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Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 122 Ratings

  • Starring: Dax Shepard, Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph
  • Summary: Private Joe Bowers (Wilson), the definition of "average American", is selected by the Pentagon to be the guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program, set 545 years in the future. He discovers a society so incredibly dumbed-down that he's easily the most intelligent person alive.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. 91
    There's a good chance that Judge's smartly lowbrow Idiocracy will be mistaken for what it's satirizing, but good satire always runs the risk -- of being misunderestimated.
  2. The plot, naturally, is silly and not exactly bound by logic. But it's Judge's gimlet-eyed knack for nightmarish extrapolation that makes Idiocracy a cathartic delight.
  3. 80
    It elicits so many laughs, in fact, that you have to wonder just what Judge did to piss off the suits at Fox so much that they would willingly torpedo one of the only genuinely hilarious movies to come out this year.
  4. Reviewed by: Robert Koehler
    60
    A satire for its time. What Judge is less sure of here than in his previous, perfectly pitched live-action comedy "Office Space," is how to build a complete movie around his key ideas.

See all 8 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 49 out of 64
  2. Negative: 6 out of 64
  1. MikeW
    10
    I'll still be discussing this film with my buddies 50 years down the road - I've never had any other film provoke so much thought about the direction of mankind and society as Idiocracy has. The irony of this film is amazingly well-hidden under a thick veil of fart jokes and anatomical references, intentionally hidden from the two audiences that it seeks to satirize: the snooty crowd that probably didn't make it through the first 30 minutes of the film (and likely rushed home to their computers so they could write some very negative reviews), and the mainstream crowd that was too busy laughing at "OW, my balls!" to notice that they're the heel of the humor. Mike Judge proves, once again, that he is the true spokesman for my generation. Expand
  2. 8
    Imagining a future void of intellectuals or leaders is not that hard. In Idiocracy, the priorities of the populous are grounded in spectacle and pleasure. Set almost 500 years from present day, Uh-merica has become disadvantaged by its own breeders. The film astutely points out how ignorant people, by nature, will continue to reproduce at alarming rates. Survival of the fittest is turned upside down when considering the sheer number of people uncomprehending of consequence. Stupidity infesting the world like cockroaches is all too relevant.

    Our President is most certainly an idiot. We are forced to put up with his gross misconduct and abuse of our countries name because he has disguised his ignorance as faith. Unfortunately, the people steering Bush into destroying the free world are all too aware of their actions. While the world of Idiocracy is unjust and uneffective, at least it lacks the evil genius. The president in the film is Mr. T and Ludicris rolled into one. I cant help but think a president dependent on threats and demands plausible considering the direction we are currently headed. Idiocracy appropriately does not deal with faith because without peddlers smart enough to deal intangible truths, there is no use for it.

    Comparable to the fall of Rome, Uh-merica finds itself existing without knowing to what end. There is no sense of unity or hope for the future, but only an acceptance of shallowness. In essence, writer and director Mike Judge deals with how flavor has replaced purity. As we have come to learn, spin can alter events globally. In Idiocracy, entertainment and free love are as holy as it gets. Altering the mundane is condemned in the film, as even Starbucks perseveres 500 years only to provide affordable and expedient sexual gratification. A combination of ebonics and hillbilly has usurped the English language providing a flashier and less coherent means of communication. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, To be great, is to be misunderstood. In Idiocracy this sentiment is taken to a thought provoking extreme.

    The film delivered ample laughs. It was glaringly uneven, but the short running time helped me forgive some inadequacies. Like Office Space, I enjoyed the characters and premise enough to wade through some of the filler. Mike Judges film will undoubtedly appeal to low brow audiences. However, seeing as the film lacked any endorsements or hype at all, there is something to be said for the exclusivity associated with even knowing about it. The film would have done well if Luke Wilson and Mike Judges previous success had been exploited to sell it. Instead, I shared the theater with maybe seven others on its second day of release. Despite the crude jokes, I couldnt help feeling like my own aptitude had earned a unique and enjoyable viewing experience.
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  3. TravisA.
    5
    This is no Office Space!!! I think Mike Judge had a good idea for a movie here, but it never quite gets off the ground. Maybe with a little more effort all around, it could have been like a live action Beavis and Butthead, but instead the plot is really poor and even the little skits come off as tired and dated. Do most people even drink Gatorade any more? Judge's satire used to be so dead-on, and in this it's just so dead. Maya Rudolph's character made no sense at all. I couldn't think of any reason she was frozen, except that they needed a love interest for the main character so they could stretch the movie out to full length. There is enough of Judge's usual surreal stupidity to make it worth renting, but its really not very good. Expand
  4. A marvelous plot but like she said, he couldn't finish. Idiocracy was a waste of resources as it had so much potential. Maybe with a higher payroll and budget the movie could've gone farther to make history. Expand

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