Simon Abrams

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L.A. Weekly, RogerEbert.com, Slant Magazine, The A.V. Club, The Playlist, TheWrap, Village Voice
For 854 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 40% higher than the average critic
  • 6% same as the average critic
  • 54% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 10.7 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Simon Abrams' Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 55
Highest review score: 100 Viet and Nam
Lowest review score: 0 Zookeeper
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 390 out of 854
  2. Mixed: 239 out of 854
  3. Negative: 225 out of 854
854 movie reviews
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    • 47 Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Mortal Kombat II
    Sure, Mortal Kombat II has enough fight scenes and gore to deliver exactly what fans of the games expect from these movies. Then again, the makers of this new franchise-booster don’t seem to know how to fill the rest of their movie’s 116-minute runtime. They tie up loose ends from the last movie whenever they’re not nudging their new protagonists through the motions of another patchwork action-fantasy that’s too hip to be sincere and too hacky to be moving.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    One Spoon of Chocolate
    Thankfully, some climactic fight scenes, featuring strong action choreography and a clear overall presentation, give “One Spoon of Chocolate” the great emotional release it needs after so much dramatic buildup.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 67 Simon Abrams
    Deep Water
    In this case, Eckhart exudes the sort of unselfconscious paternal energy that’s needed to keep things moving in between the familiar, but well-executed disaster movie story beats. He almost single-handedly makes Deep Water a better-than-average genre exercise, though the bloody shark attacks and corny banter don’t hurt either.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    A Blind Bargain
    At minimum, “A Blind Bargain” will keep you scratching your head throughout, if not to ask yourself what it’s all about, then to wonder if maybe the filmmakers will eventually arrive somewhere unexpected. You can probably guess the answers to both questions, but maybe seeing for yourself will change your mind.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 42 Simon Abrams
    Lee Cronin's The Mummy
    If Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is like any of the director’s previous work, it’s most like Evil Dead Rises, since it’s also programmatically upsetting yet narratively threadbare to the point of distraction. And while this movie’s relentless, reflex-testing shock scares suggest that the filmmaker has a sense of humor, the audience is never really encouraged to laugh along with them.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 42 Simon Abrams
    Thrash
    While Thrash resembles a general-audience survival horror drama, its forgettable protagonists also frequently stop to reassure viewers—mostly through profanity-laced dialogue and occasional bursts of gore—that it’s okay to scoff at whatever they’re looking at.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Beast
    This is a sports melodrama played like a Billy Joel concert, with enough well-honed showmanship and passion to make even its cheesiest qualities seem like an unpretentious celebration of Patton’s everyman.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 88 Simon Abrams
    ChaO
    The most enchanting thing about “ChaO” isn’t necessarily its hyperpoptimism, but the many little ways in which its breezy and arresting style reflects its creators’ lightly held Utopianism.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 58 Simon Abrams
    Pretty Lethal
    Pretty Lethal doesn’t even fully take flight once it finally escapes the realm of good taste, though it does feature a handful of standout moments and images. You might scratch your head a few times, but you also may enjoy yourself if you only want the filmmakers to embrace their unhinged high-concept premise
    • tbd Metascore
    • 12 Simon Abrams
    Vampires of the Velvet Lounge
    Joyless and dim, the grubby supernatural thriller “Vampires of the Velvet Lounge” often seems more like a filmed rehearsal for a movie than a fully completed feature.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Bodycam
    For a while, the found-footage horror thriller “Bodycam” appears to have something to say and, therefore, a better-than-average sense of how to handle its subgenre’s tropes and tics. Then, in the last 10-15 minutes, the illusion is spoiled.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    The Bluff
    The Bluff exemplifies a very enjoyable type of nostalgia-bait, even if it’s never as good as its elevator pitch.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 42 Simon Abrams
    I Can Only Imagine 2
    More inarticulate than outright bad, I Can Only Imagine 2 re-packages a heap of barely legible dramatic and comedic shorthand as an uplifting testament to “the goodness of God.” It’s mostly inoffensive, but also doesn’t really have anything to say.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    This Is Not a Test
    What’s mostly lacking is a matter of character-enhancing detail, the kind that would better integrate the movie’s high-concept thrills with its heartstring-tugging melodrama. Soapy’s not bad, but “This is Not a Test” lacks the sensationalism or sensitivity to make it more than a wan misfire.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    Scare Out
