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Ponniyin Selvan: Part I

Vandiyathevan crosses the Chola land to deliver a message from the Crown Prince Aditha Karikalan, while Kundavai attempts to establish political peace as vassals and petty chieftains plot ag... Read all Vandiyathevan crosses the Chola land to deliver a message from the Crown Prince Aditha Karikalan, while Kundavai attempts to establish political peace as vassals and petty chieftains plot against the throne. Vandiyathevan crosses the Chola land to deliver a message from the Crown Prince Aditha Karikalan, while Kundavai attempts to establish political peace as vassals and petty chieftains plot against the throne.

• Mani Ratnam
• Sruti Harihara Subramanian
• Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
• 366 User reviews
• 23 Critic reviews
• 6 wins & 21 nominations

• Aditha Karikalan

• Arunmozhi Varman

• Vanthiyathevan

• Periya Velaar

• Periya Pazhuvettarayar
• (as Sarath Kumar)

• Poonguzhali

• Parthibendran Pallavan

• Sundara Chozhar

• Alwarkkadiyan Nambi
• Sembiyan Maadevi

• Madhurantakan
• Sendhan Amudhan

• Sruti Harihara Subramanian (Promo Videos Director)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia Director Mani Ratnam and music composer A.R. Rahman did not work with lyricist Vairamuthu on this film, following the latter's #MeToo allegations and controversy. This marked the end of the longest director-composer-lyricist trio in Tamil Cinema, which began since A.R. Rahman's debut on Mani Ratnam's Roja (1992).
• Goofs The Marwari breed of horses were used for shooting this film. A horse had died in shooting too. In history though, the fastest horses in the world were imported from Arabia for warfare in the Chozha cavalry.

Parthibendran Pallavan : I heard you died at Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar's hands, after getting caught

Vanthiyathevan : I think that I haven't died yet indeed

Parthibendran Pallavan : Your tongue is sharper than sword

Vanthiyathevan : One day you can try my sword's sharpness as well

• Crazy credits Vanthiyathevan was supposed to be a spy in various scenes, and depicted in ordinary garb in the novel. However, he's always in an armor.
• Alternate versions In Singapore, the film initially received an NC16 classification due to moments of violence occurred in the film. It is also noted that the Hindi version also received the same classification. The distributor opted to edited the moments of violence in order to lower the rating from NC16 to PG13. Both PG13 edited versions became the standard versions to release in theaters of Singapore.
• Connections Referenced in The Kapil Sharma Show: Ponniyin Selvan Special (2022)
• Soundtracks Ponni Nadhi (Tamil) Music by A.R. Rahman Lyrics by Ilango Krishnan Vocals by A.R. Rahman , A.R. Reihana & Bamba Bakya

User reviews 366

• ThironthoramDude
• Sep 30, 2022
• How long is Ponniyin Selvan: Part I? Powered by Alexa
• September 30, 2022 (India)
• Ponniyin Selvan: I
• Pondicherry, India
• Lyca Productions
• Madras Talkies
• Zeal Z Entertainment services
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• ₹5,000,000,000 (estimated)
• Oct 2, 2022
• $21,888,295

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 47 minutes
• Dolby Surround 7.1
• Dolby Atmos
• IMAX 6-Track
• Dolby Digital

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Ponniyin Selvan - 1 Review: Exhilarating And Enriching, With Impressive Performances By Vikram And Cast

Ponniyin selvan - 1 review: the sprawling, spectacularly mounted film is an ambitious, near-flawless adaptation of a much-loved literary work.

A still from Ponniyin Selvan 1 trailer. (courtesy: Tips Tamil )

Cast: Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha, Jayam Ravi, Karthi

Director:  Mani Ratnam

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Shrinking a complex five-volume novel into a two-part movie is mean feat. It takes gumption. A whole lot of it. If any director has that attribute in the requisite measure, it is Mani Ratnam. Ponniyin Selvan - Part 1 , a period epic that is vast in scale and varied in visual scope, is proof.

The sprawling, spectacularly mounted film is an ambitious, near-flawless adaptation of a much-loved literary work that demonstrates exactly why it has been a movie project so daunting that the likes of M.G. Ramachandran and Kamalahasan could only make abortive attempts at putting it together.

Needless to say, the tale makes huge technical and artistic demands on Ratnam and his cast and crew. They prove equal to the onerous task of attaining the magnitude, the pacing and the stylistic flourishes that the story demands and available image-making technology allows.

