Kerry Lengel

Select another critic »
Arizona Republic
For 176 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 61% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 37% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 2.7 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Kerry Lengel's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 63
Highest review score: 100 Too Late to Die Young
Lowest review score: 20 Peterloo
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 86 out of 176
  2. Mixed: 86 out of 176
  3. Negative: 4 out of 176
176 movie reviews
view
per page
    • 32 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Cats
    I guess I was charmed in spite of myself. I’m reminded of a quote from Alexander Pope I had to memorize as a kid, which gave me fair warning about the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber and “Cats”: “Vice is a monster of so frightful mien / as to be hated needs but to be seen; / Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, / We first endure, then pity, then embrace.” Did I tear up a little? Maybe. Do I ever need to see “Cats” again? Nah, I’m good.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Kerry Lengel
    Cyrano, My Love
    While the actors certainly have charm, the farcical plot is so formulaic that the comic fizz often feels forced.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Jumanji: The Next Level
    Outdoing all of the headliners, at least when it comes to capturing voices and body language, is a new character inside the game played by Awkwafina of “Crazy Rich Asians.” It’s subtle, but there’s something more authentic about her version of the shtick. She’s just more in the moment — or maybe less desperate for a laugh.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
    With “Maleficent’s” feminist message suffering a relapse, the sequel looks more like generic film fantasy than a fresh take on an old story. The cuddly creatures and razzle-dazzle action are enough to make two hours disappear, but it’s only Jolie’s bat-winged charisma that will rattle on in your memory.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Don't Let Go
    The plot is ingeniously engineered, but the narrative is like a low-res image. It gets the idea across, but without the kind of details that make it memorable.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    After the Wedding
    There’s a lot to be admired here, and After the Wedding certainly gives you a lot to think about. It just doesn’t quite make you feel all the feels.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Kerry Lengel
    Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
    There’s a fine line between homage and rip-off, between a clever mashup and a messy pileup of tired tropes. But, much like a rainbow, where that line appears is in the eye of the beholder.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Annabelle Comes Home
    An ever-changing obstacle course does sustain its own kind of tension, but it’s not like there’s a real puzzle to solve, nor any arc to the plot. The movie is just a succession of scary stuff happening, haunted-ride-style.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Shaft
    In the end, this may be a case of a pop-culture icon being dragged down by the weight of trying remain relevant past its prime. It’s not woke, but you can’t call it racist. Maybe racist-ish. Misogynistic-ish. Entertaining-ish.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Avengers: Endgame
    For fans, counting up how many superheroes can emerge from the clown car of one three-hour movie is half the fun. For casual moviegoers — say, those who might skip minor installments such as “Ant-Man and the Wasp” — it accounts for half the exhaustion, a bit of world-building fatigue to go along with the sensory overload of a fantasy realm that seems stuck in perpetual apocalypse.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    The Public
    [Estevez] still hasn't progressed beyond the film-school basics, but somehow he managed to recruit an all-star cast of (presumably) like-minded activists for The Public.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    The Highwaymen
    Directed by John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side, Saving Mr. Banks), it’s a well-crafted procedural, but it’s also a whole lot of familiar tropes put together in familiar ways.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
    One kudo to this lazy effort: The climax does have a real end-of-a-trilogy feel, making further sequels less likely. Silver linings, folks.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Escape Room
    At least it could have been fun-bad, not just boring-bad.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
    While it is a perfectly serviceable placeholder in the larger series, its contributions to the Potterverse are disappointingly minor.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
    Fans of fancy period costumes and supernatural effects both get plenty to gawk at, but the story offers no real surprises, and that includes the big plot twist.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Bohemian Rhapsody
    If it doesn’t have the family drama of “Walk the Line” or the psychodrama of “The Doors,” Bohemian Rhapsody does deliver what any music biopic must: convincing characters and some kick-butt simulated concert experiences.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Fahrenheit 11/9
    This brand of gonzo journalism was effective in Moore’s 1989 debut about Flint and General Motors, “Roger & Me,” but it has long since devolved into self-parody.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    God Bless the Broken Road
