Nim's Island
Fox-Walden | Release Date: April 4, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
11
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Exhilarating and enchanting family picture. It's the best I've seen this year and highly recommended for girls and for boys, too. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneTasha Robinson
For all its limitations, the film still looks terrific. Flawless CGI and forays into animation keep things visually lively, and Nim’s enviable life is likely to hook kids into the story early and keep them entranced. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Some nice scenery, an unexpectedly funny performance by Jodie Foster and a unflaggingly spunky Abigail Breslin make for above average family entertainment. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLeah Greenblatt
It's hard to imagine kids not enjoying the good-hearted, lovingly shot fantasy of it all, and Breslin is charming, though most viewers past puberty will likely yearn to be voted off the Island. Read full review
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Even as the derivative roots of Nim's Island are clearly visible, kids will no doubt vicariously enjoy Nim's adventures and Edenic existence. And how refreshing, for once, to see a girl embark on derring-do that, in Nim's own words, makes her the hero of her own story. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
This family comedy adventure from Walden Media is likable in a scruffy way. Its characters, especially the youngest one, are engaging, and few adults are immune to childhood fantasies about secluded tropical isles. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Boys adventure stories are a dime (store novel) a dozen, but girls adventure tales are rare things indeed. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
If you're an elementary schooler or someone who finds Gerard Butler irresistible even when fully clothed, Nim's Island may be a treat to watch. If not, it's likelier to be a chore. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Breslin, so memorable in "Little Miss Sunshine," suffers the most. Skilled and reactive with humans, she doesn't quite muster the same engagement with her finned and flippered costars here. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
An entertaining, diverting adventure saga that offers excitement and a relatable heroine for children, and also will remind their parents of favorite classics from their own youth. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
8- to 12-year-olds will have a good time, and you'll have a good time watching them have a good time. Otherwise, the film's an oddity. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
There's nothing especially wrong with Nim's Island, but there's not a lot right about it either. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyRobert Wilonsky
Despite its formula and flaws (chief among them Foster’s sitcom-campy performance), Nim’s Island is a perfectly pleasant, agreeably innocuous ’tweener adventure film. Read full review
60
EmpireHelen O'Hara
Smarter than it sounds and carried by a very funny performance by Foster, this is a kids’ movie that’s bearable for adults too. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Directors Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin deliver some eye-catching fantasy sequences in the early scenes, but the film grows more mundane and the tone more uneven as it goes on. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Such an air of dumbness hovers over the movie, and it's all played so broadly that nothing about it is remotely believable. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Strictly for the 8-and-under crowd. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
Sweet but ho-hum adaptation of Wendy Orr’s novel, a comedy-adventure that never quite finds its tone. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Foster seems to be having real fun, twitching and skittering around, that steel jaw of hers comically tense. But this family movie shouldn't be about a shut-in trying to get from A to B; it needs to be about an unconventional girl growing up and helping an equally unconventional grownup cut loose on a volcanic island. Sadly, Nim's Island is a missed opportunity. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesTasha Robinson
The premise, from the book by Wendy Orr, is terrific, but the execution seems designed to make all but the youngest viewers fling copies of the book at the screen in frustration. Read full review
42
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
You begin yearning for more cuteness from the anthropomorphic animals: a pelican, a sea lion and, best of all, a bearded dragon lizard. They're a lot more amusing than Foster, who pours on the angst. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Three stories in one. This might be two stories too many. Read full review
40
VarietyJustin Chang
A picturesque adventure-comedy that quickly capsizes under the weight of its obnoxious slapstick, pedestrian dialogue and general unwillingness to rise above stock ideas and situations. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The movie's dated, stereotypical comedy often contradicts its wholesome intentions, coming across as laboriously cutesy and occasionally perverse. Read full review
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