That certainly does not mean that the veteran director surrenders himself lock, stock and barrel to the lure and power of computer-generated imagery. Ratnam is too good a craftsman and storyteller to over-rely on the razzle-dazzle of the kind of unbridled visual effects that have driven recent Indian blockbusters such as Baahubali, RRR and KGF.

Ratnam does not resort to sensory or visceral overdrive, drawing strength instead from the smart script written by him, B. Jeyamohan and Elango Kumaravel and from a cast of actors at the top of their game. PS-1 is a treat for the eyes as much as it is for the mind.

He abjures VFX excesses and grounds the historical fiction in a realistic zone to achieve the goal of capturing the massive sweep of Kalki Krishnamurthy's cult 1955 novel that traces the era of the Cholas.

It has taken six and a half decades for the story to make it to the big screen. The wait has been worth it. The Tamil-language PS-1 has versions dubbed in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam running in theatres nationwide.

In the 167-minute Ponniyin Selvan - Part 1 , some passages seem a tad rushed because the introduction of a panoply of characters and the exposition of historically dense details have to be crunched into a couple of three-hour films.

Editor A. Sreekar Prasad, whose oft-proven skills are tested to the severest, ensures that the story has just enough breathing spaces for it not to keel over into occasional incomprehensibility.

Once the prelude is out of the way and all the major characters have been lined up, PS-1 gets into the swing of things. It presents a phenomenally smooth ride through an exciting series of events - fierce battles, palace intrigue, lost love, vanquished soldiers seeking revenge, brave resistance - that records the high points of Chola history in a manner that is both tangible and texturally immersive.

The most noteworthy aspect of PS-1, besides the consistently impressive performances by a cast led by Vikram and brilliantly propped up by Karthi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi and Trisha, among others, is the production design by Thotta Tharini and the well-considered choice of locations lensed brilliantly by cinematographer Ravi Varman. The story unfolds in spaces that are eye-popping without being fantastical in the way that settings of historical epics of this nature usually tend to be.

PS-1 invokes the spatial attributes of the tenth century to perfection - be they structures made of stone, interiors of forts and palaces or ships and boats out at sea. But at no point do the images look like they have been crafted on the computer. PS-1 is a marvellously tactile film that stays rooted in a specific period without having to create improbable, cardboard cut-out sets suspended somewhere between a puerile understanding of design and a puerile imagination.

Similarly, the film's dramatis personae - the ailing Emperor Sundar Chola (Prakash Raj) and his three offspring, Crown Prince Aditha Karikalan (Vikram), his younger brother Arulmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi, who appears late in the film in the guise of the titular character) and sister Kundhavai (Trisha), and their aides and adversaries within and without the kingdom - are never less than human.

They deal with palpable emotions even as they grapple with challenges of grand proportions. The characters, be they Chola royalty or men of common stock, sound believable even when they are in declamatory mode, moving seamlessly from uncommon wisdom to chatty banter.

With the air of outright make-believe masterfully reined in, PS-1 is a historical saga that draws the audience in without resorting to the conjurer's art. Its magic lies purely in its layered cinematic qualities.

Mischief is afoot in the expanding Chola empire with Nandini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), wife of the scheming finance minister Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar (R. Sharathkumar), having vowed to destroy the kingdom. She holds a personal grudge against her one-time lover Aditha Karikalan.

The conspiracy, of which the finance minister's brother and the Tanjore Fort's in-charge Chinna Pazhuvettaraiyar (Radhakrishnan Parthiban) and a host of royal chieftains are a part, is aimed at overthrowing Sundar Chola and putting his nephew Madurantaka (Rahman) on the throne.

Sensing the grave danger that lies ahead, Aditha Karikalan sends his best friend and trusted aide Vandhiyathevan (Karthi, who steals almost the entire first half of the film thanks to the character's gift of the gab and amorous antics) with a message for Emperor Sundar Chola.

The courageous and cheerful Vandhiyathevan dodges elements in the court of the king as well as of survivors from a defeated Pandiyan army who are out to avenge their slain king Veerapandyan.

While power-hungry or jilted-in-love men to a great deal of the talking, PS-1 is true to the source material in that it accords equal significance to the women in the story. Besides the beauteous and strong-willed Nandini, the tough and clear-headed Chola Princess Kundavai plays an important role as the story progresses.

Kundavai is not only sent by her father to pacify her elder brother Aditha Karikalan, she also instructs Vandhiyethevan to travel to Sinhala kingdom with a message for her brother Arulmozhi. Two other women in the plot - Vaanathi (Sobhita Dhulipala), who dreams of marrying Arulmozhi, and boatwoman Samuthirakumari (Aishwarya Lekshmi) - do not have as much to do in this part of the magnum opus. More is probably in store for them in the sequel.

