USA Today's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
For 4,677 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 61% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 36% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1 point lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 64
Highest review score: 100 Fruitvale Station
Lowest review score: 0 Amos & Andrew
Score distribution:
4677 movie reviews
  1. When it comes to sheer spectacle, Star Trek, as re-imagined by J.J. Abrams, delivers.
  2. It's an unconventional premise: that aliens live in harmony and humans are the warmonger invaders. But it's not that simple.
  3. Ghosts can't make up its mind whether it wants to be a racy raunchfest or a sentimental celebration of soul mates. So it ends up being a sappy, sleazy hybrid.
  4. It might be that Jarmusch (Broken Flowers) is experimenting with creating a pastiche of dreamlike sequences that audiences can interpret as they wish. Or it may be merely pretension and hubris that fuels such a stylized and insubstantial story.
  5. Although it's a quintessential popcorn movie, Wolverine is not mindless. Hood and Jackman bring depth to a comic-book tale of anti-heroes with anger issues.
  6. Fighting seriously lacks punch.
  7. Shocking is the fact that three highly regarded actors -- Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke and Billy Bob Thornton -- chose to star in this dreadful film.
  8. Catherine Keener is also believable and sympathetic as Lopez's editor and former wife. But the film's power comes down to the strength of the two superb lead performances.
  9. If you've watched the BBC series "Planet Earth," then Earth will seem like a familiar, if stunning, global rewarming.
  10. Intelligent and engrossing saga.
  11. For a swoon-fest aimed at tweens, 17 Again has a lot going for it.
  12. Neil Young once said: It's better to burn out than it is to rust. But moviegoers are lucky Anvil didn't take Young's advice. Who knew heavy metal could seem like fine art when it rusts?
  13. It's hard not to wish the same wholesome message could be conveyed with a bit more finesse and originality.
  14. Where "Mall Cop" is broad, safe and sticks to a formula, Observe and Report is unabashedly crude, cynical, off-kilter and funnier.
  15. It's a family drama that treads on well-worn middle-class territory but is redeemed by the complexity of the characters and the intriguing ambiguity of their actions.
  16. Feels about as fresh and lively as a piece of burnt rubber.
  17. Mottola, who wrote and directed 1996's "The Daytrippers," crafts smart, witty dialogue. But the movie suffers in tone. While much of the story feels like a brainier John Hughes comedy, it veers into more dramatic terrain and loses focus.
  18. Alien Trespass is good-natured, but it's a wan send-up. When it comes to paying homage to classic "B" horror movies, "Monsters vs. Aliens" is the more clever alternative.
  19. Sugar is that sweetest of films: A sensitive and memorable story that surprises at every turn.
  20. Naji is an expressive actor, and so are the wonderful young non-pros who play his children.
  21. Dazzling colors, winning characters and energetic visual effects all work in concert, with the 3-D animation serving to intensify the experience.
  22. Although it's reasonably well-acted and offers a few certifiable jolts, feels awfully familiar.
  23. Though the movie trails off unsatisfyingly, it raises intriguing and candid, if unanswerable, questions about race relations and political correctness.
  24. There are ribald jokes and gross-out episodes, but the movie works because everything hinges on the camaraderie and undeniable chemistry between Rudd and Segel.
  25. So with its smart writing delivered by an in-synch quartet, savor Duplicity as the ideal spring gift.
  26. If you're of a mind to believe a dreary and far-fetched thriller about numerology-crazed alien life forms, then you may find the movie mildly diverting.
  27. A bit of a throwback, a nostalgic, easygoing Capra-esque comedy that should appeal to both youthful and older audiences.
  28. That this is Fukunaga's first film is astonishing, given its sharp script, technical proficiency and suspenseful pacing. The ensemble cast is top-notch.
  29. Not only is it plodding and completely predictable, the carnage is rendered slowly and quasi-reverentially, making the whole brutal experience come off like torture porn.
  30. Mediocre family fare that's simply not that much fun.

Top Trailers