Chris Klimek appears in the following:
Well-Versed: 'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse' Is A Fun, Warm-Hearted Treat
Thursday, December 13, 2018
Many Spider-Men and -Women meet up in this "graphically dazzling, generously imaginative, nakedly optimistic, mercilessly funny" and refreshingly inclusive animated film.
Ricky Jay Remembered, From The Wings: An Assistant's Thoughts On The Late Magician
Friday, November 30, 2018
Critic Chris Klimek offers a remembrance of the late illusionist, author and actor Ricky Jay, for whom he worked as a personal assistant over a decade ago.
'Creed II' Isn't In The Same Weight Class As 'Creed,' But It's Got Heart
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
The sequel to 2015's winning overhaul of the venerable Rocky franchise is "is a more listless and ordinary film than Creed by any measure, but still a rewarding one."
'Suspiria': A Cult-Horror Remake Dances To A Confusing Beat
Friday, October 26, 2018
Director Luca Guadagnino follows up last year's Call Me By Your Name with a "punishing" and "confounding" remake of Dario Argento's beloved horror film about a dance troupe of witches.
Tom Hardy Gets His Teeth Into 'Venom,' Though The Film Lacks Bite
Friday, October 05, 2018
Tom Hardy fully commits to this "limp-but-not-enervatingly-awful" anti-(super)hero horror-comedy that doesn't make a lick of sense.
After A Promising Start, 'The Predator' Loses The Scent
Thursday, September 13, 2018
Director/co-writer Shane Black's attempt to infuse snappy dialogue and dark humor into the alien-hunter franchise works until it, suddenly, doesn't. Blame a mess of a script and cheap-looking effects.
'Peppermint': A Revenge Thriller That's Neither Cool Nor Refreshing
Friday, September 07, 2018
The director of Taken tries out the formula with Jennifer Garner, but the result is a "desultory drag" of cliched emotional stakes and dark, muddy action scenes.
Muddled Action Thriller 'Mile 22' Should Have Pulled Off At Mile 3 Or So
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Mark Wahlberg plays a CIA operative trying to extricate a mysterious informant (Iko Uwais) from a fictional country in this disjointed film that underuses Uwais and overuses Wahlberg.
Shark, Weak: Toothless 'The Meg' Snatches Mediocrity From The Jaws Of Defeat
Thursday, August 09, 2018
It's a "somewhat self-aware, mildly sci-fi tinged, numbingly unimaginative watering down ... of a genre landmark, relocated to Asia and aimed squarely at the world's largest movie market: China."
'The Spy Who Dumped Me': Man, They Could Have Done This Better
Thursday, August 02, 2018
Kate McKinnon is dependably great, but this overlong and shaggily plotted action-comedy never generates enough laughs or surprises to make it anything more than an "August time-waster."
Spectacular Real-World Stunts Make 'Mission: Impossible - Fallout' A Blast
Thursday, July 26, 2018
Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie returns to the M:I franchise with jaw-dropping stunts and set pieces, ensuring that "Fallout's sky-high thrill quotient obliterates that of all competitors."
Denzel Has No Fury Like 'The Equalizer 2'
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Despite the lazy cliché that triggers its plot, The Equalizer 2 is a "reasonably well-written and (of course) beautifully acted serving of geriatric-virility violence porn." If that's your thing.
'Sicario: Day Of The Soldado' Is A Scattershot Sequel
Thursday, June 28, 2018
The lackluster sequel to 2015's moody and violent Sicario is missing that film's director (Denis Villeneuve), its stars (Emily Blunt and Daniel Kaluuya) and its artfulness.
Dino Vs. The Volcano: 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' Generates Intermittent Heat
Thursday, June 21, 2018
In this derivative but fitfully inventive fifth installment of the Jurassic franchise, our heroes try to rescue Isla Nublar's dinosaurs from extinction-by-lava, only to get their ash handed to them.
Wildly Uneven 'Superfly' Strives To Take The Anti- Out Of Its Antihero
Thursday, June 14, 2018
The revamp of the classic low-budget 1972 flick Super Fly softens that film's main character and careens between tones "like a Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado that's had its brake lines cut."
London Calling (Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft): 'How To Talk To Girls At Parties'
Thursday, May 17, 2018
John Cameron Mitchell's "sweet, slight comic fantasy" explores what happens when a young man (Alex Sharp) in 1977 London meet-cutes a young woman (Elle Fanning) who's from ... out of town.
'Rampage' Lowers The Bar On Razing A City
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
"There's something weirdly serene about a film that doesn't try any harder than it must," says critic Chris Klimek.
The Fast And The Furry Us: Wes Anderson's Masterful 'Isle Of Dogs'
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Anderson imbues this stop-motion-animated film about loyal dogs exiled to a lonely island with his signature formalism, but there's real emotion in those pups' wet, soulful eyes.
'Tomb Raider,' Franchise Nadir
Thursday, March 15, 2018
The film depicting the origin story of Lara Croft's raider of lost tombs "isn't awful," says critic Chris Klimek, "but its invasive, thudding mediocrity will make you wish it were."
In Harrowing 'Detroit,' Kathryn Bigelow Mixes Brutal Facts With Fiction
Thursday, August 03, 2017
A skilled director of visceral, real-world horrors, Bigelow dramatizes a 1967 incident that left 3 young black men dead at the hands of the police. The result is unflinching and effective.