Steve Rose
Steve Rose's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s):
Film4
Guardian
GQ Magazine [UK]
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Eternals (2021) |
It's not exactly boring - there's always something new to behold - but nor it is particularly exciting, and it lacks the breezy wit of Marvel's best movies. - Guardian
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| Posted Oct 24, 2021
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Flatland (2019) |
It's an odd mix of tones that doesn't always work but, like its protagonists, Flatland is not afraid to strike out and look for something new. - Guardian
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| Posted Aug 17, 2021
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People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan (2021) |
What really redeems the film are the brilliantly observed characters: these are archetypes of modern Britain that nobody really nailed before. - Guardian
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| Posted Aug 16, 2021
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Extinct (2021) |
In the Darwinian world of kids' entertainment, Extinct looks like an evolutionary dead end. - Guardian
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| Posted Aug 16, 2021
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Riders of Justice (2020) |
There's a sincere empathy for these damaged characters, and intelligent musings on fate, coincidence and trauma, all helped down by some delightfully absurd and audacious comedy. - Guardian
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| Posted Jul 22, 2021
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Night of the Kings (2020) |
The freshness of the approach, combined with the substance of the stories, works the same strange magic on the viewer as on the inmates. It is easy to be swept along. - Guardian
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| Posted Jul 20, 2021
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The Wasps Are Here (1978) |
This is an emblematic clash of urban/western values versus rural/traditional ones, but the themes are treated with subtlety and even-handedness. - Guardian
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| Posted Jul 15, 2021
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We Intend to Cause Havoc (2019) |
An amiable, if orthodox film that doesn't scratch too far beneath the surface. - Guardian
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| Posted Jul 13, 2021
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The God Committee (2021) |
It feels as if the story has been given a last-minute melodrama transplant. - Guardian
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| Posted Jul 12, 2021
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Kindred (2020) |
It's Shaw who steals the show, conveying her character as both a heartless monster and a woman haunted by her own past, with that kind of breathy, distracted haughtiness she does so well. - Guardian
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| Posted Jul 02, 2021
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Crazy Samurai: 400 vs 1 (2020) |
Most viewers will tire out long before this Crazy Samurai does. - Guardian
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| Posted Jun 30, 2021
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White on White (2019) |
Perhaps conscious of the issues of representation he is dealing with, Court invites us to come to our own conclusions rather than spoon-feeding us a point of view. - Guardian
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| Posted Jun 28, 2021
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The Filmmaker's House (2020) |
Having chronicled so many aspects of Britishness in his documentary career, Isaacs contrives a sort of microcosmic state of our multicultural nation here: a gentle clash of cultural attitudes and boundaries. - Guardian
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| Posted Jun 23, 2021
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Forget Everything and Run (2021) |
The performers are mostly fine and the action is well staged, but for all its energy and commitment, the story finds nowhere to run. - Guardian
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| Posted Apr 30, 2021
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Spring Blossom (2020) |
At barely 70 minutes, this is a fleeting affair in every sense. Perhaps that's the point. - Guardian
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| Posted Apr 21, 2021
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Red Moon Tide (2020) |
The trance-like pacing and mystical meditation might frustrate viewers looking for an easy watch, but local film-maker Lois Patiño is clearly operating at the fine-art end of the cinema scale. - Guardian
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| Posted Apr 19, 2021
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Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) |
The overall mood is funereal, though most funerals are shorter than this. Stretched over four hours, Snyder's limitations as a visual stylist also become apparent. - GQ Magazine [UK]
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| Posted Mar 18, 2021
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The Winter Lake (2020) |
There's promise here but also perhaps some uncertainty: ultimately it falls between the stools of realist rural drama and full-on horror. - Guardian
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| Posted Mar 10, 2021
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Verdict (2019) |
Tracks a case of domestic abuse with such conviction, it is often easy to forget it's staged drama rather than documentary. - Guardian
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| Posted Mar 10, 2021
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Mouthpiece (2018) |
The story occasionally verges on self-indulgent (or rather, selves-indulgent), but it is playful and ingenious. - Guardian
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| Posted Mar 10, 2021
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Los Conductos (2020) |
Oblique and impenetrable as it is, it's a memorable experience. - Guardian
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| Posted Mar 08, 2021
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Onward (2020) |
Beneath the bro-friendly, fantasy-art trappings, Onward finds a little bit of that old Pixar magic. - Guardian
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| Posted Feb 21, 2020
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Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) |
All in all, like its fast-moving, attention-deficient hero, this just feels like a rush job. - Guardian
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| Posted Feb 13, 2020
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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) |
Of course there is epic action to savour and surprises and spoilers to spill, but given the long, long build-up, some of the saga's big revelations and developments might be a little unsatisfying on reflection. - Guardian
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| Posted Dec 18, 2019
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XY Chelsea (2019) |
We do at least get a sense of Manning as a person - though at this stage, she comes across as a person still trying to get a sense of herself. - Guardian
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| Posted May 22, 2019
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Aladdin (2019) |
