Boston Globe's Scores

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For 7,945 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 54% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 44% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.9 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 64
Highest review score: 100 Autumn Tale
Lowest review score: 0 Argylle
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5,227 out of 7945
  2. Mixed: 1,553 out of 7945
  3. Negative: 1,165 out of 7945
7945 movie reviews
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  1. Lorne
    As a documentary about Lorne Michaels, “Lorne” isn’t much; it’s more of a look at “Lorne Michaels,” the character his mysterious nature created.
  2. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
    As far as rehashed sequels go, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” could have been worse. That it’s slightly better holds out hope that the inevitable third film will be a major power up in quality.
  3. The Bride!
    Individual parts of “The Bride!” work, but as a whole, the critic in me found it confusing and irritating.
  4. Midwinter Break
    Hinds and Manville do a credible job of portraying a marriage that has run its course, and their best work occurs in the silences that pass between their characters, Gerry and Sheila.
  5. The Testament of Ann Lee
    Once again, Fastvold and Corbet have crafted a movie I admired more than I liked.
  6. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
    Fiennes has an excellent rapport with Lewis-Parry, making their scenes as compelling and moving as anything “28 Years Later” had to offer. It’s too bad that every time the Samson-Kelson plotline gets good, we’re yanked back to dopey Jimmy’s goofy gang and its religious mumbo jumbo.
  7. Is This Thing On?
    Dern is excellent, as usual, and her scenes with Arnett feel realistic. The screenplay by Cooper, Arnett, and Mark Chappell is really thin, however, and I didn’t find any of these people compelling.
  8. Avatar: Fire and Ash
    Basically, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is the same movie as “Avatar: The Way of Water,” the franchise’s prior installment. The only difference is that fire is the primary element, and the new villain looks like a gigantic, enraged chicken.
  9. Ella McCay
    Thankfully, Ella McCay is not as bad as its predecessor. Had this film been a total disaster, it would be easier to dismiss. But every so often, there are glints of the James L. Brooks brilliance I loved so much.
  10. Eternity
    I’ve said this a million times before, so it will sound familiar: All a rom-com needs to work is characters you want to see end up together. “Eternity” fails this test big time.
  11. Wicked: For Good
    Like its predecessor, Wicked: For Good benefits greatly from the fact that its two leads are fantastic singers, and its director knows how to stage a musical number.
  12. The Running Man
    Director Edgar Wright’s version is a more serious affair that not only has a duller hero than its predecessor, it’s also a half-hour longer.
  13. Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
    Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere has enough good material to make you wish it were better. Unfortunately, it owes debts to the biopic genre that no honest film can pay.
  14. If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
    It’s a daring choice to force audiences to spend 2 hours with someone they won’t like, but “If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You” is more of an experiment than an empathy machine. It overstays its welcome by at least 30 minutes.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    A House of Dynamite
    Despite its intent to scare viewers into thinking about the possibility of a nuclear attack on a major American city, the screenplay structure of “A House of Dynamite” robs most of its power. The same events are seen from three different perspectives, a narrative device that becomes an instantly forgettable gimmick.
  16. Roofman
    If only this movie were as interesting as the truth. Tatum’s sparkling charm can only take him so far; the script, by Cianfrance and Kirt Gunn, spends way too much time on a romantic subplot filled with sitcom scenarios and uninteresting characters.
  17. One Battle After Another
    Contrary to Gil Scott-Heron’s song, the revolution of “One Battle After Another” feels more televised than live. After 161 minutes of it, I was tempted to turn the channel.
  18. The Roses
    Unfortunately, “The Roses” is a toothless take on the material. The stakes are never as high as they were in the 1989 movie, and the film takes too much time trying to humanize these people. By the time they’re actively trying to sabotage and murder one another, the movie has completely lost its nerve. The end result feels rushed and weak-willed.
  19. Ne Zha 2
    This isn’t really for kids (I’d say it’s PG-13 level), and it’s so entrenched in its country’s myth-making that I wonder if sheer spectacle alone will be enough to entice American viewers.
  20. Freakier Friday
    I liked the “Freaky Friday” remake. It had some real emotional heft to it, much of it due to the excellent performances by Curtis and Lohan. This time, all the characters are one-note, especially the teenagers.
  21. Eddington
    For all that “Eddington” variously concerns itself with politics and conspiracy theories and violence and the Western landscape, what it’s really about is social media.
  22. Jurassic World Rebirth
    The true stars of “Jurassic World Rebirth,” the dinosaurs, are often left unidentified; we’re not sure if they’re real or some genetically engineered, made-up monstrosity. The film is so disinterested that it simply throws them onscreen with occasional bits of human beings stuck between their teeth.
