News.com.au

News.com.au is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Wenlei Ma
Rating Title/Year Author
4/5 Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019) Wenlei Ma Less of a plot-driven story and more of an opulent mood piece, Once Upon a Time is a love letter, an evocation of a specific time and place. EDIT
Posted Aug 14, 2019
4/5 Midsommar (2019) Wenlei Ma Ari Aster's approach to horror filmmaking seeps into your subconsciousness with great effect, lingering like an uninvited guest. EDIT
Posted Aug 14, 2019
3.5/5 Late Night (2019) Wenlei Ma Mindy Kaling wrote the screenplay with Emma Thompson in mind and you can see the character was crafted for exactly her talents. EDIT
Posted Aug 14, 2019
3/5 Palm Beach (2019) Wenlei Ma Palm Beach is a movie that falls square in the "it's fine" category. EDIT
Posted Aug 14, 2019
3/5 Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) Wenlei Ma If you're expecting Hobbs & Shaw to be anything other than a ridiculous, over-the-top action extravaganza that defies all logic and gravity, then shame on you. You should know better by now. EDIT
Posted Aug 5, 2019
3/5 The White Crow (2018) Wenlei Ma The White Crow offers up all these elements of Nureyev - his past, his heat, his vulnerabilities - but all those parts are dancing around each other incongruously rather than as a well-choreographed ensemble piece. EDIT
Posted Aug 5, 2019
3/5 The Lion King (2019) Wenlei Ma Though by no means a bad movie, The Lion King would've been better off trying to be more of its own movie, do something different in terms of story and character, and aim as high narratively as it achieved with its extraordinary visuals. EDIT
Posted Aug 5, 2019
4.5/5 Booksmart (2019) Wenlei Ma It sounds like such a cliche but you will literally laugh and cry, and flash back to your own teenage days with fondness, not horror. EDIT
Posted Aug 5, 2019
2/5 Stuber (2019) Wenlei Ma Stuber is a lumbering, tired and dumb comedy, but if that's what you're looking for, then have at it. EDIT
Posted Aug 5, 2019
Aziz Ansari: Right Now (2019) Wenlei Ma His show is funny and insightful, but it's also emotional. It's enough to make you forgive him for his sins. EDIT
Posted Aug 5, 2019
2/5 Yesterday (2019) Wenlei Ma Yesterday is billing itself as a feel-good movie, buoyed by its Beatles-fuelled soundtrack and quirky premise. But will it make you feel good? Only if your personal bar is pretty low to clear. EDIT
Posted Aug 5, 2019
5/5 Parasite (2019) Wenlei Ma Bong uses everything in his bag of cinematic tricks to craft a dazzling and devastating movie that is part modern-day parable and part family drama. Parasite will variously shock you, make you laugh (guiltily) and make you think. EDIT
Posted Aug 5, 2019
3/5 Ophelia (2018) Wenlei Ma A middling romantic drama about female empowerment with gorgeous visuals and a strong performance from Ridley, but is often lost among the reeds in terms of pacing and narrative cohesion. EDIT
Posted Aug 5, 2019
3.5/5 Booksmart (2019) Vicky Roach By making her own distinctive impression in a crowded field, Wilde, too, announces herself as a talent to watch. EDIT
Posted Jul 10, 2019
4/5 Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) Wenlei Ma Far From Home is exciting storytelling, and a jubilant chapter of the Spider-Man story - you'll want to see it again. EDIT
Posted Jul 3, 2019
3.5/5 Toy Story 4 (2019) Wenlei Ma Toy Story 4 proves, once again, that there's still life left in this charming and smart franchise. EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
4/5 Never Look Away (2018) Wenlei Ma Never Look Away is a three-hour movie of emotional depth that, despite its long running time, maintains its grip on your attention. EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
3/5 The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019) Wenlei Ma Make no mistake - The Secret Life of Pets 2 is a kids-only affair. EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
2.5/5 Murder Mystery (2019) Wenlei Ma Murder Mystery's predictability and cliches are comforting - which has entertainment value if you're not looking to be challenged for 90 minutes. EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
3/5 Tolkien (2019) Wenlei Ma Tolkien is innocuous but uninspiring. EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
2.5/5 Men in Black: International (2019) Wenlei Ma This is Men in Black. It should be extravagant and nuts, not, well, civilised and sanitised. It's like they forgot to have fun. EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
4/5 Wild Rose (2018) Wenlei Ma To call Wild Rose a feel-good triumph feels reductive, but it literally makes you feel good and smile. How can you argue with that? EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
4/5 Always Be My Maybe (2019) Wenlei Ma Fresh, charming and laugh-out-loud funny EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
3.5/5 Rocketman (2019) Wenlei Ma Rocketman isn't a sanitised peek-a-boo of someone's life, barely teasing at the surface of a complex creative genius. Rocketman gives you the warts and all version, and it's not going to pink-wash John's sexuality. EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
