Tag: Reviews

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The Reviews For Pixar’s Latest Film ‘Luca’ Are Mostly Positive

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A Pixar film getting rave reviews from critics? Whaaat, no way!

Obviously we’re being sarcastic. Pixar films are typically praised by critics, and for good reason. The amount of work that goes into making a Pixar film is incredible. They spend years developing these things, with dozens of eyes examining, so that critics don’t have to.

Their latest film, Luca, was set to be released inside theaters this month, but due to the ongoing pandemic around the world, the studio decided to release it straight to Disney+

You can now watch the movie on the streaming service, as long as you already have a subscription.

The setup for Luca is that its title character is a young boy living off the Italian coast. It is there he shares adventures with a newfound best friend who has a dark secret: this friend is not actually fully human but a sea monster from another world just below the water’s surface. 

The movie has been getting mostly positive reviews from critics.

Drew Taylor from The Playlist gave it a near perfect rating…

This movie will fill your heart up. Casarosa is an artist with a true perspective, fearless in his creative impulses and limitless in his compassion, and Luca is a pure expression of these sensibilities.

And Alonso Duralde from The Wrap also enjoyed the film…

Luca is sweet and affecting, capturing the bond that strangers can build over a summer, and how that friendship can endure. And like its shape-shifting protagonists, it’s got plenty going on beneath the surface.

But it wasn’t all great. In fact, Robert Daniels from RogerEbert.com claims it’s Pixar’s least “special” film yet…

While some material may hit with younger audiences, Luca makes for Pixar’s least enchanting, least special film yet.

Another critic, Roger Moore from Movie Nation, also slammed the movie…

Disney/Pixar’s animated “Luca” is “The Little Mermaid” without the heart, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” without the laughs. It’s a gorgeous-looking time-killer aimed at a very young and undemanding audience.

Who to believe? No idea. You’ll just have to check it out for yourself.

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The First Reviews For ‘A Quiet Place II’ Are In, And They Are Mostly Positive

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We have been waiting months (or really a year) for the release of A Quiet Place II. The sequel was originally supposed to hit theaters back in March of 2020, but the pandemic pushed it back

But now, the day is finally coming. The sequel will be released inside a theater near you on May 28, and theaters are hoping it’s the first big hit of the summer.

The first reviews have just dropped, and we’re happy to report they’re mostly positive. We wouldn’t categorize them as “glowing” reviews, but they’re certainly good enough.

Rodrigo Perez wrote this for The Playlist:

As an experience, A Quiet Place Part II is still riveting and intense and should check all the boxes for most audiences, especially in the “I just wanna be gripped and entertained” post-pandemic age. For those looking for a little more depth and soul and a movie to fully coalesce in the end? Well, you might have to wait for the next chapter for some true thematic and emotional closure, but still, it’ll be hard to argue this won’t be an escapist thrill for most audiences in theaters, at least.

Screendaily’s Tim Grierson wrote:

A Quiet Place Part II proves to be an even fiercer and more emotional experience than the first installment. Expanding its world slightly without losing sight of the elements that made the original so effective, this superb piece of mainstream horror filmmaking is bolstered by some terrific performances, most notably Millicent Simmonds as a deaf daughter assuming the role of family protector in the wake of her father’s death. 

And just to be fair, let’s take a look at the most critical review from Empire’s Ian Freer…

Whisper it. A Quiet Place Part II might lack the smarts and novelty of its predecessor but it serves up strong set- pieces, Millicent Simmonds shines and Krasinski remains a director to watch.

So there you go. Maybe it’s not as fresh or emotional as the first film, but it’s still thrilling and entertaining, which let’s be honest, that’s all we want at this point. Give us an hour or two of something super entertaining inside a dark theater to get our minds off the dark world that lurks outside.

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First Reviews For Bob Odenkirk’s Action Flick ‘Nobody’ Are In, And They’re Mostly Positive

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If you’ve been following movie news the past few months, then you know people have been drooling over the trailer for Bob Odenkirk’s upcoming action-thriller, Nobody.

The trailer looked like a lot of silly fun. If you missed it, check it out below…

Odenkirk is of course known for his starring role in ‘Better Call Saul‘ — he’s absolutely incredible in the show.

But does that translate to the land of features? Well, the first reviews for ‘Nobody’ are coming out and we’re happy to report that they’re mostly positive. They may not be as glowing as we expected, but hey, you can’t win ’em all.

