1. It's mostly just a bunch of actors trying to look involved while attempting to act through their bad wigs and Studio 54 reject outfits.
2. A dragon with audible thoughts and no voice is even less interesting than one who can talk.
3. ...Lord of the Potter better captures the blended spirit of the occasion.
4. The characters are full-on clichés spouting wooden lines, given no time to develop as the film races from one silly conflict to another.
5. For all the promise of breathing fire and clashing swords, Eragon doesn't generate any real heat.
6. The only real difference between Eragon and one of those laughably chintzy movies produced for the Sci-Fi Channel is the cast.
7. For me, the movie, although possessed of some captivating storybook moments and an impressive enough dragon, was mostly an overblown bore that made me laugh when it wasn't supposed to.
8. There are lots of recycled movie lines, as ageless and hard to kill as a dragon: You are brave, but foolish ... Murder them all, but the boy is mine ... Most dragon riders take years to learn what you know by instinct. Etc., etc.
9. The mess that's been made with all this money is maddening. This isn't economical moviemaking. It's a deluxe trailer for "Eragon 2."
10. First-time director Stefan Fangmeier does a good job overseeing the look and pacing of the film, but often seems to neglect more humdrum details like plotting and dialogue.
What is the critic consensus?
A: Written by a teenager (and it shows), Eragon presents nothing new to the "hero's journey" story archetype. In movie terms, this movie looks and sounds like Lord of the Rings and plays out like a bad Star Wars rip-off. The movie spins the tale of a peasant boy who is suddenly entrusted with a dragon and must, with the help of a mentor, train, grow strong, and defeat an evil emperor. The way the critics picture it, the makers of Eragon should soon be expecting an annoyed phone call from George Lucas.

1. Eccentric, playful and boldly erotic.
2. There's not enough here to justify the almost two hours.
3. Imamura's delight in the infinite oddity of men and women is goofy; it's also, at heart, reverent.
4. Combines a comically dismal social realism with a farcically bawdy fantasy of redemption and regeneration.
5. A weird and wonderful comedy.
6. All the allegorical oddity gets old, as does some running gag about a marathon runner.
7. It's an often-cute film but either needs more substance to fill the time or some judicious editing.
8. Veteran director Imamura combines fish out of water stories with a weird metaphor for female sexuality in this sweetly quirky film which never quite gels
9. Nonchalantly freaky and uncommonly pleasurable, Warm Water may well be the year's best and most unpredictable comedy.
10. Yakusho, as always, is wonderful as the long-faced sad sack ... and his chemistry with Shimizu is very believable.
What is the critic consensus?
A: A whimsically engaging sex comedy.

1. Things happen for the sake of a momentary laugh or gasp rather than for the creation of the film's internal universe. It's not a specific future; it's The Future, impressive but generic.
2. For the most part, it's a nice goofy E-Ticket ride.
3. Rarely does a filmmaker's original vision come to the screen in all its audacious, undiluted glory.
4. It's cyberpunk!
5. His enthusiasm for this project is so pervasive that you can't help share his sense of enjoyment
6. While the logic of the storyline leaves a lot to be desired, "The Fifth Element" satisfies as sheer spectacle.
7. The world that director Luc Besson has created is original and breathtaking. In fact, it is almost worth the admission for the eye-candy alone.
8. Besson surrounds his colorful characters and eccentric myths with a world of incredibly detailed richness. He fills every inch of every frame with imagination.
9. A lot of money was spent on this film, but $100 million doesn't guarantee a good product. Maybe someone should have thought of spending a few more dollars on a better script.
10. The special effects provided Besson with the tools to provide the movie with the spectacular images, displaying the eagerness of a child in a candy store.
What is the critic consensus?
A: Visually inventive and gleefully over the top, Luc Besson's The Fifth Element is a fantastic piece of pop sci-fi that never takes itself too seriously.

1. Moriarty, Pink and Bazzi sent back tape loaded with visual and audio detail, but the most moving moments of The War Tapes are their attempts to make sense of Operation Iraqi Freedom II.
2. Homecoming is when Scranton's film gets really interesting: Having seen the soldiers' footage intercut with tapes of families and girlfriends anxiously awaiting their return, we get a good sense of just how much war has changed them.
3. The War Tapes is but the latest in a series of big-screen documentaries dealing with the conflict, and it does so in a particularly involving, fly-on-the-wall manner.
4. A true original, the first look at the U.S.-Iraq war from cameras embedded with the soldiers in the field.
5. War is up close and personal as soldiers film it from their helmets and gun turrets and delight in $56 feasts of Halliburton ham and eggs.
6. No matter where one stands on the political map, no matter what one's views of Operation Iraqi Freedom and its aftermath, this film is compelling, troubling and illuminating.
7. An absolutely spellbinding first-person documentary of regular soldiers in the Iraq War, as seen through digital cameras carried into combat.
8. The film, a tour-of-duty diary by three digital-video toting National Guardsmen, offers the first real look at what it's like to be shot at on a daily basis in Fallujah in pursuit of a goal no one can articulate.
9. Runs blessedly counter to the trend in contemporary documentary, increasingly built around the subjective point of view of the director, who is often a physical presence in the film.
10. A remarkable film, a you-are-there document that allows us to worry about the soldier who's risking his life even as we ponder the rights and wrongs of this military engagement.
What is the critic consensus?
A:
Candid, eye-opening footage gives viewers a close-up -- and educational -- look at the experiences of American soldiers in Iraq, a viewpoint not normally seen.