CNN's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
For 607 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 42% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 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: 100 Come from Away
Lowest review score: 20 Dolittle
Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 44 out of 607
607 movie reviews
  1. Simon Kinberg has worked on scripts for three previous X-Men films, and with his promotion here to writer and director, approaches the material with considerable conviction, as well as plenty of callbacks to the earlier movies. What he can't do, at least consistently, is make this story pop, or prevent the inevitable showdown -- with multiple parties engaged in a massive battle -- fully engaging, as opposed to devolving into a sort-of chaotic mess.
  2. Park and Wong are both innately likable, which makes the movie pleasant enough to watch, but also a bit of a slog given the ostensible inevitability of where it's heading.
  3. Those raised on John's music will surely luxuriate in the songs, from the title track to "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Your Song" to "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." In those moments, it's easy to share the euphoric sense of being lifted off the ground. It's only a bit of shame that Rocketman, as constructed, doesn't consistently stay airborne.
  4. 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.
  5. Chalk it up to modest expectations -- starting with early previews that rubbed people the wrong way -- but Aladdin is a great deal of fun, with charming leads and elaborately mounted songs. It's hardly a whole new world, but in this suddenly well-populated land of live-action reboots, makes the most out of its familiar one.
  6. Proves just clever enough to come out on the right side of a split decision.
  7. There's a lot of teeth-sinking, bordering on scenery-chewing, in this latest film from writer-director Dan Gilroy, which reunites him with Gyllenhaal and real-life spouse Rene Russo after their collaboration on "Nightcrawler."
  8. Still, the madcap nature of the exercise -- and narrative road map that the earlier movie provides -- can't help but make this incarnation feel less inspired, for all its colorful irreverence, before rallying a bit at the finish.
  9. A mildly pleasant but significantly flawed vehicle for Taraji P. Henson.
  10. A wholly forgettable movie, most likely to be remembered, lamentably, for its contributing role in Neeson landing in hot water.
  11. Isn't It Romantic has charm to burn, in a light-hearted send-up of romantic comedies that playfully turns all the familiar tropes into a lively vehicle for Rebel Wilson. The movie owes a thematic debt to "Groundhog Day," but mostly -- in a film so conscious of conventions that it niftily bleeps its foul language -- it's a heckuva lot of fun.
  12. There are no icebergs here, but that doesn't prevent the movie from sinking under its own weight.
  13. A solidly made animated feature, but one more notable for the height of its aspirations than its consistent ability to deliver on them.
  14. The movie does contain an empowering message thanks to its gender distinction, which is thrown into sharper focus by the period. Yet while it's a welcome landmark, Marvel and Disney's ambitious plans will almost surely reduce that status to a historical footnote.
  15. Wonder Park feels like the kind of mild attraction that younger kids might enjoy when it hits secondary platforms. It's just not an adventure that's worth the price of a ticket or standing in line to see.
  16. Richardson, in particular, shines in the role.
  17. Us
    As a first film, this movie would have surely been hailed for its promise. Held up against a debut that garnered a well-deserved Oscar nomination and honors for best original screenplay, it's easy to come way thinking that "Us" doesn't merit all that fuss.
  18. Dumbo achieves a minor miracle, taking a challenging animated classic and completely refashioning it into an effective, often-charming live-action movie.
  19. A bloody mess.
  20. Even with the interlocking nature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Endgame feels like a triumph of narrative engineering -- weaving in enough callbacks to earlier movies to delight even the nerdiest patrons.
  21. One wishes the movie had a little more heft to it. It's fine, even welcome, to see a superhero exult in his abilities, and on that level, "Shazam!" is generally fun. Even so, that lightning symbol notwithstanding, the film only occasionally conjures the spark of magic that gives the title its meaning.
  22. Long Shot is a movie somewhat at war with itself, seeking to combine political satire with crude (in the mode of many Seth Rogen movies) romantic comedy. Both elements work in fits and starts, but they tend to offset each other, yielding a film more enjoyable for individual moments than any sort of cohesive whole.
  23. Everything worth seeing in Pokemon Detective Pikachu neatly fits in the coming-attractions trailer, leaving a pretty numbing additional 100 minutes of sound and furry. Those deeply invested in the franchise will likely find bits to like, but in terms of fashioning a memorable live-action version, alas, that's not in the cards.
  24. Deliver(s) adrenaline-fueled thrills, before fatigue creeps into the unrelenting mayhem about halfway through.
  25. While time is likely on the side of its leads, their chemistry only goes so far in what feels, finally, like a half-baked movie.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    It's much more enjoyable than this sort of date-movie thing normally is, and that success can mostly be credited to the big names populating the film.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The performances (especially the lead one by Shall We Dance's Koji Yakusho) are all quite good, but I was once again stuck watching a movie that's solely about repressed passion, perhaps the least cinematic thing you could ever try to film.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 50 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.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    I laughed out loud a few times during The Big Lebowski, and Jeff Bridges, as always, is very good, but after I write this review, I'll probably never think about the movie again. And I spend way too much time thinking about movies.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Cats Don't Dance is a blast.

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