Thunderbirds

Boston Globe Ty Burr

When all is said and done, the movie's a steaming plate of corn -- and, indeed, that's part of the pleasure. Myles, though, delivers a fine comic performance with no strings attached.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

A fun afternoon for preteen moviegoers that has just enough charm, humor and game- for-anything actors to keep parents halfway interested as well.

The Hollywood Reporter Ray Bennett

Smartly written by William Osborne and Michael McCullers, Thunderbirds expertly targets kids. Yet parents won't be entirely bored.

Dallas Observer Bill Gallo

This special-effects-crammed action blockbuster is not rocket science. It's more like rocket fun.

Chicago Tribune Allison Benedikt

It's a pretty entertaining, extremely good-looking cinematic blip--not important, not outstanding, but better than a lot of PG stuff that attempts to reach both parents and their 8-year-old kids.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

A standard, gadget-crazed exercise in whiz-bang adventure with its tongue lodged deep inside its cheek.

Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirschling

Without fail its upbeat cheesy wholesomeness is always good for a smile.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Director Jonathan Frakes keeps the tone just this side of tongue-in-cheek.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Fun at times and tedious at others, it's an action-adventure fantasy aimed particularly at gadget-loving boys.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The production design is phenomenal, reproducing the series' swinging '60s decor and techno-geek flourishes, from the launch pad under the swimming pool to Lady Penelope's pink roadster, which turns into a mini-plane.

Miami Herald Peter Debruge

Kids are most likely to be entertained by this live-action offering, although baby-boomer fans of the series will appreciate how closely it hews to the show's foundation.

Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand

It's clean and cheerful entertainment, blithely piggybacking on a beloved classic. No wonder Anderson washed his hands of this project - the filmmakers tampered with and trampled on his magic formula.

Variety David Rooney

The story rarely gets fired up to "maximum thrust," to use the rocket-speed parlance of its heroes.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

The trouble is, the kids seem to be in one earnest "After School Special"-type of movie, while the adults occupy a retro-futuristic world more like the original TV show.

Baltimore Sun Staff (Not credited)

Making a live-action version of Thunderbirds is like rounding out the edges on a Picasso painting to render it more realistic.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

Aside from a couple of rescue set pieces that bookend it, the film is strictly low-wattage in terms of action.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Thunderbirds is devoted to the principle that character and story are but rude interruptions to the real order of business, an endless display of profound vehicle fetish.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Watching a misfire like Thunderbirds illustrates how impressive the "Spy Kids" movies are.

New York Post Megan Lehmann

Beautiful Brit actress Sophia Myles ("From Hell") is so arch, canny and amusing as the posh, pink-obsessed spy Lady Penelope, it's as if she is acting in the movie this should have been.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A movie like this is harmless, I suppose, except for the celluloid that was killed in the process of its manufacture, but as an entertainment, it will send the kids tiptoeing through the multiplex to sneak into "Spider-Man 2."

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Kids of all sizes and genders are going to be disappointed.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Dreary, joyless.

Chicago Reader Staff (Not credited)

This live-action feature actually has less of a pulse than the puppet version.

Village Voice Ben Kenigsberg

As the dapper Lady Penelope, Sophia Myles tries to infuse the enterprise with some "Charlie's Angels" verve, but she's only one life vest, and the movie is a downed plane.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The action is snappy and quick, but why does this youth-targeted adventure pit white male heroes against a trio of villains comprising a black man, an Asian man, and an ugly woman?

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Not only achingly dull, it has no respect for its origins.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Abomination of a movie.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

With its eye-popping color palette and surreal sense of ever-heightening melodrama, Thunderbirds comes across as "Spy Kids'" poorer British cousin.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Alan Niester

Simply put, this is a bad, bad film, this summer's answer to last summer's "The League of Extraordinary Gentleman." A dog for the dog days of summer.