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Action-packed and eventful, the first part of the drama winds up at a point of the story that leaves many questions unresolved and points to what could form the core of Ponniyin Selvan - Part 2, scheduled for release in 2023. The film inevitably packs too much into too little time but it never fails to look and sound - A.R. Rahman's songs and background score constitute the backbone of the sound design - like a meticulously conceived and executed work of cinema.

PS-1 i s both exhilarating and enriching. Another dose would be just perfect.

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Ponniyin Selvan I movie review: Aishwarya Rai is a revelation in Mani Ratnam’s masterful adaptation of classic

Ponniyin selvan i movie review: mani ratnam has managed the unthinkable--adapt the literary classic with finesse and impact. all actors do their parts well but aishwarya rai is a revelation..

There’s a reason why Mani Ratnam is called a master storyteller. In Ponniyin Selvan I , based on the eponymous novel by Kalki, the veteran filmmaker shows who’s the boss, and in what’s easily his most ambitious film ever, he passes with flying colors. Mani Ratnam achieves the unthinkable with his film adaptation of the Ponniyin Selvan which he presents with enough thrills, intrigue and drama to keep you pinned. Also read: Ponniyin Selvan I release live updates: Mani Ratnam film set to be highest-opening Tamil film of 2022

The story is majorly centered on Vanthiyathevan (Karthi), who is entrusted by Aditha Karikalan ( Vikram ) with the task of delivering important messages to his father Sundara Chola (Prakash Raj) and his sister Kundhavi (Trisha). As per the message, plans are being laid out by princely state kings to bring down the empire. It becomes Vanthiyathevan’s duty to find out what the evil plans are and who’s orchestrating everything to tarnish the glory of the Chola Empire. Upon investigation, it is learnt that Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) is the mastermind behind the efforts to bring down the Chola dynasty. But what has turned Nandini into a revenge-seeking princess remains a mystery.

If you’re walking into Ponniyin Selvan expecting an SS Rajamouli-style action spectacle, you might be disappointed. Mani Ratnam relies more on drama to create the tension and it works to a large extent. The film definitely needed more high moments to make you root for the characters, especially someone like, say, Arulmozhi Varman ( Jayam Ravi ), who is the successor of the Chola kingdom. It’s such a powerful character but he gets a very bland introduction scene that falls flat.

Thankfully, the masterful writing makes up for the lack of more crowd-pleasing moments. It’s really commendable of Mani Ratnam and his team of writers to pick crucial moments from the five-part novel and turn them into captivating scenes for the big screen. Some of the film’s most crucial scenes involving key characters of the story have been so well adapted for the screen. For instance, every scene involving Aishwarya Rai (who is a revelation) is so well written that it leaves a lasting impact.

Mani Ratnam extracts solid performances from each of his actors. Irrespective of their screen time, each actor stands out and it’s a treat to watch them bring out their best. Aishwarya Rai as Nandini has to be the pick of the actors as she has very little to say in terms of dialogues but has so much to express with her eyes and she nails it so convincingly.

Karthi as Vanthiyathevan keeps the mood in an otherwise serious film very lively with his slightly exaggerated but strong performance. Vikram as Aaditha Karikalan lands a very emotional part and as a tragic hero delivers a measured performance. Jayam Ravi as Arulmozhi Varma only appears in the second half but has enough scenes to score and leave a mark. One of the reasons the film leaves the intended impact is because of the superb casting which includes good work by the supporting cast as well. As usual, AR Rahman brings out his A-game in yet another collaboration with Mani Ratnam.

Ponniyin Selvan I

Director: Mani Ratnam

Cast: Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Trisha Krishnan, Sarath Kumar, Jayaram and Sobhita Dhulipala

• Ponniyin Selvan
• Aishwarya Rai
• Trisha Krishnan

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• తెలుగు

PS-1 Review: Brain Teasing Narrative

Movie: PS-1 Ponniyan Selvan Rating: 2.25/5 Banner: Madras Talkies, Lyca Productions Cast: Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Trisha, Prabhu, R Sarathkumar, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Vikram Prabhu, Jayaram, Prakash Raj, Rahman, and Radhakrishnan Parthiban Dialogues: Tanikella Bharani Music: AR Rahman Director of Photography: Ravi Varman Editor: Sreekar Prasad Production Designer: Thota Tharrani Action: Kecha Khampakdee & Shyam Kaushal Producer: Mani Ratnam and Subaskaran Directed by: Mani Ratnam Release Date: Sep 30, 2022

After Baahubali, RRR, and KGF movies, Mani Ratnam’s “PS1” is the one period drama that caught the attention of everyone. The hype surrounding the film has been huge. $1 million bookings in the USA alone prove how much buzz the film has generated.