    Like nine out of 10 faith-based films, it lets the message crowd out the other elements of good art: character development, thematic complexity, even basics such as a compelling conflict.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Operation Finale
    The acting is great, but screenwriter Matthew Orton’s attempts to give the film the philosophical heft that it deserve fall somewhat short.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Kerry Lengel
    Alpha
    It delivers plenty of exciting action with some CGI-assisted visual flair, from stampeding bison to a starkly beautiful image of a frozen lake with our hero flailing on the wrong side of the ice. Hughes’ efforts to bring emotional drama to the proceedings fall flat, however, relying on coming-of-age clichés that strip the story of any real surprise.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 50 Kerry Lengel
    The Darkest Minds
    It’s formulaic. It’s predictable.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
    It’s a lazy, thoroughly unoriginal bit of storytelling, but it has just enough cheeky humor and bass-thumping action scenes to be a potential crowd-pleaser.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    The Man Who Invented Christmas
    It lays on the pathos, moralizing and forced whimsy thicker than figgy pudding, but it’s still entertaining, heart-warming family fare, thanks in large part to charmingly sincere performances.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Risk
    Artfully shot and mooded-up with a jittery ambient soundtrack, Risk is compelling because the enigma of Assange is compelling.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Below Her Mouth
    While Below Her Mouth is no doubt some classy-looking porn, it’s a pretty lousy movie, because all that sex leaves precious little time to develop character, plot or thematic depth.
    • 28 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Man Down
    I can give the filmmakers — director Dito Montiel and screenwriter Adam G. Simon — the benefit of the doubt on good intentions, but their approach doesn’t tug at the heartstrings so much as it pistol-whips the audience with its grandiose and (ineptly) manipulative storytelling.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Trolls
    The characters are clichés and the plot is assembly-line predictable.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 50 Kerry Lengel
    Equals
    The final resolution of the plot is actually rather intriguing, but the journey to it is so slow and predictable that most moviegoers will have long since lost interest.
    • 32 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Warcraft
    It aims to match the mythic gravitas of “The Lord of the Rings” — even throwing in a nod to the Book of Exodus for good measure — and the results fall paint-by-numbers flat.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    The Angry Birds Movie
    Screenwriter Jon Vitti and first-time directors Fergal Reilly and Clay Kaytis certainly give it a try, but their bag of tricks is mostly recycled and their sense of humor is aimed squarely at 12-year-old boys.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Being Charlie
    The narrative feels undercooked, its life lessons just a bit too glib.
    • 29 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Ratchet & Clank
    It’s cute and entertaining, in a Saturday morning cartoon kind of way, but this one is just for the kiddies.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Daddy's Home
    Not that there’s anything wrong with raunch. But in the Judd Apatow era of raunch-coms, Anders’ version is pretty weak tea.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Kerry Lengel
    Once I Was a Beehive
    Like all faith-based films, it’s preaching to the choir. But as cinematic sins go, Hollywood regularly commits worse.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Boulevard
    Despite his roots as an over-the-top stand-up comedian, Williams long ago proved himself to be one of those rare actors who can truly inhabit a role, and “Boulevard” is no exception. But that’s not always enough to keep the viewer’s eyes glued to the screen.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 50 Kerry Lengel
    Minions
    The Minions themselves aren't as endearing as they are in the previous movies, maybe because there are fewer of them bumbling around, or maybe because they just haven't found their true supervillain love yet. Or maybe some sidekicks, no matter how loveable, just aren't cartoon-hero material
    • 38 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Terminator Genisys
    Genisys is more entertaining than the last two installments, although it's not nearly as good as the first two.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Escobar: Paradise Lost
    After a predictable opening hour, Paradise Lost manages to deliver a surprise or two as it switches gears into a full-on thriller. But it never gets close to the epic heights to which it aspires.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Insidious: Chapter 3
    Insidious: Chapter 3 is almost more a spoof of a classic like "The Exorcist" than it is an homage. It's not scary horror, it's silly horror, and the audience is in on the joke.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    In the Name of My Daughter
    Téchiné's fidelity to the facts delivers a disappointing denouement to an intriguing character study.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Arlo & Julie
    Arlo & Julie is a comedy, a mystery and a romance rolled together, yet it barely adds up to one movie.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    5 to 7
    For an R-rated romance about a young writer's affair with a sultry French siren, 5 to 7 generates all the heat of an Easy-Bake Oven. It aims to sizzle but quickly fizzles.
