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• Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
• Directed by Brad Peyton

Jennifer Lopez stars in a sci-fi action thriller that wonders whether artificial intelligence is really all that bad.

By Alissa Wilkinson

The Beach Boys

• Documentary, Biography, Music
• Directed by Frank Marshall, Thom Zimny

This Disney documentary looks at the family ties and sweet harmonies that turned a California band into a popular treasure.

By Nicolas Rapold

• Drama, Romance
• Directed by Sophie Dupuis

Sophie Dupuis’s sensitive French Canadian drama takes a turn when a young, starry-eyed drag queen (Théodore Pellerin) opens up to questionable figures.

By Beatrice Loayza

Queen of the Deuce

• Documentary, Biography
• Directed by Valerie Kontakos

This warm remembrance of a Times Square legend is too careful with its iconoclastic heroine.

By Jeannette Catsoulis

• Biography, Drama, History
• Directed by Andrew Hyatt

Based on the real life of the pioneering ophthalmologist Ming Wang, this movie follows the character’s struggle to see inside himself.

By Glenn Kenny

The Garfield Movie

• Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
• Directed by Mark Dindal

Garfield, voiced by Chris Pratt, is joined by Samuel L. Jackson as his father, in an inert big-screen adaptation that fundamentally misunderstands its protagonist.

By Brandon Yu

• NYT Critic’s Pick
• Action, Comedy, Crime, Romance
• Directed by Richard Linklater

Glen Powell stars in one of the year’s funniest, sexiest, most enjoyable movies — and somehow it’s surprisingly deep, too.

Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara

• Drama, History
• Directed by Marco Bellocchio

This film, based on a true story about the kidnapping of a Jewish child in 19th-century Italy, underscores the devastating consequences of family separation.

By Lisa Kennedy

The Strangers: Chapter 1

• Directed by Renny Harlin

A reboot of the 2008 home invasion film “The Strangers” brings back masked assailants and brutal violence but leaves originality behind.

By Erik Piepenburg

• Documentary
• Directed by Richard Shepard

The director Richard Shepard details his lifelong obsession with movies in this enthusiastic video essay.

By Calum Marsh

• Directed by Hong Sang-soo

The Korean director Hong Sang-soo winds together the slenderest strands of two intersecting stories to make a tender film about simple pleasures.

• Animation, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy
• Directed by John Krasinski

The film is a slim story about a girl named Bea (Cailey Fleming) who helps a crank named Cal (Ryan Reynolds) play matchmaker. Oh, and Bradley Cooper is a glass of ice water.

By Amy Nicholson

• Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
• Directed by Bertrand Bonello

Bertrand Bonello’s latest horror film, dedicated to his teenage daughter, pushes the boundaries of the conventional pandemic movie.

Back to Black

• Biography, Drama, Music
• Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson

The facts get softened and shuffled for an Amy Winehouse biopic that leaves her perspective at the edges.

• Directed by Pamela Adlon

Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau star in Pamela Adlon’s pregnancy comedy, but it never quite lands.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

• Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
• Directed by George Miller

The fifth installment of George Miller’s series delivers an origin story of Furiosa, the hard-bitten driver played here by Anya Taylor-Joy.

By Manohla Dargis

• Comedy, Mystery
• Directed by Chris Pine

Chris Pine’s shaggy debut feature has a charismatic cast that rambles along with him on a Los Angeles detective adventure.

Mother of the Bride

• Comedy, Drama, Romance
• Directed by Mark Waters

Brooke Shields plays a single mother who comes face to face with her college ex-boyfriend at her daughter’s destination wedding in this tired romantic comedy.

By Natalia Winkelman

• Directed by Frank Berry

The “Black Panther” star Letitia Wright shows understated vulnerability in this immigrant drama by Frank Berry. Josh O’Connor (“Challengers”) also stars.

• Directed by Pierre Creton

Sex, death and domination fuel this beautifully enigmatic pastoral drama from France, which presents the gay coming-of-age of an apprentice gardener.

Aggro Dr1ft

• Action, Crime, Drama
• Directed by Harmony Korine

Harmony Korine (“Spring Breakers”) parties too hard in this fusion of feature filmmaking and video game.

By Ben Kenigsberg

Gasoline Rainbow

• Directed by Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross

This semi-fictional tale of a road trip for weirdos is full of joy.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

• Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
• Directed by Wes Ball

The latest installment in an excellent series finds mythology turning into power.

• Biography, Comedy, History
• Directed by Jerry Seinfeld

Starring Jerry Seinfeld in his feature directing debut, “Unfrosted: The Pop-Tarts Story” is the only corporate saga whose main ingredient is high-fructose sarcasm.

Evil Does Not Exist

Ryusuke Hamaguchi follows up his sublime drama “Drive My Car” with a parable about a rural Japanese village and the resort developer eyeing its land.

• Directed by Marija Kavtaradze

The second feature by the Lithuanian filmmaker Marija Kavtaradze asks what a relationship looks like when you factor out the sex.

Jeanne du Barry

• Directed by Maïwenn

Maïwenn wrote, directed and stars in the film, playing opposite Johnny Depp, who is Louis XV. Though he declares he loves her, their chemistry is weak.

Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg

• Directed by Alexis Bloom, Svetlana Zill

Subtitled “The Story of Anita Pallenberg,” this documentary gives the life of the actress and model a thorough downer of a treatment.

• Biography, Drama
• Directed by Ethan Hawke

Ethan Hawke teams up with his daughter, Maya Hawke, for an unconventional and somewhat muddled portrait of a singular author.

The Fall Guy

• Action, Comedy, Drama
• Directed by David Leitch

The actor charms as a swaggering stunt man, alongside an underused Emily Blunt, in the latest skull-rattling action movie from David Leitch.

