Empire's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
For 6,821 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 0.9 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:
6821 movie reviews
  1. Exotica reaches for the mysterious, subtle and provocative with sparing but tangible success, and is flashy in the same way earlier Egoyan films were buttoned down.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    With Ahmed and James’ connection holding it together, this is a tight, tense throwback to the paranoid thrillers of yesteryear that just about sticks the landing.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Landis' latest keeps you laughing not with it's originality (of which there is little) but with it's confidence to out-joke it's predecessors on this much-trodden ground.
  2. With the feel of prestige telly, it's nicely done, sweet and moving.
  3. This uneven but well-researched film takes a much more sober and realistic view than the Rambo-esque capers, of the hardships endured by shot-down Americans in conditions that were anything but Hilton-like.
  4. It sets out to be less pompous than similar films, which inevitably means it feels less substantial. While amusing rather than hilarious, it ought to establish Matt Damon as a star character actor.
  5. Fleischer Camp brings a light touch and a good human cast to this reverently faithful effort, but it’s never as clear and bright as its source material.
  6. It's a missed opportunity to make a great documentary, but still decent family entertainment, with awe-inspiring Antarctic scenery and some very cute stars.
  7. Like many sequels, Truth To Power is bigger but messier than its predecessor. While it doesn’t quite deliver the oomph of the original, it is still a timely, persuasive wake-up call.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Yet in trying to be honest and non-conformist, Mad City does the most dishonest thing imaginable: it conforms to Hollywood routine.
  8. Enjoyable from start to finish, this throw-away action flick does what it says on the tin.
  9. This is an old-school exercise in shock and gore, with scary ideas and unblinking splatter.
  10. It’s not just the demonic possession victims whose eyes will be rolling back in their skulls – none of this should work, really, and yet the film just about gets away with it, proving the Lord truly does move in mysterious ways.
  11. Fennell throws everything at this fever-dream adaptation, which massages the senses while showcasing Elordi’s ever-growing star power. If only its electrically erotic energy was sustained to the end.
  12. The players are a colourful bunch, the film referencing is smart, the football satire sharp and there are delightful moments of visual imagination in the appealing animation.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Less a sequel, more a virtual remake of Home Alone, this "John Hughes production" follows the same route as its money-spinning predecessor, wheeling out the well-worn precocious-kid-on-his-todd scenario with scant regard for originality.
    • 35 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    It’s no Scream. Or, indeed, The Babadook. But Kevin Williamson’s meta-slasher has solid emotional underpinning and a handful of ace scenes. And Sidney-f*cking-Prescott.
  13. It may lack the subtleties and emotional wallop of a lo-fi musical like Once, but Sunshine On Leith delivers a bright, cheery, big-hearted smile of a movie.
  14. Inoffensive fun, but unlike its paperback forbear, the cinematic Ferdinand is unlikely to stand the test of time.
  15. It doesn’t do anything different from the original, but the upside to The Upside is two strong, winning performances that keep you going down a well worn path.
  16. Surprisingly watchable, at least by recent Vince Vaughn standards, with Chris Pratt stealing the show was the hilariously gormless lawyer.
  17. Two parts raw and real, one part manipulative, Coda finds engaging characters and real emotions in a hackneyed narrative arc. See it, though, for a terrific turn from Emilia Jones, if for no other reason than to say you were there at the beginning.
  18. Sharply scripted with a melancholic charm.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Just as Miyazaki seemed on the verge of properly crossing over, he serves up an anime riddle wrapped in an enigma - though with all his usual charm, wit and hand-drawn beauty.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    This drama works best when it’s not taking its cues directly from its source material. It may not be always totally compelling, but Deadwyler elevates every scene she’s in.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Much more than a tits and arse farce, this is an enjoyable, if lightweight effort.
  19. The strength of the piece is that it realises which aspects of its genre have been seen too many times, always coming back to Nelson's blank but expressive stare as he watches terrible things the director doesn't need to shove in our faces.
  20. Heather Graham and Maika Monroe add heat to this handsome, slow-burning thriller that lacks the urgency of Bahrani’s previous effort, "99 Homes."
  21. It's always trying to do something unusual. It has a great lead in Pegg. What it doesn't have is an ending or a clear reason what it wants to be.
  22. A laudably even-handed examination of a highly charged subject.

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