    • 23 Metascore
    • 50 Kerry Lengel
    The Cobbler
    The Cobbler definitely won't please the audience for Sandler's mainstream blockbusters, and it's unlikely to win him new fans among the indie intelligentsia, either.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Deli Man
    There's nothing particularly earth-shattering here, but maybe that's appropriate for a film honoring food that aims to be mouthwatering but unpretentious.
    • 30 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Seventh Son
    Seventh Son is recommended only for the most far-gone of fantasy addicts, for whom it will serve as a sort of methadone. It won't exactly satisfy, but it will tide you over until the next season of "Game of Thrones."
    • 33 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Annie
    Annie has never been the most sophisticated of children's stories. The latest version is formulaic and predictable, but it has its charms, not the least of which is Wallis' easy smile and sassy screen presence.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
    Even though Five Armies is the shortest Hobbit movie, it also is the least thrilling as it chugs toward the finish line weighted down with all the added characters and confusing subplots that have been tacked on along the way.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Awake: The Life of Yogananda
    Unfortunately, while the swami taught his disciples to explore the depths of their very souls, the film barely scratches the surface of his life and teachings.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Before I Go to Sleep
    Kidman and Firth both deliver compelling performances, although this kind of plot-driven fare is no real challenge to their considerable acting talents.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Magic in the Moonlight
    Representing the 78-year-old writer and director at his perfunctory worst, Magic in the Moonlight is an unfunny, unromantic comedy.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Hellion
    Not that inarticulate characters can't be compelling if they are written with subtlety, acted with insight and, most of all, framed by a directorial vision, but Hellion, despite a promising debut from Wiggins, falls short in at least two of the above.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    The Purge: Anarchy
    You'd expect the sequel to be an improvement based on production values alone, and you would be right, but not by much.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Venus in Fur
    The performances are certainly compelling.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Kerry Lengel
    The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz
    In The Internet's Own Boy, writer-director Brian Knappenberger ("We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists") paints a portrait of Swartz as a martyr for the information age, but ultimately the story falls short of such mythic ambition.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Under the Electric Sky
    Under the Electric Sky is a bedazzled (if not quite dazzling) 3D documentary.
    • 28 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas
    A Madea Christmas, for all its narrative shortcomings, also has plenty of laughs.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    The Prime Ministers: The Pioneers
    Among the many historical documentaries on Israel there are to choose from, this one is tantamount to two hours of footnotes.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Ender's Game
    Character development, dramatic tension and emotional resonance all get short shrift in the checklist exposition by writer-director Gavin Hood.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    The Family
    Yes, The Family has skills. They’re like “The Incredibles” — except they’re heroes for sadists and sociopaths only.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 50 Kerry Lengel
    Jobs
    If it weren’t for his voice, Kutcher would have been the ideal choice to star in Jobs, a well-meant but ultimately unsurprising biopic.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 50 Kerry Lengel
    Just Like a Woman
    This well-intentioned buddy-road-trip flick lacks the danger, the drama and the sex appeal that most moviegoers will be looking for.