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Alec Baldwin in 2021. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP hide caption

Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' trial to go ahead after judge denies motion to dismiss charge

May 24, 2024 • The actor is scheduled to go on trial in July for involuntary manslaughter for the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

'Mad Max' director George Miller says the audience tells you 'what your film is'

May 24, 2024 • Miller directed the first Mad Max in 1979, as well as Mad Max: Fury Road in 2014 and the new prequel Furiosa. In 2016, he revealed that he was never sure how his movies would hold up over time.

Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock has died. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for DIFF hide caption

Morgan Spurlock, documentary filmmaker of 'Super Size Me', dies at 53

May 24, 2024 • In his inventive 2004 documentary about the fast food industry, Spurlock consumed only McDonald’s fast food for a month. He died Thursday from complications of cancer.

MORGAN SPURLOCK OBIT

Representatives Jasmine Crockett and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Jemal Countess; Drew Angerer/Getty Images; BFA / Warner Bros hide caption

It's Been a Minute

The real housewife-ification of congress; and, 25 years of being pilled by the matrix.

May 24, 2024 • Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jasmine Crockett exchanged heated words on the House floor. Greene commented on Crockett's eyelashes, and Crockett referred to Greene's body as "butch." We dive into the history of these two attacks, and look at what history the two representatives were pulling from — from misogynoir to transphobia. And what does this say about what we want from our politicians? Brittany is joined by NPR's Alana Wise and writer Kerry Manders .

Anya Taylor-Joy in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga . Warner Bros. Pictures hide caption

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'furiosa: a mad max saga' goes full throttle.

May 24, 2024 • Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is packed with bone-crunching practical stunts and lots of gnarly, diesel-powered chase scenes. It also shows a commitment to worldbuilding that grapples with themes of feminism, environmentalism, and humanity. Directed by George Miller, the prequel film tells the story of a Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy), who was taken from her home as a girl, raised to be a warrior in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and now seeks revenge on an evil warlord (Chris Hemsworth).

Anya Taylor-Joy plays the title character in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Jasin Boland / Warner Bros. hide caption

Furiosa's 'Mad Max' origin story is packed with explosives and extremes

May 23, 2024 • In this prequel to Mad Mad: Fury Road, Furiosa comes fully into her own as an action hero, hurling dynamite one minute and climbing up on top of the truck to fend off an attacker the next.

Hoa Xuande in The Sympathizer. HBO Max hide caption

Does 'The Sympathizer' worthily adapt its acclaimed book?

May 23, 2024 • It's rare to find a series with such an impeccable pedigree as HBO's The Sympathizer . It's based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, co-created by auteur director Park Chan-wook, and features Robert Downey, Jr. in four supporting roles. Set during and after the Vietnam war, the series follows a man (Hoa Xuande) juggling a position with the South Vietnamese military and one as a spy for the North Vietnamese. But is it a worthy adaptation?

Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming in IF . Jonny Cournoyer/Paramount Pictures hide caption

Does 'IF' capture the magic of its Pixar inspiration?

May 22, 2024 • In the new movie IF , a 12-year-old girl (Cailey Fleming) discovers she can see other people's imaginary friends. It stars Ryan Reynolds, and directed by John Krasinski. It mixes the real world and animation, but does it capture the heart of the Pixar movies that inspired it?

When OpenAI announced its latest ChatGPT last week, the AI voice it used in its demo was quickly compared to Scarlett Johansson's voice in the 2013 sci-fi film "Her," but now the company says it is pulling the voice. Leon Bennett/Getty Images hide caption

Scarlett Johansson says she is 'shocked, angered' over new ChatGPT voice

May 20, 2024 • Johansson says she was approached multiple times by OpenAI to be the voice of ChatGPT, and that she declined. Then the company released a voice assistant that sounded uncannily like her.

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

Maya hawke talks remixing hannah montana and fighting mumford and sons.

May 18, 2024 • Actor and singer Maya Hawke joins us to talk Stranger Things , childhood songs, and folk music beefs with panelists Adam Burke, Faith Salie, and Negin Farsad.

Dabney Coleman, who starred in "9 to 5" and "Tootsie," appears in Los Angeles on Nov. 14, 1988. The actor died Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, Calif. Nick Ut/AP hide caption

Dabney Coleman, who starred in '9 to 5' and 'Tootsie', dies at 92

May 18, 2024 • Dabney Coleman, the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains like the chauvinist boss in "9 to 5" and the nasty TV director in "Tootsie," has died.

Pop Culture

What's making us happy: recommendations from 'pop culture happy hour'.

May 17, 2024 • Each week, the guests and hosts on Pop Culture Happy Hour share the movies, TV shows, books, articles, podcasts and songs that are bringing them joy.

Marisa Abela as Amy Winehouse in Back to Black . Olli Upton/Focus Features hide caption

'Back to Black' misses Amy Winehouse's point of view

May 17, 2024 • The new music biopic Back to Black chronicles the life of singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse. The film stars Marisa Abela, and follows Winehouse as she records her breakthrough album, gets married, and struggles with addiction. But does the movie do justice to the singer and her music?

Bea (Cailey Fleming) and Blue (voiced by Steve Carell) in IF. Paramount Pictures hide caption

'IF' only! These imaginary friends are sweet, but could have been so much more

May 16, 2024 • Imagine that imaginary friends were real. Now imagine that IF director John Krasinski and star Ryan Reynolds convinced A-list pals to voice them.

Wild Card with Rachel Martin

The lesson chris pine learned after his new film was 'obliterated' by critics.

May 16, 2024 • Chris Pine says his directorial debut, Poolman , got "obliterated" by critics. But the Star Trek and Wonder Woman star tells Rachel that the experience helped him reevaluate his desire for perfection. Chris also debates predestination with Rachel, reflects on the struggle to feel awe and discusses his recurring childhood dreams of having tea with an elf in a tree.

Michelle Buteau and Ilana Glazer in a scene from the film Babes . Gwen Capistran/Neon hide caption

'Babes' gives us a funny (and gross) portrait of parenthood

May 16, 2024 • The new movie Babes stars Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau as longtime best friends who've made very different life choices. It's also about the inherent joys, stressors, and grossness of parenthood, and what it means to embrace your chosen family. It's the feature directorial debut of Pamela Adlon ( Better Things ).

