The reviews are now out for three films opening this weekend – two having streaming premieres and one coming to the cinema. Turns out that only one of them was critically well-regarded.
Suffering the most was Netflix’s new action tentpole “Heart of Stone,” the Gal Gadot-led spy thriller which has pulled in just 25% (4.1/10) on Rotten Tomatoes and a 46/100 on Metacritic.
Going by the reactions, Gadot acquits herself fine – it’s just the movie around her is a generic spy thriller. The Chicago Tribune says: “Gadot needs better material than this”. The AV Club says “it demonstrates a modicum of decent world-building, from which filmmakers can hopefully spin-off better, more capably crafted capers.”
The one film hitting cinemas this week is the long-gestating “Last Voyage of the Demeter”. It’s not faring much better with a 39% (5.4/10) on Rotten Tomatoes and a 46/100 on Metacritic.
Mashable says: “I admire the ambition…yet, I was unable to enjoy the ride for what it was, too caught up in where it might have gone.” There’s praise for the production design and scale, but the vampire itself is not so well-received and the whole film is dubbed as either “listless” or “plodding” in several reviews.
The one film garnering raves this week is Prime Video’s “Red, White and Royal Blue” – the rom-com snagging an 84% (6.6/10) on Rotten Tomatoes. One reviewer for Little White Lies says: “Come for the hot boys, stay for Uma Thurman’s accent.”
Vanity Fair best sums up the film: “[It] offers something rare even in this half-enlightened age: the chance for queer people, specifically men attracted to men, to be pandered to in the hokey fashion familiar to millions of straight consumers of those Hallmark movies.”
“The Last Voyage of the Demeter” hits cinemas tomorrow, “Heart of Stone” and “Red, White and Royal Blue” hit Netflix and Amazon Prime respectively tomorrow.