One of the more positive reviews comes from The Hollywood Reporter’s John DeFore…

Taking itself much less seriously than the Taken series and its predecessors, it’s a wish-fulfillment romp just as ludicrous as any of them but more fun than most. Just self-aware enough to let a discerning action fan forgive its extremes (including some RED-like geezers-with-guns mayhem near the end), the worst thing you can say about it is this: It’s satisfying enough that it could spawn sequels, possibly distracting its star from the plum dramatic roles he deserves after his brilliant work on Better Call Saul.

Alonso Duralde from The Wrap also enjoyed the film…

Nobody is more violent lark than probing satire, but between Bob Odenkirk’s smartly underplayed performance, the surprises in the screenplay by Derek Kolstad (the “John Wick” series) and the puckishly brutal direction of Ilya Naishuller (“Hardcore Henry”), it’s a wonderfully paced and consistently clever action movie that ups the ante of a genre that’s been dominated by Liam Neeson clones.

But as mentioned above, not all the reviews were great. Screenrant’s Chris Agar had this to say…

Instead of being the next John Wick, Nobody plays out more as John Wick lite, which could be disappointing for some. It’s fun to see Odenkirk try something new at this stage in his career, and Nobody clearly knows what it is and never takes itself too seriously (see: the moments of levity, the soundtrack full of licensed classics). Still, these merits don’t truly help elevate the final product beyond fleeting entertainment.

Nobody is set to hit theaters this Friday, March 26.

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Early Reviews For The George Clooney Directed Film ‘The Midnight Sky’ Are In!

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George Clooney’s passion project ‘The Midnight Sky’ is set to be released on Netflix just two days before Christmas on December 23.

Clooney directed, produced and stars in this film, which is based on the book ‘Good Morning Midnight‘ by Lily Brooks-Dalton.

The film tells Augustine’s post-apocalyptic story (Clooney), a lonely scientist in the arctic who races against time with a mute stowaway named Iris (newcomer Caoilinn Springall) to stop a group of astronauts from returning home to a global catastrophe.

In addition to Clooney, this film stars Felicity Jones, Kyle Chandler and David Oyelowo.

The early reviews are starting to pour in, and they are wildly mixed. Right now, it sits at a confusing 54 rating on Metacritic, with just 16 reviews counted.

Out of those 16 reviews, one has been categorized as “negative” nine have been “mixed” and six have been “positive.”

So let’s show you little snippets from a positive review, a mixed review, and a negative review.

First up is David Rooney from The Hollywood Reporter, who seemed to really enjoy the flick:

Shifting with grace and narrative equilibrium between the Arctic and a mission returning from Jupiter, this is a desolate elegy for a diseased planet and a prayer for the creation of life elsewhere in the universe. Flanked by a strong supporting cast, Clooney delivers a thoughtful reflection on the toll of environmental devastation.

Uproxx’s Mike Ryan was conflicted. He enjoyed parts of the movie, but felt like the movie may have been better had Clooney not been directing it.

Clooney wants to direct actors who aren’t himself, which I’m sure is why we spend so much time with the crew of the spaceship. But if Clooney weren’t directing, that director would have probably realized that the story thrives in those small moments with Clooney. It’s almost like the director George Clooney is the actor George Clooney’s worst enemy.

Finally, Variety’s Owen Gleiberman seemed unimpressed by the entire thing…

Some viewers will surely be moved. To me, though, The Midnight Sky just proves that a movie that reaches for the stars can still come up empty-handed.

Check out the trailer below…

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The First Reviews For Thriller ‘Let Him Go’ Starring Kevin Costner And Diane Lane Are In

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Everyone is focused on the election right now, and for good reason, but believe it or not, there are movies being released later this week.

One of those is the family cult thriller, Let Him Go. Kevin Costner stars in the film as a retired sheriff and Diane Lane plays his wife.

Following the loss of their son, the couple leave their Montana ranch to rescue their grandson, who has fallen into the clutches of a dangerous off-the-grid family headed by a matriarch named Blanche Weboy.

The first reviews for this film are coming in, and they’re mostly positive, but just barely so.