  23. Bad Shabbos
    Thank goodness for Method Man, who understood the assignment and made the film watchable and fun whenever Jordan showed up. When he isn’t on screen, “Bad Shabbos” is a mediocre movie.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    28 Years Later
    28 Years Later isn’t sure what kind of movie it wants to be: Action-comedy? Gory grindhouse? Serious family drama? Despite some interesting concepts and commendable lead performances, its identity problems alienate. It seems like the years have finally caught up.
  25. Karate Kid: Legends
    Even at a mercifully short 94 minutes, this movie is exhausting. That would be fine if it weren’t also overly sincere, familiar, and dull.
  26. Lilo & Stitch
    Even if I like the film, as I did with “The Little Mermaid,” I still conclude that corporate greed is the sole reason for its existence.
  27. The Amateur
    The climax of The Amateur is one of the least satisfying meetings of hero and villain I’ve seen in a while.
  28. The Penguin Lessons
    The Penguin Lessons severely falters when it deals with the dangers of military occupation. It’s hard to watch a serious subplot involving people being “disappeared” by the government juxtaposed with scenes of cutesy penguin mayhem and classroom hijinks.
  29. Novocaine
    Novocaine is a numbing experience that’s best seen on cable at 3 a.m., preferably after you’ve numbed yourself with the vice of your choice.
  30. Mickey 17
    While the visuals are often stunning, and the first hour has a loose, raunchy charm, “Mickey 17″ wears out its welcome long before its overlong, nearly t2½-hour runtime ends.
  31. The Last Showgirl
    The movie is big and ostentatious when its delicate, sad story needed to be more quietly told. Anderson definitely understands this idea; despite playing a chaotic and unlikable character, she’s the most stable element here.
  32. Nosferatu
    When Dafoe is onscreen, his unpredictable energy drives a deserving stake into the film’s stodgy heart.
  33. Maria
    As the plot swings haphazardly between drug-induced hallucinations and reality, we lose trust in what we are seeing.
  34. Moana 2
    Moana 2 is disappointing, but it’s also watchable. I appreciated the attempt to tell a story that wasn’t based solely on the studio’s IP. And the visuals will entertain the kids too young to endure all 160 minutes of “Wicked” this holiday season.
  35. Gladiator II
    Thumbs up for Denzel; send the rest of this movie to the lions.
  36. Red One
    Though “Red One” is a bit of a slog, it’s still better than about 98 percent of the Christmas movie junk flung at us by the studios and streaming services every holiday season.
  37. Kneecap
    It runs out of story about midway through, and spends more time attempting to make these guys look cool than showing us the importance of their acts of linguistic civil disobedience.
  38. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
    “Axel F” is a joyless affair, a mediocre simulacrum that made me long for the original.
  39. Kinds of Kindness
    Fans of Lanthimos’s works outside his Emma Stone movies will find “Kinds of Kindness” worth watching. As for the rest of us: You’ll start out clapping along with “Sweet Dreams,” but by the end, you’ll be singing Peggy Lee’s immortal question, “Is That All There Is?”
  40. Young Woman and the Sea
    The film evokes all of the usual biopic tropes while painting a standard picture of an extraordinary hero.
  41. The Old Oak
    It’s a fable that ties up too neatly to be believed, and it’s a story I’m tired of hearing.
  42. Monkey Man
    A date movie “Monkey Man” is not.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Coup de Chance
    The film’s closing is abrupt and maybe too tidy, but “Coup de Chance” is still a clever little thriller. It displays an admirable economy of storytelling, and its jazz-heavy soundtrack helps maintain a jaunty mood.
  44. Wicked Little Letters
    There are many complaints to be made about “Wicked Little Letters” — its forced humor, its even more forced moral lessons, its tonal unevenness (flat-footed jokiness here, cheap sentimentality there) — but chief among them is wasting Buckley.
  45. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
    Seeing the Ghostbusters in the Big Apple where they belong put a smile on my face, at least until I realized I was watching a sitcom about wiseass teens and their dopey parents.
  46. Shirley
    Despite an impressive pedigree in front of and behind the camera, “Shirley” fails to convey just how remarkable the career of Shirley Chisholm really was. The problem isn’t the narrow focus on one of her accomplishments, it’s the even narrower depiction of who she was as a person.
  47. Love Lies Bleeding
    I generally love noir, gore, kick-ass women, the 1980s — but “Love Lies Bleeding” ladled out a visual stew I did not enjoy consuming.
  48. Arthur the King
    I should have been more affected by Arthur the King because, after all, “Old Yeller” conditioned my generation to erupt in tears whenever a dog’s fate looks dire. And yet, all I saw were the familiar gears churning underneath.
