- Critic Score
- Most active
- Publication
- Most clicked
-
88It's nimble, bright and funny. It doesn't dumb down. It doesn't patronize. It knows something about human nature.
-
83Does a great job of being in two places at once: In the head and gangly bodies of kids, and in the hearts of those of us who have survived grades 6-8.
-
80It's eminently suitable for children, fully inhabiting their world and finding real laughs there without resorting to sentiment, condescension, or snarky in-jokes for the adults.
-
75Crass, gross and juvenile in all the best (and worst) ways, Diary is aimed squarely at a tween "don't touch the cheese" demographic. And if you don't get it, maybe you're just too old for a good booger joke.
-
70A likable movie for kids that will make adults chuckle as well because of the movie's key ingredient -- wit.
-
70It's a spry, fluffy comedy.
-
67Easily the smartest, snarkiest, and most honest depiction of that tweenage wasteland known as the "middle school years" that this former wimpy freak and geek has come across since having survived the daily derision afforded those of us who chose to spend our lunch periods perusing J.R.R. Tolkien, playing Dungeons & Dragons, or just hiding out in the boys' room.
-
67For all its ridiculousness, its enthusiastic comic excess, and its fart/booger/gross-out jokes, Diary Of A Wimpy Kid's heart is firmly in the right place.
-
63A passable adaptation of Kinney's novel, but no replacement for the real thing. Read the book, then see the movie.
-
63An above-average and sometimes surprising kid movie.
-
63The movie has workmanlike, uninspired direction from Thor Freudenthal (Hotel for Dogs), who gets an especially lovely performance from Capron.
-
63"Who wants to see a movie about a kid who's stuck in middle school with a bunch of morons?" Thanks to an endearing cast of characters and an energetic, if light, comic story, we do.
-
Kids who realize they're fully ordinary -- that is, pretty much all of them -- will be pleased to see a world they recognize on the big screen.
-
60Fun, funny and affectionate, though it packs the emotional wallop of an undernourished high school nerd.
-
60Gordon is bit too good looking to really be the Greg Heffley the books detail, but he's not obnoxious in the role and will appeal to the target 'tween set.
-
Sweet and funny at either end, but in between, it sags with endless repetition of gross bodily functions.
-
58This Diary of a Wimpy kid is too often dull, unappealing and clumsy, hobbled by unnecessary changes and inventions that add no charm, energy or, truly, point.
-
50Kids may love the movie, and even kids who love the books may like it. For me, though, an astonishing percentage of the books' appeal has vanished.
-
50The writing is funny during individual moments, but the cumulative result is a bit depressing, with a surprising amount of negativity.
-
50Too much diary, not enough movie.
-
50The kiddie audience will laugh a few times, but it would take an electron microscope to find an original idea or joke in this entire cartoonish movie.
-
50This year-in-the-life comedy will appeal mostly to its target audience -- the boys of middle school, USA -- and frankly, that's all it needs. Who else would appreciate the idiocy of social pressure,
-
40On the page, it's a funny little snapshot of the preteen mind, ruled by prevailing forces of fear and aggression, yet still given to silliness and lowbrow yuks. In a movie, however, Greg's thoughts are made painfully literal, so instead of being a reflection of his hyperactive imagination, they're grotesque cartoons standing in for real life.
-
This wisecracking saga of tween angst largely avoids the gimmicky saccharine aftertaste that's typical of the genre.
-
40There is nothing wrong with the story itself, but the tone is grating and the pacing sluggish. Episodes that might be howlingly funny on the page turn weirdly gross and sadistic on screen.
-
38Diary of a Wimpy Kid the movie returns Kinney's tale to live-action reality, and the party's over.
-
30A mean-spirited little movie, investing its limited charms in all the wrong characters.
prev
next
Page:
- 1
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 15 out of 23
-
Mixed: 3 out of 23
-
Negative: 5 out of 23
-
SamS.10
-
KateY.1