Below are Mini Reviews from Cineman Syndicate for two movies opening on July 1, 2009.

PUBLIC ENEMIES. Johnny Depp's charisma and matinee idol looks aren't sufficient for moviegoers to fall in love with Michael Mann's gangster flick about Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger. He's magnetic, but not that magnetic. For all its surface beauty and energetic shootouts, the underwritten picture doesn't cut very deep and is strangely inert. The guiding idea is that America loves to romanticize its outlaws -- especially at the cinema -- to the extent the title refers to Dillinger's FBI pursuers as much as it does to the chivalrous hood and his cohorts. Mann's technical fluency feels stymied, as though he shot the film in amber under glass. (R) FAIR CRIME DRAMA. Director -Michael Mann; Lead - Johnny Depp; Running Time - 133 minutes. 

ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS. Understandably concerned about their concept's staying power, the filmmakers jump on the 3-D bandwagon and also inject dinosaurs into the equation. Not desperate measures, but hardly signs of confidence. Ellie the mammoth is about to give birth while Sid the sloth takes a fatherly interest in three dino eggs, which leads the gang into a perilously familiar subterranean realm. They meet a weasel voiced by Simon Pegg and engage in antics aimed at elementary schoolers. Impossible to overlook, Scrat the squirrel gains a love interest equally fixated on acorns. Enough is swiped from Pixar to render this adequate kiddy fare. (PG) FAIR ANIMATED ACTION-COMEDY. Director - Carlos Saldanha;  Lead - Ray Romano; Running Time - 87 minutes. 

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(Both capsule reviews by John P. McCarthy.)