  49. Kung Fu Panda 4
    I enjoyed the first three adventures of the Dragon Warrior, but the best thing he can do now is to give this series a much needed skadoosh, sending it to rest in the cinematic spirit realm.
  50. Bob Marley: One Love
    Bob Marley: One Love opts to print the legend, but it will just make you want to listen to “Legend.”
  51. I.S.S.
    This film isn’t terrible; it’s just empty. There are few things more disappointing than a genre movie that forgoes developing its intriguing premise to focus on cheap, failed attempts to thrill.
  52. The Book of Clarence
    Samuel’s sophomore full-length feature is an ambitious misfire, a noble failure that starts off like “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” and ends like “The Passion of the Christ.”
  53. Ferrari
    Driver and Cruz are perfect surnames for actors starring in a movie called “Ferrari.” That was just one of the many thoughts I had as the minutes slowly ticked by. At least the loud sound mix kept me awake.
  54. The Iron Claw
    Unfortunately, Durkin’s script is so shallow that every character is reduced to a simple sketch.
  55. Monster
    It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a movie so fully collapse in its third act as this one does, and it does so without warning.
  56. Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
    Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget isn’t a bad movie; it’s just an unnecessary one. Whoever thought audiences would be clamoring for the sequel to a 23-year-old film with such a satisfying ending to its story must have been out of their clucking mind.
  57. Maestro
    Imitation and musical enthusiasm are all there is to this performance; in the dramatic scenes that make up the majority of Maestro, Cooper is the weak link that drags everything down.
  58. Saltburn
    It’s a movie full of grotesques behaving more or less grotesquely. There’s a school of thought that thinks unpleasantness in a movie qualifies as moral candor and high seriousness. Executed well enough and conceived imaginatively enough, it can be. Here it’s simply unpleasantness.
  59. Wish
    Though the visuals are often quite stunning, you’ll wish that “Wish” had a better story. Not even Magnifico is powerful enough to make you forget.
  60. The Exorcist: Believer
    Far too much of this movie is a replay of scenes and plot elements that Friedkin’s film did better, and without CGI. The anticipated head-spinning and pea-soup vomit were far more effective with practical effects.
  61. A Haunting in Venice
    Why Branagh and the screenwriter, Michael Green (he also did the two earlier Poirot adaptations), would want to bring actual, real-life horror into a mystery movie masquerading as a horror movie is a mystery beyond the powers of even Poirot to solve.
  62. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
    The “Cowabunga” dudes have become “Cowa-boring.”
  63. The Miracle Club
    I wish the filmmakers had shown as much faith in the audience as its characters have in miracles.
  64. Extraction 2
    As per sequel rules, everything has to be bigger. But bigger doesn’t always equal better, as Extraction 2 proves.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
    The result is a formulaic, underwhelming set-up for another era of Transformers movies.
  66. The Boogeyman
    The Boogeyman becomes an exercise in diminishing returns, though it is not without its pleasures.
  67. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    Unlike the first two installments, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ultimately feels tethered to the MCU in ways that mute the uniqueness of the series. Unlike its predecessors, its familiar beats feel like a bridge back to the MCU rather than a divergence off the beaten path.
  68. Ghosted
    Rom-com turning into bomb-com (there are lots of explosions) is a funny idea. But since neither the rom-com nor the bomb-com is much to speak of, Ghosted isn’t either.
  69. A Good Person
    If nothing else, Braff gets good to great performances out of his cast. The standouts are Pugh and Freeman: She’s a violent slash of petulance, while he remains a master of barely concealed wrath. Both actors are willing to plumb the depths of desperation, but their hard work is wasted in a film unworthy of their talents. A Good Person is a mediocre movie.
  70. Boston Strangler
    When Boston Strangler focuses on the two journalists who wrote about this case, it is quite involving.
  71. Champions
    Champions wants to be a clone of the 1976 sports movie classic “The Bad News Bears,” right down to giving us a Tatum O’Neal-style toughie, Cosentino (Madison Tevlin). While Tevlin is very funny and convincing, Harrelson fails to plumb the depths of unlikability in his character that Walter Matthau brought to Coach Buttermaker.
  72. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
    The Quantum Realm is definitely where the action is. Too much of it.
  73. Magic Mike's Last Dance
    Despite the return of director Steven Soderbergh (who also serves, as usual, as editor and cinematographer), writer Reid Carolin, and star Channing Tatum, this installment pales in comparison to its superior predecessors. Dare I say, it lacks — magic?
  74. Shotgun Wedding
    Director Jason Moore and writer Mark Hammer have fashioned an action movie/romantic comedy hybrid that’s too violent for comedy fans and not thrilling enough for thrill seekers. It’s not romantic at all, despite the best efforts of Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel.