    The worst thing about “Scare Out” isn’t that it’s boring and ultimately trite, but that there’s so little of Zhang’s usual sensuousness in it.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 88 Simon Abrams
    Blades of the Guardians
    Blades of the Guardians is a boisterous, but unhurried action-adventure that never feels sloppy despite its digressive bent. Even the perfunctory confrontations seem consequential thanks to Yuen’s knack for character-driven action.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Iron Lung
    As a performer, Fischbach’s frantic performance can sometimes be distractingly monotonous, but as a filmmaker, he has an impressive eye not only for compositional details, but also for how his images cut and flow together.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 38 Simon Abrams
    Whistle
    This might have been a better movie if its creators embraced their fitful bloodthirst. Instead, they seem to hope that you like these stock characters enough that you’ll gasp when their friends and enemies inevitably bite the dust. A machine to kill vague people, “Whistle” never delivers on its frightful promise.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 25 Simon Abrams
    Shelter
    Nothing in “Shelter” develops beyond the suggestion of an idea. A sleepy vehicle for action star Jason Statham, “Shelter” piles on cliches and expects viewers to supply enough goodwill to compensate for its shortcomings.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    Back to the Past
    Unfortunately, “Back to the Past” doesn’t really stand on its own, and its creators don’t know how to offer viewers anything new.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Simon Abrams
    The Love That Remains
    The resulting drama might have been exasperating for its surface passivity if Pálmason’s faith in his actors and other regular collaborators, as well as his knack for composition (he’s also the movie’s cinematographer), didn’t pay off so regularly and so viscerally.
    • 34 Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Return to Silent Hill
    Gans’ sequel delivers more of the same, so it likely won’t impress anyone who doesn’t already enjoy getting lost in the fog.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    All You Need Is Kill
    Thankfully, Studio 4°C’s sumptuous animation and sound design still make “All You Need is Kill” a vivid and worthwhile do-over.
    • 35 Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    My Neighbor Adolf
    Unfortunately, more bland than broad humor otherwise stands in for Polsky and Herzog’s personalities.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 38 Simon Abrams
    Silent Night, Deadly Night
    This new holiday chiller mostly idles when it should charge at its most unsound ideas.
    • 26 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Five Nights at Freddy's 2
    Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 not only has a more involved story, but also features more engaged filmmaking throughout, with more camera setups and visual brio.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    Troll 2
    Unlike its predecessor, “Troll 2” doesn’t have enough canned dramatic or comedic incidents to make it seem particularly eventful.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Baahubali: The Epic
    Baahubali: The Epic may not deliver a better edit or experience, but it does highlight what was already great, especially once it settles into a groove following a ten-minute intermission break. By that point, most of the cuts have already been made, leaving the leisurely pageantry of Rajamouli’s regal milestone to speak for itself and at its own preferred volume, too.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Queens of the Dead
    A few heavy-handed stabs at commentary aside, “Queens of the Dead” gets by with good, flirty cheer.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    Mr. K
    While casting Glover as a reluctant everyman takes admirable chutzpah, there’s not much to “Mr. K” beyond its second-hand surrealism and strained counter-mythmaking.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Prisoner of War
    Prisoner of War may sometimes deliver what you hope for, but it’s an otherwise sloppy outing for Adkins, who by now should expect more from himself and his audience.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Rabbit Trap
    Rabbit Trap, a supernatural drama about a young couple haunted by a creepy child, revels in the tropes and tics of a few decades’ worth of British folk horror.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    Dreams
    It’s a character-driven drama populated by sketchy characters who are mostly compelling thanks to the movie’s strong ensemble cast and Haugerud’s typically sensitive direction. So unfortunately, the suggestive power of Johanne’s journey fades as the movie slowly heads to its inconclusive finale.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    The Toxic Avenger
    The movie’s cast members all seem to understand their assignments, which makes even the sketchiest material seem more robust. There’s also more technical polish, as well as a general knack for comic timing, than you might expect from a remake of “The Toxic Avenger.”