Let’s find out whether the film lives up to the expectations.

Story: Pallavatturyar (Sarath Kumar) and his wife Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) are plotting to make Madhurantakudu (Rahman) as the next king in place of Aditya Karikaludu (Vikram).

Upon this information Kundavi (Trisha) sends Vanthiyadevudu (Karthi), a spy, to bring her brother Arunmozhi aka Ponniyan Selvan (Jayam Ravi) from Srilanka to Tanjore.

Meanwhile, another batch goes out to kill Ponniyan Selvan. The rest of the film is all about Ponniyan Selvan trying to return to his birthplace.

Artistes’ Performances: The film has many characters but only a few get importance. Among them, Karthi as Vandiyadevudu takes the prime place.

The film begins with his journey from one place to the other. The first half of the film has Karthi dominating the show. He attempts comedy as well.

Vikram as Aditya Karikaludu appears only in three episodes. His acting gives a déjà vu feeling. 

Jayam Ravi as Arunmozhi Varma aka Ponniyan is neat. 

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan plays a dual role. As Nandini, she has a terrific screen presence. She gets a limited scope to show her performance but she holds the attention with her charm and grace. Trisha as princess Kundavi is beautiful. She looks a lot younger than her real age. 

Prakash Raj and Sarath Kumar play their parts well. Sobhita Dhulipala and Aishwarya Lekshmi get minor roles.

Technical Excellence: The best part of the film is the excellent production design by Thota Tarani. The sets are classy. He recreates the Chola period. Ravi Varman’s camera has enhanced the production design further. The VFX work is impressive in some places, and not up to the mark in other places. AR Rahman’s songs have not worked in the film but his background score is riveting. 

The Telugu dialogue writing (by Tanikella Bharani) is okay.

Highlights: Production design Twists and turns Aishwarya Rai and Trisha

Drawback: Hard to understand the first half Leisure pace No goose bump moments

Analysis The makers proclaimed ‘PS1’ as ‘the story of India’s greatest empire.’ Based on a Tamil novel named “Ponniyan Selvan”, Mani Ratnam made the film in two parts and the first part is here. Before the release, there have been comparisons between “PS1” and Rajamouli’s “Baahubali” but both are entirely different, neither of them matches in any manner be it war sequences or grandeur of visuals. 

“PS-1” is a story based on real history and the many characters with hard-to-remember names keep coming. Getting track of the names and characters themselves is a cumbersome task. For those who are not familiar with the novel and the history like this reviewer, it is difficult to understand the proceedings and getting the characters. 

The film begins with Vandhiyadevudu’s journey. Karthi as Vandhiyadevudu flirts with women, dances, does comedy stunts, plays with a Brahmin (played by Jayaram), and indulges in fights. Through him, we meet all the characters, first Aditya Karikaludu, then Nandini after that Kundavi, and lastly Ponniyan Selvan. His long journey and many subplots occupy the story of this part one. 

However, the film is structured in a way that much of the plot happens in the first half, which is very hard to understand. By the time we get the story, the film comes to an interval bang. With so much focus on many characters and their background, we don’t get any high moments. In the entire first half, the only intriguing moment is Vikram killing a person when Aishwarya Rai pleading him to pardon her. 

The second half of the film shifts drama to Sri Lanka where Ponniyan Selvan is residing. The visuals in the second half are excellent. The action sequence on a boat is the main highlight. The film comes to its groove in this part. But then it ends quickly with a twist, which in no way matches to ‘Kattappa’ twist. 

The film’s biggest strength is the production design and cinematography. The locations are another highlight. These are made for big screen experience. But the narrative is not strong enough to enjoy them. For the Tamil audience, the film may work well because they are familiar with the story and the characters. For us, it is a cumbersome experience. 

On the whole, ‘PS-1’ despite its grandeur and high-making values, is far from engaging. You need a lot of patience to watch the slow-paced drama that is nearly 2 hours 45 minutes.

Bottom line: Only Grandeur

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, 'p.s.' adds sexual element to reincarnation theme.