Stand-up comic W. Kamau Bell is featured in Black Twitter: A People's History. Hulu/Disney hide caption

Looking to the past and future of Black Twitter

May 15, 2024 • For years, Black Twitter was the watering hole. It was where we could pop off jokes about Olivia and Fitz on Scandal. It's also where you could call out social injustices. It was both a state of mind and a state of being online. A new Hulu docuseries called Black Twitter: A People's History puts the massive global reach of that space into perspective. But what's changed now that it's owned by Elon Musk?

Ryô Nishikawa plays Hana in Evil Does Not Exist. via Janus Films hide caption

'Evil Does Not Exist' — or does it? — in this mysterious Japanese eco-drama

May 14, 2024 • The residents of a bucolic woodland community face off against a developer with big plans for the land in a film that will leave you rapt — and profoundly unnerved.

Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine in I Saw The TV Glow. A24 hide caption

'I Saw the TV Glow' is weird and transfixing

May 14, 2024 • I Saw the TV Glow is a strange and pleasantly unsettling new film from writer and director Jane Schoenbrun. It's about two teenagers (Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine) who bond so strongly over a cult monster-of-the-week TV show that it becomes their entire identities. When the show gets canceled, their bond dissolves – until years later, when one of the teens sweeps back into the other's life, bearing secret knowledge that could change everything.

"I think the task of the filmmaker is to break through and hit that horror that still remains in the unconscious mind," Corman said. "And there's a certain amount of catharsis there. He's pictured above in 2009. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images hide caption

Roger Corman, the B-movie legend who launched A-list careers, dies at 98

May 12, 2024 • Over some five decades, Corman filled America's drive-ins with hundreds of low-budget movies. Many of Hollywood's most respected directors have at least one Corman picture buried in their resumes.

A Jedi and a Jar Jar walk into a movie... Maximum Film/Alamy hide caption

Consider This from NPR

Critics hated 'the phantom menace.' it might be time to reconsider.

May 10, 2024 • When Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace hit screens across the country in 1999, Return of the Jedi felt like ancient history to Star Wars fans. But after 16 long years, the movie let down fans and critics alike. Twenty-five years have changed how a lot of people feel. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org .

Owen Teague as Noa in the film, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. 20th Century Studios hide caption

'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' swings us back to a familiar franchise

May 10, 2024 • Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes follows Noa (Owen Teague), an extraordinary chimpanzee whose clan is enslaved by a mercenary ape king named Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand). As he sets out to gets them back, he's joined by a sage orangutan (Peter Maykin) and a scavenging human (Freya Allan). The movie is set hundreds of years after the recent Planet of the Apes trilogy, but the spirit of Andy Serkis' revolutionary character Caeser still looms large over this new film.

Actor Issa Rae Tyren Redd hide caption

Issa Rae on the belief that gets her through 'stupid mistakes and bad decisions'

May 9, 2024 • Last year, Issa Rae was in three Oscar-nominated movies (Barbie, American Fiction and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) and she also won a Peabody. Despite her success, the Insecure creator tells Rachel there have been forks in the road that still keep her up at night. Issa explains why she loves writing from a place of fear, and connects with Rachel over the way they keep lost loved ones close.

Jeannie Epper accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Taurus World Stunt Awards in 2007. M. Phillips/WireImage/Getty hide caption

Pioneering stuntwoman Jeannie Epper, of 'Wonder Woman' and 'Charlie's Angels' dies

May 7, 2024 • "We were united in the way that women had to be in order to thrive in a man's world, through mutual respect, intellect and collaboration," Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter posted in a tribute.

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Movie Reviews

The Beautifully Unnerving Gaze of “Evil Does Not Exist”

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“ ’Round Midnight,” Revisited: A Feast of Music and Acting

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Like a Political X-Ray, “Our Body” Exposes the Intrusions of Law in Medicine

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The Primal Power of “The Sleepy Time Gal”

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“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” Reviewed: Who’s Restraining Whom?

“Renfield,” Reviewed: A Concept in Search of a Movie

The Warmth and Weirdness of “Air”

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All A24 Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

May 24, 2024

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Vote For the Best Movie of 1999 – Round 1

May 23, 2024

All-Time Lists

The 100 Best Asian-American Movies of All Time

May 7, 2024

All 96 Best Picture Winners, Ranked by Tomatometer

March 10, 2024

Golden Globes Best Picture Winners by Tomatometer

January 7, 2024

Countdown Guides

Mad Max Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

May 21, 2024

Mad Max In Order: How to Watch the Movies Chronologically

The Best TV Seasons Certified Fresh at 100%

April 22, 2024

Marvel TV Ranked by Tomatometer

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September 8, 2023

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December 31, 2018

24 Best Movie Posters of 2018

December 27, 2018

24 Great Monster Movie Posters

August 7, 2018

Binge Guides

The Best Shows on Amazon Prime Video to Watch Right Now (May 2024)

May 10, 2024

100 Best Netflix Series To Watch Right Now (May 2024)

Netflix’s 100 Best Movies Right Now (May 2024)

May 3, 2024

Comics On TV

What’s Next For Marvel’s Merry Mutants In X-Men ’97 ?

May 17, 2024

After Echo : What Can Marvel Learn from Its First “Spotlight” Series?