    • tbd Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    War 2
    Here, the filmmakers know exactly what kind of movie their audience wants and have a better-than-average plan to deliver it. You say you want more bromantic chemistry, over-the-top action, and flamboyant, logic-defying plot twists? “War 2” delivers all of that.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    Jimmy and Stiggs
    Jimmy & Stiggs is a slick wallow into a cranked-up, self-destructive headspace that frequently over-compensates for what it lacks in plot and character development with sheer vigor and volume alone.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Osiris
    Kaufman keeps things moving at a brisk pace and delivers the sort of cheesy dialogue and story beats that you should expect from this dorky, but serviceable genre exercise. He’s a better action filmmaker than he is a straight-up dramatist, as you can unfortunately tell in scenes where the protagonists struggle to emote through visually and emotionally flat dialogue scenes.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    The Banished
    The Banished, about a grieving woman’s search for her missing brother, sometimes feels like a compendium of modern horror movie clichés. That doesn’t always matter, since the movie is thick enough with dread to work despite its distracting familiarity.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 38 Simon Abrams
    Abraham's Boys: A Dracula Story
    Kermani deserves credit for expanding on Hill’s story, which has a great premise, but not much else going for it.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 25 Simon Abrams
    The Sound
    It’s hard enough to watch performers struggle to pump up thin material, even though the main cast’s members all seem capable of the physical business required of their roles. It’s harder to watch as the makers of this scrappy, low-budget production give away too much whenever they rely on effects-driven action or drama.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Sex
    Dialogue does most of the heavy-lifting here, just like in “Love”, the first and most recently released entry of Haugerud’s thematically related series. Haugerud’s knack for visual storytelling also makes a difference, specifically in how he presents the city of Oslo and its features as an enriching backdrop.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    The Gardener
    As it is, “The Gardener” suggests that Van Damme still doesn’t know how to both give his audience what they want and show off his range.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Tornado
    Your enjoyment of “Tornado” depends on how much you want to root for thinly drawn characters who don’t look strong enough to carry an entire movie. They can and they can’t, depending on how patient you’re feeling.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    The Surrender
    The Surrender accomplishes a lot with a sketch-sized story and matching compositional agility and precision. It’s short (less than 90 minutes!) and sweet and the best kind of upsetting.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Love
    Love remains distinct, given its unsparing view of people as flawed and not very sure of themselves.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 100 Simon Abrams
    Caught by the Tides
    At heart, Caught By the Tides is an experimental romantic drama, though that makes it sound unapproachable and a little gimmicky. It’s neither, thankfully, and that’s largely thanks to Jia’s typical focus on the material signs of time’s relentless passage.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Last Bullet
    Last Bullet puts a decisive capper on the previous movies’ action-intensive gearhead-cop saga, though it’s hard to say how much closure one might need from these characters. They’re charming enough thanks to a committed ensemble cast, but nothing about the movie’s by-the-numbers narcotics cops vs. dirty cops story demands further extension.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    A Desert
    Director Joshua Erkman shows promise throughout “A Desert,” his first feature, but his movie’s unyielding scenario, co-written with Bossi Baker, makes it hard to want to hang around while thinly drawn characters vaguely establish the movie’s themes.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Bullet Train Explosion
    With Bullet Train Explosion, you get a straight-down-the-line crowdpleaser, replete with duty-bound authority figures in well-pressed uniforms, anxious and often self-absorbed passengers, Macgyver-like problem-solving, seat-of-your-pants close calls, that sort of thing. There are no real surprises here, just what you’d want from this sort of cheeseball entertainment.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    It Feeds
    Writer/director Chad Archibald still shows some promise here, especially whenever he lets his actors, cinematographer, makeup, creature, and production designer sell what is, at heart, a generic possession story. He thankfully does this often enough to keep the plot’s familiar and slowly dispensed beats from feeling too rote.
    • 20 Metascore
    • 12 Simon Abrams
    Gunslingers
    Only Cage’s most diehard cultists will want to go to bat for this performance, and they could easily struggle to accentuate the positive. It’s manic, confounding, and gaspingly funny, too (for a moment), but boy, howdy, so what?
    • 57 Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Hell of a Summer
    Co-directors and writers Billy Bryk and “Stranger Things” star Finn Wolfhard pay homage to ‘80s body count pics with a sappy but likable coming-of-age comedy about a group of summer camp counselors who are stalked and slayed by a masked killer.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 100 Simon Abrams
    Viet and Nam
    Việt and Nam only initially looks like something that you might expect to find on John Waters’ Best of the Year list. Soon enough the movie becomes a gentle romance about loving the dead.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 88 Simon Abrams
    Misericordia
    It’s not a hard movie to follow or fall for, as fans of Guiraudie’s earlier movies already know. He commands our attention even when his characters are either too ridiculous or too petty to be taken seriously.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Last Breath
    Instead of relishing the specific details of this story, you wind up enjoying its familiar pleasures and then maybe its creators’ proficient execution.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants
    The battle scenes are grand, the martial arts fights are fleet and impressive, and the romantic drama is taken seriously enough. It’s a bit of a headache, but “Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants” still has its cornball charms.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Ne Zha 2
    Ne Zha 2 is a rare sequel that amplifies both its action and drama without sacrificing much of what already worked in the last movie. It’s also a rare blockbuster that offers something worthwhile for a wide-ranging audience.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    The Dead Thing
    Judgmental and ungenerous, Alex’s story gives you enough answers to either tsk-tsk or nod sadly in response. The rest’s up to you, the viewer, which feels like a bit of a cop-out.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force
    Here, finally, is the movie that you likely wanted to see in the first place, replete with fantastic beasts, computer-generated spells, and other supernatural attractions. If you embrace this superior sequel for what it is, you’ll find a lot to like in “Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force.”
