Rafael Motamayor

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For 142 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 74% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 23% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 10.8 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Rafael Motamayor's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 76
Highest review score: 100 Everything Everywhere All at Once
Lowest review score: 25 The Astronaut
Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 2 out of 142
142 movie reviews
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Rafael Motamayor
    Ash
    With heavy inspirations from games like Dead Space and movies like Alien and The Thing, Flying Lotus' Ash is an ambitious, visually enthralling sci-fi horror movie. But its tale of a space station terrorized by a mysterious, gooey threat is otherwise empty and derivative, and takes too long to get going.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 80 Rafael Motamayor
    Tringle of Sadness is an utterly hilarious satire told in three acts, each more ludicrous than the last.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Rafael Motamayor
    This may not be the epic "Power Rangers" reunion some fans may have hoped for, but Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always is very much the love letter to the last 30 years of this franchise, where it all began, and where it is going.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 82 Rafael Motamayor
    With Apostle, Gareth Evans has proven he can not only master action films with stunning choreography, but he can also deliver a bone-chilling folk horror tale rich in mythology and shocking in violence. Apostle owes a lot to classic folk horror films, but Evans manages to make his film feel fresh and gripping enough to satisfy even the most blood-thirsty horror fan.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 83 Rafael Motamayor
    Tost’s film is charming, gritty, and all-round entertaining one that boasts gallows humor, compelling performances, and a big heart (plus lots of actual hearts being shot at and stabbed).
    • 61 Metascore
    • 90 Rafael Motamayor
    The most impressive feat Black Phone 2 pulls off is finding a way to bring The Grabber back that feels coherent and actually adds to the character. We get some backstory on the child-abductor that comes across as deepening the character rather than just answering questions that no one asked.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Rafael Motamayor
    Does The Man Who Killed Don Quixote live up to the anticipation built by a nearly 30 year-long wait? Probably not. Is it still a film worth seeing, with something to say about following your dreams and being a filmmaker, with meta commentary about its own production? It’s hard not to say yes, if only to witness a man’s decades-long obsession finally bear fruit.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 33 Rafael Motamayor
    It is in the third act that Immaculate delivers a gonzo, rock-smashing, fiery, crucifix-stabbing and all-out bloody good time. Unfortunately, by that point, it’s too late to save the soul of this movie, which is condemned not to go to hell, but remain in dull horror movie purgatory.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 90 Rafael Motamayor
    Tetris is a fantastic look at the story behind the rights to one of the most popular games ever, a movie that shows that video game adaptations (like games themselves) can come in all forms and be great. This is a crowd-pleaser through and through, and much like the game that gives it its title, it is hard to look away once its title card drops.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 75 Rafael Motamayor
    The Lost City doesn’t have the most exciting or novel plot, and it doesn’t push action filmmaking forward. But it does feature two of the moment’s greatest movie stars coming in at the top of their rom-com game, and mixing adventure and love.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 85 Rafael Motamayor
    Overlord may not be the Call of Duty: Zombies movie you were expecting, but it is a damn entertaining film about the horror of war, and the thrills of a zombie invasion.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 90 Rafael Motamayor
    Three Thousand Years of Longing tells a fantastic and poignant story about storytelling, longing, and love. It's about the art of telling smaller, intimate stories at a time when big stories seem to only be valid. A fairy tale with more in common with "Babe" than "Mad Max," this movie reaffirms George Miller as one of the great magicians of cinema working today.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 62 Rafael Motamayor
    Under the Silver Lake never finds a reason for being as weird as it is, making for a confusing and frustrating experience despite its hypnotic visuals and great score.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 70 Rafael Motamayor
    Sadly, as creative as The Silent Twins is, and as much homework as the filmmakers clearly did in replicating the details of the story and the works of the twins, the film never fully says anything meaningful. Not about the real Gibbons sisters, not about race, not about mental health and its treatment in the U.K.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 90 Rafael Motamayor
    Through a phenomenal performance, chilling atmosphere and a terrific script, Spiral builds an experience that is as terrifying as it is depressingly timely.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Rafael Motamayor
    Flamin' Hot is a charming and funny rags-to-riches story with a strong cast, some clever editing, and good use of narration as comedy that make up for its superficial depth.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 75 Rafael Motamayor
    The Spine of Night serves as an entertaining, action-heavy, gnarly throwback to the hyper-violent, high-fantasy rotoscoped animation of the 1980s that nevertheless suffers from a small production, muddled voice directing, and the usual problems of the animation technique.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 Rafael Motamayor
    If you can look past Road House’s horrendous cinematography, CGI fights, and poor lighting, there's a fun movie to be found.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 Rafael Motamayor
    While it does some fascinating things with the zombie genre that we haven't seen since George A. Romero, Army of the Dead ends up bogged down by its own self-importance and forgets how fun it's supposed to be. Its promising opening credits sequence is so much better than the rest of the film.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 60 Rafael Motamayor
    Minions: The Rise of Gru will not usher in a new era of animation, nor change the way we treat prequels. What it will do is entertain kids with more Minions shenanigans, a fair number of fart jokes, and references to other characters in the franchise.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 85 Rafael Motamayor