3/5 Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) Wenlei Ma Sometimes you have to be honest about the movie you really are - smashy smash. If you can reconcile that, then it's not so awful. EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
2.5/5 Aladdin (2019) Wenlei Ma Everything about Aladdin is big, and yet feels small at the same time. Its lavish production design and costuming also has the effect of looking more like a stage production than an epic movie. EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
4/5 Little Woods (2018) Wenlei Ma The directorial debut by Nia DaCosta is a stunning, deep and thoughtful portrait of two marginalised women in America forgotten by city folk and the political class. EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
3.5/5 John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum (2019) Wenlei Ma When there are hundreds of deaths, it's pretty incredible that John Wick 3 sustains its inventiveness and sheer bonkers-ness. EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
3/5 Peterloo (2018) Wenlei Ma There's an emotional distance to Peterloo that often makes it seem stagey. EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
2/5 The Hustle (2019) Wenlei Ma An unimaginative and moderately diverting comedy that you'd probably be content with if you literally have nothing else to watch. EDIT
Posted May 9, 2019
3.5/5 Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019) Wenlei Ma Detective Pikachu is a weirdly enjoyable adventure that will charm the pants off you - or at the very least, Pikachu's pants. EDIT
Posted May 9, 2019
3.5/5 Top End Wedding (2019) Wenlei Ma Go out and support this Australian movie, not just because it deserves it but because you deserve it. EDIT
Posted May 2, 2019
3.5/5 Gloria Bell (2018) Wenlei Ma Gloria Bell is as complex and understated as its lead character, brought to life by Moore with a lived-in quality, and with texture. EDIT
Posted May 2, 2019
4/5 Avengers: Endgame (2019) Wenlei Ma A spectacle that is genuinely affecting and packed with properly exciting moments that will literally make you draw your breath, clap and whoop, and jump out of your seat EDIT
Posted Apr 23, 2019
4.5/5 Burning (2018) Wenlei Ma Lee hypnotises with his story of a love triangle, crafting a movie that could be described as visual poetry. EDIT
Posted Apr 21, 2019
3/5 The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018) Wenlei Ma It's exactly the kind of odd, reality-skewing fantasy you'd expect from the inventive Gilliam. EDIT
Posted Apr 21, 2019
2/5 Hellboy (2019) Wenlei Ma The anticipated reboot of the cult comic book character is, well, intense. And not in a good way, unless you really love your movies to be disjointed, tonally confused and really, really gory. EDIT
Posted Apr 20, 2019
4/5 The Kindergarten Teacher (2018) Wenlei Ma Maggie Gyllenhaal never disappoints, and that's certainly true in The Kindergarten Teacher, an understated character study with a lot to say but no easy answers. EDIT
Posted Apr 20, 2019
2.5/5 Little (2019) Wenlei Ma There are many sequences that are funny and winsome on their own, but as a movie, it doesn't cohere. EDIT
Posted Apr 20, 2019
2/5 The Aftermath (2019) Wenlei Ma A shallow excuse for attractive actors to get their kit off. EDIT
Posted Apr 20, 2019
3.5/5 Shazam! (2019) Wenlei Ma Charming, high-spirited and embraces its youthful, goofy side. EDIT
Posted Apr 20, 2019
4/5 Us (2019) Wenlei Ma Us is more sensory experience than thinkpiece. EDIT
Posted Apr 20, 2019
3.5/5 Dumbo (2019) Wenlei Ma This Dumbo is certainly a visual spectacle, and it could've gone awry if not for the one key thing required to make this movie work: Dumbo is really, really cute. EDIT
Posted Apr 20, 2019
3.5/5 Fighting With My Family (2019) Wenlei Ma Fighting With My Family is a rousing crowd-pleaser, guaranteed to make you smile, at least once. You may even leap out of your seat and whoop, if such undignified public displays are your kind of thing. EDIT
Posted Apr 20, 2019
3.5/5 Destroyer (2018) Wenlei Ma A masterful performance by Kidman, who has proven over the last few years that she has deep reserves of talent. EDIT
Posted Apr 20, 2019
3/5 The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) Wenlei Ma It's only really in the last 20 minutes of the film that it all comes together and you can appreciate what the movie is trying to say about working collaboratively and sharing something you love EDIT
Posted Apr 20, 2019
3/5 Hotel Mumbai (2018) Wenlei Ma Done sensitively, there is something redemptive in these films that help us make sense of something senseless, and to remind us that when you observe these real-life, atrocious attacks from afar, a little empathy can go a long way in the world. EDIT
Posted Apr 20, 2019
3.5/5 Sometimes Always Never (2018) Wenlei Ma You'd expect a drama about loss, love and regret to be heavy and dramatic, but Sometimes Always Never is not. EDIT
Posted Apr 20, 2019
3.5/5 Cold Pursuit (2019) Wenlei Ma It nails its tone as an offbeat black comedy, managing to balance the macabre and the silly. EDIT
Posted Mar 6, 2019
2.5/5 Alita: Battle Angel (2019) Wenlei Ma If only the story of Alita: Battle Angel had been as impressive as its technical achievements. EDIT
Posted Mar 6, 2019