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    The Colors Within
    It’s time in a bottle and a pleasure to soak up.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    The Prosecutor
    Yen continues charging ahead in “The Prosecutor,” which frequently goes hard enough to fly through its corniest lulls.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 25 Simon Abrams
    Harbin
    It’s hard to imagine who might enjoy this deliberately slow and often punishingly slack historical drama.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    Bloody Axe Wound
    Some genre-affirming twists and tropes throughout hint at a sharper genre parody that happens to be about a sympathetic young heroine. This isn’t that kind of movie. Sometimes, it just looks like something better.
    • 35 Metascore
    • 25 Simon Abrams
    Kraven the Hunter
    Sony’s latest Spidey yarn is a charmless stinker that’s only well-polished enough to make you resent the stench.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Striking Rescue
    While the action scenes may be the best reason to watch "Striking Rescue," they're not the only ones. There's almost enough off-kilter energy to keep pace with Jaa's on-screen intensity.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Heavier Trip
    Heavier Trip mostly ambles from one formulaic twist to the next, never really straying far from conventional situations or familiar characterizations.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 38 Simon Abrams
    The Black Sea
    A tepid situation comedy in indie drama drag, "The Black Sea" lacks a sense of urgency beyond a few moments of canned tension between Khalid and Georgi (Stoyo Mirkov), a haughty Bulgarian fisherman.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 88 Simon Abrams
    100 Yards
    It's a stylish and modern action movie that also features some of the year's most satisfying fight choreography and action filmmaking.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Youth (Homecoming)
    There's so much detail and such a clear sense of dramatic proportion that it almost doesn't matter that the movie doesn't resolve itself traditionally or with a full stop. You can still get a clear sense of how time moves for the workers in Zhili in "Youth (Homecoming)" without necessarily knowing what comes next.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 88 Simon Abrams
    Youth (Hard Times)
    This one stands out not only because it’s the fittingly agonizing climax to Wang’s trilogy but also for its sheer wealth of heartbreaking and totally convincing details.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    The Shadow Strays
    Woo and Tjahjanto not only share a half-cynical, half-romantic view of violence but also likely some of the same influences. What sets them apart as filmmakers isn’t where or how much they’ve swiped but how well they synthesize their apparent pulp fiction love into something new and cinematic.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Vettaiyan
    Vettaiyan may sometimes feel like the worst kind of throwback, but it still manages to coast on its star and his collaborators’ unshakable faith in crowd-pleasing movie logic. The filmmakers don’t miss a formulaic story beat nor do they skimp on what they think their audience will want from Rajinikanth.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Bad Genius
    For the most part, the new “Bad Genius” doesn’t enhance more than it adds to its source material. It’s still a better-than-average redo, if only because it doesn’t break what never really needed fixing.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Daaaaaalí!