January 11, 2024

Loki Season 2 at the Half: Loki as TVA Agent Muddles Expectations for the Kang–Timely–He Who Remains Future

October 20, 2023

Critics Consensus

Eternals Is Underpowered

November 4, 2021

Venom: Let There Be Carnage Leans Hard Into the Ridiculous

September 30, 2021

Dear Evan Hansen Misses the High Note

September 23, 2021

Everything We Know

Deadpool & Wolverine : Release Date, Trailer, Cast & More

Joker: Folie à Deux : Release Date, Trailer, Cast & More

April 10, 2024

FX’s Alien Series: Premiere Date, Trailer, Cast & More

March 27, 2024

Five Favorite Films

Immaculate Director Michael Mohan’s Five Favorite Horror Films

April 16, 2024

Morgan Freeman’s Five Favorite Films

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Praise This Director Tina Gordon’s Five Favorite Films

April 6, 2023

Hear Us Out

Hear Us Out: Ron Howard’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas Is A Modern Holiday Classic

November 17, 2023

4 Ways House of the Dragon Honors Game of Thrones ’ Legacy (and 4 Ways It Doesn’t)

August 23, 2022

Hear Us Out: Better Call Saul Is a Better Show Than Breaking Bad

August 16, 2022

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Indie Fresh List: Decision to Leave , TÁR , Triangle of Sadness , and More

October 14, 2022

Indie Fresh List: Not Okay , Resurrection , Vengeance , and More

July 28, 2022

Indie Fresh List: C’mon C’mon , tick, tick… BOOM! , and More

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Now Streaming

New Movies & TV Shows Streaming in April 2024: What To Watch on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, and More

April 4, 2024

New Movies & TV Shows Streaming in March 2024: What To Watch on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, and More

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New Movies & TV Shows Streaming in February 2024: What To Watch on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, and More

February 6, 2024

Oral Histories

An Oral History of Guardians of the Galaxy by Chris Pratt and James Gunn

May 5, 2023

How Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski Expanded the John Wick Universe with Chapter 2 and 3

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An Oral History of Jackass

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Parental Guidance

How Family-Friendly Is Captain Marvel ?

March 8, 2019

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February 15, 2019

How Family-Friendly Are Aquaman and Bumblebee ?

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Photo Galleries

2023 San Diego Comic-Con Cosplay Gallery

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Emmys 2022 Red Carpet Arrivals

September 12, 2022

2022 Venice Film Festival Arrivals

September 6, 2022

Red Carpet Roundup

Gallery: Grammys Red Carpet & More

February 6, 2023

Emmys 2021 Red Carpet Arrivals

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Oscars 2020 Red Carpet Arrivals

February 9, 2020

New On DVD in April: Paddington 2 , Phantom Thread , The Post and More

April 2, 2018

New On DVD in March: Thor: Ragnarok , Lady Bird , Jumanji and More

February 27, 2018

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January 30, 2018

RT Fans Crown Christopher Nolan the Best Director of the Last 25 Years

August 30, 2023

RT Fans Crown Jurassic Park the Ultimate Steven Spielberg Movie

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How Role Models Made Paul Rudd a Bankable Leading Man

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Limitless Is Preposterous but Enjoyable If You Turn Off Your Brain

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How Mystery Team Revealed Donald Glover Was a Star in the Making

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Total Recall

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October 2, 2023

Marvel Movies Ranked Worst to Best by Tomatometer

November 23, 2022

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Trophy Talk

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May 16, 2024

Rotten Tomatoes Predicts the 2024 Emmy Nominations

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June 9, 2023

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June 2, 2023

The Wrath of Cannes: Critics Batter The Idol , Starring Lily-Rose Depp and Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye

May 25, 2023

Video Interviews

Hugh Jackman Knew “Deep in His Gut” That He Wanted to Play Wolverine Again

May 20, 2024

The Interview With the Vampire Cast on the Vampire Bond and Life Across Time

Owen Teague and Wes Ball Break Down a Scene From Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

May 9, 2024

Weekend Box Office

Weekend Box Office Results: John Krasinski’s IF Rises to the Top

Weekend Box Office Results: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Reigns Supreme

May 13, 2024

Box Office 2024: Top 10 Movies of the Year

Weekly Ketchup

Disney Is Conjuring Up Hocus Pocus 3 , and More Movie News

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May 26, 2023

What to Watch

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February 2, 2024

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December 28, 2023

Movie & TV News

Featured on rt, top headlines.

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Kinds of Kindness – first-look review

By David Jenkins

Yorgos Lanthimos returns with another scorcher in this innovative and darkly comic trio of films about spiritual domination.

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The Shrouds – first-look review

David Cronenberg’s melancholy exploration of how we retain our connection with the dead makes for one of his most beautiful love stories.

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Join our fully-illustrated celebration of Luca Guadagnino’s sparkling sports romcom.

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The Seed of the Sacred Fig – first-look review

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An Iranian judge appointed to Tehran's Revolutionary Court grapples with dissent both at work and at home in Mohammad Rasoulof’s politically charged thriller.

September Says – first-look review

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Two sisters share an unshakable bond in Ariane Labed's uniquely strange feature debut.

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Another lacklustre animated foray into the lasagne-smeared world of Jim Davis’ most famous comic creation.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga review – Miller you absolute mad man

George Miller fires up his war rig and roars across the Australian outback once more, this time telling the origin story of the fearsome Imperator Furiosa.

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Hoard review – proudly strange and provocative

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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes review – stop, I want to get off!

By Adam Woodward

The latest instalment in the simian cinema canon is a weak follow-up to the narrative established in its predecessors, as monkey in-fighting develops between various tribes.

Made In England: The Films Of Powell & Pressburger review – a delicious whirlwind tour

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La Chimera review – shows new ways a movie can be

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Alice Rohrwacher creates a magical fairytale about a group of tomb raiders, anchored by a soulful performance from Josh O'Connor.

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Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them. Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience. We believe in Truth & Movies.

