Instead of the annual G-rated musical cartoon released just as school lets out, this year Disney’s big summer release is “Dinosaur,” a stunning integration of computer graphics over live backgrounds.

Aladar is an orphan Iguanodon raised by monkey-like lemurs. When flaming meteors destroy their home they join a group of dinosaurs trying to find food and water. The leader of the group, Kron, insists that stopping to help the older or slower dinosaurs is too dangerous. But Aladar shows the others that cooperation, teamwork, and kindness make more sense because then everyone gets a chance to contribute. That resolution brings to mind another dinosaur — a big, purple one on PBS. Aladar just is not that interesting a character. Disney worked very hard to make sure that the faces of the dinosaurs were expressive, but should have worked a little harder on giving them some more complex and subtle emotions to express. Even in a movie for kids, it is not enough for the characters to overcome some external challenge. What makes a story get into your heart is seeing the characters learn and grow and overcome internal challenges. It is a marvel of skill, but does not have half of the heart or wit of either of the “Toy Storys” or “A Bug’s Life.”

The technological mastery is dazzling to watch, though, especially the textures. Fur, scales, eggshell, water, and goo are all so vivid you can almost feel them. It is a shame that the story and characters are not as strong as the visuals, though that will be more of a problem for the adults in the audience than the children.

Parents should know that the movie is dark and scary at times. Characters are frequently in peril and some are killed. A three year old sitting near me cried for more than half of the movie. But most kids find enormous appeal in the idea of creatures that are amazingly huge and powerful and reassuringly long departed. While they may not connect to these characters the way they do with the animated films, most kids will like watching the dinosaurs and will find the conclusion satisfying.

Families who see the movie may want to talk about the narrator’s comment that “sometimes the smallest thing can make the biggest changes of all.” What is the “smallest thing” and what are the changes? How did being treated with kindness change the way some of the characters behaved? How did making Baylene feel needed change the way she behaved? Why was Aladar’s point of view so different? Could it have been due to the loving way he was raised? How did Aladar help Neera see things differently?

Families — especially blended, foster, and adoptive families — may also want to talk about how the lemurs decide to “adopt” the huge dinosaur, and about how some species were intolerant of others. Older children may want to talk about Kron’s view that the only way to keep some members of the herd alive was to sacrifice those who could not keep up, and the way his behavior showed that he believed the only way to maintain power was to refuse to listen to anyone else.

Kids who like this movie will enjoy “The Land Before Time” and its sequels and “Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend.”

Note to Bruce Willis: make sure all your future movies have kids in them. Willis has great talent as an actor and enough charm to keep him on the A-list despite a few clunkers, but he is simply the best there is when he plays opposite a child actor, as he did last year in “The Sixth Sense” and as he does here in “Disney’s The Kid.”

Most actors are afraid of appearing with kids. There’s a reason for the legendary advice to stay away from kids and animals on stage, because they will draw all the attention away from even the most accomplished adult performer. Some actors who appear with kids can’t resist showing off or trying to out-adorable them (think of Bill Cosby). But Willis treats his kid co-stars as though they are the only two people in the world. He is not afraid to let the child actors get the attention. The result is two terrific performances at the heart of a surprisingly funny and endearing movie.

Willis plays Russ Duritz, an “image consultant” who spends his time (1) helping miserable (but rich and powerful) people get out of public relations disasters, (2) making the lives of everyone who knows him as miserable as possible, and (3) being miserable himself. At least he would be miserable if he ever allowed himself to think about it, which he doesn’t.

Duritz is doing his best to hide from his hurt and loneliness by working all the time, being thoughtless and insensitive to everyone he meets, and putting a lot of energy into forgetting his feelings, even forgetting that he ever had feelings.

