The Associated Press' Scores

  • Movies
Select another publication »
For 1,506 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 54% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 44% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.1 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 66
Highest review score: 100 Tootsie
Lowest review score: 0 The King's Daughter
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,083 out of 1506
  2. Mixed: 244 out of 1506
  3. Negative: 179 out of 1506
1506 movie reviews
view
per page
  1. The Island of Dr. Moreau
    The latter stages of "Moreau" prove chaotic and confusing, negating what showed promise as a "Planet of the Apes" thriller...Any appearance by Marlon Brando is an event, if only to witness his latest transformation. He seems to have entered his Sydney Greenstreet period. Looking huge and sinister, he affects an upper-class English accent with lines such as, "I'm simply going to perish from the heat." He even sports a monocle in one scene...At times, Brando conveys a demented menace, but mostly his performance seems a mockery, of the film and himself...And Kilmer makes the most of his ambiguous role. [22 Aug 1996]
    • The Associated Press
  2. Chain Reaction
    Besides the muddled story, the script is burdened with some of the clunkiest dialogue for a major film in recent memory. [3 Aug 1996]
    • The Associated Press
  3. DragonHeart
    Director Rob Cohen gets the most out of the buddy relationship between Bowen and Draco. Cohen also provides imaginative battle sequences, especially a pursuit through a forest. But the script, credited to Charles Edward Pogue from a story by Pogue and Patrick Read Johnson, sometimes veers into the obscure. [28 May 1996]
    • 33 Metascore
    • 25 Critic Score
    If Lucy Fell
    Despite a respectable budget, a well-known cast, even a bona fide supermodel, "If Lucy Fell" is boring, depressing and unfunny. [7 March 1996]
    • The Associated Press
  5. City Hall
    A dynamic political drama with superior acting and wide significance. The competing forces of city governance have rarely been portrayed with such immediacy and incisiveness. [17 Feb 1996]
    • The Associated Press
  6. Now and Then
    Now and Then will be deeply felt by women, and there's no earthly reason why men shouldn't enjoy it, too. [19 Oct 1995]
    • The Associated Press
    • 48 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    Operation Dumbo Drop
    Director Simon Wincer, who made the first Free Willy, knows a thing or two about gigantic mammals that fly through the air, and he does a nice job here. If only his editing team had been more ruthless in trimming from the film's second half. [27 Jul 1995]
    • The Associated Press
    • 47 Metascore
    • 38 Critic Score
    Nine Months
    Ham-fisted and simplistically drawn. [11 July 1995]
    • The Associated Press
    • 46 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Tank Girl
    The plot is incoherent and jumpy and the dialogue weak. Scriptwriter Tedi Sarafian makes the same mistake his brother Doran made in his movie "Gunmen." It's all effects and nonstop action, as if that can cover for one-dimensional characters. [30 March 1995]
    • The Associated Press
    • 48 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Just Cause
    An intelligent and riveting courtroom thriller. [16 Feb 1995]
    • The Associated Press
  11. Richie Rich
    Director Daniel Petrie keeps the whimsy under control most of the time, and he draws evenhanded work from the actors. The script by Tom S. Parker and Jim Jennewein, based on Neil Tolkin's story, rarely rises above the level of comic-strip balloons, but that's as it should be. [23 Dec 1994]
    • The Associated Press
    • 92 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Quiz Show
    Robert Redford's intricately woven and brilliant movie Quiz Show paints a witty but poignant portrait of that tainted time on television, when Eisenhower's America lost its innocence. [15 Sept 1994]
    • The Associated Press
    • 36 Metascore
    • 38 Critic Score
    Color of Night
    But there is nothing erotic in the coupling between Willis and March, who repeatedly took off her clothes in 1992's "The Lover" to much greater effect. The movie is tepid as a thriller, too, since it's not hard to guess the killer's identity and motive. What's worse is that you don't really care about either, though it is fun to see Willis menaced several times by a red - get it? [18 Aug 1994]
    • The Associated Press
    • 88 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    The Lion King
    A mystical, thrilling and breathtaking coming-of-age movie. [14 June 1994]
    • The Associated Press
