Metascore
59 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 39 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 39
  2. Negative: 1 out of 39
  1. Among an excellent cast, Douglas truly is the nexus; he and Stone make this sequel pay off big-time.
  2. That rare sequel that took its time -- 23 years -- so it not only advances a story but also has something new to say.
  3. It's a wholly successful sequel - audacious, entertaining and bracingly pertinent.
  4. "Money Never Sleeps" doesn't get inside the sociopathology of the money culture. In a sense, it is a product, an expression, of that culture. Maybe that's why it's so disagreeably agreeable.
  5. With the woes of Wall Street constantly in the headlines, Oliver Stone could not have picked a better time to reignite Wall Street.
  6. Reviewed by: Justin Chang
    80
    Has Gordon Gekko gone soft? The answer is, sort of -- a development that takes some of the bite out of Oliver Stone's shrewdly opportunistic, glibly entertaining sequel, which offers another surface-skimming peek inside the power corridors of global finance.
  7. LaBeouf plays Jacob as no naif – he can be as slippery and savage as the next suit – but there's also real tenderness in his scenes with Mulligan and Langella (in a small but significant role as Jacob's mentor).
  8. 75
    It's an entertaining story about ambition, romance and predatory trading practices, but it seems more fascinated than angry.
  9. 75
    Stone has a knack for pacing, detail and atmosphere that manages to feel authentic and fancifully allegorical at the same time.
  10. 75
    Whatever his motivations or deeds, Gordon Gekko is a classic screen character and Douglas is never better than when playing him.
  11. A technically fascinating film that's best when it's angry, less good when romance rears its head.
  12. 70
    And yet something vital here works. There are, come to think of it, a lot of little things.
  13. Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    70
    Like Gekko, the film also feels urgent and strangely necessary.
  14. Has its satisfactions, thanks mainly to a cast skillful enough to finesse what is effectively two films sharing the same screen.
  15. 63
    The movie, elegantly shot by Rodrigo Prieto, is sleek and brisk, using split-screens and graphics to help uninformed viewers grasp the basics of the corporate shenanigans the characters pull on each other.
  16. 63
    The movie is at its best when Gekko gets back into the game, with his impish smile and his perfect hair.
  17. Reviewed by: Scott Bowles
    63
    There are plenty of strong performances, and LaBeouf does a nice job of becoming the tough-skinned pragmatist. Mulligan is as earnest as ever, and Susan Sarandon and, particularly, Frank Langella make strong cameos.
  18. Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    63
    The film's lack of focus is almost criminal, but schadenfreude energizes Stone.
  19. 63
    There are times when iconic characters should be left alone to bask in the glory of a single appearance and, unfortunately, that's the case with Gordon Gekko.
  20. 63
    It's almost kitschy - the way Stone injects himself into a couple of scenes, an eccentric Eli Wallach cameo, the inclusion of a Charlie Sheen moment that flat out winks at the audience.
  21. Reviewed by: Kim Newman
    60
    This subject demands a Godfather Part II, but Stone and collaborators have turned in a Godfather Part III. There is a lot of good material, but LaBeouf nearly sinks it and we could use much more of the old Gekko brimstone.
  22. A completely unnecessary sequel, plays a lot like "The Godfather, Part III"-lush, self-parodic and cut adrift from urgency.
  23. 60
    It's an ambitious, uneven, surprisingly talky melodrama.
  24. A lot of Money Never Sleeps - too much - is about Gekko père's desire to reconnect with his very angry daughter.
  25. Starts well, builds drama and then proceeds to fly sort of crazily off the rails.
  26. 50
    In its empty-headed hubris, it's not much more admirable than the conniving, moneygrubbing elite it's trying to take down.
  27. 50
    Maybe money never sleeps, but this missed opportunity of a movie will have audiences dozing.
  28. The film whipsaws between hyperbolic character study and preachy account of the recent financial meltdown. The two story lines are not well-integrated.
  29. Saddled with this hollow script, Stone pads with elaborate set pieces.
  30. 50
    A movie only a hedge fund manager could love.
  31. 50
    "We're all mixed bags" is the conclusion of unwieldy mixed bag Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.
  32. If the bad guys didn't reappear with welcome regularity, "Money Never Sleeps" would be even more of a snooze than it already is.
  33. Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    50
    No deep thoughts here; this is a product of shiny surfaces and glittering patter, the cinematic equivalent of a derivatives offering. Instead of whacking Wall Street, Stone gives it a poke that ends up as a tickle.
  34. Mr. Douglas's performance in the sequel measures up to Gekko's rep, but the rest of the movie is pumped up to the bursting point with gasbag caricatures, overblown sermons and a semicoherent swirl of events surrounding the economy's recent meltdown.
  35. 50
    The setup for this Oliver Stone drama keeps its iconic villain so far removed from the financial action that he seems like a dog tied up outside a restaurant.
  36. 50
    The first time around, Wall Street felt like a warning about the perils of excess just as excess started to exact its toll. This one's little more than a reminder that we all got, and remain, screwed. Noted.
  37. The sequel to an influential eighties motion picture is so loaded with characters and crosscurrents that we wonder why it isn't a thirteen-hour cable mini-series instead of an impacted two-hour mess. The film is like my portfolio: full of promise, with minuscule returns.
  38. Reviewed by: John DeVore
    38
    The pretentious title might be trying to make a statement about the new, fast-moving economy. It's also a weak reference to the first Wall Street. But mainly, no, it's just pretentious.
User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 112 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 41
  2. Negative: 4 out of 41
  1. Marc I couldn't agree with you more as this was a terribly disappointing effort. After 20 years you would expect they would come up with a better story than this. The Gordon Gekko character of the original movie captivated the silver screen. He was so slick that he made us all think that greed was good. They recast him in this movie as a pathetic softee who is basically good although absolutely brilliant as a financial analyst. The movie just meanders at a very slow deliberate pace. Within 20 minutes we all know where this movie is ultimately going. There are absolutely no surprises. Just a so so movie that's soon forgotten. And the man we all came to see Michael Douglas as GG has been reduced to nothing more than a supporting actor in this flop. Full Review »
  2. "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" is for the nerds who are obsessed with economics. However, its a decent movie even in money-looking standards.
  3. This movie falls short, for the simple reason that there was no character that actually one could feel sympathy or affinity for. The plot was facile. The ending was the worst part of the movie and was a terrible let down. This movie took the easy way out and left the audience unsatisfied. Unlike the original, the pacing was uneven and the characters weakly presented. Full Review »