Ben Nicholson
Select another critic »For 142 reviews, this critic has graded:
-
40% higher than the average critic
-
6% same as the average critic
-
54% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 2.9 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Ben Nicholson's Scores
- Movies
- TV
| Average review score: | 69 | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest review score: | Arabian Nights: Volume 3, The Enchanted One | |
| Lowest review score: | The Gunman | |
Score distribution:
-
Positive: 69 out of 142
-
Mixed: 73 out of 142
-
Negative: 0 out of 142
142
movie
reviews
-
- Ben Nicholson
For a film that vocally questions convention, it's perhaps a shame that Miller and co. played it so safe with a fairly cookie-cutter origin story, but it's really just there to give Reynolds ammunition to riff on. Whether the studio might be willing to push the character further into the leftfield in the future will depend on whether Deadpool warrants sequels.- CineVue
- Posted Feb 9, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
As this is only inspired by the real events, there are perhaps one too many threads neatly tied into a bow, but all of them work in concert with the main event.- CineVue
- Posted Mar 11, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
Despite being lethargic at times, it's a rich portrait of people and place.- CineVue
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
The politics serves as footnote to the aesthetic for Wheatley and High-Rise is certainly style over substance. For fans of the British director, that may well be more than enough.- CineVue
- Posted Sep 16, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
The two stars stay on their game but their relationship is largely sidetracked in favour of fending off ghouls. While the heart rate may increase the creepiness dissipates, though The Autopsy of Jane Doe remains good genre fun - if little more.- CineVue
- Posted Sep 26, 2016
- Read full review
-
- CineVue
- Posted Feb 24, 2017
- Read full review
-
- CineVue
- Posted Jun 27, 2017
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
There is meaning beneath the madness, but Men & Chicken is best recommended to those who are prepared to sit through the deeply sinister absurdity.- CineVue
- Posted Jul 14, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
Di Giacomo doesn’t build sequences to heighten tension, although some is unavoidable. Often, the film follows the relatively mundane work of the Franciscan Father Cataldo Migliazzo, the film’s primary protagonist, and the otherwise everyday lives of those who come to him for help.- CineVue
- Posted Oct 19, 2017
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
It might seem unlikely that something so narratively simplistic and ultimately childish could sustain its runtime but the chaos and comedy of the haphazard gunplay is such that it only suffers from a handful of lulls.- CineVue
- Posted Sep 10, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
In only ever managing to skim the surface, the spirit of their crusade is never really evoked. What's left is ultimately a handsome, and at times heart-stopping voyage that never lives up to its classic forebears.- CineVue
- Posted Dec 18, 2014
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
Certain sequences are handled exceptionally... but others feel overblown and some characters underwhelm. That’s not to say that Black Sea is not an enjoyable – and at times, enthralling – aquatic adventure, it just never quite thrills as much as it spills, and flounders during some of its more emotional beats.- CineVue
- Posted Dec 8, 2014
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
As an entry into the Scandi police procedural genre, The Keeper of Lost Causes disappoints. As a TV pilot, however, it's serviceable yet unremarkable; the kind of thing that you'd probably give a couple more episodes in the vain hope that things will pick up.- CineVue
- Posted Jun 15, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
It's not just some science-fiction about rodents preying on humans; it's a documentary about it. "They will literally kill us," explains a lecturer early on in what the filmmakers frame as a fully-fledged horror complete with jump-scares, an ominous score, and all manner of squeamish moments.- CineVue
- Posted Sep 19, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
It's an undeniable hoot that plays very much to a specific audience but a word of warning: even those that are fans of this kind of ridiculous and farcical actioner might find themselves checking out of Yakuza Apocalypse before their stay is up. Again, with emphasis on the word 'might'.- CineVue
- Posted Sep 16, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
This undeniably silly, but raucously entertaining, off-the-wall transhumanist actioner is an absolute riot.- CineVue
- Posted Sep 5, 2014
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
Shim directs well, but he lacks the verve for this to sail through on its visuals and although the denouement returns to the unconventional (discounting the unnecessary coda), the climax reduces the impact of what was otherwise an enthralling voyage.- CineVue
- Posted Jul 15, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
Besides the overt journey for Christopher Robin of rediscovering some childhood joy, this film is a poignant exploration of the way in which we sideline important friendships at the behest of professional advancement.- CineVue
- Posted Aug 15, 2018
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
Shock and awe are both present - as is Escalante's intense style - but Heli lacks the ideas or formal dexterity to constitute a state of the nation address in any but the most cursory of ways.- CineVue
- Posted May 21, 2014
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
Salvo ends up feeling like a very bright start for its creators but never quite finds a narrative or thematic drive to match its artistic verve.- CineVue
- Posted Jul 7, 2014
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
From Pteranodon's dive-fishing to Raptors pack-hunting, Jurassic World is in its element when it's using its assets, and though they can't recreate that awe of twenty-two years ago, this is finally a sequel worthy of the title.- CineVue
- Posted Jun 11, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
Not only is The Voices uproariously funny throughout, but it's actually far cleverer than one might expect.- CineVue
- Posted Mar 19, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
The political commentary feels far more explicitly pointed and widely integral than in previous incarnations which adds a bold new dynamic where perhaps the same re-inventive verve is lacking in the film's formulaic story. Fortunately, Greengrass and Damon are so in command of this material it's rarely too much of a concern. Even when little of substance seems to be happening, the narrative feels propulsive.- CineVue
- Posted Jul 26, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
Quieter moments do punctuate the tension - though the mood never sheds the lingering stench of impending death - and the characters are allowed time to breathe and inject a little colour to their long-standing relationships.- CineVue
- Posted Oct 16, 2014
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
Gordon-Levitt is perfectly fine as Snowden, getting the voice and cadence fairly spot on and he looks almost right. The problem is that he's such an introvert and blank slate - that's pretty good for espionage but not especially compelling for a character arc.- CineVue
- Posted Sep 15, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
All of the film is handled in such a way: from the beautiful monochrome photography that only extends the disconnection Olga feels with the world, to the understated and haunting performances, particularly Olszanska's.- CineVue
- Posted Mar 23, 2017
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
This is the fourth instalment in the Guest mockumentary 'canon' and it's evidence that the format has now solidified into a template that needs refreshing, as much gentle enjoyment as it might bring.- CineVue
- Posted Sep 17, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
It's a banana flambé with extra rum that brazenly throws together folksy storytelling, arch soap opera melodrama and a typically eccentric cast into a golden Hollywood crack at the American Dream.- CineVue
- Posted Jan 6, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Ben Nicholson
There are undoubtedly kinks to iron out - the film has a particular problem with pacing during a section that requires careful handling - but this is a handsome and assured feature and certainly suggests a bright future behind the camera for Portman, who also stars.- CineVue
- Posted Sep 16, 2015
- Read full review
-
- CineVue
- Posted Sep 11, 2014
- Read full review