It is lively, colourful and genuinely funny, and doesn't break what didn't need fixing about the original. - Guardian
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| Posted May 22, 2019
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Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019) |
The inspired casting of the Deadpool actor transforms this from an average Pokémon movie into fun family fare. - Guardian
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| Posted May 03, 2019
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No Shade (2018) |
For a film addressing worthwhile issues of beauty - outer and inner, and the prejudices around it - it rarely rises above the superficial. - Guardian
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| Posted Nov 01, 2018
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Black Mother (2018) |
The experience is almost too much to process on a rational level, but you come away with an essential understanding. - Guardian
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| Posted Oct 31, 2018
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The Evil Dead (1981) |
The film’s commitment to being the goriest ever made is admirable, even if you feel the film-makers’ giddiness at the special effects is driving the story more than any dramatic imperative. - Guardian
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| Posted Oct 26, 2018
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Beetlejuice (1988) |
The story almost comes off the rails, but Beetlejuice's charm lies more in the execution. The movie is crammed with visual invention and snappy comedy. - Guardian
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| Posted Oct 25, 2018
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Night of the Living Dead (1968) |
Romero conjures moments of eeriness and dread throughout, keeping the lighting low and the special effects to a minimum, though there will be blood, fire, cannibalism and a great deal of death. - Guardian
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| Posted Oct 24, 2018
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Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) |
A bolder film might have explored the relationship between Mercury's hedonism, his mostly closeted sexuality and his on and off-stage personas in a more nuanced way. - Guardian
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| Posted Oct 23, 2018
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Deadpool 2 (2018) |
Snappy, self-aware, fourth-wall-breaking lines like that flow fast and rarely miss their targets in the ensuing adventure. - Guardian
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| Posted May 15, 2018
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Peter Rabbit (2018) |
This kids' animation is altogether lively and funny with just enough soul, even if it comes at the expense of Potter's sensitivity and delicacy. - Guardian
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| Posted Feb 04, 2018
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Early Man (2018) |
Early Man does little to move things on, in evolutionary terms, but - for younger viewers especially - its straightforward storytelling and gentle humour still work a treat. - Guardian
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| Posted Jan 15, 2018
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The Commuter (2018) |
What keeps The Commuter on the rails is Neeson himself. He's in amazing form for a 65-year-old (his character is only 60), and in terms of actorly presence, he's still got it. - Guardian
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| Posted Jan 10, 2018
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Bright (2017) |
For all its flaws, Bright is still a headlong leap into a bracingly different new world. Cinema could do with more of that. - Guardian
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| Posted Dec 21, 2017
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Pitch Perfect 3 (2017) |
It looks like these performers are genuinely enjoying themselves, and it's infectious. Despite the preposterous escapades and the self-destructive satire, at the end of it all, there's something real left standing. - Guardian
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| Posted Dec 19, 2017
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Thor: Ragnarok (2017) |
It basically throws up its hands at its own ridiculousness and plays it all for laughs - and it gets them. - Guardian
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| Posted Oct 19, 2017
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Wonder Woman (2017) |
Gadot is entirely credible as the embodiment of Amazonian perfection, but there's only so much emotion her concerted brow-furrowing can convey. - Guardian
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| Posted May 29, 2017
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It Was Fifty Years Ago Today! The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper & Beyond (2017) |
It's not easy to make a documentary about the greatest album in history when you don't have access to a single note of the music, but this documentary forges on and cashes in regardless ... - Guardian
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| Posted May 26, 2017
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I Am Not Madame Bovary (2016) |
The satirical bite dissipates a little as the story drags on, though a powerful, emotional coda makes it worth the wait. - Guardian
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| Posted May 26, 2017
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The Red Turtle (2016) |
The experience is captivating, transcendental even. - Guardian
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| Posted May 25, 2017
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Baywatch (2017) |
By about halfway in, the gags dry up and the story sinks like an overweight tourist who took a dip too early after the all-you-can-eat surf'n'turf buffet. - Guardian
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| Posted May 23, 2017
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Lost in France (2016) |
The musicians are talented, thoughtful and charming, and their story says plenty about the decline of the music industry. But it feels like we're getting the comedown without having had the high. - Guardian
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| Posted Feb 16, 2017
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Multiple Maniacs (1970) |
Only John Waters could stage a Charles Manson-style slaughter then think: "This could really do with a giant-lobster rape scene to spruce it up." - Guardian
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| Posted Feb 16, 2017
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The LEGO Batman Movie (2017) |
It doesn't have the heart, the depth or the novelty of the first Lego movie, but it is relentlessly, consistently funny - which excuses everything. - Guardian
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| Posted Feb 04, 2017
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Split (2016) |
An unpredictable, suspenseful little tale that comes together surprisingly satisfyingly, thanks to clever plotting and a truly committed performance from McAvoy. - Guardian
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| Posted Jan 19, 2017
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Moana (2016) |
Its cultural setting is fresh; its storytelling, less so. It navigates the reefs but it doesn't discover a whole new world. - Guardian
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| Posted Nov 07, 2016
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