External reviews
4008
in total
published by Empire
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The Hummingbird Project
A review by Ian Freer for Empire2019-06-14
Although sometimes it gets bogged down in the details of drilling, The Hummingbird Project extracts enough entertainment value from an unpromising premise, greatly helped by Jesse Eisenberg finding the humanity in his hustler.Read entire review on Empire -
Toy Story 4
A review by Dan Jolin for Empire2019-06-13
This fourth Toy Story isn’t as essential as the previous films in the series, but there’s no denying the joy of seeing Woody and friends back in action, while once again it’ll likely leave you with a tear in your eye.Read entire review on Empire -
Men in Black: International
A review by James Dyer for Empire2019-06-12
Unasked for, unnecessary but unexpectedly enjoyable.Read entire review on Empire -
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese
A review by Ian Freer for Empire2019-06-11
Scorsese is the Bob Dylan of cinema – poetic, truthful, idiosyncratic – and Rolling Thunder, despite some longueurs, is an important document of a major artist – by a major artist.Read entire review on Empire -
The Raft
A review by Ian Freer for Empire2019-06-06
It sounds like Big Brother on a boat, but The Raft is an absorbing portrait of a bold (or foolhardy) historical experiment that hits many of today’s hot-button topics, dominated by a compelling and complex central figure.Read entire review on Empire -
Dark Phoenix
A review by Ian Freer for Empire2019-06-04
Better than Last Stand or Apocalypse but never hitting the heights of X2, Dark Phoenix thrives when its heroes are front and centre. If this is the end, it’s a solid rather than spectacular goodbye.Read entire review on Empire -
Late Night
A review for Empire2019-06-03
Late Night is sharply written and warmly enjoyable, with Kaling and Thompson on endearing form. But a few extra knock-out gags and a clearer focus would really help it in the ratings.Read entire review on Empire -
Ma
A review by Ian Freer for Empire2019-05-30
There should be something fun in watching Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer drop C-bombs and go apeshit. Instead, Ma is an ersatz, misjudged exercise in psycho-horror that lacks the courage of its B movie convictions.Read entire review on Empire -
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
A review for Empire2019-05-28
Globe-trotting but not adventurous, action-packed but not remotely exciting, utterly overstuffed and completely paper-thin. Nuke it from orbit.Read entire review on Empire -
The Secret Life of Pets 2
A review by Olly Richards for Empire2019-05-23
A sequel that feels less necessary than willed into being, but that doesn’t mean it’s not pleasantly entertaining. There are more fluffy animals than in the first movie, more set-pieces and about the same number of laughs.Read entire review on Empire -
Aladdin
A review by Dan Jolin for Empire2019-05-22
Another lavish and largely entertaining Disney re-do, with strong turns from Massoud and Scott. But, appropriately for someone playing a huge, powerful entity trapped in a tiny ornament, Smith’s genie performance feels disappointingly constrained — both by overdependence on the original and some ghastly CGI.Read entire review on Empire -
Booksmart
A review for Empire2019-05-21
No ceremonious life lessons here — Booksmart lives in a euphoric moment of unapologetic youth that knows what it deserves. Cherish it, revisit the time capsule of our boisterously ambitious era endlessly.Read entire review on Empire -
Rocketman
A review for Empire2019-05-17
A sequin-encrusted delight. On paper it reads like a by-the-book biopic; on screen it explodes with the kind of colour and energy that only Elton John himself could invoke.Read entire review on Empire -
Birds of Passage
A review for Empire2019-05-17
Guerra and Gallego offer a masterful, compelling reimagining of the crime drama within the specific ethnographic milieu of a tribal people weathering dangerous change. Unforgettable images in service of a strange, poignant story.Read entire review on Empire -
The Hustle
A review for Empire2019-05-10
The Hustle buckles under the overbearing weight of its own vulgarity. Avoid the dirty rubble by all means. An embarrassment to the heist genre, an insult to all existing comedies, a disgrace to feminism.Read entire review on Empire -
Destination Wedding
A review for Empire2019-05-09
Reeves and Ryder work very hard to make Destination Wedding work, but deeply unlikeable characters and a clunky script means there’s no escaping the fact it’s a disappointing misfire.Read entire review on Empire -
Madeline's Madeline
A review by Ian Freer for Empire2019-05-09
A film as much about its form as content, Madeline’s Madeline is a difficult-to-watch but heady mixture of raw emotion, big ideas and cinematic fireworks. If for no other reason, see it now to be on the ground floor at the unveiling of a new star: Helena Howard.Read entire review on Empire -
Yesterday
A review by Helen O'Hara for Empire2019-05-07
A glowing tribute to The Beatles and their music, this is both a toe-tapping pleasure to watch and a smart, occasionally scathing look at how we get things wrong.Read entire review on Empire -
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
A review by Olly Richards for Empire2019-05-03
It’s impossible to overstate how much this film owes to Ryan Reynolds. Even if you don’t understand Pikachu’s world, everyone can understand a great joke superbly delivered.Read entire review on Empire -
Vox Lux
A review by Ian Freer for Empire2019-05-01
Even if it doesn’t quite go beyond the bubblegum, Corbet’s fusion of A Star Is Born melodramatics with art-house stylings is cold, raw, dark filmmaking. And Portman, like her quiff, is an acquired taste but immense.Read entire review on Empire
