Phil de Semlyen

Select another critic »
Empire, Time Out, Time Out London
For 490 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 51% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 45% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 5.2 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Phil de Semlyen's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 71
Highest review score: 100 The Lost Daughter
Lowest review score: 20 Stuber
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 284 out of 490
  2. Mixed: 201 out of 490
  3. Negative: 5 out of 490
490 movie reviews
view
per page
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Phil de Semlyen
    Pokémon Detective Pikachu
    If the final act is a bit dull and the anarchic Reynolds factor ends up muzzled, director Rob Letterman makes sure not to lose that self-aware edge altogether, while providing enough Pokémon Easter eggs to satisfy the most demanding fan. He’s also helped invent a whole new movie genre: cuddly noir.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 40 Phil de Semlyen
    Tolkien
    Despite the best efforts of its committed young cast, and especially a game (if suspiciously old-looking) Nicholas Hoult as Tolkien in his late teens and early twenties, it’s a plodding and polite portrayal that holds few surprises.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 40 Phil de Semlyen
    Mary Magdalene
    The overall effect is glassy and inert, with Rooney Mara’s Mary an oddly elusive presence in the film that carries her name.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 20 Phil de Semlyen
    Hellboy
    There’s the odd nifty camera move but the action sequences are often messy and rote. The self-healing Hellboy is able to withstand endless punishment, which may be faithful to Mignola’s source material but hardly ups the stakes. The audience is not so lucky. Hellboy? Just hell, actually.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 60 Phil de Semlyen
    Dumbo
    Even leaving aside the fan-pleasing sight of Burton’s Dark Knight and Penguin sharing the same big top, the Batman parallels are inescapable. Keaton tears a page from the Jack Nicholson Joker playbook with his most deliriously huge performance in years.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 40 Phil de Semlyen
    Sunset
    Nemes wants to let the chaos and noise of Sunset overwhelm the audience, but like Irisz herself, it’s hard not to get a bit lost in the clamor.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Phil de Semlyen
    Dragged Across Concrete
    You’d call it Tarantino-esque but for the pacing and lack of a soundtrack. (Even Tarantino might have cut a couple of these baggy subplots.)
    • 75 Metascore
    • 100 Phil de Semlyen
    Border
    This unusual film sits in a genre of one.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Phil de Semlyen
    How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
    It’s the visuals, though, that really soar. With master cinematographer Roger Deakins again lending his eye as consultant, the camera weaves in and out among photo-real flora and fire-breathing fauna.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    TT3D: Closer to the Edge
    A motorsports movie you don’t need to be a petrolhead to enjoy. Rev up those whiteknuckle thrillride clichés, you're going to need them.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 Phil de Semlyen
    Alita: Battle Angel
    This visually epic, but monotonous collaboration between James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez is less than the sum of its slick parts.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Phil de Semlyen
    The Kid Who Would Be King
    It falls short of enchanting but it's never less than fun and likable. Watch it through the eyes of your inner teenager and you’ll have a blast.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 100 Phil de Semlyen
    Son of Saul
    It's a film that bores straight into your soul and leaves you shattered, but somehow richer for having seen it.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Stan & Ollie
    There are also juicy supporting roles for Shirley Henderson and Midnight in Paris’s Nina Arianda as the comedians’ long-suffering wives, Lucille and Ida. The film may be called Stan & Ollie, but it’s never more alive than when the four of them are onscreen.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Phil de Semlyen
    The Man from Mo'Wax
    There are memorable cameos from collaborators (Josh Homme take a bow) and a triumphant coda, but most of all, the rather melancholy sense of a visionary struggling to stay relevant.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
    Sure, some of the plot twists are a bit labored, and there’s maybe a henchman too many—but, trust me, you’ll be too busy rooting for the superhero with a snout to care.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    If Beale Street Could Talk
    The resulting film is beautifully crafted and, despite what Hitch might say, definitely cinematic.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Ralph Breaks the Internet
    This riotous, arcade-game-inspired sequel powers up with fresh ideas and some brilliantly-executed pastiching.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Phil de Semlyen
    Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams
    While his bandmates are happy to fade into the background, Martin – part puppy dog, part jack-in-the-box – is a magnet for the camera. He’s restless, funny, insecure and likeable – often all at the same time.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Phil de Semlyen
    Bad Times at the El Royale
    As with his first directorial effort, the ace meta-horror The Cabin in the Woods, Goddard has a blast toying with genre expectations, although here the payoff is a lot less satisfying.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    The Sisters Brothers
    The Sisters Brothers may be a violent movie but it’s not an especially graphic one; the bad guys are coolly dispatched from a distance and with minimal Peckinpah-ish splatter. The one genuinely stomach-turning moment comes at the hands of a surgeon, not a gunman. Prepare yourself.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Phil de Semlyen
    22 July
    Greengrass’s heart lies in exploring the ways a nation processes such a horrific, unexpected event, but Breivik’s odious ideas also get a comprehensive airing along the way. It makes for an uncomfortable, challenging watch.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Phil de Semlyen
    Peterloo
    The authenticity is immersive, even if the historical exposition occasionally feels like prep for an exam no one’s warned you about.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
    Richly entertaining and blackly funny but told with sincerity and heart, the half-dozen Western tales packed into The Ballad of Buster Scruggs show the Coen brothers loading up their six-shooter and firing barely a blank.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Searching
    See it, then go home and wipe your hard drive.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Whitney
    The most harrowing revelation of all comes during two of Macdonald’s many interviews with friends, family and associates. It’s a piece of digging that adds investigative weight to the film and a hard-hitting coda to his exploration of the fragile psychology of stardom.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 40 Phil de Semlyen
    Love, Cecil
    For a man so singular, the film’s chronological approach feels conventional and there’s little of the spark or fantasy he infused into his work in evidence.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Leave No Trace
    Granik builds her engaging, sympathetic characters in subtle increments.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    A Cambodian Spring
    For all its sombre revelations, A Cambodian Spring exudes a powerful sense of possibility. In these days of popular protest, it makes for an enthralling case study.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 60 Phil de Semlyen
    Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
    This fun, pacy addition to the dino disaster franchise doesn’t do much that’s particularly new – though what it does, it does with a fair whack of panache.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »