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75This is a good-hearted movie that unfortunately is wildly implausible and makes no sense.
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75The protagonists of Light It Up seem strangely tender and vulnerable, and the movie, if heavy-handed at times, does a remarkable job of making their plight moving.
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Heartbreaking and sometimes dazzlingly effective, the film still has flaws -- most of them in a too-often-maudlin script.
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75At all times, the audience believes that it's watching something that really could happen.
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75A tough little hostage thriller with crackling dialogue, surprising intelligence and an emotional wallop.
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Much of Light It Up has a familiar feel. But there are enough redeeming insights to make the time you spend at this school worthwhile.
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67It has moments of effectiveness, some of the performances -- especially Whitaker and Robert Ri'chard -- are moving.
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63If I can't quite recommend the movie, it's because so much of the plot is on autopilot. The dialogue spells out too much that doesn't need to be said.
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63Light It Up isn't a great movie, but it's a cut above most so-called urban thrillers.
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60Little more than a movie of the week with slick visuals and an amped soundtrack.
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Unexpectedly satisfying feel-good agitprop.
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60Look to the cast as the best reason to see this film.
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50A laughably disconnected hostage drama that rails against the perceived nightmare of inner-city public schools.
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50It's a bit of 60s idealism wedged in what basically looks like a hip-hop music video.
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The real find-- is Rosario Dawson, who has appeared to good effect in previous smaller roles ("Kids," "He Got Game") and just about walks off with the movie.
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50A hostage drama, cliches intact, is what we get.
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50The passionate and carnivalesque sense of politics reminded me at times of "Dog Day Afternoon," but despite the absence of cynicism this is a 90s story in every sense of the word
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40Turns out to be a pretentiously righteous drama that drowns any claim to serious attention in a sea of superficial characters.
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40Singer Usher Raymond earns praise as the leader of the group, but the rest of the cast goes largely unnoticed.
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40Never quite catches fire in its too-deliberate attempt to appeal to all ages and all tastes.
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40Benefits from affecting performances from a gifted cast headed by R&B heartthrob Usher Raymond.
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38Light It Up would be a strong candidate for the year's most irresponsible movie - if it were remotely believable.
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25The story is irresponsible and the filmmaking is awful.
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25Would have been better suited as a television movie of the week.
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23A shovelful of silly manure from the get-go.
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20It's a hockey affair at the best of times.
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0As an actor, Raymond is whiny and annoying, but not nearly so much as the film.