One of the more positive reviews comes from The Globe and Mail’s Barry Hertz, who had this to say about the movie…

A skillfully executed thriller that is narrowly aimed at one demographic – audiences over 50 who like a little violence with their late-life dramas – but succeeds at entertaining just about anyone who comes across its dusty, blood-soaked path.

Mick LaSalle from the San Francisco Chronicle had similar thoughts…

In the end, ‘Let Him Go’ is like a Southern Gothic, only set in the Northwest. It’s just a genre movie that delivers the goods, but the restraint and emotional insight of the direction and the quality of the performances bring it up an essential extra notch.

So as you can see, even the positive reviews aren’t exactly glowing. It’s more like, “Yeah, this film is entertaining, but that’s about it.”

And in a time where people are desperate for something new to watch at the theater, that might be just enough.

Check out the trailer below. It’s set to hit theaters November 5, 2020.

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The First Reviews For Christopher Nolan’s Spy Thriller Are In, And They’re A Little Confusing

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Thanks to the coronavirus, the release date for Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet‘ film was pushed back a handful of times. After the second or third delay, the studio decided to go with a different approach.

Instead of one big release date, they would do a sort of staggered release. They’d release the film where theaters were open, and slowly spread to more locations. Their plan is to be in theaters for a longer amount of time.

And the start of that experiment begins next week, with the film premiering in multiple international markets. It’ll then be released in the states in early September.

The first reviews of the film were released today, and while most of them are positive, the response isn’t as unanimous as we’ve come to expect for Nolan films.

The Telegraph’s Robbie Collin loved the movie:

The depth, subtlety and wit of Pattinson and Debicki’s performances only becomes fully apparent once you know where Tenet is going, or perhaps that should be where it’s been. Still confused? Don’t be. Or rather do be, and savour it. This is a film that will cause many to throw up their hands in bamboozlement – and many more, I hope, to clasp theirs in awe and delight.

As did the Empire’s Alex Godfrey…

Once again seizing control of the medium, Nolan attempts to alter the fabric of reality, or at least blow the roof off the multiplexes. Big, bold, baffling and bonkers.

But The Wrap’s Nicholas Barber wasn’t as hot on it…

It’s exhilarating, in a ‘Fast & Furious’ sort of way, especially as so many of the stunts are done for real rather than with CGI. It helps, too, that the swaggering Washington and the smirking Pattinson make a likable double act. But it all happens so quickly, with such brief explanations and so little breathing space, that the story is tough to follow, and therefore tough to care about.

Same goes for Indiewire’s Mike McCahill…

What kind of picture is it? Big, certainly: IMAX-scaled, and a hefty 150 minutes even after a visibly ruthless edit. It’s clever, too — yes, the palindromic title has some narrative correlation — albeit in an exhausting, rather joyless way. As second comings go, Tenet is like witnessing a Sermon on the Mount preached by a savior who speaks exclusively in dour, drawn-out riddles. Any awe is flattened by follow-up questions.

So is Tenet worth the coronavirus/theater risk? Depends on who you believe.

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First Reviews For Spike Lee’s War Drama ‘Da 5 Bloods’ Are In, Find Out What The Critics Are Saying

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Spike Lee’s latest creation, a war drama titled ‘Da 5 Bloods‘ was released on Netflix today, June 12, 2020.

The movie was originally written by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo way back in 2013, but then the script was reworked by Lee and Kevin Willmott, following their successful partnership on the BlacKkKlansman.

Filming took place back in 2019 in Southeast Asia and Lee had a big budget to work with, reportedly topping out at $45 million.

The story follows:

Four African American Vietnam veterans who return to Vietnam in search of the remains of their fallen squad leader and the promise of buried treasure. These heroes battle forces of humanity and nature while confronted by the lasting ravages of the immorality of the Vietnam War.

So what are the critics saying? Well, the reviews have been mostly positive. It currently sits with an 82 score on Metacritic, and it has scored a handful of “perfect” scores.

Top critic Richard Roeper had this to say…

Director Lee and the team of writers have created an immersive, violent and sometimes shocking tapestry that plays out like ‘Deer Hunter’ meets ‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,’ with a steady undercurrent of subtle and not-so-subtle social and political commentary

It wasn’t all praise though. There have been a few critics slamming the movie.

