Kyle Smith

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New York Post, Wall Street Journal
For 1,913 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 35% higher than the average critic
  • 1% same as the average critic
  • 64% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 13.9 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Kyle Smith's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 52
Highest review score: 100 The Birth of a Nation
Lowest review score: 0 Victor Frankenstein
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 789 out of 1913
  2. Mixed: 407 out of 1913
  3. Negative: 717 out of 1913
1913 movie reviews
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    • 77 Metascore
    • 40 Kyle Smith
    Fancy Dance
    Thanks to an inert story and disagreeable characters, its 90 minutes go by slowly.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 100 Kyle Smith
    The Bikeriders
    There’s no goal to be met or secret to be uncovered. Instead, it’s a collection of odd, wonderfully realized vignettes that plunge us into an alternative way of life that it neither glamorizes nor satirizes but simply strives to understand.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Kyle Smith
    Fresh Kills
    Fresh Kills could have been a psychologically penetrating character study but settles for merely reiterating that it’s unpleasant to be a gangster’s daughter.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 90 Kyle Smith
    Inside Out 2
    Rejecting all Hollywood trends pointing the other way, Inside Out 2 goes for the penetrating over the shallow every time, never allowing the premise to devolve into a mere gimmick.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Kyle Smith
    What You Wish For
    Without straining to make an obvious point, Mr. Tomnay uses black comedy and shocking splatters of gore to tweak the class of jaded plutocrats who are as asset-rich as they are morals-poor.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 30 Kyle Smith
    Bad Boys: Ride or Die
    Fewer and better-drawn supporting characters would have helped give some substance to Chris Bremner and Will Beall’s script, but as it is the movie centers on the chatter of the two principals, creaky one-liners and blowout action scenes that mistake frantic editing for excitement.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Kyle Smith
    Young Woman and the Sea
    Though rousing in places, “Young Woman and the Sea” is a routine effort that feels made for television, and was (originally slated for Disney+). Clichés and predictability are more forgivable at home, but asking people to take the plunge on a movie ticket for this so-so offering is asking a lot.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 50 Kyle Smith
    The Watchers
    Here she accomplishes something her father has done many times: making two-thirds of a reasonably compelling supernatural thriller. But that’s like saying the “Agony of Defeat” guy had two-thirds of an excellent ski run before things went amiss.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Kyle Smith
    Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara
    Mr. Bellocchio, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Susanna Nicchiarelli, has crafted a weighty, suspenseful family drama that touches on the eternal conflicts of religion but widens into a consideration of law, personal development and power politics.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Kyle Smith
    Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
    At its best, “Furiosa” is like a more fun, less ponderous and mysticism-free “Dune,” with every pedal properly to the metal. But it’s closer to numbing than enthralling, like a long ride with no shock absorbers.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 20 Kyle Smith
    IF
    Swamping the audience with Michael Giacchino’s oceans-of-syrup score, IF expects viewers to cry at the end, but if so it’ll be due to regret at wasted time, or possibly from hyperglycemia.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 90 Kyle Smith
    Back to Black
    The film is detailed, vivid, enthralling—and necessarily full of pain. The performances are top-notch, led by Ms. Abela, who does her own singing in an amazing re-creation of Winehouse’s muscular soul vocals.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Kyle Smith
    Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
    The second half, in particular, exemplifies science fiction at its best: thoughtful, exciting, provocative and pointed. It’s fantasy wrapped around ideological substance, making “Kingdom” the best of the franchise films to make it to theaters so far this year.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 80 Kyle Smith
    Jeanne du Barry
    It’s a finely wrought story of palace intrigue enriched by lush sets and decors, having been shot at Versailles.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 40 Kyle Smith
    Evil Does Not Exist
    As pleasing as the film may be to those who treasure ambiguity and nuance, it strikes me as dry and tedious.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 40 Kyle Smith
    The Fall Guy
    Mr. Pearce (“Iron Man 3,” “Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation”) and his director have no idea what kind of picture they want to make. Instead they have four or five different concepts which they set loose like cars ramming into each other as they jostle for position.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 70 Kyle Smith
    Boy Kills World
    Boy Kills World should have stuck to gonzo comedy and been 15 minutes shorter. But Mr. Mohr exhibits the kind of flair for comic action that makes him an obvious choice to direct a big-budget Hollywood superhero epic.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 30 Kyle Smith
    Challengers
    Director Luca Guadagnino and screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes tell the story out of order, jumping around in time so often that it becomes tiresome, especially since there is so little forward-moving plot.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Kyle Smith
    We Grown Now
    As this frequently lyrical and touching portrait of youth reminds us, for many thousands of people over the years, Cabrini-Green was simply home.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Kyle Smith
    Sasquatch Sunset
    The gags seem fun and refreshing at first, but they get stale quickly. Moreover, since there is no plot and no dialogue, the quirky central idea never takes on any narrative momentum. What might have been a brilliant short subject—at, say, 15 minutes—gets stretched to its limits, and then some.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 40 Kyle Smith
    Civil War
    Civil War is superficially silly—Mr. Garland writes himself into a trap in one tense scene and gets out of it with an absurd moment of action-hero gusto that is, as presented, not possible—but it’s also deeply silly. It’s a statement movie that contains no insights at all.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 40 Kyle Smith
    The First Omen
    Written by Tim Smith, Keith Thomas and Arkasha Stevenson, and directed by Ms. Stevenson, The First Omen relies heavily on gory imagery, jump scares and shocking dream sequences to cover for its weak plotting.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Kyle Smith
    Coup de Chance
    Reining in his famously discursive dialogue, and designing a clean, punchy plot, Mr. Allen limits himself to suggesting one big point with one big twist, which he makes emphatically, even wickedly.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 40 Kyle Smith
    Wicked Little Letters
    The audience is left to feel sorry for characters we’re meant to find amusingly contemptible and to groan at the way the writing keeps taking potshots at the most obvious targets. When the film thinks it’s being wicked, it’s closer to being trite.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 30 Kyle Smith
    Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
    Spectacular? I guess, if you’re wowed by soulless CGI chaos. Thrilling? Not really. At the end, I was left feeling the way Kong does at the beginning: tired and bored.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Kyle Smith
    William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill
    Who doesn’t love Bill Shatner? The theatrical documentary “William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill” reminds us why, stylistically channeling what became the actor’s signature: a dedication to sustained gravitas so portentous that it becomes absurd, then keeps going until it emerges, triumphantly, into the realm of the genuinely spellbinding.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 30 Kyle Smith
    Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
    What was once thrilling, inventive and funny is now desiccated and limp. The pertinent question, it turns out, is not “Who you gonna call?” but “Why did they bother?”
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Kyle Smith
    The Animal Kingdom
    Mr. Cailley is interested in the allegorical implications of his story, but not interested enough to pursue them very seriously.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 80 Kyle Smith
    Arthur the King
    Not many performers can please an audience as much as Mark Wahlberg, but the pooch comes close.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 60 Kyle Smith
    Cabrini
    Given that the character is a literal saint, and the script never stops reminding us how brave, honorable, loving and committed Mother Cabrini is, the movie suffers from a certain steadfast tone. It’s warm with fondness but never boiling with passion, and a major star might have succeeded in making Cabrini larger than life. As it is, she comes across as so pure that it’s a little difficult to relate to her.
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