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• <i>Avengers: Endgame</i> Is a Good — And Sometimes Great — End to Marvel’s First Decade

Avengers: Endgame Is a Good — And Sometimes Great — End to Marvel’s First Decade

Avengers: Endgame —the 22nd movie to emerge from the Marvel Cinematic Universe birth canal and the capper to the two-part saga that began with last year’s Avengers: Infinity War —makes more sense as an event than as a movie. The film has been meticulously crafted for people who care deeply about these characters, and it’s likely most of those viewers will leave the theater satisfied. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo (also the directors of Avengers: Infinity War, as well as two of the Captain America films) and their team of writers have ensured, with machinelike precision, that each Avenger gets his or her proper allotment of sensitive moments, as well as heroic ones. Once in a while, Endgame is enjoyable on its own terms, though mostly, you’ll be better off if you have at least a rough working knowledge of the MCU movies that have preceded it. It’s an entertainment designed to please many, many people and disappoint as few as possible, extravagant without necessarily having a vision beyond its desire not to put a foot wrong. It’s bold in the safest possible way.

In other words, as movies that are part of multi-billion-dollar franchises go, Avengers: Endgame is good enough. I must note here that I have little invested in the Marvel movies as the result of any attachment to Marvel comics. But I do care about the work of the actors who appear in them, performers like Chris Evans and Scarlet Johansson, Chadwick Boseman and Robert Downey Jr., Zoe Saldana and Jeremy Renner. All of these people have been terrific in MCU movies, even when they could easily get by with being less than terrific. Watching Endgame, I realized that I do care about Marvel characters because these actors have made me care.

The skill those actors—along with some I haven’t mentioned, like Tessa Thompson and Mark Ruffalo and Benedict Cumberbatch—bring to the Marvel movies in general, and to Avengers: Endgame specifically, only makes me wish these movies were breezier and more inventive, and less obsessed with the high-stakes, big-money fan-pleasing game. But you can’t have everything, and Endgame at least gives these actors something to work with. (Minor-to-moderate spoilers follow, so if you want to experience Endgame with the naïve blankness of a tadpole freshly launched into the pond, please stop reading here.)

Endgame opens with an unnerving, gracefully filmed prologue involving Renner’s Clint Barton, Hawkeye when in his superhero guise. He’s enjoying an outdoor picnic with his family when it becomes clear that what we’re seeing is a moment connected to the tail end of Infinity War: The instant supervillain Thanos (Josh Brolin) snapped his fingers—after having captured the last of those six all-powerful nuggets known as the Infinity Stones —and destroyed exactly half the world’s population , leaving the other half to grieve and remember. (It’s more cruel, when you think about it, to destroy half the world than all of it.) This megalomaniacal act was Thanos’s way of cleansing what he viewed as a corrupt universe. But Hawkeye, having retreated from Avengers duty to be a family man, wasn’t around to witness Thanos’s big finale—and, as Endgame begins, he doesn’t yet know that half his friends have turned to dust. And so, in this moment, we know what’s going to happen before Hawkeye does: He turns away from his family for just a millisecond, and in a blink, they’re gone.

Next we see the other remaining Avengers pulling themselves together after the tragedy—or, in the case of Scott Lang/Antman (Paul Rudd), just waking up after a Quantum Realm-induced nap . Lang quickly gets up to speed on what he missed, and comes up with the germ of a plan: Might the Avengers go back in time to foil Thanos’s plan of half-destruction? Lang introduces his idea to remaining Avengers Steve Rogers/Captain America (Evans), Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Johansson) and James Rhodes/War Machine (Cheadle). They bring this spark of an idea to the guy who might be able to make it work, Downey’s Tony Stark/Iron Man, who barely survived Thanos’s destructathon. First Stark says it’s impossible; then he changes his mind—but he also worries that if the scheme doesn’t work, he’ll lose all he’s gained in what has for him become a bittersweet time, an era during which he’s mourning his lost friends but also starting a new life for himself.

The plan to turn back time is less a major plot point than a mechanism to keep the story clicking, and the middle section—in which the Avengers break into groups to travel to specific places and years where they can grab one Infinity Stone or another before Thanos can get his dirty mitts on any of them—is the movie’s finest. Avengers: Endgame is a better movie than Avengers: Infinity War in one important sense: It relies less on milking tears out of us (for characters who have “died” but who we know will come back again—they’re too valuable to the franchise to be gone for good) than on focusing on what each of these characters might mean to us, given our history with them. The mid-section of Endgame shows the Avengers actors at their best. Chris Hemsworth, as a Thor who has slid into a state of pot-bellied depression post-Thanos, gets a chance to reunite with his long-dead mother, Frigga (Rene Russo), in the kingdom of his birth, Asgard. He greets her tentatively, almost shyly, nearly dumbfounded by the gift of seeing her again even for a few moments; she discreetly asks about his funky eye. The tenderness between them is lush and quiet, underscoring what’s most valuable about Endgame: There is only one gargantuan, booming fight scene, and it’s not the centerpiece of the movie. It’s as if the Russo brothers have finally acknowledged that bigger, noisier battles amount to less rather than more. At least we can hope.

Endgame does give us some arresting visuals: Thompson’s Valkyrie riding on a winged horse, anyone? But generally, the actors are Endgame ’s finest special effect. Though we’re made to wait for the entrance of Boseman’s T’Challa/Black Panther, it’s worth it: He coasts into the movie on a regal cloud. And Robert Downey, after playing Tony Stark/Iron Man for perhaps too many years, snaps back into form. In the 2008 Iron Man, Downey brought a kind of frazzled elegance to the role of Stark—his nervous energy seemed to spark from his fingertips, as if it were too much for his body to contain. In the years since, his Iron Man performances have become more brittle, more reliant on tics. But in Endgame, Stark’s moments of doubt feel lived-in—Downey’s performance is alive with prickly uncertainty. Even when Endgame hits its generally predictable beats, you can still count on the actors to shift the mood into slightly uncomfortable emotional territory.

The Russos and their writers clearly took pains to give nearly each character a gratifying arc, and a proper—if not necessarily soft—place to land. That must have been a lot of work, and a few of the Avengers get short shrift: The ever-so-powerful Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) drops out of the movie for a long stretch, eventually returning with…a short haircut. Some arc.