One of the harshest reviews came from the San Francisco Chronicle’s Mick LaSalle…

In the end, Da 5 Bloods feels like a clumsy hybrid of two fine impulses — to make a heist movie set in Vietnam, and to make a statement about race in 2020. Alas, each intention doesn’t serve the other, and so both go unrealized

As mentioned above, the film is currently streaming on Netflix, so don’t let the critics influence you. Check it out for yourself.

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Martin Lawrence And Will Smith Arrive At ‘Bad Boys For Life’ Premiere In Style

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Will Smith and Martin Lawrence celebrated like kings last night in Hollywood during the premiere of their ‘Bad Boys For Life‘ film.

The premiere went down at the famous TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Martin and Will arrived to the premiere in a pretty balla’ car, and of course Will was the one driving. His character in the Bad Boys franchise is also clowning on Martin for his driving.

Martin’s entire family was there to support him during the premiere, and Will had his son’s Trey and Jaden.

But let’s get to the important stuff. What are the critics saying about this film? Well, the reactions have been mixed-to-mostly positive. It sits at a comfortable 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but there are a few, “Well, it’s not that bad” reviews counted.

Some critics complained that it was “tired” and was a “shoot-by-numbers affair” which is not exactly surprising. They’re going to stick with what made the previous films a success.

One interesting thing though is that people are really hyped on the ending, even those who didn’t like the film.

Bilge Ebiri from Vulture wrote…

Overall, Bad Boys for Life is probably a wash, but it ends so well that I now find myself not entirely opposed to the idea of a fourth Bad Boys entry. Whatcha gonna do?

Hmm. You have my attention. What is this ending all about? ANY GUESSES?

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The First Reviews For ‘Cats’ Are Pouring In, And They’re Painfully Terrible

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After the first trailer for ‘Cats‘ was released, we all kinda figured the movie would get some negative reviews from critics, but we didn’t expect it to get slammed this hard.

The movie adaptation of the famous musical currently has an 18% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 80 rotten reviews in total.

And when we say the reviews are terrible, we really mean it.

Matt Goldberg wrote this for Collider…

But if it wasn’t enough to make the cats horny (why are they so horny), Hooper also feels the need to make it gross by having them dig through trash and play up their animal instincts.

Cats always feels like it’s two seconds away from turning into a furry orgy in a dumpster. That’s the energy you have to sit with for almost two hours.

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky for the AV Club wrote…

Many of these effects appear unfinished, with noticeable differences in resolution and animation between principals and background characters and at least one instance in which a rendering error appears to have made it into the release version of the film.

The moment is the film in a nutshell: misguided in concept and a failure in execution.

And Peter Debruge wrote this in his review for Variety…

Nine may not be enough lives for some of the stars to live down their involvement in this poorly conceived and executed adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical.

This uneven eyesore turns out to be every bit the Jellicle catastrophe the haters anticipated, a half-digested hairball of a movie in which Hooper spends too much energy worrying about whether the technology is ready to accommodate his vision.

Some critics are calling it the worst film of the year, which honestly kinda makes me want to see it more. By the way, the director of this movie is Tom Hooper. He’s no slouch. He won Best Director at the Oscars for his work on The King’s Speech.

So yeah, even the best fall down sometimes.

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The Reviews For ‘Zombieland: Double Tap” Are In, Will The Sequel Be Worth Your Time This Weekend?

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Fans of the original ‘Zombieland‘ film have been waiting 10 years for a sequel, and finally they are getting one this weekend.

‘Zombieland: Double Tap‘ is set to hit theaters in just two days, but will it be worth your time? Eh, the critics are mixed…at best.

The film currently sits at a comfortable 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but if you look closer, you’ll see most critics are lukewarm about it.

A more appropriate score would be Metacritic’s 55 rating. That describes the situation better. Most critics are complaining that this sequel doesn’t add anything new. It’s basically the same as the original, just 10 years later.

For example, Indiewire’s Kate Erbland wrote this…

Despite the good vibes and amiable callbacks to the previous film, ‘Zombieland: Double Tap’ is only ever amusing when it’s breaking new ground. That just doesn’t happen nearly enough.

And The Playlist’s Charles Barfield shared this…

Ultimately, Zombieland 2 fails to follow rule #1 of sequels – Don’t wait ten years and give audiences the exact same thing as before.

So yeah, if you go in wanting another semi-entertaining zombie film, then maybe you won’t be disappointed. But if you go in expecting something new/fresh, you’re going to have a bad time.