ROTTEN TOMATOES: Critical Consensus: Superbad is Certified Fresh; The Invasion Crash-Lands

Critical Consensus: Superbad is Certified Fresh; The Invasion Crash-Lands

Last Legion Not Screened; Guess the Tomatometer!

by Tim Ryan | August 16, 2007

This week at the movies, we've got some McLovin (Superbad, starring Michael Cera and Jonah Hill), pod people (The Invasion, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig), and swordplay (The Last Legion, starring Ben Kingsley and Colin Firth). What do the critics have to say?

It's been a very good year for Judd Apatow. After directing Knocked Up, he's the producer on another gross-out comedy with heart, Superbad, and both are big hits with critics. Superbad tells the story of two geeks (Michael Cera and Jonah Hill) on the cusp of graduation who really, really want to change their luck with the ladies. The pundits say Superbad is as raunchy and cheerfully vulgar as any comedy you're likely to see this summer, but it's also remarkably wise and poignant regarding the awkwardness of the high school years. At 92 percent, Superbad surpasses Knocked Up's Tomatometer score, which means that it's one of the best reviewed films of the year. (Check out our interview with the Superbad gang here.)

"Those RT critics crack me up."
The Invasion arrives in theaters with plenty of baggage. The film, helmed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall), originally wrapped in 2006, but the studio allegedly balked at what they saw, and it's rumored that a good portion of the final product is the result of a retooled script by the Wachowski brothers and reshoots by V for Vendetta director James McTeigue. Such Hollywood intrigue may ultimately prove more interesting than the film itself, as critics say The Invasion is a pretty tepid, unsuspenseful remake of an already thrice-adapted story (Invasion of the Body Snatchers). After a space shuttle crash, Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig discover that an infection is taking over peoples' bodies in their sleep, turning them into unemotional quasi-zombies. The pundits say the film is slick but unfocused, lacking psychological complexity and thrills. At 16 percent on the Tomatometer, The Invasion sits far below the precedent set by the 1956 and 1978 Body Snatchers, both at 100 percent.

They couldn't hide their horror upon seeing the Wachowski Bros. re-cut.
It appears the folks behind The Last Legion are afraid the number of pundits who wouldn't dig their movie would be, ahem, legion. Perhaps that's the reason the film wasn't screened before hitting theaters. Featuring a pretty impressive cast that includes Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley, and Aishwarya Rai, The Last Legion tells the story of a boy with the responsibility to save the Roman Empire. Put down your copy of Livy's From the Founding of the City and Guess the Tomatometer.

Both sigh as they attempt to guess the Tomatometer.
Also opening this week in limited release: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, a documentary about the competition between Donkey Kong experts, is at 100 percent on the Tomatometer; The 11th Hour, a global warming doc narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, is at 90 percent (check out our review from Cannes here); Delirious, a tale of small-time paparazzi starring Steve Buscemi and Michael Pitt, is at 89 percent (check out our San Francisco International Film Festival review here); Manda Bala, a doc about class divisions in modern Brazil, is at 89 percent; Primo Levi's Journey, a doc about the great writer's trek after WWII, is at 75 percent; Death at a Funeral, a farce about a funeral interrupted by a dark family secret starring Matthew MacFadyen and Peter Dinklage, is at 71 percent; and Ils, a tale of a French couple terrorized by a haunted house in Romania, is at 71 percent; Love for Sale, a Brazilian import about a woman who leaves Sao Paulo for her hometown, is at 67 percent; Takashi Miike's Zebraman, a spoof of Japanese superheroes, is at 60 percent; and Sunflower, Zhang Yang's tale of a 30-year relationship starring Joan Chen, is at 60 percent.

Attack its weak point for massive damage!
Finally, props to BATSPIDEYKONG for correctly guessing Skinwalkers' 13 percent Tomatometer. Congrats, BSK. Now you won't have to write in all caps to be heard.

Recent Nicole Kidman Movies:
-----------------------------------------
81% -- I Have Never Forgotten You (2007)
90% -- God Grew Tired of Us (2007)
30% -- Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)
74% -- Happy Feet (2006)
25% -- Bewitched (2005)

Related Items

Movie:	Zebraman
	Sunflower
	Manda Bala
	The 11th Hour
	Delirious
	Them
	Superbad
	The King Of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
	Death at a Funeral
	The Last Legion
	The Invasion
Celeb:	Jonah Hill
	Michael Cera
	Judd Apatow
	Daniel Craig
	Ben Kingsley
	Nicole Kidman
	Colin Firth

(1-14 of 14 posts) | Reply

SplendidIsolation writes:
on Aug 16 2007 05:12 PM

Last Legion- 20%

(Reply to this)

halose7en writes:
on Aug 16 2007 06:10 PM

I'll say 16%

(Reply to this)

TomasSPAGHetti writes:
on Aug 16 2007 06:24 PM

Last Legion 21%!

(Reply to this)

Inn0centBystander writes:
on Aug 16 2007 06:30 PM

9% for The Last Legion

(Reply to this)

rdproductions writes:
on Aug 16 2007 06:39 PM

Last Legion is 14%.

(Reply to this)

supafly006 writes:
on Aug 16 2007 06:43 PM

27%

(Reply to this)

AudioNinja writes:
on Aug 16 2007 06:43 PM

Last Legion pulls 17%

(Reply to this)

Xhrix writes:
on Aug 17 2007 12:06 AM

34%
because of a great cast

(Reply to this)

The Paki Don writes:
on Aug 17 2007 02:20 AM

The Last Legion will surprise us all with a 73% tomatometer. Yes, I believe in Hollywood.

(Reply to this)

The Paki Don writes:
on Aug 17 2007 05:51 AM

Wait, I just saw the trailer. I regress and change my tomatometer verdict to be 13%

(Reply to this)

Binh Ngo writes:
on Aug 17 2007 12:56 PM

All I have to say about Zebraman is, Zebra Nurse!!!! Classic.

(Reply to this)

arendr writes:
on Aug 17 2007 01:56 PM

Anyone noticed the blatant Gladiator dialogue ripoff in the trailer for The Last Legion?

(Reply to this)

Nick Hershey writes:
on Aug 17 2007 07:03 PM

In reply to this comment (#1048629)
Not only the Gladiator ripoff, but Ben Kingsley's character looks a whole lot like Gandalf.

(Reply to this)

unbreakable_samurai writes:
on Aug 18 2007 11:56 AM

I'm difintly checking out Stardust this weekend and mabey The Invasion just for the hell of it. 23% for The Last Legion.

(Reply to this)

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