Empire's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
For 6,818 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:
6818 movie reviews
  1. A miracle of a film. It feels like Bong Joon-ho’s already extraordinary career has been building to this: a riotous social satire that’s as gloriously entertaining as it is deeply sardonic.
  2. Although certainly an insightful study of the pop star’s populated psyche, Miss Americana is more of a mid-album track than an anthem. What could be raw and rowdy instead feels like an entertaining but tapered means of rebranding.
  3. Eddie Murphy’s Dr. Dolittle generated four sequels. On this showing, Downey Jr’s will be a standalone, an uncynical but mostly lacklustre kids’ flick that doesn’t find its voice, animal or otherwise.
  4. Lively’s steely heroine and a propulsive plot ensure you’re never bored, but this is a generic thriller from a simpler time, bulked up by a single strong performance.
  5. Neither a splendid phoenix from the ashes nor a complete failure, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is erratic, occasionally inspired, occasionally dull, but shot through with a grandiose sense of ambition. Plus, Driver and Pryce add some magic along the way.
  6. It could easily be twee twaddle, but A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood is a nuanced, formally playful delight, a perfectly pitched and played ode to goodness. All hail Marielle Heller.
  7. More engrossing than both "Sully" and "The 15:17 To Paris," Richard Jewell is enlivened by Paul Walter Hauser’s breakout performance yet undone by a lack of subtlety and real dramatic wallop. Solid, dependable, very late period Eastwood.
  8. Conjuring menace and mystery from solitude and seagulls, The Lighthouse is a folk tale, a black comedy, a horror, a mystery, a (platonic?) romance — and something more still, something unspeakable. Something like a masterpiece, perhaps.
  9. Unpacking classic fiction that has already been adapted a few times, once to critical acclaim, is no easy task. Yet while it’s not completely up to the challenge, The Turning at least offers up enough moody chills and a lead in Mackenzie Davis it’s not hard to root for as the craziness builds.
  10. A generic but competent reboot-quel enlivened by good performances across the board and some stylish direction. No grudges need be held here, but maybe it’s time to put this franchise to bed.
  11. A breezy, brilliant treat. Iannucci may have softened the bite of his comedy but replaces it with something remarkably optimistic and buoyant, telling a story as joyously relevant as it was a century-and-a-half ago.
  12. Not so much bad Bad Boys, more good Bad Boys. And not so-bad-it’s-good Bad Boys either. Instead, this is comfortably the best entry in the series to date. Which isn’t bad.
  13. If you don’t like Malick’s movies, A Hidden Life won’t convert you. But this is the filmmaker on sublime form, putting his artistry and obsessions at the service of something frighteningly relevant.
  14. A compassionate meditation on love, loss and family, Waves is hyper-stylish yet emotionally grounded. Despite some very high drama, it has a huge heart, and hits you where it hurts.
  15. An important story of injustice inspires but fails to fully ignite, despite two towering central performances from Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan.
  16. An absolute must-see for anyone who loved 2016’s Your Name. Even if it isn’t as surprising and narratively powerful as that film, Weathering With You once again exemplifies Makoto Shinkai’s visionary prowess as an animator.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    An illuminating, moving and quietly shocking account of Michael Hutchence’s short life. A must for fans, but Lowenstein’s lyrical, meditative piece offers a compelling account of one man’s passion that exudes warmth and humanity.
  17. Joining the ranks of Sphere, DeepStar Six and Leviathan as soggy Alien do-overs, Underwater finds a few tweaks to the monster play book, but not enough to make it live.
  18. A monumental thriller, which vividly captures its world’s specifics and calibrates its snaky plot for maximum nail-bitability. Also easily the best film to ever extensively feature Adam Sandler yelling at a TV.
  19. Taika Waititi’s most daring film isn’t his most successful. But among the tonal clashes there’s real hope, humanity, and no-bones-about-it Nazi-bashing at a time when that’s depressingly necessary.
  20. Like any Shaun outing, it skews very young — the comedy is mostly slapstick silly and energetic explosions of primary colour. But any Aardman entry promises to be the best of all-ages-appropriate entertainment, with insane levels of stop-motion craft on show.
  21. What it lacks in freshness and depth, The Gentlemen certainly makes up for in cartoon-y bluster and fun details.
  22. Destined to be an instant guilty pleasure, Cats is an insane musical experiment gone wrong. It is truly like nothing cinema has ever seen. The question is, is it something cinema actually wanted?
  23. It looks gorgeous and offers strong performances from Driver and Ridley in particular, but ultimately the saga ends with neither a bang nor a whimper but something inbetween.
  24. 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.
  25. It’s not the first of its kind, but compelling performances allow this portrait of a romance a genuine sense of passion. Under Tom Cullen’s sensitive, empathetic direction, this deeply felt picture never loses sight of its people.
  26. A feminist horror flick that lacks nuance in its feminism and thrills in its horror. But it should be applauded for reinterpreting rather than just retreading the original.
  27. If you like your Bayhem pure and unfiltered, this one’s for you. Others need not apply.
  28. It doesn’t have the surprise factor of the last film and sometimes feels rough around the edges, but The Next Level pushes its body-swap antics even further to deliver just as many laughs.
  29. One of the most compelling stories of the #MeToo movement is told unflinchingly, empathetically and authentically, with Charlize Theron completely nailing the knotty character of Megyn Kelly.

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