Matt Donato

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Collider, IGN, Paste Magazine, Slashfilm, The A.V. Club, TheWrap, We Got This Covered
For 599 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 57% higher than the average critic
  • 7% same as the average critic
  • 36% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 4.3 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Matt Donato's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 61
Highest review score: 100 Guardians of the Galaxy
Lowest review score: 15 Dashcam
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 284 out of 599
  2. Mixed: 280 out of 599
  3. Negative: 35 out of 599
599 movie reviews
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    • 42 Metascore
    • 80 Matt Donato
    Trash Fire
    Trash Fire blazes with pitch-black wit and a dark, volatile story of redemption so good you'll be laughing your way straight to Hell.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 40 Matt Donato
    King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
    Excitement is fleeting, dialogue rambles and Jude Law’s tyrant-approved throne slouch pretty much sums the film’s overall attitude – a hearty “meh,” worthy of no diamond-studded crown.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 30 Matt Donato
    The Lair
    The Lair is an abomination of bad accents (“Texan American” yee-haw, “Unintelligible Englishman,” Australian muddying both), excruciating action hero one-liners, and discouragingly archaic plot choices.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 30 Matt Donato
    Passengers
    There are two movies here, neither of which are given a chance to develop into something worthwhile.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    Monster Trucks
    Monster Trucks is a weird, wacky ride that's made better by its sense of good-natured, juvenile fun (for the most part).
    • 41 Metascore
    • 65 Matt Donato
    House Party
    With House Party, Calmatic jumps from a prolific music video career to feature filmmaking with the same energy, leading to shorter-burst storytelling that values standout moments over longevity.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 50 Matt Donato
    The Reef: Stalked
    The Reef: Stalked is another middling mid-budget fin flick that’s tonally confused somewhere between Shark Week and Lifetime.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    The Hollow Point
    The Hollow Point is a blazing contemporary western that finds pleasure in punishment.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 50 Matt Donato
    The Grudge
    The Grudge feels like "just another remake," which is a shame with such a previously style-forward director at the helm.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    Shelby Oaks
    Shelby Oaks is a promising debut from Chris Stuckmann that’s equal parts eerie and soulful despite some third act shakiness.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 40 Matt Donato
    Meg 2: The Trench
    Meg 2: The Trench has all the excitement of fishing solo for two hours without a single bite. Wheatley is a shell of himself behind the camera, devoid of personality and originality.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 40 Matt Donato
    The Astronaut
    Varley's talents as a director are evident for the first half at least, but after that, The Astronaut becomes a head-scratcher.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    Lift
    Gray plays to the simplest pleasures of heist cinema and wins us over because sometimes it’s alright to simply be dependable and straightforward.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 40 Matt Donato
    Abattoir
    Abattoir feels like it should still have an "Under Construction" sign warning viewers of the unfinished business to come.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 50 Matt Donato
    The Twin
    The Twin builds mysterious dread rooted in paranormal possessions and possible cult activity, but its ill-serving payoff vaporizes the crippling weight of loss fastened to each character.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    Submerged
    Submerged is a whole mess of tension primed to leave viewers in an anxiety-induced pile of helplessness, which means it does its job pretty damn well.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 50 Matt Donato
    Level Up
    There’s some fun to be had as this reality-show-gone-mad dashes about London’s streets, but never with enough character to be something unfamiliar.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 40 Matt Donato
    Leatherface
    Leatherface is an origin story that attempts to carve new mythos for one of horror's mightiest legends, but ends up leaning on franchise references and bleakness to an unnecessary fault.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 50 Matt Donato
    Jigsaw
    Jigsaw feels like a forced hodgepodge of previous franchise entries that never carves its own identity, making you question what prompted such an expected reboot these few years later.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 50 Matt Donato
    Why Him?
    Why Him? plays a fairly one-note game that gets tiresome halfway through, which is sadly still better than most comedies put out this year.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 65 Matt Donato
    Founders Day
    Erik Bloomquist’s direction is composed, and his co-written screenplay with Carson plays on politician-slamming themes, yet Founders Day is still a second-tier slasher that crosses too many plotlines in an overly complicated small-town massacre.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 60 Matt Donato
    The Deliverance
    While there's a randomizer sense to everything, frights abound, and there's a mercilessness that bites down hard. Execution may slip and slide, but Daniels doesn't waste his first crack at the ghoulishness of this Earth or deep below.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    The Exorcist: Believer
    Though Green may alienate some audiences with choices nowhere near as terrifying as William Friedkin’s original, something about the film’s heart endears beyond another exorcism retread satisfied to follow the same blasphemous beats.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 50 Matt Donato
    Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
    Dead men may tell no tales, but with Disney's latest Pirates sequel, I'm not convinced that living men can tell tales with any more intrigue.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 40 Matt Donato
    Incoming
    One or two jokes might cause a titter, but the other ninety-eight percent of this unfunny deflation has nothing to offer but hormonal awkwardness without the gut-busting payoff.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 50 Matt Donato
    Jack Goes Home
    Jack Goes Home is a swirling storm of emotional ravaging that’s eventually personified by action, but it never comes together as wicked, cohesive storytelling. Give this one a watch, but just know the risks going in.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 60 Matt Donato
    The Vatican Tapes
    The Vatican Tapes relies heavily on its third act, but if you can stomach its more generic beginnings, you'll be treated to an exorcism story with higher stakes than normal.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 50 Matt Donato
    Bad Santa 2
    Bad Santa 2 is the same holiday depravity with half the enthusiasm, too drunk on its own despicable tone.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 80 Matt Donato
    The Collection
    The Collection is one of those horror films that really makes you sound like a deranged psychopath for recommending, but demands to be spread like a mind-controlling plague.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 55 Matt Donato
    Role Play
    Role Play hardly spices up the subgenre with its saucy date-night games, never as action-packed as Mr. & Mrs. Smith or as sweetly sincere as the rom-com classics that inspire this undercover tale about finding that special someone worth killing over.
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