Empire's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
For 6,820 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:
6820 movie reviews
  1. Serra’s sad, stately, haunting addition to the slow-cinema genre doubles up as both an intimate study of the Sun King’s death and a requiem for Europe’s fading arthouse scene.
  2. A motorsports movie you don’t need to be a petrolhead to enjoy. Rev up those whiteknuckle thrillride clichés, you're going to need them.
  3. It's a credit to Hákonarson's poised execution of his own bare-bones script that both worst- and best- case scenarios seem possible once Inga finds allies in the community.
  4. Firmly establishing Aaron Pierre’s credentials as a thinking man’s Rambo, Rebel Ridge might not be particularly groundbreaking, but this Netflix-and-kill thriller is an undeniably fun night in.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Truly classic film-making.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A real treat for fans of Ali and music alike.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    An interesting first effort from Nichols - making him a director to look out for in the future.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A surprisingly good and compelling film, that is made by its two leads.
  5. A devilishly funny documentary that blends improbable imagery, self-awareness and religious provocation with a genuine sense of political purpose.
  6. As with a number of arthouse films, the ending leaves something to be desired. But, courtesy of its meticulously mundane digital imagery, this is a film of precise details that sketches an outline of existence and then leaves it to the audience to draw their own conclusions.
  7. Bravo stylishly delivers a dreamlike odyssey with slick, character-driven performances full of conviction, but that courage dissipates by the final act with nary enough steam to power a satisfying ending for its eponymous hero.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Alex Gibney adds to his forensic examinations of Enron and Abu Ghraib with another fine documentary. Undeterred by grey areas or the hostility of his subject, the filmmaker tackles one of the stories of our times with dynamism and smarts.
  8. Tense, stressful and savagely staged, this is a scarily good debut from YouTubers Danny and Michael Philippou. Be sure to hold someone’s hand while watching.
  9. Nichols mounts impressive visual effects and frantic bursts of action.... But the film’s strength is in its humanity rather than its super-humanity.
  10. While it can be a lot to take in, Occupied City is a poignant sociological portrait. Through the history of one space, it studies how fascism pushes people out of spaces  — but is also hopeful on resilience, solidarity and resistance.
  11. A languid, quietly moving love triangle.
  12. With each subplot reinforcing the simmering sense of unease, this compelling recreation of a pernicious period soberingly exposes the ease with which morality can become a casualty of human nature.
  13. Sounds rather soapy and melodramatic, but director Susanne Bier, assisted by an able cast, ensures the traumas are painfully realistic and subtly observed.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Handsome, engrossing, frequently very funny for a literary bio drama, and ultimately deeply moving, with pitch-perfect performances from one and all.
  14. Mainstream audiences may find this too oddball to appreciate as a straight thriller. But tune into its strange frequency and there is much to enjoy — perhaps even adore.
  15. Chock-full of terrific performances, Margin Call is the kind of gripping, grown-up film that these days is usually found on the small screen.
  16. This charmingly odd tribute to Sorrentino’s formative years is slighter than it possibly deserves to be, but when it’s this handsome, who cares? Will have you absolutely salivating for Italy.
  17. Ultimately, this has the feel of a lazy literary adaptation of a half-remembered novel.
  18. Superb star turn from Maria Alexandra Lungi but this doesn’t grip as it might.
  19. As Diana, Gadot is excellent, a rocking electric cello riff in human form.
  20. Showing how paradise can be hell, this audiovisual treat is spiritedly played by its leads and bristles with a brooding menace that can't quite disguise the story's essentially melodramatic nature.
  21. While not quite on a level with The Endless, this is another pocket lint sci-fi from the current masters of such. A welcome sign that Benson and Moorhead haven’t gone fully respectable just yet.

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