But one of the insights of this movie that is well worth discussing with kids is that feelings will not let you forget them. If you don’t look at them directly, they will come and find you. In this case, that happens literally. Duritz is buzzed by a bright red airplane, a full-sized replica of his favorite childhood toy, and then he receives a visit from a pudgy, unhappy little kid named Rusty (Spencer Breslin) who turns out to be none other than Duritz himself, circa 1968.

At first, Duritz is embarrassed by his younger self. He says, “I look at him and all I see is awful memories — memories I’ve been spending most of my life trying to forget.” He decides that Rusty can’t go back until he helps him. But he learns that Rusty is there to help him, too. Duritz has spent his entire professional life making over other people, with his first subject himself. But he needs to remember who he really is inside that image. Why does he have a problem with dry eyes? Why does he get so angry when people cry? What is it about his past that “doesn’t want to stay in the past?”

This is a Disney movie, and it has an old-fashioned Disney ending. Only the hardest hearts will refuse to be warmed. It is also very funny and genuinely insightful.

Families who see this movie should talk about the importance of understanding your past. Kids who see the movie will want to know whether their parents are neglecting their childhood dreams, and they may want to talk about what they can do now to stay in touch with what is important to them and to feel happy with themselves when they grow up. They should discuss what makes people mean. As this movie shows, it is often because they are insecure and in pain. Some kids who have experienced or observed bullies at school may want to talk about why kids behave that way and how to respond to them. Older kids may also want to talk about the difference between “spin” and accountability and the way that image consultants change the way that people feel about celebrities.

Parents should know that there is some rude and PG-rated language, a school-yard scuffle, a sad off-screen death, and a parent-child confrontation that may be upsetting.

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy an old Disney classic, “The Shaggy Dog.”

Usually, the worst thing about a movie like this is the waste of talent. Yes, this movie wastes the talent of Orlando Jones (the guy from the 7-Up commercials who was terrific in “The Replacements”) and Eddie Griffin and especially the wonderful Vivica A. Fox. But worse than that, it wastes a wonderful idea. This could have been the movie that “Bamboozled” could not be, a satiric swipe at the way that black men, both upper-class and street, are seen by American society — and each other.

Orlando Jones plays a highly successful investment banker with a supermodel girlfriend. He is so uptown that he even has a financial last name — Chase. But that name takes on another meaning when he is framed for murder and has to get to Mexico, where he will be under the protection of a CIA agent who knows he is innocent. How does a black man become invisible? He switches clothes with a street hustler named Freddy Tiffany (Griffin). They take a train out of town, but when the bad guys come after them, they have to figure out another way to travel.

What humor there is comes from Chase having to “act black.” After one high-jiving performance, Tiffany asks, “What’s the last movie you seen, ‘Car Wash?'” Chase shows that he has “kept it real” on some level by out-dancing and out-foxing Tiffany. But no effort is made to take on the real underlying issues, with the possible exception of Tiffany’s comment when he is frisked by policemen: “Do I look like Puff Daddy?” and his point to Chase that “It wasn’t the brother in the suit but the suit on the brother that got you your so-called respect.”

The jokes are tired and so is the plot, with the least surprising twists and turns we are likely to see this year. We guess way ahead of the characters who will turn out to be a good guy and who won’t. It’s a terrible waste of the actors. It’s even a waste of the film.

Parents should know that the movie has a lot of violence, including shoot-outs. Characters use a lot of bad language, including the n-word. One character gives the finger.

Families who see this movie should talk about how we jump to conclusions based on someone dresses or speaks and what the movie can and could tell us about the way blacks are perceived by whites and by each other.

Families who enjoy this movie will enjoy the far superior comedy, “Silver Streak” and the even more superior thriller “North by Northwest.”

