CNN's Scores
- Movies
- TV
For 607 reviews, this publication has graded:
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42% higher than the average critic
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4% same as the average critic
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54% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3.9 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 61
| Highest review score: | Come from Away | |
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| Lowest review score: | Dolittle |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 291 out of 607
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Mixed: 272 out of 607
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Negative: 44 out of 607
607
movie
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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Reviewed by
Brian Lowry
Antebellum is built around a provocative twist, and it's a good one -- as well as one that definitely shouldn't be spoiled even a little. Once that revelation is absorbed, however, the movie becomes less distinctive and inspired, reflecting an attempt to tap into the zeitgeist that made "Get Out" a breakthrough, without the same ability to pay off the premise.- CNN
- Posted Sep 17, 2020
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Brian Lowry
Charlie's Angels has just enough fun with the premise to be tolerable, and not enough to justify a reboot that nobody really needed. This latest big-screen spin on the 1970s TV series brings playfulness and a stronger feminist streak courtesy of writer-director-co-star Elizabeth Banks, but it lacks the consistency to earn its wings.- CNN
- Posted Nov 13, 2019
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Brian Lowry
Designed to showcase Jennifer Lopez playing a character that could hardly be called a reach, Marry Me trades in the "meet cute" rom-com formula for "meet dumb." Lopez still gets ample opportunities to sing a hummable soundtrack, but even within the genre's parameters, the silly premise deals the movie a blow from which it never entirely recovers.- CNN
- Posted Feb 10, 2022
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Brian Lowry
Far more interested in stunts than story, Extraction is a simple-minded action vehicle for Chris Hemsworth that should benefit from providing a theatrical-style adrenaline rush when the spigot for such fare has closed. Basically, Netflix is serving up an old-fashioned B movie, at a moment when the A-list blockbusters have been postponed.- CNN
- Posted Apr 22, 2020
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Brian Lowry
Anchored by an impressive performance from Matt Damon, Stillwater confounds expectations in mostly frustrating ways.- CNN
- Posted Jul 29, 2021
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Brian Lowry
Late twists ratchet up the drama, but also make the movie feel as it has rushed toward a resolution.- CNN
- Posted Mar 4, 2021
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Brian Lowry
Peter Pan & Wendy wants to conjure magic but turns out to be low on fairy dust, yielding a dreary live-action adaptation of the 1953 movie that transforms Neverland into what vaguely feels like a discount version of Pandora.- CNN
- Posted Apr 28, 2023
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Brian Lowry
Like "The Crimes of Grindelwald," "Secrets of Dumbledore" is handsomely done but ultimately too much of a dumble-snore. And somehow, its appealing pieces, old and new, again add up to a less-than-magical movie.- CNN
- Posted Apr 15, 2022
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Brian Lowry
The net effect is more numbing than stirring, with only a few monster-on-monster tussles that come close to being worth the price of admission.- CNN
- Posted May 28, 2019
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Brian Lowry
Artemis Fowl isn't an unqualified good egg, but it's perfectly adequate, and the best of the kid-friendly movies redirected to streaming by coronavirus -- a low bar, admittedly, after "Trolls World Tour" and "Scoob!"- CNN
- Posted Jun 12, 2020
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Brian Lowry
Yet even with the occasional dollop of dog-related humor, The Art of Racing in the Rain feels as ponderous as its title. While there have been plenty of movies that touch the heart through the relationship with our four-footed friends, if this one doesn't completely hit the skids, nor is it close to being the pick of the litter.- CNN
- Posted Aug 9, 2019
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Brian Lowry
More an examination of human nature than a thriller, the space-faring movie deals with weighty issues but doesn't possess much pizzazz or gravity, making Netflix the logical home for its launch.- CNN
- Posted Apr 22, 2021
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Brian Lowry
Watching Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani riff off each other is intermittently fun, but that's all there is to recommend The Lovebirds, a dark, somewhat chaotic romantic comedy.- CNN
- Posted May 21, 2020
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Brian Lowry
Written and directed by Lee Cronin, the wit and humor that Campbell brought to past incarnations (including a Starz series revival) is in relatively short supply here. The film rather relies upon lots of jump scares and gruesome makeup effects, as well as the prospect of Ellie’s possessed form trying to do in her kids. That includes her very-young daughter (Nell Fisher), a semi-distasteful element even by the standards of the genre.- CNN
- Posted Apr 20, 2023
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Brian Lowry
