Zimbio Film Reviews

(Warner Brothers) The Bottom Line Should you see it? Yes. Why? Although he lacks the same vulnerability, Man of Steel does for Superman what Batman Begins did for the Dark Knight. Man of Steel is so explosively loud and full of light speed action sequences, it might be the film that allows the blind to see and the deaf to hear again. It's apt then that Superman, reborn in 2013 by director Zack Snyder and co-writers Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, is presented as a Christ-like...Read Full Story

(Columbia) The Bottom Line Should you see it? Yes. Why? Seeing all these famous friends go crazy together is a blast. The fact the movie contains an actual story is just a bonus. This is the End thrives thanks to the funniest cast of the year and a unique twist: Everyone plays themselves. Thanks to Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel, it's sweet. Thanks to Jonah Hill, it's awkwardly weird. Thanks to Craig Robinson, it's boisterous. And thanks to Danny McBride and James Franco, it's diabolically...Read Full Story

(Warner Brothers) The Bottom Line Should you see it? No. Why? It ruins Alan and Chow, the best things about the first film, by over-exposing them. It's unoriginal, boring, and predictable. There's no hangover in The Hangover 3. Instead, the result is more of a Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back-type spinoff. Co-writer/director Todd Phillips gives us too much of a good thing, allowing Zach Galifianakis and Ken Jeong to run wild while the rest of the cast sits back on auto-pilot and...Read Full Story

(20th Century Fox) The Bottom Line Should you see it? Yes. Why? Declawed with a PG-13 rating, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson still manage to work their magic... kind of. The joy of seeing Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn back together again is tainted by the fact The Internship worships so sickeningly at the altar of tech giant Google. The boys manage to overshadow the film's reverance (and a surprisingly lame supporting cast) for the most part however with several scenes of their trademark...Read Full Story

(L-R) Actors Erin Moriarty, Moises Arias, Gabriel Basso, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, writer Chris Galletta, actors Alison Brie and Nick Robinson pose for a portrait during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival at the Getty Images Portrait Studio at Village at the Lift on January 19, 2013 in Park City, Utah. The Bottom Line Should you see it? Yes. Why? Despite cliched plot devices, The Kings of Summer is effortlessly watchable and fun, helped by a weird comic performance by young actor Moises...Read Full Story

(Fox Searchlight | Getty Images) The Bottom Line Should you see it? Yes Why? The East is worth watching just for Brit Marling, a surefire future star, but it's also a complex thriller that will test your allegiances. If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front was one of the best documentaries of 2011. It's a fascinating film that humanizes a self-righteous group of American underground extremists. With The East, co-writer/director Zal Batmanglij goes a step further, immersing...Read Full Story

(Columbia) The Bottom Line Should You See it? No. Why? After Earth looks cheap. The effects are shockingly lackluster. The script is overly simple and predictable. This is a bad movie in almost every way. As predictable as any movie you will ever see, M. Night Shyamalan's latest, After Earth, is an ultimately forgettable walk through the park of science fiction that has nothing new to say or show us about the genre. Shyamalan, once one of Hollywood's most successful and brightest writer...Read Full Story

(Paramount) The Bottom Line Should you see it? Yes. Why? Abrams' fantastic action sequences are genre porn for sci-fi geeks, and Cumberbatch is riveting in villain-mode. In glorious fashion, J.J. Abrams continues to reinvent the campy Star Trek franchise into something it never was before: cool. While Trekkies far and wide may argue this point, the old Star Trek TV series and movie franchise were never close to the pop culture phenomenon something like Star Wars was and it was never as...Read Full Story

(IFC Films) The Bottom Line Should you see it? Yes. Why? Baumbach seems to have found his comedic stroke with the help of Gerwig, who's insanely likable and easy to root for as a young woman at the crossroads. Greta Gerwig began her acting career as a mumblecore sweetheart. She appears as either a woman in a relationship or the object of men's desires in almost every film she's done: Baghead, Hannah Takes the Stairs, Nights and Weekends, Greenberg, Lola Versus, even in Arthur. She's...Read Full Story

(Warner Brothers) The Bottom Line Should you see it? Yes. Why? Despite its departures from the novel, this is a unique vision of a story everyone knows. It's also a visionary depiction of a golden era. This auto-tuned soap opera writer/director Baz Luhrmann is calling The Great Gatsby is a visual rollercoaster, a melodramatic fairy tale, and a wistful ode to romance. It's also predictably transparent when it comes to the classic American novel's weighty themes. Luhrmann does get credit...Read Full Story