But the Russos more than make up for that with the discreet, wistful coda they give Steve Rogers/Captain America. It’s the movie’s single most gorgeous element, perfectly fitting for a guy who entered a 70-year sleep right after finding the love of his life. Evans’ Captain America has always been, physically speaking, the beefiest of all the Avengers, as sturdy and wholesome as the “after” picture in a Charles Atlas ad. Yet Evans has also always been one of the most understated actors in the franchise. As Steve, Evans’ smile is easy, friendly, in a stock all-American way. But there’s never been any swagger behind it. It’s the smile of a guy who’s lost something valuable, whose view of the future is perpetually tinted with the color of what he left behind. Avengers: Endgame isn’t a great movie, but there are flashes of greatness in it, and quite a few of them belong to Evans. His Captain America rewards us with a revelation and escapes with a secret. The best thing in Avengers: Endgame is everything he doesn’t say.

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‘the avengers’: film review.

Director Joss Whedon pulls off a stunning feat in bringing balance to this superhuman circus, engineered to charm the geek core and nonfans alike.

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

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Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man is going to get the best zingers, but don't underestimate Chris Evans' spot-on portrayal of the Star-Spangled Avenger to win fans.

The All-Star Game of modern superhero extravaganzas, The Avengers is humongous — the film Marvel and its legions of fans have been waiting for. It’s hard to imagine that anyone with an appetite for the trademark’s patented brand of fantasy, effects, mayhem and strangely dressed he-men will be disappointed; not only does this eye-popping 3D display of visual effects fireworks feature an enormously high proportion of action scenes, but director Joss Whedon has adroitly balanced the celebrity circus to give every single one of the superstar characters his or her due. Worldwide box-office returns will be, in a word, Marvelous.

During the past several years, Marvel has, with accelerated speed, expanded its cinematic repertoire of over-muscled, generally double-identitied heroes not otherwise encumbered by exclusive contracts with other studios — most notably The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and Captain America — to arrive at the point where this summit meeting of superhuman good guys could be assembled. (A prominent relative, Spider-Man, has his own reboot coming up this summer.)

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After this, the characters will go their separate ways — Iron Man 3 starts shooting next month, with second chapters of Thor and Captain America set to roll within the year — before gathering again before too many movie summers pass. With the bundle this one will make, the pressure will be on make it happen sooner rather than later.

As creatively variable and predictably formulaic as the Marvel films have been, this one will not only make the core geek audience feel like it’s died and gone to Asgard but has so much going for it that many nonfans will be disarmed and charmed. This is effects-driven, mass-appeal summer fare par excellence, that sought-after rare bird that hits all the quadrants, as marketing mavens like to say. As enormous as the production is, though, the appeal of the ensemble cast makes a crucial difference; you get enough but not too much of each of them, and they all get multiple scenes to themselves to shine.

To boil down the particulars of this latest attempt to bring ruin to all we hold dear, sinister Thor villain Loki ( Tom Hiddleston , looking like Richard E. Grant’s effete younger brother) has gained possession of the tesseract , an all-powerful substance contained in an opaque cube that not only provides unlimited sustainable energy but a portal to outer space. “I am burdened with glorious purpose,” Loki purrs while taunting eye-patched S.H.I.E.L.D. master Samuel L. Jackson (finally with something to do in a Marvel film) with the promised arrival of his army of outer-space warriors.

Down but not out, the good guys begin assembling on board one of the cooler modes of transport seen anywhere in a while, a giant (and beautifully rendered) aircraft carrier that can rise out of the water to become an invisible space ship — hence, a helicarrier — and serve as a first-rate staging area for operations against Loki. Among those arriving on board are Bruce Banner, otherwise known as The Hulk ( Mark Ruffalo , the third actor, after Eric Bana and Edward Norton , to give the green giant a big-screen go); Natasha Romanoff /Black Widow ( Scarlet Johansson ), a sultry, scarlet-haired assassin first seen turning the tables on nasty interrogators despite being strapped to a chair; Thor ( Chris Hemsworth ), Loki’s long-locked brother and bearer of the universe’s mightiest hammer; and Mr. Old School himself, Steve Rogers, aka Captain America ( Chris Evans ), a World War II hero who’s not quite up to speed on all the latest super-technology but carries an impenetrable shield. For his part, Robert Downey Jr. ‘s Tony Stark, better known as Iron Man, joins incipient girlfriend Pepper ( Gwyneth Paltrow ) for a brief tete-a-tete before deigning to lend his special expertise to the cause.

Although they really should be saving their energy for the battle against Loki and his minions, the Avengers team can’t resist getting into it with each other from time to time. One could say that this is just gratuitous time-killing, but it could as persuasively be argued that watching The Hulk duke it out with Thor for bragging rights as to who’s tougher is what such a film is all about; at least there’s nothing perfunctory about it, as there is when superheroes routinely dispatch aliens and enemies who exist just to get blown away. The friction between Iron Man and Captain America, for example, is all about style and attitude; the former is far too irreverent and glib for the latter, for whom patriotism and coming to the rescue are not laughing matters.

With only one feature directorial credit to his name, the middling 2005 sci-fier Serenity, Whedon of Buffy fame would not have been the first name on most people’s lists to tame a potentially unwieldy project. But from a logistical point of view alone, he imposes a grip on the material that feels like that of a benevolent general, marshaling myriad technical resources (including an excellent use of 3D) while, even more impressively, juggling eight major characters, giving them all cool and important things to do.

Never, though, does the film stall to dwell on individual characters just to give them screen time; the heroes are almost always doing something that relates to the challenge at hand. Even when the impudent Loki is held prisoner in seemingly inescapable circumstances, there is still forward movement, which crests and then crashes with tsunami force near Grand Central Station in Manhattan; uncountable numbers of alien warriors arrive from the skies, accompanied by strikingly designed metal leviathans that undulate like skeletal monsters of the deep as they cruise over New York seeking targets.

