Nicholas Barber

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BBC, IndieWire, TheWrap
For 59 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 52% higher than the average critic
  • 6% same as the average critic
  • 42% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 6.7 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Nicholas Barber's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 71
Highest review score: 100 No Time to Die
Lowest review score: 16 Laila in Haifa
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 59
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 59
  3. Negative: 2 out of 59
59 movie reviews
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    • 68 Metascore
    • 100 Nicholas Barber
    Triangle of Sadness
    Be warned. Triangle of Sadness rants and smirks at the state of the world over two-and-a-half hours, which is quite some running time for a satirical comedy. But it is never boring. Partly that's because the political commentary is so shrewd, and partly it's because it has a surprising amount of warmth and nuance, too. Östlund ensures that while the situations may be absurd, the people in them are as human as any of us.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 83 Nicholas Barber
    Three Minutes: A Lengthening
    It grips the attention from start to finish.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 40 Nicholas Barber
    The Gray Man
    The Russos clearly couldn't decide which tone to go for, so they made a zany farce about cheerful super-spies, and then they made a cynical conspiracy drama about death and trauma, and they kept cutting between them. The result is a film that never seems to know what it's doing, or why.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 40 Nicholas Barber
    Lightyear
    The story is thin, repetitive, and almost entirely dependent on the heroes being clumsy.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 80 Nicholas Barber
    Jurassic World Dominion
    The film's only major fault is Trevorrow's desperation to ensure that viewers get their money's worth. Jam-packed with silliness, spectacle, intrigue, romance and just about everything else, Jurassic World Dominion has regular popcorn-spilling scares, exhilarating, expertly choreographed action set pieces that would earn a tip of the baseball cap from Spielberg himself, and the numerous characters all have plenty to do.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 100 Nicholas Barber
    Close
    The script is so economical, and the acting so beautifully natural (especially by Dambrine, a remarkable discovery), that Close feels less like a drama than a tapestry of fragments from a candid documentary.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 100 Nicholas Barber
    Broker
    Broker keeps on getting funnier and knottier as secret motives are revealed, sympathies shift, mysteries deepen and dangers multiply. It is, on one level, a farcical crime caper, but it is so elegantly plotted that it never seems contrived.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 50 Nicholas Barber
    Forever Young
    It’s always watchable, and it has a distinctively grainy, intimate look, but the vague, generic characters and incidents are the kind of thing you might scribble on the back of an envelope without having done any research at all.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 80 Nicholas Barber
    Stars at Noon
    Partly because the characters look so healthily pretty, and partly because the mood is so woozy, The Stars at Noon feels more like a stylish pastiche of a Graham Greene novel than the story of real people battling their way out of a difficult, potentially deadly situation. It's beautifully made, but to enjoy it you have to relax, and let it wash over you.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Crimes of the Future
    Structured as a hardboiled detective thriller, Crimes of the Future has plenty of provocative concepts and images that will put a grin on your face (not least the dancer who has several ears on his face), but you may find yourself willing the plot to pick up momentum, and the ickiness to get a whole lot ickier.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Nicholas Barber
    Decision to Leave
    The investigation is exquisitely constructed, with a stream of revelations, some pulse-pounding action and continuous glimmers of wry humour. It's also a model of elegance and restraint.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 85 Nicholas Barber
    Corsage
    Ultimately, Corsage is a deeply sympathetic portrait of Elisabeth, enhanced by Krieps’ delightful performance.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 65 Nicholas Barber
    Brother and Sister
    As overflowing as it is with subplots and stylistic quirks, perhaps “Brother and Sister” should simply have concentrated on the brother and sister. That would have been more than enough.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Three Thousand Years of Longing
    If a screenplay is going to be fixated on the history and purpose of storytelling, the stories within it have to be better.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 100 Nicholas Barber
    Top Gun: Maverick
    The new film improves on the old one in every respect. The story is cleverer and more gripping, the dialogue is sharper and funnier, the relationships are richer, the aerial stunts are more likely to make you queasy.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 100 Nicholas Barber
    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
    Some people will dismiss the film as nonsense, and they could have a point. But Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a huge amount of fun.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 25 Nicholas Barber
    Downton Abbey: A New Era
    It was disingenuous of the filmmakers to use the phrase “A New Era”, because the film relies wholly on its viewers’ affection for characters and situations they have seen many times before.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    The Northman
    Compared to most US action adventures, The Northman is adventurous and distinctive. It feels compromised, but the great stuff outweighs the not-so-great stuff. To see or not to see? If that is the question, the answer is: see it.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 100 Nicholas Barber
    Turning Red
    Even before the panda-monium begins, the film is a hilarious, life-affirming treat.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    The Batman
    The story also ends on a touchingly optimistic note, which is unusual for a Batman film. Who knows, maybe the next one won't be quite as gloomy. Pattinson might even crack a smile. But I wouldn't bet on it.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 50 Nicholas Barber
    Nobody's Hero
    It feels as if Guiraudie had two separate ideas for a contemporary urban comedy but couldn’t figure out how to develop either of them, so he stuck them in one script and hoped for the best.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 100 Nicholas Barber
    Spider-Man: No Way Home
    The film's real superpowers are its endearing performances, and a screenplay by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers that interweaves teen-angst soap opera and cosmic calamity with all the goofy logic and tonal nimbleness that make the best superhero comics so appealing.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Eternals
    Eternals is more serious in tone and more deliberate in its pacing than the average Marvel movie, with less of the usual banter and no cameo appearances by other superheroes. But, if you're looking for the humanity and originality of Zhao's other films, you won't find much of it here.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 100 Nicholas Barber
    No Time to Die
    In general No Time To Die does exactly what it was intended to do, which is to round off the Craig era with tremendous ambition and aplomb. Beyond that, it somehow succeeds in taking something from every single other Bond film, and sticking them all together.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Nicholas Barber
    Official Competition
    Seeing Cruz and Banderas show off their comedic chops is definitely a pleasure, and the farcical final scenes will leave viewers on a high. But this film won’t win many competitions, official or otherwise.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Nicholas Barber
    Sundown
    Roth’s expressions range from slightly dazed to slightly drunk, and so, as the days drift by, Sundown becomes a liberating blend of mystery and existential deadpan comedy.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Nicholas Barber
    Becoming Led Zeppelin
    Like all of the best rock docs, it will make you want to listen to the band’s albums. But after the second hour has come and gone, you might decide that you’ve listened enough, after all.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Nicholas Barber
    Spencer
    Stewart is such inspired casting that she makes all this eccentric nonsense watchable.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 91 Nicholas Barber
    Last Night in Soho
    Left behind is [Wright's] trademark hyperactive editing and insistent post-modernism; in its place is flowing movement and intense emotion.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Nicholas Barber
    Dune: Part One
    A film with this scope and richness is a splendid achievement, but it's easier to admire than to love. There is some humanity in there somewhere: at heart it's a coming-of-age story about a boy becoming tougher and more cynical on his way to becoming a leader. But will anyone care about the shallow, po-faced characters? They've got exotic names and elaborate costumes, but none of them has much warmth or personality compared to those in a certain other space opera which I won't mention.
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