Tesla even more aggressively incorporates documentary-style techniques and weird anachronisms into the drama. His story is essentially narrated by Morgan's daughter, Anne (Eve Hewson), in a way that gives the movie a decidedly off-kilter spin. At one point, Hawke even sings a few bars of the 1980s song "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," recorded decades after Tesla's death.- CNN
- Posted Jul 24, 2020
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Brian Lowry
In a grand science fiction tradition, Don't Look Up uses a disaster-movie framework as a metaphor for a reality-based crisis, with a huge comet hurtling toward Earth as a surrogate for indifference to addressing climate change. Yet this star-studded, extremely provocative satire at times veers off course itself, partially undermining its admirable qualities with the broadness of its tone.- CNN
- Posted Dec 7, 2021
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Brian Lowry
Despite a stellar cast and showy moments (given who’s involved how could there not be?), the writer-director’s sprawling, messy, three-hour-plus endurance test isn’t ready for its closeup.- CNN
- Posted Dec 23, 2022
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Brian Lowry
The Rhythm Section can't quite get its act together. Featuring a solid performance by Blake Lively, it's not bad exactly, but plays like a malnourished Jason Bourne wannabe, crossed with the grittier side of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."- CNN
- Posted Jan 30, 2020
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Reviewed by
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- Critic Score
Kitano, thankfully, displays the occasional flash of showmanship, and he certainly establishes a unique tone, but troublesome things like plot and pacing don't seem to be to his liking.- CNN
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Reviewed by
Brian Lowry
The love showered on Brendan Fraser out of film festivals inflates expectations for “The Whale” wildly out of proportion, in a movie based on a play that occurs almost entirely within a lone apartment. Weighted down not by its morbidly obese protagonist but rather its stick-thin supporting players, Fraser deserves praise for his buried-under-makeup performance, but that’s not enough to keep the movie afloat.- CNN
- Posted Dec 9, 2022
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Brian Lowry
Oyelowo's film delivers its simple message to appreciate the people you love ably enough, without leaving the intended ripples in its wake.- CNN
- Posted May 6, 2021
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Brian Lowry
Given a chance to step up in class, the actor turned director has assembled a topnotch cast, but in a story that teases the buildup a bit too long and doesn’t pay it off very neatly; indeed, the ending becomes what the movie’s driving force speaks of endeavoring to avoid – namely, chaos.- CNN
- Posted Sep 22, 2022
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Brian Lowry
A thinly sketched out, wildly violent satire, one that rather cynically uses the current backdrop of partisan tribalism as the hook for an old-time exploitation piece.- CNN
- Posted Mar 11, 2020
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Brian Lowry
While the film says something that matters, for a show whose press notes proclaim it a "generation-defining Broadway phenomenon," a great deal appears to have been lost in translation.- CNN
- Posted Sep 23, 2021
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Brian Lowry
You People relies on cringe-inducing moments as the crux of its comedy, as a Jewish guy and a Black Muslim woman (neither of them particularly observant) get engaged, then endure the push and pull of their respective families. A topnotch cast – down to the tiny cameos – can’t fully redeem material that gets lost somewhere between satire and sitcom as assembled by star Jonah Hill and director Kenya Barris.- CNN
- Posted Jan 27, 2023
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Brian Lowry
Do Revenge isn’t about stretching conventions but rather simply finding another wrinkle on what has become an established formula. It does that, but for a movie where the characters speak often about their Ivy League aspirations, creatively speaking it lands more in the safety-school category.- CNN
- Posted Sep 16, 2022
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Brian Lowry
Bullet Train certainly moves at an appropriately brisk pace, with Brad Pitt heading a sprawling cast. But the breakneck action is offset by a smart-alecky tone that proves both uneven and occasionally too cute for its own good, along with a mashup of styles – from the music to the visuals – that comes across like a Quentin Tarantino wannabe, with a dash of “Deadpool” for good measure.- CNN
- Posted Aug 2, 2022
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Brian Lowry
Penguin Bloom is harmless enough as family fare goes, which counts for something, with an inspirational message for these trying times. The real drawback lies in how the story flits around in the telling and seems unable to choose a lane, leaving a movie that feels as if it's neither fish nor fowl.- CNN
- Posted Jan 27, 2021
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Brian Lowry
Ant-Man is a somewhat ironic choice for a very, very big job: Kicking off the next phase of Marvel movies. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania works on one key level, establishing Kang the Conqueror as a truly formidable and worthy villain. Yet with its plunge into inner space, “Ant-Man” comes up short in almost every other way that matters.- CNN
- Posted Feb 14, 2023
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Brian Lowry
Spaceman feels a little too weighty in its reliance on emotional cliches. Whether that’s ultimately due to the underlying material or the heavy hand brought to translating it, the net effect is a failure to launch.- CNN
- Posted Feb 26, 2024
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