Empire's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
For 6,824 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 54% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 43% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.8 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 66
Highest review score: 100 Oppenheimer
Lowest review score: 20 Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Score distribution:
6824 movie reviews
  1. Kosinski has again built a fantasy world that feels real to its core, but once more put most effort into the scenery and too little into the people.
  2. It’s unexceptionally filmed and occasionally clunky, but this is a gently heart-warming underdog story, and Turner shows real star-power in the lead role.
  3. Better in conception than execution, Spies In Disguise never really gets the best out of its James Bond Is A Pigeon high concept. The result is entertaining while it lasts, but won’t lodge itself permanently in your memory bank.
  4. A solid if fairly derivative attempt to steal Disney’s thunder. There’s enough pep and vigour here to keep kids interested, if not quite enough for the grown-ups. 
  5. Despite a familiar, somewhat tedious set-up, Greta truly comes into its own in the final act, a ’90s thriller throwback elevated by Isabelle Huppert tearing up the scenery and dancing all over it.
  6. Looking to cast a spell of its own, The Craft: Legacy tries some new tricks. It’s just a shame that for all the worthwhile additions, it’s sometimes more toil than bubble.
  7. While still a lurid sequel to a ropey slasher movie, Orphan: First Kill is refreshingly clever, unpredictable and gruesome. Isabelle Fuhrman’s Esther deserves three more sequels and a ‘Versus’ movie with the Stepfather or Chucky.
  8. A brainless, bombastic, bomb-tastic action romp, this is absurd on almost every level, and far more fun than it has any right to be.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Somewhat dated now but still occasionally gripping.
  9. Lawther’s a charismatic, uncompromising lead, and Billy’s campaign is an inspiring one, but this sometimes settles for broad strokes of heroism or villainy where more subtlety would have increased its impact.
  10. The three lead characters end the film as isolated as they began it. As with the plot, there isn't quite enough in the throwaway humour to hold them together.
  11. It’s a great premise but, over-populated by dull characters and a flat feel, Cocaine Bear is sadly a party animal that never gets started. Not quite a coke zero but close.
  12. Moore just looks confused. He obviously wants to do his thing then hit the bar for cocktails, but John Glen is nagging him to add a roughness to the slick exterior. Equally, it just doesn’t fit. The news is clear, there’s only so far you can push a Bond before it breaks.
  13. An odd one. Rogen's latest clown is an angry, confused man who you never feel entirely comfortable laughing at. There are laughs -- you'll just feel guilty afterwards...
  14. The first Star Wars film in nearly a decade doesn’t shake up the formula: instead, it’s a lively if inessential extended episode of the series. But Mando remains cool, and Grogu remains cute
  15. A small but neatly formed horror oddity that prises suspense out of a familiar parental worry: is the person my child has fallen in love with who they say they are?
  16. Slick but forgettable, Fuqua’s suicide squad is a macho posse movie that could use a jab of fun. It’s The Magnificent Seven, but the “magnificent” is silent.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    An intelligent, sapphic-tinged and superbly acted rural thriller with Moore, Sweeney, Gleeson and Shaw all on fine form, only slightly dampened by some blatant product placement.
  17. It has a few laughs and some stylish outfits, but this is unfortunately a shallow prequel, one which fails to breathe new life into the Hunger Games franchise.
  18. A throwback thriller which brings nothing new to a crowded genre, and has little to say along the way. They don’t make ’em like this anymore, and, to be honest, they probably shouldn’t.
  19. Perhaps not as heart-warming or charming as the first film, The Railway Children Return is engaging and entertaining in different ways, winningly played by its fresh cast.
  20. Although the broad comedy of the first half soon gives way to a tidal wave of entirely uncalled for sentimentality, this is still a laugh riot - the sight of our hero setting fire to his falsies never fails to amuse.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The depth of talent in the cast and gag writing shines through, but it’s only just enough to take your mind off of the flat animation.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Serviceable action thriller than unleashes John Milius-style guerilla setpieces without the impact of John Milius-style budgets.
  21. More potent as a cautionary tale than future noir, Anon’s digital dystopia certainly gets a Like, even if it doesn’t quite warrant a Share.
  22. Superbly adapted with blistering performances from Taylor and Hepburn.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    A smart script, edgy acting and a gradual accumulation of suspense set-pieces makes for a decent popcorn high.
  23. William Eubank continues to work his particular mind-stretching mix of acute character interplay and cosmic conceptual breakthrough.
  24. It means well, but it's all just a bit too tired a formula - even by the standards of a kids film. Put this one in the top field to 'rest'.
  25. You end up with this perky but pointless rehash of the cute alien format that became embedded in the late ‘80s.

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