FAMILY FILMGOER By Jane Horwitz Special to The Washington Post Friday, July 20, 2001

Also Playing Kids 6 and Older "Cats & Dogs" (PG). Evil Persian kitty plots world domination while beagle pup joins canine commandos to stop cat-spiracy in diverting live-action, computer-and-puppetry-enhanced fantasy with boy-and-his-dog subplot. Poop, hairball jokes; martial arts; humans held hostage; tots may view animals as really in danger. Not for cat lovers or dog haters lacking humor. "Dr. Dolittle 2" (PG). Eddie Murphy as Dolittle in funny sequel tries to teach performing bear to live in the wild and mate with female from his endangered species. Much slightly risque humor that kids will miss while entertained by animal potty jokes and furry cuteness. Gags about neutering dogs; sexual innuendo. PG-13's "Legally Blonde." Reese Witherspoon in high humor as Beverly Hills-bred sorority girl who takes her over-styled self to Harvard Law school in pursuit of ex-boyfriend in giggly, enjoyable, if simpleminded, disingenuous comedy about not judging by appearances. Non-explicit but clearly sexual language and innuendo; profanity. Older preteens with permission. "A.I. – Artificial Intelligence." Haley Joel Osment in extraordinary but difficult, chilly tale of cosmic loneliness as robotic boy programmed to love, whose human mother abandons him, causing him to go on obsessive quest to become real so she'll want him again, in visually stunning, often brilliant, but long, even creepy sci-fi fable from Steven Spielberg, first developed by the late Stanley Kubrick. Violent scenes of robots torn apart for sport. Iffy for preteens; not for under-10's. R's "The Score." Robert De Niro as retired safe-cracker, Marlon Brando as aging fence, Edward Norton as pushy young thief – all bring acting muscle to caper comedy that sputters, stalls during early scenes, but finally comes to life. Profanity; brief non-fatal violence; mild sexual situation; sexual innuendo; marijuana; implication that crime pays. High-schoolers. "Scary Movie 2." Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Tim Curry in sequel spoofing everything from "The Exorcist" (R, 1973) to "Hannibal" (R, 2001), with outrageously sexualized grossout humor. Explicit sexual innuendo; comic/graphic sexual situations; toilet humor; marijuana; profanity; slapstick violence; jokes about molesting children. 17 and older.

"Jurassic Park III" (PG-13, 92 minutes)
"Jurassic Park III" makes for a good, if not great, cinematic ride. Teens (and preteens with strong stomachs and parental permission) into the paleontological details will see the newly minted Spinosaurus battle a T-rex to the death. The nostril-flaring dinosaurs look terrific but the story's a bit of a contrived rehash in this second sequel, its failings dressed up in a strong cast, with sprightly dialogue and a shorter running time than the earlier films. There are scary/gory bits to terrify the nightmare-prone away – quick but vivid shots of a still-ripe skeleton, a bloodied corpse, a dinosaur feasting on its prey, petrifying chases. Add a scary plane crash and a dino doo-doo gag.

Sam Neill reprises his role from the original "Jurassic Park" (PG-13, 1993) as scientist Alan Grant, tricked into returning to a second island of cloned dinosaurs. Grant and his assistant (Alessandro Nivola) think they're accompanying a wealthy couple (William H. Macy and Tea Leoni) on a flyover to peek at the wildlife. After the plane crash-lands, Grant learns the Kirbys are divorced and have come to find their teenage son (Trevor Morgan), who was lost over the island while parasailing with his mom's new beau. Soon they're all scrambling not to become a dinosaur's lunch.

"America's Sweethearts" (PG-13, 103 minutes)
A truly funny and mildly wicked sendup of behind-the-scenes Hollywood, "America's Sweethearts" skewers the industry in a mainstream way that most teens will get. Though fairly mild by current standards, this PG-13 does feature crudely comic verbal and visual sexual innuendo, two gags involving a Doberman pinscher, a cactus and men's crotches, occasional profanity, and drug and suicide jokes. Precocious preteens with open-minded parents might also get a giggle from the film.

Billy Crystal (who also co-wrote the script) plays Lee, a fired studio publicist who's agreed to stay for one last project – a movie starring self-absorbed glamorpuss Gwen Harrison (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and nice but emotionally raw Eddie Thomas (John Cusack), who have recently and very stormily separated. They refuse at first to attend a press junket to promote the film, but Lee cajoles them into coming. Meanwhile, Gwen's much nicer sister Kiki (Julia Roberts) is growing weary of waiting on her star sibling. Now that she's dropped 60 pounds, Kiki has become less of a wallflower and her soon-to-be ex-brother-in-law notices. "America's Sweethearts" ticks along like clockwork – ensemble cast and crackling script all in sync.

"Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" (PG-13, 106 minutes)
A computer-animated space adventure based on a popular interactive game, "Final Fantasy" looks terrific and will likely attract teen and preteens who love science fiction and the game culture. But the story hinges on a ponderous premise that sinks into incoherence, and the hyper-real human characters still recall comic strip figures like Rex Morgan, M.D., right down to the dippy dialogue. The film contains garden variety profanity, bloodless gunplay and a character contemplating suicide. But it's the alien invaders that could spook the fainthearted. They're eerily translucent, with skeletal, slithery or dragonlike features, and they can infect humans with a killer virus.

Set in 2065, the story imagines an Earth beset by such aliens. Scientists Aki Ross (voice of Ming-Na) and Dr. Sid (Donald Sutherland) think they've found a way to stop them by creating a "spirit wave," but hawkish General Hein (James Woods) proposes a space-based attack to de-infest the planet.