Kaboom
IFC Films | Release Date: January 28, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
9
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
SalonAndrew O'HehirJan 27, 2011
It's by far the funniest and warmest movie Araki has ever made, with much less juvenile angst and much more command of his craft. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayJan 27, 2011
Kaboom is pure fantasy in every sense of the word: It's a riff on sexy, sassy teen movies and conspiracy thrillers that at times seems to exist only so Araki can get his beautiful young cast to strip off their clothes and pair off in every conceivable combination, just as he used to do in his earlier, more scandalous films. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasFeb 3, 2011
Araki lets his absurdist imagination run wild, and Kaboom takes the time-honored gambit of gradually revealing that nothing is as it seems to delightfully cockamamie extremes. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJan 29, 2011
The movie ends abruptly-too abruptly for my taste-but the gaiety lingers through the closing credits. Not even apocalypse can dispel the sexy vibes. Read full review
80
MovielineStephanie ZacharekJan 28, 2011
It's all goofy stuff, played for laughs, but it's clear we've been catapulted into a world where things are not quite right. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen ColeApr 7, 2011
A film with enough sexy one-liners to tempt Mae West from the grave. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisMar 3, 2011
Kaboom lets Araki play with carnality as opposed to cautioning against it. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversJan 28, 2011
Araki constructs the hot-blooded Kaboom as a high-wire act without a safety net. Go with it. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesFeb 17, 2011
Funny, scary, and exuberant, Kaboom delivers the goods as both a generational marker and a tale of things to, uh, come. Read full review
70
NPRBob MondelloJan 28, 2011
Kaboom's one-liners are snappy, knowing, and unexpected. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. HobermanJan 25, 2011
Kaboom does have an excellent punchline, although even at 86 minutes it feels too long-mainly because Araki can't help letting his camera linger over his performers. Hard to blame him-he's assembled the best-looking cast in town and it's largely his gaga appreciation that makes the movie so much fun. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMar 17, 2011
The meaning - and irony - of Kaboom's title doesn't become clear until a beat or two before the end credits roll, and even then it's hard to say what exactly Araki is getting at. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertFeb 16, 2011
The movie has been cast, designed, clothed, scored and edited to the bleeding edge of hip, but it hasn't exactly been written. Read full review
60
EmpireDavid HughesJun 6, 2011
Gregg Araki's sci-fi is a weird and, just occasionally, wonderful skew on the college comedy. Slight but fun. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJan 28, 2011
The good-natured cast helps distract from a barely sketched plot and outrageously cheap production values. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJan 27, 2011
Chaotic, trifling, oddly likable film. Read full review
60
Time OutDavid FearJan 25, 2011
While Araki has finally perfected a shoegazey visual aesthetic that's simultaneously sensual and too cool for school, it's hard not to feel that his reprise of yesterday's greatest snits borders on being stuck in a rut. Read full review
60
Boxoffice MagazineRichard MoweJan 22, 2011
Araki's got a certain garish flare to his delivery that those more patient with the content will find appealing and Thomas Dekker offers an engaging performance. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonMar 25, 2011
An inconsequential mess. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianShawn LevyMar 17, 2011
It's certainly all Araki up there, and the film is handsome and swiftly paced. But it also feels terribly routine and even, strangely, for all the trangressiveness it strives for, retrograde. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleFeb 17, 2011
For the most part, it's fairly pleasant and interesting enough to be there. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. MusettoJan 28, 2011
Call it "The Doom Generation II." Gregg Araki's Kaboom returns to the trippy ways of his 1995 erotic head trip. Read full review
38
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreFeb 23, 2011
This isn't satire, it isn't that funny and the only bits that work are the titillating ones. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMar 25, 2011
With Kaboom, Araki takes a huge step backward from the maturity and restraint he demonstrated in 2004's "Mysterious Skin," his best and most-assured film to date. Read full review
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