    The funniest thing about “Daaaaalí!” is how often Dupieux succeeds at tricking you into thinking that he’s about to zig when he’s clearly ready to zag. It’s not a sophisticated bit, but Dupieux’s commitment to illogical anti-humor remains pretty disarming.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Devara Part 1
    Siva rarely challenges his charming ensemble cast to step outside of their comfort zones, but he and his collaborators still deliver a lot of what you might want from an action-musical about a pack of murderous, but righteous pirates.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 88 Simon Abrams
    Sleep
    In his impressive debut feature, writer/director Jason Yu strikes a fine balance between character-driven and high-concept horror.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    The 4:30 Movie
    With “The 4:30 Movie,” a lightly likable coming-of-age story and romantic-comedy, writer/director Kevin Smith (“Clerks III,” “Jay and Silent Reboot”) offers low-stakes nostalgia and very little else.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 88 Simon Abrams
    How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
    What “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies” lacks in subtlety, it more than compensates for in its range of feeling and the surprising depth of its feel-good reassurances.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 88 Simon Abrams
    The Greatest of All Time
    When it comes to broad comedies and unabashed melodramas, I’m usually not satisfied unless the moviemakers commit to exhausting whatever genre movie clichés or tropes that they’re futzing about with. The Greatest of All Time comes close enough to that ideal and on a fairly consistent basis.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Don't Turn Out the Lights
    I can only recommend “Don’t Turn Out the Lights” so much, mostly because the characterizations and the dialogue are so cliched and unlovable that it’s often hard to enjoy all the twists and turns that Fickman (“Race to Witch Mountain”) tiptoes past throughout this diverting Choose Your Own Adventure genre exercise.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    Decoded
    The filmmakers do what they can to compensate for their unlikely hero’s prevailing lack of charm and agency, but not even the combined forces of Lloyd Dobler and the Fab Four can bring a spike of joy to this DOA period drama.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    Consumed
    Some exciting moments are scattered throughout “Consumed,” but they’re never as compelling as the movie’s initial promise.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In
    Unbound by physics or any sense of psychological realism, “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” is also probably the best comic book adaptation you’ll see this year, featuring a murderer’s row of Hong Kong stars like Louis Koo, Aaron Kwok and Sammo Hung, and featuring the sort of intricate maximalist production design that puts most other blockbusters to shame.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Customs Frontline
    Customs Frontline is not quite as thrilling or as relentless as Yau’s other recent successes—particularly “Moscow Mission” and “Raid on the Lethal Zone”—but it still delivers more twists and surprises than you might expect from this tip of sudsy, formulaic cop drama.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Escape
    Escape finds an interesting subject in that ambiguous line, but never examines it closely enough to convey what it’s like to be invisible while in service to your own country.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Kill
    Kill tics off most of the essential boxes for a good popcorn flick, making it easy to resist but harder to pass up.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Kalki 2898 AD
    Goofy, over-earnest, and just good enough where it counts, Kalki 2898 AD outdistances its competition simply by digging deeper than expected into its patchy lore’s rich melodramatic turf.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    The Devil's Bath
    This movie’s not frustrating because it’s blunt or vicious, but because its creators are only so interested in a world condemning Agnes to a dire fate. Her actions may ultimately be shocking, but her story is anything but.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    The Grab
    Both an overstimulated multimedia lecture and an anxiety-stoking conspiracy thriller, “The Grab” urges viewers to follow the money, look at the big picture, and so on.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Ultraman: Rising
    The movie’s fun, if a bit staid, when it’s in all-monsters-attack mode, but Ultraman: Rising doesn’t stand out whenever it requires more of your attention.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever
    An unconvincing sequel to the 1994 original that’s basically the Scandinavian answer to recent trauma-minded American horror legacy-quels like “Halloween Ends” and “Scream VI.”
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    The Roundup: Punishment
    It’s not hard to see the appeal of “The Roundup: Punishment” given the technical polish and formulaic conventions that keep this series chugging along. But Lee still deserves better dialogue—“I made someone a promise. To punish you.”—and better jokes, too.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 25 Simon Abrams
    Boy Kills World
    The makers of “Boy Kills World” don’t trust their audience enough to let us just feel a feeling, nor do they encourage their enthusiastic cast members enough to deliver fully-developed performances.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 100 Simon Abrams
    Art College 1994
    Art College 1994 is unassumingly sweet because it’s about young people and their eternal quest for freedom and self-expression, mostly inside their own navels.
    • 35 Metascore
    • 25 Simon Abrams
    Rebel Moon Part 2: The Scargiver
    More is often less in “Rebel Moon—Part 2: The Scargiver,” not only when it comes to the movie’s sweaty, vein-activating performances, but also its over-exaggerated and under-choreographed action scenes.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    Sting
    Sting has a lot of the right ideas but not enough inspiration to string them all together.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Simon Abrams
    Abigail
    It’s not badly made, just uninspired and played out. If you like B-movies made with a budget and are specifically looking for an undemanding time, “Abigail” might be for you. “Abigail” might also disappoint you, especially if you’re hoping for more than what’s advertised.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Simon Abrams
    Yannick
    Dupieux’s latest will either annoy or charm you depending on how much you appreciate being led around by the nose by a filmmaker and a cast of characters who seem pretty committed to jerking you around.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 25 Simon Abrams
    DogMan
    Besson’s extra-schlocky sensibilities seem ideally suited to his star, but he never gives Jones anything worth showing off.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 63 Simon Abrams
    Blackout
    Blackout is nothing new, or even essential, but it mostly works anyway thanks to Fessenden and his cast’s impressive collaboration.
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