spock's face.) The ever-logical, half-Vulcan Spock taps into his rarely visible human emotions.

The pace is whip-fast and the action thrilling. But more importantly, justice, vengeance and morality are explored intelligently, as are the bonds of friendship.

Balancing the venerated and the inventive, Abrams is bound, determined and likely to make Trekkies of us all.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.