    • 70 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    The Paper
    A high-voltage joy ride of journalistic fun. [16 March 1994]
    • The Associated Press
  16. On Deadly Ground
    Clumsily derivative, completely predictable and leadenly directed by the star himself. [23 Feb 1994]
    • The Associated Press
  17. Romeo Is Bleeding
    Romeo Is Bleeding continues the trend of modern manifestations of the film noir. It has the basic elements: crooked cop, lethal female, vicious gang boss, tawdry locales, bloody corpses. Everything, in fact, but style. [14 Feb 1994]
    • The Associated Press
    • 65 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    Body Snatchers
    A rather anemic effort that runs low on suspense but high on some wonderfully campy moments that will probably leave you howling. [01 Feb 1994]
    • The Associated Press
    • 56 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Iron Will
    Say what you like about Iron Will - that it's corny and predictable - it's still an irresistibly sweet and upbeat adventure and if it doesn't make your heart pound a little faster, call a cardiologist. [10 Jan 1994]
    • The Associated Press
  20. The War Room
    Although it is a historical document, The War Room plays out as a "buddy" film with two men - James Carville and George Stephanopoulos - emerging as figures charismatic enough to carry this feature-length movie...What we see is fascinating, funny and revelatory. [18 Nov 1993]
    • The Associated Press
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Carlito's Way
    It's fitting that director Brian De Palma's latest effort, Carlito's Way, begins and ends inside a train station, because this is a movie that's seriously derailed. [09 Nov 1993]
    • The Associated Press
    • 43 Metascore
    • 38 Critic Score
    The Three Musketeers
    It's a rather insipid rendition of the Alexandre Dumas classic destined to stand in the shadow of earlier movie versions. Oddly enough, this Disney version of the rousing novel leaves a final impression somewhere between lifeless and bland.
    • The Associated Press
    • 47 Metascore
    • 25 Critic Score
    Mr. Jones
    It's a film that's two hours of maudlin, heavy-handed overwrought silliness. Think of "Prince of Tides" meets "Benny & Joon," with less entertainment value. [5 Oct 1993]
    • The Associated Press
    • 84 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    The Joy Luck Club
    Every once in a while a movie comes along that is so stirring and so moving that it stays with you long after it's over. Like a wonderful memory, it washes over your psyche for days and bathes it in some indescribable richness. The Joy Luck Club is just such a movie. This is filmmaking at its best: a wonderful story that transcends cultures. It is beautifully set and filmed, superbly acted and masterfully directed. [7 Sept 1993]
    • The Associated Press
    • 87 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Fugitive
    If you can suspend your disbelief, The Fugitive is a raucous, rampaging adventure that's certain to thrill. If your eye gets caught on details, however, you'll be annoyed by plot twists that range from unlikely to unbelievable. For the most part, director Andrew Davis ("Under Siege") knits a fabulous story. [5 Aug 1993]
    • The Associated Press
    • 43 Metascore
    • 25 Critic Score
    Hocus Pocus
    [A] dreary little waste of celluloid. [12 July 1993]
    • The Associated Press
    • 49 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Dennis the Menace
    This is a movie with a plot that’s as predictable as a well-tuned washing machine...What saves this movie from insipidness is an endearing performance by Walter Matthau as the cantankerous Mr. Wilson.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Life with Mikey
    Life With Mikey is spun with delightful wisecracks, a childlike charm and the exhilaration of surmounting the odds - even though the sum of these parts cloys just a bit. [1 June 1993]
    • The Associated Press
    • 49 Metascore
    • 38 Critic Score
    Made in America
    Made in America has a deficit problem - it's a comedy with woefully few good jokes, a leading man and woman with a serious lack of chemistry, and a plot that has as much credibility as a campaign promise. [27 May 1993]
    • The Associated Press
  30. Hot Shots! Part Deux
    The actors perform their deadpan duties satisfactorily. The news about Charlie Sheen is his pumped-up body. Look out, Arnold and Sly! Bridges is amusingly wild-eyed as the bionic president, and Golino manages to be sexy and funny at the same time.
    • The Associated Press
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »