- Critic Score
- Most active
- Publication
- Most clicked
-
83If this is what it sounds like when a new millennium goes pop, I'll take it.
-
80This sensationally engineered promo film makes Justin Bieber look like a true force of nature.
-
75On stage variously with Boyz II Men, Jaden Smith, Miley Cyrus, and Ludacris, Bieber carries himself like a squeaky-clean homeboy with an angelic voice. On him, swagger looks sweet.
-
70It generally succeeds, too, thanks to a visually energetic approach by director Jon Chu that keeps all the obligatory backstage/onstage bits moving fluidly.
-
Feb 9, 201170As much a legitimate documentary as it is a 3D concert film and teen girl squeal-delivery device, the film possesses surprising moments of candor on the toil of teenage superstardom.
-
Feb 11, 201163It's a fluffy, mildly inspiring, celebration of the hero leading up to his big moment.
-
63Equal parts biopic, concert film and pep rally, the movie's 105 minutes do a good job of conveying the pleasures of pop, courtesy of the very real talents of Justin Bieber.
-
63The movie usefully, carefully, and cogently argues that Bieber is more than his hair. He is his hoodies. He is his pop-hooks. He is his many handlers.
-
60Bieber's world - at least as edited for mass consumption - is a refreshingly wholesome universe, where a young superstar is good-natured and grateful, says grace before every meal, and spends all his free time on the tour bus tweeting. He also likes to hug, a lot.
-
60Everyone involved in "Never Say Never" is working overtime to prove that he is, as one of them puts it, "just a regular kid who had a dream," while everything about the movie screams the opposite.
-
60The film is a really entertaining look at the Bieber phenomenon; the music in Never Say Never is great and Bieber proves himself to be the real thing as a musician and performer.
-
60Chu does his best to humanize his subject, showing him surrounded by devoted friends and family, and wringing much drama from an on-the-road vocal-cord strain.
-
50It's definitely not hard to understand what the little girls see in Bieber, and this film delivers the goods. This one's for the fans, not the movie buffs.
-
50What we do see is mom, dad, Braun, Usher, vocal coach Mama Jan Smith and the burgeoning Team Bieber claiming they only want the best for the boy as he goes through a punishing 84-date concert tour. Group hug.
-
50Never works as a gum-snapper concert movie and does provide a glimpse into instant stardom in the Twitter generation.
-
50It's a disappointment to see the teen pop star hop in a tour bus. This is a boy who should be traveling across rainbows on the back of a unicorn.
-
Feb 10, 201150Strictly as a piece of filmmaking, Never Say Never is a bit of a mess.
-
503D or not, the film about the mop-topped Canadian - who turns 17 March 1 - doesn't let us get very close to "the talent."
-
Feb 18, 201140Squeaky clean fun for the youngsters in the family. Everyone else hide.
-
38The film slowly builds up to Justin's first appearance at Madison Square Garden, where his show sold out in 22 minutes.
-
Feb 10, 201133The film's premise-that Bieber achieved his superstardom through years of hard work overcoming towering obstacles-is so ludicrously flawed that everything built upon it borders on self-parody.
-
20It is draggily paced and lacks felicity of form; the 3-D is a rip-off and the songs are pap, save a snippet of Etta James singing "At Last" while Bieber's glossy fringe sways in slow-motion.