  75. A Man Called Otto
    As with so many foreign films that get the Americanized treatment, A Man Called Otto is completely defanged, eliminating the dark humor that made the original successful enough to command a remake.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Menu
    The Menu might make you crave a hamburger or think twice before boarding a ferry to a private island with no cell service. But once the loose ends are tied up and the credits roll, it leaves you less than satisfied.
  77. The Banshees of Inisherin
    Banshees is like a short story trying to be a novel. The extra pages get filled with the postcard views. There are bits of wit — again, this is Martin McDonagh we’re talking about — but overall “Banshees” is lugubrious and slow.
  78. Ticket to Paradise
    Ticket is automatic-pilot smooth and formulaic familiar. It’s a romantic comedy, yes, and a star vehicle. But the category it most belongs to is airline movie — as in, a pleasure to watch in flight but less so on the ground.
  79. Blonde
    A lot of skill and imagination went into making Blonde. It’s just that they’re misplaced. The movie has its own cracked integrity. That long runtime allows Dominik to give it a slow, inexorable rhythm. Everything has a slightly underwater quality. Stardom here has more to do with miasma than glamour.
  80. The Silent Twins
    That’s the ultimate dividedness of “The Silent Twins.” What feels most fresh and true in it is, literally, imaginary, June and Jennifer’s flights of fancy. What feels most leaden and movie-phony is based on fact.
  81. Pinocchio
    The remake is poky and overstuffed. It’s also 17 minutes longer than the 1940 original. Granted, eight minutes of that is closing credits, but still. Pinocchio’s nose isn’t all that’s wooden and too long here.
  82. Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
    Formally, mockumentary is something of a cliché, as is intercutting of news coverage. That’s not great. It’s worse when the clichés aren’t just stylistic.
  83. Secret Headquarters
    Secret Headquarters is uneven but consistently lively. There are moments of real wit (when was the last time you saw a movie use Pig Latin?), though not enough to compensate for the fairly tired, somewhat confused action sequences.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Mack & Rita
    The film misses an opportunity to portray the complexity of one’s 30s — and 70s. Still, Mack & Rita is a quirky movie that reminds the audience to live life to the fullest, whatever age they are.
  85. Luck
    Luck is a somewhat confounding blend of past, present, and future. The confoundedness comes of throwback elements and visionary never quite cohering — that, and an increasingly cluttered plot turning a sweet-natured film into a bit of a slog.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Sharp Stick
    Sarah Jo is a slippery protagonist, an oddball, and an enigma. But perhaps tucked within her pure, dovelike disposition is a message about the ways women’s desire can be flattened or overlooked.
  87. Bullet Train
    Pitt’s presence makes a borderline-odious piece of work watchable.
  88. Fire of Love
    A remarkable subject, the Kraffts cry out for a remarkable filmmaker.
  89. The Gray Man
    The movie feels increasingly tired. All that gunplay, all that traveling, all that sneering from Lloyd: Everything gets a bit . . . much.
  90. The Sea Beast
    High-seas adventure meets message movie. The adventures are good. So’s the message. The problem is that they’re sailing in different directions.
  91. Thor: Love and Thunder
    A little Waititi can go a long way, and the arch self-awareness that gave “Ragnarok” its kickiness feels increasingly tired here: more schtick than kick.
  92. The Forgiven
    The Forgiven wants to have things both ways. Oh, look at how odiously these odious people behave — and let’s keep gawking at their odiousness. Sneering at slick emptiness becomes itself a kind of slick emptiness, only worse, since it’s self-congratulatory.
  93. The Man from Toronto
    It’s nasty and clumsy, tonally erratic, lacking in texture, and pretty stupid.
  94. The Phantom of the Open
    The movie is alternately preposterous and predictable, forced in humor and saccharine in emotion, and it’s not exactly steady in striking a balance between the two.
  95. Brian and Charles
    The decidedly lo-fi robot elements give the proceedings a bit of charm, as does the North Wales location, but they are not enough to save this buddy comedy from sapping the audience’s patience and goodwill.
  96. Men
    What a waste of a superb actress. Buckley almost makes Men worth sitting through. Almost.
  97. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
    Nicolas Cage has had one of the stranger careers in Hollywood history. Considering Hollywood history, that’s saying something. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, with its splendidly winking title, trades on that strangeness.
  98. Father Stu
    Ultimately, Father Stu is a movie about faith, but some kinds of faith have limits. So does casting. Wahlberg as a seminarian is one kind of stretch.
  99. Morbius
    Even at 104 minutes, practically a short by superhero-movie standards, Morbius feels draggy.
  100. The Lost City
    Sometimes it works — let’s say 12 percent of the time — and The Lost City can actually be deft and imaginative. Unfortunately, that leaves 88 percent which doesn’t.
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