Chris Rock is a stand-up comic. The people behind this movie (the Weitz brothers, of “American Pie” and “Chuck and Buck”) wisely devote 25 percent of the film to Rock’s stand-up routine. Chris Rock is not an actor. He has a likeable comic presence and has made some memorable screen appearances in movies like “Dogma” (as an unrecorded disciple) and “Nurse Betty.” But he is not an actor. He has no capacity to show even the few emotions called for in this movie. During the dramatic and romantic episodes, he always appears to be counting the minutes before he can go back on stage. It is also a real disappointment to see the comic talents of one of today’s most talented actresses, Regina King (of “Jerry Maguire” and “How Stella Got Her Groove Back”) neglected

In this third movie version of the play originally called “Heaven Can Wait” (filmed under that name with Warren Beatty and filmed earlier as “Here Comes Mr. Jordan”), Rock plays Lance Barton, a would-be stand up comic who is prematurely delivered to heaven by an angel named Keyes (Eugene Levy) who did not know that he was supposed to survive a bicycle accident. Keyes’ boss, Mr. King (Chazz Palminteri), a cool, rat pack-ish guy in a dinner jacket, brings Lance back to earth to find him a new body to inhabit. Lance agrees to a temporary arrangement, the body of the world’s 15th richest man, Charles Wellington. Wellington is a white man in his sixties. And he has a young bimbo wife and an assistant who are trying to kill him.

Lance agrees to take on Wellington’s body when he sees Sontee (Regina King), a nurse who has come to tell Wellington off for taking over a local hospital and refusing patients who do not have insurance. But then he has to get used to being seen by the world as a rich white guy. When he tries to do his usual stand-up routine, about the differences between blacks and whites, the audience is shocked and offended. Somehow Sontee sees past his appearance,though. As they begin to fall in love, Lance is reluctant to leave Wellington’s body. But he is able to take what he has learned when it is time to move on.

Parents should know that the movie has strong language, including frequent use of the n-word. (The movie points out that everything depends on whether the word is said by a white person or a black person — this is well worth discussing.) There are sexual references and situations, including adultery and a proposed menage a trois (with two women in bed). A couple’s sexual relationship includes insults and fighting. Characters drink and smoke, and make drug references. Characters are killed (some accidentally) and one commits suicide because he has lost his money.

Families who see this movie should talk about what it would be like to inhabit the body of someone of another race (or gender). Tellingly, since he always appears the same to himself, Lance discovers that a new body he is inhabiting is black only when he tries to hail a cab and none will stop for him. How does humor change, based on who is telling the joke? What jokes do you tell about your own group that might offend you coming from someone else? Are there jokes you might tell among your own group that you would not say in a mixed group? Some families might want to talk about the conflicts between making a profit and helping the community raised by Sontee’s protests.

Families who enjoy this movie should see the two original versions with Robert Montgomery (father of “Betwitched’s” Elizabeth Montgomery) and Warren Beatty.

This is another attempt at creating a new “Sixth Sense,” and it falls far short. It is dreary, it is boring, and worst of all, it is phony. And it completely wastes the talents of two brilliant Oscar-winning actresses, Kathy Bates and Linda Hunt.

Kevin Costner plays Joe Darrow, a doctor whose pregnant wife is killed on a humanitarian mission in South America. He is heartbroken. He begins to believe that she is sending him messages through the sick children she used to care for. Somehow, when they have near-death experiences, they communicate with her.

Joe is committed to a rational view of the world, and is torn between wanting to hold on to what he believes and wanting to hold on to what he had with his wife. Finally, the messages are impossible to ignore, and he goes off in search of whatever it is that is she is trying to tell him.

The movie has some highly predictable surprises as Joe gets everything but a telegram showing the weird curvy cross sign that turns out to symbolize a waterfall. As hard as Costner tries, you can’t help feeling that he does not really care that much about it, and neither does the audience.

Parents should know that the movie has a mild sexual situation involving a married couple and some chilling moments. There is also a very mild reference to a lesbian relationship.

Families who see this movie should talk about their own views on life after death and the ability of dead loved ones to communicate with those left behind.

Families who enjoy this movie should watch the vastly superior “The Sixth Sense” and “Truly, Madly, Deeply.”