PACIFIC RIM: CURRENT ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 76%
“This is Godzilla meets Transformers, with elements of the lesser Star Wars movies, all awash in thunderously loud, non-stop demolition.”- Claudia Puig, USA Today
“Godzilla, eat your heart out.”- Soren Anderson, Seattle Times
“A huge movie, investing in a deafening sound design and extended presentations of mass destruction. In del Toro’s sweaty hands, the chaos holds a little more appeal than the average summer blockbuster entry.”- Brian Orndorf, Blu-Ray.com
“A wonder that makes your eyes pop and jaw drop … that rare beast, a movie that demands you get out of the house and see it on the biggest screen possible.”- Matt Pais, RedEye
“A titanic sci-fi action fantasy that has been invested, against all expectations, with a heart, a brain, and something approximating a soul.”- Ty Burr, Boston Globe
GROWN UPS 2: CURRENT ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 0%
To be fair… this film didn’t screen for critics, so it only has 6 reviews total on RT. The original only managed 9%, so don’t expect critics to love the sequel.
“Yes, it’s time for another visit to the Adam Sandler Death-of-Cinema Fun Factory, the big-screen version of a terrible sitcom where laugh tracks are replaced by the co-stars chuckling at their own awful material.”- Alexander Duralde, The Wrap
“Throughout, gags are cartoonishly broad and afforded so little time for setup and delivery we seem to be watching less a story than a catalog of tossed-out material.”- John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter
“Another lowbrow make-work project for Sandler’s jock cronies, SNL has-been hangers-on and Dan Patrick.”- Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service
“An ode to lazy comedy and staggering stupidity.”- Mike Scott, Times Picauyne
“Almost aggressively more of the same. If you hated the last one, you’ll be in misery all over again. If you took to the predecessor, you’ll find this one a fitting continuation.”- Dustin Putman, DustinPutman.com
FRUITVALE STATION: CURRENT ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 93%
“While Jordan is responsible for making Oscar Grant come to life, Coogler deserves equal if not more praise for having so successfully created a sense of the world he lived in.”- Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News
“Coogler immerses us in this life, so that when it’s cut short, you won’t just weep, you’ll cry out in protest. Fruitvale Station is great political filmmaking because it’s great filmmaking, period.”- Owen Glieberman, Entertainment Weekly
“A shrewd script and career-launching performances drive a tragic modern story that carries heavy social weight.”- Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter
”A harrowing film worth seeing and honoring for boldness and insight.”- Rex Reed, New York Observer“When the full impact of Grant’s death comes to the fore for the people closest to him, Fruitvale generates tears to express the same rage found in the protests following the tragedy. It makes the cause personal.”- Eric Kohn, IndieWire
