Movie Reviews (Page 11)

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."

Both big movies opening this weekend are garnering favorable reviews.

We've already given you a glimpse at what critics think of Wanted. Now, here's a look at their take on WALL-E...

- The animation is stunning; the landscapes of the futuristic Earth offer the Pixar folks ample opportunity to show off their wares... -- Arizona Republic

- The pole position in the race for the next Best Animated Feature Oscar has clearly been staked out... -- ReelzChannel

- One of the best movies of the year. Just so beautifully done... -- Ebert & Roeper

- Stanton and Pixar have achieved a new plateau in their craft, creating what's destined to be a beloved classic, right up there with the likes of Snow White, Bambi and Cinderella ... -- ComingSoon.net

Movie critics cannot always be trusted, of course.

But when so many of them give such glowing reviews to a movie - and when that movie features a scantily clad Angelina Jolie is the role of an assassin - it's bound to catch your attention.

With that in mind, we present the following views on Wanted...

- Wanted has the kind of irresistible summer-movie allure that makes studio executives drool in anticipation. Even its title must swim before their eyes and transform into 'Want-to-See'... -- New York Magazine

- This over-the-top, ultraviolent, hyperkinetic action thriller pretty much has it all... -- Hollywood Reporter

- Like it or not, Wanted pretty much slams you to the back of your chair from the outset and scarcely lets up for the duration... -- Variety

- Possesses a 'wow' factor that will make it one of the summer's biggest hits...an unabashed testosterone-adrenaline cocktail spiced up with a dollop of torture-porn bloodlust... -- One Guy's Opinion

Trying to decide which comedy to see this weekend, Get Smart or The Love Guru? You can check out the movie reviews for the former now.

As for The Love Guru, Mike Myers' return vehicle from a self-imposed exile? Let's just say critics are far, far from in love with it...

- Offensive, revolting and jawdropingly awful from beginning to end, a complete and total piece of Singularly Horrid Infantile Trash (TM)... -- ComingSoon.net

- The Love Guru is so relentlessly juvenile as to merit a new twist on the PG-13 rating - one that strongly cautions not only those under 13 but anyone much above it, too... -- Variety

- Myers wants us all to love him, wants us all to be in on his jokes. But love and laughs are earned, not given just because you mug for the camera behind a wild wig and beard... -- Associated Press

- Not only does the film stumble badly from one skit to another, the skits themselves have too much dead air... -- Hollywood Reporter

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl opens on July 2 and has the honor of being the only film we can think of to ever be based on a line of dolls.

So it has that going for it.

But does it have solid movie reviews going for it? Let's ask a few critics...

- At a time when kidflicks have turned raucous and crude, its inoffensive sweetness makes it a positively endearing throwback... -- One Guy's Opinion

- Younger girls will probably love Kit's antics and their parents won't find it too painful an experience, but it's still only a serviceable and fairly mediocre family film at best... -- ComingSoon.net

- For a G-rated film, Kit Kittredge's profound insight into the breakdown of society and families during the Depression and the country's subsequent rebirth is surprising... -- Slant Magazine

- Abigail Breslin, in the lead role, is a huge key to keeping Kit Kittredge light on its feet. Nine-year-old Kit is watching her city of Cincinnati change as the Great Depression starts taking away jobs and forcing her neighbors to sell their houses and move... -- Cinema Blend

As an adaption of a sitcom that a majority of its target audience was not alive for, Get Smart faces a challenge. Basically, it better be damn funny in order to attract viewers.

Does the Steve Carell vehicle succeed in this mission? Let's see what a handful of critics have to say about it...

- Although its chemistry never gels, Get Smart pulls off a sufficient number of goofy action set pieces to earn its entertainment value... -- Cole Smithey

- A lot of the comedy seems to have been lost in the translation... -- Variety

- This is a slap-dash effort whose producers threw money and stunts onscreen instead of the satirical gags and one-liners that made the old spy spoof so memorable... -- Hollywood Reporter

- In this distressingly generic spy spoof, it's not Maxwell who's clueless, but the filmmakers... -- Newsweek

In case you haven't seen any previews for The Happening, this is M. Night Shyamalan's first-ever R-rated movie. But does that mean it's actually worth your time and money.

Let's see what various film critics have to say about that...

- The movie seems more like a '50s science fiction film of extreme paranoia or an episode of "The Twilight Zone" that even at a swiftly paced 90 minutes feels padded... -- Hollywood Reporter

- The movie demonstrates a smart movie geek's obsession with the rhythms and gory details of horror storytelling, undermined by a pompous insistence on spiritual lessons of the tritest kind... -- Entertainment Weekly

- Sadly for Mr. Shyamalan, the ideas that have been coming to him since his brilliant first hit, The Sixth Sense, are progressively worthy of less merit and more deserving of ridicule... -- Urban Cinefile

- It's a shame that the movie is such a tonal failure, because it does many other things right... -- Las Vegas Weekly

When we first heard that The Incredible Hulk would be the focus of yet another movie (following the Ang Lee-directed disaster that was The Hulk), we wondered why anyone would go see it.

However, reviews of the Edward Norton vehicle have actually been positive so far. Here's a sampling...

- The Incredible Hulk accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. It simply isn't out to accomplish much... -- Cinema Blend

- Though certainly not the dud many were expecting, the new 'Hulk' is not good enough to justify the need for a restart... -- Dark Horizons

- Much more action-packed and entertaining than the previous Hulk movie... -- Sci Fi Movie Page

- Sharply uneven and structurally messy, new version is only slightly better but decidedly different than Lee's take, a popcorn flick favoring big, loud action and thrilling f/x over plot and characters; makes you curious about Norton's longer, detailed cut... -- Emanuel Levy

Those not sick of Adam Sandler's schtick must be looking forward to You Don't Mess with the Zohan. Others? Not so much.

To get a reading of the movie itself, though, take a look at what various critics had to say about it...

- Zohan is, against all odds, Sandler's funniest effort in close to a decade. Not exactly a monumental feat given the junk he's recently made a mint foisting on the American public, but still... - Slant Magazine

- A genial, hit-and-miss return to the ridiculous for Adam Sandler... -- Hollywood Reporter

- In Zohan, Sandler, his co-writers and director Dennis Dugan keep tossing away jokes and throwing away significance... -- New York Press

- For all its perceived shock value, all the concern that a comedy about conflict in the Middle East would offend just about everyone imaginable, You Don't Mess With the Zohan is really rather conventional and familiar... -- Associated Press