In this titanic battle, which occupies most of the film’s final half-hour, all the Marvel heroes’ talents are put to the test. In addition to Iron Man making a quick trip to outer space to deal with an incoming missile, special agent Clint Barton, or Hawkeye ( Jeremy Renner ), is so good with a high-tech bow and arrow that you imagine they’ll have to dragoon Katniss Everdeen into the sequel as a guest star just to see who’s better. For his part, Jackson’s Nick Fury has his hands full restraining army generals from nuking the Big Apple in order to off the aliens.

It’s clamorous, the save-the-world story is one everyone’s seen time and again, and the characters have been around for more than half a century in 500 comic book issues. But Whedon and his cohorts have managed to stir all the personalities and ingredients together so that the resulting dish, however familiar, is irresistibly tasty again. A quick coda reveals, to well-versed fans at least, who the new adversary in the next installment will be, underlining a reality as absolute as the turning of Earth: Especially after this, Marvel movies will go on and on and on.

Venue: Tribeca Film Festival Production: Marvel Cast: Robert Downey Jr. , Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo , Chris Hemsworth , Scarlett Johansson , Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston , Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders , Stellan Skarsgard , Samuel L. Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow , Paul Bettany Director: Joss Whedon Screenwriter: Joss Whedon Story by: Zak Penn, Joss Whedon Producer: Kevin Feige Executive producers: Alan Fine, Jon Favreau , Stan Lee, Louis D’Esposito , Patricia Whitcher , Victoria Alonso, Jeremy Latcham Director of photography: Seamus McGarvey Production designer: James Chinlund Costume designer: Alexandra Byrne Editors: Jeffrey Ford, Lisa Lassek Music: Alan Silvestri Visual effects supervisor: Janek Sirrs Rated PG-13, 142 minutes

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Judging from the time-tripping scenario cobbled together by writers John Duigan, Buzz McLaughlin and director Andrew Hyatt , Wang’s road to Damascus was a rugged one. The decades-spanning story covers his traumatic childhood in Hangzhou, China during the 1970s Cultural Revolution, when his medically trained parents and dear friend Lili (Sara Lee) were routinely roughed up by the anti-intellectual Red Guards, as well as Wang’s diligent efforts to ignore prejudice and defy patronizing expectations while attending medical school in America. Viewers watch as Wang (played by Ben Wang and Jayden Zhang in flashbacks) evolves into a relentlessly driven individual eager to make his mark — and make his parents, who join him in America, proud.

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What keeps “Sight” compelling despite its flaws is the plot thread involving Kajal (Mia Swamination), a sightless Indian girl who’s brought to Nashville by a compassionate nun (Fionnula Flannagan, breathing life into a thinly written stereotype) in search of a miracle cure.

In a flashback that uncomfortably echoes “Slumdog Millionaire,” Kajal is blinded by her stepmother so the girl will appear more pitiful (and garner more donations) as a beggar on the streets of Calcutta. In present-day Nashville, Wang and Bartnovsky tirelessly research and experiment (a scene with rabbits employed as test subjects is one of the movie’s few moments of comic relief). It becomes clear fairly early — way before Wang actually announces it to Bartnovsky — that the immigrant doctor is at least partly driven by his belief that finding a cure for Kajal will somehow make amends for his inability to protect Lili, who was seized by Red Guard rebels back in Hangzhou and occasionally haunts his dreams.

For all its predictability, “Sight” has a few surprises up its sleeve, especially when Wang discovers there’s more than one way to measure success or failure. (This, it should be noted, is where the switch to faith-based storytelling begins.) The acting is generally fine, with Chen’s persuasive turn rising to the occasion when Wang’s emotions can no longer be contained. Kinnear effectively plays Bartnovsky as a close confidant who knows when to encourage his friend and when to keep his mouth shut. One of the film’s emotional peaks: Bartnovsky overhears a brutally critical remark muttered by a harried Wang, and for a flash it looks like his heart has broken into a zillion pieces. Indeed, in that moment, Kinnear almost manages to elicit more sympathy than the other, more troubled characters in “Sight.” Almost.

Reviewed online, May 22, 2024. Running time: 100 MIN.

• Production: An Angel Studios release of an Open River Entertainment production in association with Reserve Entertainment. Producers: Darren Moorman, David Fischer, Vicki Sotheran. Executive producers: Dr. Ming Wang, David Fischer, Aaron Widerspahn.
• Crew: Director: Andrew Hyatt. Screenplay: Andrew Hyatt, John Duigan, Buzz McLaughlin. Camera : Michael Balfry. Editor: Dan O’Brien. Music: Sean Philip Johnson.
• With: Terry Chen, Greg Kinnear, Danni Wang, Raymond Ma, Ben Wang, Wai Ching Hoe, Fionnula Flannagan, Sara Ye. (English, Mandarin dialogue.)

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“Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.” - Jeremiah 11:11

In Rodney Ascher ’s  documentary “ Room 237 ,” four theorists attempt to explain the hidden messages in Stanley Kubrick ’s movie “ The Shining .” The ideas about what the movie is about range from the possible to the downright bizarre. One theory fixates on the possibility that “The Shining” was Kubrick’s way of confessing he faked the landing on the moon footage, and another obsesses over the details of the hedge maze. The other two see evidence that the 1980 film indirectly references either the genocide of Native Americans or the Holocaust.

Like “The Shining,” there are a number of different ways to interpret Jordan Peele ’s excellent new horror movie, “Us.” Every image seems to be a clue for what’s about to happen or a stand-in for something outside the main story of a family in danger. Peele’s film, which he directed, wrote and produced, will likely reward audiences on multiple viewings, each visit revealing a new secret, showing you something you missed before in a new light.

“Us” begins back in 1986 with a young girl and her parents wandering through the Santa Cruz boardwalk at night. She separates from them to walk out on the empty beach, watching a foreboding flock of thunderclouds roll in. Her eyes find an attraction just off the main pier, and she walks into what looks like an abandoned hall of mirrors, discovering something deeply terrifying—her doppelgänger. The movie shifts to the present day, with Janelle Monae on the radio as the Wilson family is heading towards their vacation home. The little girl has now grown up to be a woman, Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o), nervous about returning to that spot on the Santa Cruz beach. Her husband, Gabe ( Winston Duke ), thinks her reaction is overblown, but he tries to make her feel at ease so they can take their kids Zora ( Shahadi Wright Joseph ) and Jason ( Evan Alex ) to the beach and meet up with old friends, the Tylers ( Elisabeth Moss and Tim Heidecker ) and their twin daughters. After one small scare and a few strange coincidences on the beach, the family returns home for a quiet night in, only to have their peace broken by a most unlikely set of trespassers lined up across their driveway: doppelgängers of their family.

Part of the appeal of “Us” is how you interpret what all of this information and images mean. No doubt the movie will give audiences plenty to mull over long after the credits. In the film, the Jeremiah 11:11 Bible verse appears twice before pivotal moments, and there are plenty of other Biblical references to dig into, including an analogy to heaven and hell. Perhaps Jason’s “ Jaws ” shirt is a reference to the rocket sweater the little boy wears in “The Shining” or it could be a warning about the film’s oceanside dangers. In the ‘80s scene, when young Adelaide walks into the mysterious attraction, the sign welcoming her is that of a Native American in a headdress above the name “Shaman Vision Quest.” When the family returns to the beach, the sign has been replaced with a more PC-friendly sign bearing a wizard advertising it as “Merlin’s Enchanted Forest,” a bandaid solution to hiding the racist exterior and the horror inside its halls.  

As he did with “ Get Out ,” Peele pays significant tribute to the films that have influenced him in “Us.” Though this time, there doesn’t seem to be a consensus. As I spoke with others who saw the movie, we focused on different titles that stood out to us. For me, “The Shining” looked to be the film that received the most nods in “Us,” including an overhead shot of the Wilson family driving through hilly forests to their vacation home, much like the Torrance family does on the way to the Overlook Hotel. There’s also a reference to “The Shining” twins, a few architectural and cinematography similarities and, in one shot, Nyong’o charges the camera with a weapon much like Jack Nicholson menacingly drags along an ax in a chase. However, “Us” is not just a love letter to one horror movie. Peele also pays tribute to Brian De Palma with a split diopter shot that places both Adelaide and her doppelgänger in equal focus for the first time in the movie. There’s also a tip of the hat to Darren Aronofsky ’s “ Black Swan ” in terms of dueling balletic styles and a gorgeously choreographed fight scene that looks like a combative pas de deux.

This delightfully deranged home invasion-family horror film works because Peele not only knows how to tell his story, he assembled an incredible cast to play two roles. The Wilsons are a picture of an all-American family: a family of four that looks to be middle class, with college-educated (Gabe is wearing a Howard University sweater) parents doting on their two children. Their doppelgängers may look like them and be tied to them in some way, but their lives are inverses of each other, and their existence has been one of limits and misery. It’s one of the most poignant analogies of class in America to come out in a studio film in recent memory. For the actors, it’s a chance to play two extremes, one of intense normality and the other of wretched evil. In “Us,” Duke shows off his comedic strengths as the dorky father who often embarrasses his kids, and his doppelgänger is a frighting wall of violence with little to say other than grunts and fighting his adversary. If Nyong’o doesn’t get some professional recognition for her performances here, I will be very disappointed. As Adelaide, she’s fearful, trying to keep some traumatic memories at bay but putting on a brave face for her family. To play her character’s opposite, Nyong’o adopts a graceful, confident movement for her doppelgänger, sliding into the family’s home with scissors at the ready. The doppelgänger looks wide-eyed and maliciously curious as if she’s looking for new ways to terrorize this family. She whispers in a raspy but sinister voice that would make many people jump and run away.

A suspenseful story and marvelous cast need a great crew to make the film a home run, and “Us” is not short on talent. “ It Follows ” cinematographer Mike Gioulakis creates unsettling images in mundane spaces, like how a strange family standing at a driveway isn’t necessarily scary, but when it’s eerily dark out, they’re backlit so that their faces go unseen and the four bodies are standing at a higher elevation from our heroes, so it looks like evil is swooping in from above. Kym Barrett ’s costume designs not only supply the doppelgängers’ nefarious looking red jumpsuits but also the normal, comfy clothes the Wilsons and Tylers wear on vacation. Michael Abels , who also composed the score for “Get Out,” and the ominous notes from the sound design team lay the groundwork for nerve-wracking sequences.

Jordan Peele isn’t the next Kubrick, M. Night Shyamalan, Alfred Hitchcock or Steven Spielberg . He’s his own director, with a vision that melds comedy, horror and social commentary. And he has a visual style that’s luminous, playful and delightfully unnerving. Peele uses an alternate cinematic language to Kubrick, seems more comfortable at teasing his story’s twists throughout the narrative unlike Shyamalan, uses suspense differently than Hitchcock, and possesses the comedic timing Spielberg never had. “Us” is another thrilling exploration of the past and oppression this country is still too afraid to bring up. Peele wants us to talk, and he’s given audiences the material to think, to feel our way through some of the darker sides of the human condition and the American experience.

This review was originally filed from the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 9, 2019.

Monica Castillo

Monica Castillo is a critic, journalist, programmer, and curator based in New York City. She is the Senior Film Programmer at the Jacob Burns Film Center and a contributor to  RogerEbert.com .

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Film credits.

Rated R for violence/terror, and language.

120 minutes

Lupita Nyong'o as Adelaide Wilson

Winston Duke as Gabriel "Gabe" Wilson

Evan Alex as Jason Wilson

Shahadi Wright Joseph as Zora Wilson

Elisabeth Moss as Mrs. Tyler

Tim Heidecker as Mr. Tyler

Kara Hayward as Nancy

• Jordan Peele

Cinematographer

• Mike Gioulakis
• Nicholas Monsour
• Michael Abels

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