    • 34 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Copperhead
    It’s a maudlin, meandering bit of moviemaking that sheds little light on the loyal opposition in the North.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    No Place on Earth
    The film is not without its flaws, but the story it tells is both terrifying and inspiring.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 50 Kerry Lengel
    Jack Reacher
    In the movie version at least, efforts to render the hero larger than life result in a story that is less than convincing.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Frankenweenie
    There's no question it looks fantastic...As for the story, well, much like the original Frankenstein's monster, it is a haphazard assemblage of well-aged source materials jolted back to life with new technology, but it isn't quite as sophisticated as one might hope.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    The Magic of Belle Isle
    Freeman is back in Reiner's latest, The Magic of Belle Isle, which has all the pathos and saccharine of "The Bucket List" but little of the humor. It's earnest, predictable and disposable.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Madea's Witness Protection
    How much of this is actually funny is a question of taste, but even a confirmed Perry hater might get caught laughing once or twice.
    • 35 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    For Greater Glory
    The result is a pious mess of a movie that falls short both as history and as storytelling.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Reuniting the Rubins
    May walk like a comedy and quack like a comedy, but despite the absurd extremes to which it takes the squabbling-family formula, it inspires nary a chuckle.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Carnage
    If anything, Carnage does too little to adapt to the new medium, and the result is a film that makes its audience feel as trapped as its characters.
    • 24 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
    The sequel's target audience may be too young to realize that the best punch lines are long past their expiration date, but at least they're learning the idea of the catchphrase. They can hear the exclamation points.
    • 22 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    New Year's Eve
    It is the cinematic equivalent of a greeting card: Both the sentiment and the laughs are plentiful, cheap and forgettable.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    In Time
    Kartheiser brings some zip and smarm to the proceedings as the villain with a million years in his vault, but it's not nearly enough to make In Time worth your time. Or your money.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    The Way
    One can forgive the trying-too-hard aphorisms -- "You don't choose a life ... you live one" -- but savvy cinephiles are sure to be annoyed by Tyler Bates' hypnotic ambient-folk soundtrack, studded with such despoiled musical gems as Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" and the Shins' "New Slang."
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    The Devil's Double
    By the time the film reaches its implausible climax, it is far too late to rescue the story from the limbo that lies between ugly history and slick entertainment.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Sarah's Key
    Shown in flashbacks, the story of 10-year-old Sarah Starzynski is powerful, thanks in large part to the luminous screen presence of young Mélusine Mayance.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 40 Kerry Lengel
    Something Borrowed
    Will anyone really believe in this GQ-perfect big man on campus who lacks the courage to ask her out on a date?
    • 49 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    The Over the Hill Band
    Despite the silly-sounding premise, it's a wistful, bittersweet meditation on aging and death.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    The Eagle
    The many battle sequences, though carefully detailed, are lacking in energy and originality. There is some ambition here, but the results fall short.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
    The best thing about the film is neither the top-notch CGI nor the shallow moral lessons but the performance of Will Poulter ("Son of Rambow") as Lucy and Edmund's insufferable cousin Eustace Scrubb.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    The Girl Who Played with Fire
    Despite the lethal force that inevitably gets applied to poor Lisbeth, we never really fear for her safety, but we do fear for her future happiness. That is where the real drama lies.
    • 37 Metascore
    • 50 Kerry Lengel
    Charlie St. Cloud
    Guilt, grief and the struggle to move on are big themes, but unfortunately, director Burr Steers and his script writers aren't interested in exploring them.
    • 37 Metascore
    • 50 Kerry Lengel
    Love Ranch
    There's a great film hiding somewhere in the wreckage of "Love Ranch."
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Wild Grass
    Wild Grass retains a literary feel with the help of an unseen narrator, who offers intriguing poetic observations. And Resnais' visuals are equally lyrical. What can you say: The French sure know how to make pretty pictures.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 60 Kerry Lengel
    Life as We Know It
    Sarah Burns steals scenes as a seemingly prim social worker, and Melissa McCarthy (Sookie on "The Gilmore Girls") does the same as a pushy neighbor. The supporting cast serves up enough small moments of surprise to keep this formula flick from falling flat.

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »