Movie Reviews (Page 10)

In addition to Swing Vote opening this weekend, we also have The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor starring Brendan Fraser and Jet Li.  However, unlike Swing Vote which is getitng mixed reviews, it looks like there's a consensus on the third Mummy movie: it sucks. 

Check out the sampling of reviews from around the web:

- The best news about this clangorous clunker is that it may well have vanquished the Mummy franchise. -- Wall Street Journal

- The new Mummy is, how can I put it? Just freakin' awful. -- Rolling Stone

- Tiresome and messy, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor borrows mightily from the Indiana Jones franchise and various martial-arts films, but it doesn't do what those films did nearly as well. -- Washington Post

- You might not be able to kill a mummy but as "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" demonstrates, you can kill a franchise -- The Hollywood Reporter

If you've already seen The Dark Knight five times and are looking for something else to occupy your time, you might want to take a look at Swing Vote this weekend. 

It looks like Swing Vote is getting mixed reviews from the critics mostly due to it being too lightweight on the political satire side.  At least it sounds like it's a cute movie to see the relationship between Kevin Costner and his on-screen daughter.  Here's a sampling of reviews from around the net.

- Swing Vote lopes along and is best taken as a tale of a father and a daughter coming through a rough patch to a better place, rather than anything to do with real-world politics. --  Chicago Tribune

- One minute you're laughing at its sendup of the political process, and the next you're stricken by the sorry state of the sweet and brainy protagonist's family. -- USA Today

- As often happens with politics, even as Swing Vote entertains, it leaves us feeling like we've been subjected to some slick manipulation and worse, left with promises unfulfilled. -- Toronto Star

- Swing Vote captures the spirit of an election year when many once-apathetic Americans are keenly interested in the outcome. We have met the enemy and he is us. But so is the hero. -- Minneapolis Star Tribune

Sorry, fans of The X-Files. But the latest film version of the iconic television series isn't receiving rave reviews.

Here are a look at some of the latest...

- For the uninitiated, The X Files: I Want to Believe may seem as musty and forbidding as one of those dank secrets that Mulder and Scully were forever digging up from some backyard, or fetid swamp, or their own aching hearts... -- Time Magazine

- Director/franchise creator Chris Carter gives devoted fans plenty of small moments to swoon over, but the appeal should be limited beyond those fervent loyalists... -- Variety

- A movie that benefits from -- but doesn't make very good use of -- the history and the chemistry between its stars, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson... -- The Orlando Sentinel

- The plot is mundane and seems pieced together from bits from (better) episodes of this now defunct TV show... -- Sci-Fi Movie Page

What would the summer be without a ridiculous Will Ferrell movie on the calendar?

This year, the movie is Step Brothers. Is it worth your time and money? Many film critics seem to think so...

- There hasn't been this much fun under the same roof since the creation of the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms... -- Kyle Smith

- Goofy, bawdy, and full of slapstick physicality "Step Brothers" takes advantage of the natural comic chemistry between Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly to generate a coming of age comedy that's funnier than any of Will Ferrell's recent outings... -- Cole Smithey

- Ferrell's Brennan is as dumb as his George W. Bush, as enthusiastic as a Spartan cheerleader, and as convinced of his own importance as Ron Burgundy... -- Cinema Blend

- [The director] keeps his comedy from straying too far into Adam Sandler turf by limiting the overt sentimentality and not letting the melodrama overwhelm the gloriously crass dialogue and intentionally childish conduct of Ferrell and Reilly who work well together... -- Emanuel Levy

Regardless of reviews, we'd be giddy to see The Dark Knight.

Considering the incomparable reviews the film, and Heath Ledger in particular, is enjoying, however, our enthusiasm for the Batman follow-up couldn't be higher. Here's a look at what various critics are saying:

- Daring and uncompromisingly different from previous incarnations of Batman, Nolan hasn't redefined the superhero genre as much as created an unforgettable piece of crime fiction within the context of that realm... -- ComingSoon.net

- A dark, ambitious, mature and gritty crime saga the likes of which Michael Mann or Martin Scorsese would be proud to call their own... -- Dark Horizons

- An ambitious, full-bodied crime epic of gratifying scope and moral complexity, this is seriously brainy pop entertainment that satisfies every expectation raised by its hit predecessor and then some... -- Variety

- The haunting and visionary Dark Knight soars on the wings of untamed imagination... -- Rolling Stone

Mamma Mia! is coming to the big screen on July 18.

Meryl Streep leads the cast of this remake of the Broadway musical. Does that make it a must-see? Let's find out what various critics think of the film...

- The most fun to be had at the movies this or any other recent summer... -- The Hollywood Reporter

- Helmer Lloyd's lack of vision and technical skills and the use of a conventional format result in an old-fashioned, mildly enjoyable musical that services but doesn't enhance the iconic Abba songs (and yes, Meryl Streep can sing)... -- Emanuel Levy

- Incredibly, Mamma Mia! looks set for a whole new lease on life... -- Boxoffice Magazine

- This joyous frolic propelled and inspired by the timeless music of ABBA is a bit like Grease for the older set, with Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan playing the leading roles... -- Urban Cinefile

We hope Hancock enjoys his perch as the top super hero at the box office. Because Hellboy is coming for him next week!

Hellboy II: The Golden Army opens on July 11. Here's what a series of movie critics are saying about the film...

- Hellboy II has more than a little heart to it; it's scrappy and self-aware, and never out of touch with what it is... -- Cinematical

- With writer-director del Toro given free license to go where his singular vision takes him, Hellboy II plays like Guillermo's Greatest Hits with even hotter visual effects... -- The Hollywood Reporter

- There's a precision to the visual ornateness of Hellboy II that exceeds even that of its predecessor... -- Variety

- Hellboy II feels like nothing less than the successor to Pan's Labyrinth... dressed in spandex... -- CHUD

Brendan Fraser and company take a Journey to the Center of the Earth on July 11.

Should movie goers take a journey to the theater in order to see this family film? Let's ask a few film critics for their take on it...

- Probably has the highest screams-per-capita ratio in the history of action-adventure pics, and a better thrill-per-minute deal than most... -- Variety

- Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D feels like a visit to Frontierland, with boat rides, mine carts, and one heck of a log flume... -- Cinema Blend

- Brendan Fraser, one of few actors who doesn't condescend to light material or fears to be outmatched by it, is likable in this reimagining of Verne's classic, which is minimal in characters (only 3) and story but takes full advantage of the 3D format... -- Emanuel Levy

- As a 2-D movie, or inevitable DVD, it probably fails. As a 3-D experience, though, it rocks... -- L.A. Weekly

It's coming up on July 4. Therefore, it's almost time for Will Smith's latest action blockbuster.

How does Hancock compare to past Smith hits, such as Men in Black and Independence Day? Here's the reaction to it by various movie critics...

- Sadly, the bar is set too high and the movie implodes under the weight of its own ambitions... -- The Times UK

- Hancock comes around by the movie's end as one would expect, but the depth to which this hero sinks beforehand is occasionally startling and pretty great... -- ReelzChannel

- This misguided attempt to wring a novel twist on the superhero genre has a certain whiff of The Last Action Hero about it... -- Variety

- Superficially a blockbuster, but for those who like to read into a film a sly allegory about what America is today - and how it is seen by others... -- Kyle Smith

If it were up to Peter Travers, a movie critic with Rolling Stone, Heath Ledger would be nominated for an Oscar for his role in The Dark Knight.

"I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-blazing brilliant as the Joker," Travers writes in the movie's first published review.

The praise certainly doesn't stop there, as Travers goes on to say:

"It's typical of Ledger's total commitment to films as diverse as Brokeback Mountain and I'm Not There that he does nothing out of vanity or the need to be liked."

Might Heather Ledger earn an Oscar for his work in The Dark Knight?

Travers added that there's "no plastic mask for Ledger. His face is caked with moldy makeup that highlights the red scar of a grin, the grungy hair and the yellowing teeth of a hound fresh out of hell." He then makes his Academy Award pitch:

"If there's a movement to get him the first posthumous Oscar since Peter Finch won for 1976's Network, sign me up."