Young CriticSpider-Man: Brand New Day
A solid Spidey entry, buried under continuity. Tom Holland remains the definitive screen Spider-Man, but thirty-eight films deep, the MCU's obligations increasingly crowd out the story actually being told.
Reviews tagged: action
Young Critic
Young CriticSupergirl
Kara Zor-El arrives. The film around her does not. Milly Alcock is magnetic as Supergirl, but a passionless script and studio interference squander DC's most promising new asset.
Young CriticStar Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu
A film that plays like a very expensive TV episode. The Mandalorian and Grogu has technical craft to spare, but Favreau and Filoni deliver a timid, inconsequential story that mistakes motion for cinema.
Young CriticAvatar: Fire and Ash
A visually staggering saga running out of fire James Cameron has now devoted close to two decades to his Avatar films, which have revolutionized blockbuster cinema: the first Avatar (2009) through its groundbreaking
Young CriticThe Running Man
A bold new cyberpunk vision held back by tonal whiplash and a muted leading man Edgar Wright is a beloved director for many film nerds, known for a winking style and frenetic editing, the Brit has delivered some modern c
Young CriticPredator: Badlands
Dan Trachtenberg's latest Predator entry is another solidly entertaining character piece It’s a curious yet unsurprising trend, when a franchise has burnt out, studios are willing to give the material to filmmakers with
Young CriticTron: Ares
The third entry in the franchise is more style than substance Despite amassing a devoted cult following, the Tron films have never been box office hits. The first one, Tron (1982) was admired more for its daring use of c
Young CriticThe Smashing Machine
Benny Safdie's first solo directorial effort delivers Dwayne Johnson's best performance Despite bursting onto the cinematic scene with their film Good Time (2017) and gripping follow-up Uncut Gems (2019) the Safdie broth
Young CriticThe Fantastic Four: First Steps
A stylish reboot with charm, but little risk Since Disney bought Fox Studios from the Murdoch family in 2019, many film fans have eagerly awaited the company’s use of its newly acquired properties—especially in the conte
Young CriticSuperman
DC’s reboot buckles under bloated world-building and thin storytelling The DC comic book adaptations have been a mixed bag at best for Warner Bros. studios. They began with a significant advantage over Marvel, kickstarti
Young CriticJurassic World: Rebirth
A formulaic but welcome return to Jurassic basics. Despite some fun sequences in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) and some nostalgic bait in Jurassic World (2015), every Jurassic sequel has been a face-palm ins
Young Critic28 Years Later
A thoughtful sequel with heart, hindered by frantic editing Every franchise with even the faintest hint of sequel potential is being squeezed for every last cent. This has needlessly revived properties like The Blair Wi
Young CriticFrom the World of John Wick: Ballerina
A spin-off that shoots blanks on story Despite having been created as a stand-alone action B-movie, John Wick (2014) has spawned an unlikely franchise, with each sequel outperforming the last at the box office. Though
Young CriticMission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
A Franchise Finale That Talks Too Much and Trusts Too Little When franchises now purport that they’re making the last film in a series, it’s usually just a question of whether the movie makes money or not. Despite much-t
Young CriticAndor (Season 2)
A grounded rebellion tale with the grit of a spy thriller It seems hard to fathom, but the best story to emerge from the Star Wars universe—arguably ever—is a prequel to a spinoff. Yet it proves that what matters most
Young CriticThe Accountant 2
A surprise sequel weighed down by second-act stumbles It’s rare for a mid-budget film that barely broke even to get a sequel nearly a decade later. There didn’t seem to be strong indicators of demand for the story or ch
Young CriticThunderbolts*
Marvel finds its footing with a darker, character-driven team-up. It has been 13 films and six years since Avengers: Endgame (2019) capped off an unlikely decade of interwoven blockbusters that defined a cinematic era.
Young CriticThe Amateur
A Spy Thriller That Plays It Too Safe Spy thrillers have largely disappeared from film slates in the last decade, with the only iterations of this once-lucrative genre coming from established franchises like Mission: Im
Young CriticWarfare
A Gripping War Story That Forgets Some of Its Victims There have been anti-bellicose films since the early days of cinema. You can trace a throughline from All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), to Paths of Glory (19
Young CriticNovocaine
Jack Quaid Charms in a Clever but Overextended Action Comedy Jack Quaid is slyly becoming a movie star—at least, as much as movie stars can emerge nowadays. The son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, the American actor has un
Young CriticCaptain America: Brave New World
A Spy Thriller Suffocated by MCU Obligations Marvel has lost much of the goodwill it built with audiences after its grand climax in Avengers: Endgame (2019). The ensuing years featured a barrage of TV shows and films w
Young CriticThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
The animated return to Middle-Earth is rushed and shallow The Lord of the Rings has inspired an entire generation of fantasy novels, shows, and films. Yet the property itself is not as exploited as similar mammoth proper
Young CriticKraven the Hunter
Sony's final (hopefully) Spider-villain film is another mess Sony Pictures has been incapable of wringing out the full potential of the Spider-Man IP it own. The Peter Parker character has been passed to creative control
Young CriticGladiator II
The sword-and-sandals sequel plays it safe by retelling the same story When it comes to sequels, Hollywood often seems afraid to take stories forward, opting instead for safe, pseudo-remakes. This was the case with Star