Nicholas Barber

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BBC, IndieWire, TheWrap
For 147 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 44% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 54% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 1.1 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Nicholas Barber's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 67
Highest review score: 100 No Time to Die
Lowest review score: 16 Laila in Haifa
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 72 out of 147
  2. Mixed: 70 out of 147
  3. Negative: 5 out of 147
147 movie reviews
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    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Nicholas Barber
    Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
    Having been made with a specific political purpose, Subsequent MovieFilm won’t age as well as the previous Borat did. Whereas that one will stand as an evergreen comedy, this one might be as ephemeral as a newspaper’s editorial cartoon or an episode of Spitting Image. But it’s the ripped-from-the-headlines relevance that makes it so fascinating, and it’s the boiling rage at current politics that makes it so bracing. There aren’t many films as urgently satirical as this one. You might not want to re-watch it in a few years’ time, but you should definitely watch it now.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Nicholas Barber
    Project Hail Mary
    Maybe Lord and Miller knew what they were doing when they went for such a bright and breezy tone. They've crafted a sci-fi epic which is more than two-and-a-half hours long, and which is a one-man show for much of that time. They have filled it not with action, but with mind-stretching concepts, painstaking laboratory research and knotty technical puzzles. To do all that and keep things zippily entertaining throughout is an extraordinary achievement.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Nicholas Barber
    Sundown
    Roth’s expressions range from slightly dazed to slightly drunk, and so, as the days drift by, Sundown becomes a liberating blend of mystery and existential deadpan comedy.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 75 Nicholas Barber
    Firebrand
    Strangely, the most conventional aspect of Firebrand is its central character.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Nicholas Barber
    The Duke
    If you suspect The Duke is on the cosy and nostalgic side of the cinematic spectrum, you might be right. But it’s such an expertly crafted and highly polished piece of warmhearted escapism that it’s difficult to resist.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Nicholas Barber
    Official Competition
    Seeing Cruz and Banderas show off their comedic chops is definitely a pleasure, and the farcical final scenes will leave viewers on a high. But this film won’t win many competitions, official or otherwise.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 75 Nicholas Barber
    The Kingdom
    Overall, The Kingdom is a rivetingly credible and vivid portrait of organized crime in an area with a long tradition of banditry.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Nicholas Barber
    Mandibles
    What makes Mandibules so refreshing is that, just as its anti-heroes don’t care about how they are supposed to behave, Dupieux has an airy disregard for how a chase thriller or a horror movie is supposed to proceed.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 67 Nicholas Barber
    Flora and Son
    Flora and Son feels more like a scrappy demo tape than a polished album.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Tenet
    You have to hand it to Nolan. To use the old expression, he puts the money on the screen, delivering the kind of noisy, extravagant and fundamentally ridiculous pulp fiction which reminds you why you go to the cinema. But it collapses under the weight of all the plot strands and concepts stuffed into it. You don’t get the impression, which you usually get from his films, that every element is precisely where it should be. Some parts of it go on too long, others not long enough. It’s a treat to see a really big film again, but a smaller one might have been better.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 65 Nicholas Barber
    Brother and Sister
    As overflowing as it is with subplots and stylistic quirks, perhaps “Brother and Sister” should simply have concentrated on the brother and sister. That would have been more than enough.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 65 Nicholas Barber
    Butterfly Vision
    If Nakonechnyi’s low-key film had come out a year ago, it would have been received as a respectable, serious work from a promising first-time director. In the context of mid-2022, it is heart-rending, yet not quite intense enough.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    After the Hunt
    It's refreshing to see a grown-up Hollywood film that takes on contemporary issues: feminism, cancel culture, identity politics, and the generation gap. But After the Hunt is more of an admirable project than an engaging drama, because it never stops reminding you of how clever it wants to be.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Annette
    It's kitsch at times and transcendent at others, but the delicate puppetry and the gonzo ambition will guarantee Annette a cult following.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
    Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves is no masterpiece, but it's warm, upbeat, unpretentious entertainment, and it's bound to be popular. We certainly won't have to wait another 23 years before the next Dungeons & Dragons film comes out.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Crimes of the Future
    Structured as a hardboiled detective thriller, Crimes of the Future has plenty of provocative concepts and images that will put a grin on your face (not least the dancer who has several ears on his face), but you may find yourself willing the plot to pick up momentum, and the ickiness to get a whole lot ickier.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Beau Is Afraid
    Viewers are sure to be impressed by Aster's prodigious imagination and technical skill, amused by his gallows humour, and amazed by some of the outrageous images he puts on screen. But whether they will be enthralled by the film is another matter.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    The Order
    The Order is a sombre, steadily paced, conventional drama. It's superbly acted by its charismatic cast, the locations and the period are evoked beautifully, and, best of all, the violent robberies and shoot-outs are staged with a nerve-jangling ferocity that recalls Michael Mann's Heat. But it isn't quite as gripping as the events deserve.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Three Thousand Years of Longing
    If a screenplay is going to be fixated on the history and purpose of storytelling, the stories within it have to be better.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Eternals
    Eternals is more serious in tone and more deliberate in its pacing than the average Marvel movie, with less of the usual banter and no cameo appearances by other superheroes. But, if you're looking for the humanity and originality of Zhao's other films, you won't find much of it here.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Bones and All
    What's captivating about Bones & All is that it is so understated. The first few gory scenes suggest that Guadagnino has made an outrageous black comedy that gets its startled laughs and screams by contrasting the conventions of a coming-of-age romance with those of an X-rated monster movie. But soon Bones & All becomes entirely straight-faced. It isn't a horror film or a comedy, it's a sincere, sweet indie road movie that happens to feature bloodthirsty serial killers.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Ferrari
    The racing sequences have enough energy and jeopardy to raise the pulse rate, but the rest of Ferrari... well, surely a film about high-speed cars shouldn't pootle along as slowly as this one does.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker
    The main feeling it instils in the viewer is a renewed respect for the imagination of Lucas. The Rise of Skywalker has been lovingly crafted by a host of talented people, and yet the best they can do is pay tribute to everything he did several decades ago.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    The Whale
    The Whale retains the pacing, structure and conventions of a solid but clichéd melodrama.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Mulan
    Niki Caro’s film is a well-constructed family-friendly wuxia drama, with bright colours, grand scenery, and commendable themes. But it’s best enjoyed if you’re expecting a solid tween movie rather than a monumental cinematic landmark.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Queer
    Craig's soul-baring, skin-baring turn aside, Queer is a proudly artificial curio.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Fast X
    Leterrier's achievement in assembling such a gargantuan, multi-stranded, globe-trotting, head-spinning blockbuster is impressive, but however many gruff sermons Dom makes about his family, it's impossible to care about any of it.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Blitz
    The film is interesting and informative, but all those bomb blasts don't leave you as shaken as they should.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Twisters
    Twisters isn't bad, but a braver film might have admitted that addressing the causes of extreme weather might be more useful than throwing nappies at it.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Wolfs
    This laidback crime caper doesn't have a great deal more to offer, but there is something to be said for seeing the pals from Ocean's Eleven on the same screen again.
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