    Butt Boy is an exceptionally entertaining and weird film that defies every expectation. Everyone should see this tragic and thrilling story of a man who becomes addicted to shoving things up his butt.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 80 Rafael Motamayor
    Lee does a commendable job as a first-time feature director, with a confinement sense of pace and framing that keeps "Hunt" thrilling and engaging despite its 131-minute runtime. ... Though "Hunt" does not break the spy thriller mold, it does provide plenty of thrills that should play like gangbusters.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 55 Rafael Motamayor
    Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile has some interesting ideas about how little we know the people we love, and about the power of a celebrity cult status. But no matter how good Zac Efron’s performance as Ted Bundy is, this is the tamest way to explore such a complex and interesting story.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Rafael Motamayor
    Rather than the gritty drama of the first film or the delightful fantasy of the second, we instead get a dull romance with paper-thin characters, lame voice-over narration, and rather clean and puritan dance numbers, resulting in a film that feels more like an advertisement for the "Magic Mike Live" show than a movie.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 50 Rafael Motamayor
    The overstuffed "Despicable Me 4" abandons any pretense of caring about characters or narrative, choosing instead to fit in as many gags, characters, and little stories with as little consequences as they can.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 80 Rafael Motamayor
    My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission boasts the franchises' best animation yet, as well as a dark and menacing villain straight out of an X-Men comic. It all results in a compelling and thrilling adventure that, sadly, suffers from being an isolated non-canon story.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 75 Rafael Motamayor
    Death of a Unicorn delivers on its biggest promise — a gnarly, funny creature feature with a fantastic ensemble, and all the unicorn-themed gore you can imagine.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 80 Rafael Motamayor
    Robert Rodriguez delivers a family-friendly film that feels like his most personal project yet. We Can Be Heroes is a cheerful and colorful take on the superhero genre with a powerful message about empowering younger generations to take the reins and do better than their parents.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 80 Rafael Motamayor
    The slapstick comedy works wonders, and stands in stark contrast to the endless pop culture-based animated comedies of the past 20 years. But it's the heart at the center of the movie – the dynamic between the dogs played by the likes of Adam DeVine, Idris Elba, Kathryn Hahn – that sells the story and makes this more than a one-joke movie.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 60 Rafael Motamayor
    This was an ambitious trilogy that tried to take the Halloween franchise to new places, but it ultimately falls short, introducing so many ideas that it quickly abandons, while forgetting about the one thing it was always supposed to be about: Laurie Strode.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 50 Rafael Motamayor
    Zemeckis turns this beloved, dark story into a campy, weird, yet still fairly entertaining kid-friendly story of accepting oneself. The problem is that it pales in comparison to what came before.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 75 Rafael Motamayor
    There just isn’t much to differentiate Next Goal Wins from any other cliche-ridden underdog sports story. But what does salvage it is Taika Waititi’s ability to create quirky worlds filled with lovable characters.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 70 Rafael Motamayor
    When the plot gets going and we're on a road trip through fantastical locations, the movie becomes a fun ride. It's not as good as the original, but it is still one of the better superhero films of the year.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 70 Rafael Motamayor
    Halloween Kills suffers from being the second chapter in a trilogy, but it still delivers gory fun, fantastic performances, and an electrifying score from John Carpenter. There are enough callbacks to the original film to satisfy Carpenter fans while also expanding the mythology around Michael Myers and the town of Haddonfield in meaningful ways.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 80 Rafael Motamayor
    O'Dessa delivers a bold, catchy musical set in a vibrant cyberpunk world that mixes naturalistic visuals with an aesthetic indebted to 1980s sci-fi and fantasy films. Sadie Sink shines as a singer who can change the world with her ballads, with a gender norm-defying performance and an enchanting singing voice.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 25 Rafael Motamayor
    Varley’s homages and nods can’t help save The Astronaut from a sudden tonal shift that takes away what makes the first half of the film interesting and brings it into redundant — and honestly, quite baffling — territory.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 50 Rafael Motamayor
    Peter Farrelly's follow-up to Green Book is a war drama with some solid laughs and a great Zac Efron performance, but a manipulative script with ugly optics and boring visuals that never achieve the prestige it clearly wants.
    • 29 Metascore
    • 50 Rafael Motamayor
    The mystery is a convoluted mess, clearly attempting to marry the intrigue of "Chinatown" with the escalating chaos of a Coen Brothers movie while failing to make things compelling, all while the wacky humor falls flat.
    • 28 Metascore
    • 40 Rafael Motamayor
    It's an improvement simply because this trilogy started off pretty badly, but nevertheless an uninspiring survival horror with repetitive set pieces, baffling character choices, and a mythology that feels like it's erasing the very reason his franchise exists in the first place.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Rafael Motamayor
    Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans delivers an emotional and action-packed conclusion to the Tales of Arcadia saga, although the movie format doesn't give its large cast the chance to shine.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 80 Rafael Motamayor
    This may not be the film fans expected, but it is still a worthy addition to the Digimon franchise.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 80 Rafael Motamayor
    Blue Lock: Episode Nagi improves upon the first season's story by retelling the it from a fresh perspective – adding new dimensions to a fan favorite character in the process.

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