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"P.S." is the second movie in two weeks to use reincarnation as the excuse for transgressive sex. The earlier film was " Birth ," in which a woman in her mid-30s becomes convinced that her dead husband has been reincarnated as a 10-year-old boy. Now comes "P.S.," in which a woman in her late 30s is struck by the uncanny resemblance, in name and appearance, between a 20-year-old student and the boy she loved when she was that age. The age gap makes both relationships problematic; "P.S." involves sex, while "Birth" prudently sidesteps it.

Both films are fascinating because they require us to see the younger character through two sets of eyes -- our own, which witness an attractive woman drawn to a younger male, and the women's, which see a lost love in a new container. "Birth" considers the possibility that actual reincarnation is involved, while "P.S." is willing to consider the possibility of an amazing coincidence. In "Birth," it is the little boy who insists he is the dead husband, and tries to prove it; in "P.S.," the woman is struck by the uncanny similarity between a student and the young man she once loved, and tries to prove it -- to him, and to a friend her own age who once loved him, too. That both her dead boyfriend and the young student are named F. Scott Feinstadt seems too good to be true. Even, indeed, if only one were named F. Scott Feinstadt, it would be a reach.

Watching these movies, we are fascinated by the disconnect between romance and reality. If the 10-year-old boy in "Birth" really is the dead husband, what then? The older woman ( Nicole Kidman ) actually suggests at one point that they wait until he comes of age, and then, well, what? It might have been wiser for her to say: "It's been 10 years since you died. Life goes on. You should grow up and find a girl your age. Look at it this way: You're the first person in history who gets his wish to be 10 again, knowing what you know now."

As for "P.S." and the new F. Scott ( Topher Grace ), there's little doubt in the mind of Louise Harrington ( Laura Linney ) about what she should do, which is to take him home in the middle of the afternoon so they can have safe sex immediately. That she is a Columbia University admissions officer and he is a student applying for admission creates an ethical conflict, but should ethics stand in the way of earthshaking metaphysical lust? We would all agree that ethics certainly should not, although of course if a 39-year-old male admissions officer were to sleep with a 20-year-old female applicant, castration would be too good for the fiend.

These logical considerations are not much discussed in "P.S.," although one of the best things about "Birth" is that the woman's family thinks she's crazy and her mother threatens to call the cops. In "P.S.," reincarnation is not insisted on, and while Louise sleeps with F. Scott because she wants to relive her treasured memories of first love, F. Scott sleeps with Louise because he can. Both genders are programmed by eons of Darwinian genetic strategy, and so we believe them, and because Linney and Grace are sexy and play well together, the age gap is not a barrier so much as additional seasoning.

In "Birth," it must be admitted, the 10-year-old doesn't bring much to the party. He stands there like a little scold, insisting on his identity and completely failing to see the humor in his predicament. F. Scott, on the other hand, is a wiseass who treats Louise with an informality bordering on rudeness; she likes this, because it reminds her of the other F. Scott, and because it means she is being treated more like an equal than like an older authority figure. Louise has been saving up for a long time for the opportunity to get medieval on some guy. Like the 40ish Kim Basinger character in " The Door in the Floor ," who has a wild fling with a 16-year-old boy (who resembles her dead son, of course), she brings great appetites to the task.

Louise comes supplied with an ex-husband, a brother and a best friend who complicates matters. The ex-husband, inevitably named Peter ( Gabriel Byrne ), has decided he is a sex addict, and is 12-stepping his way to restraint at just that moment when Louise casts it to the wind. Her brother Sammy ( Paul Rudd ) is a recovering addict with a fund of handy mantras. Her friend Missy Goldberg ( Marcia Gay Harden ) flies in from the coast to get a good look at F. Scott, and invites him to her hotel suite to get a better look. There is some question whether it was Louise or Missy who loved the original F. Scott first, or last, or best.

The plot mechanisms of these movies are at the service of justifying scenes that would otherwise be impossible, improbable, or criminal. The achievement of "Birth" is to take an entirely unacceptable situation (older woman, child) and make it dramatically possible by inhabiting the young body, so it would seem, with an older man. "P.S." uses the stunning power of the boy's uncanny resemblance to the lost love, and "The Door in the Floor" uses the grief of the mourning mother, who is reminded of her dead son by this teenage boy, although that doesn't exactly explain why she sleeps with him.

Watching these movies negotiate the hazards of their plots is part of the fun. Watching good actresses at the top of their form is another. Because these are not European films like Louis Malle's " Murmur of the Heart " or Agnes Varda's "Kung Fu Master," they depend on plot more than emotion to motivate their forbidden behavior, but they seem to be taking chances even when they aren't really, and besides, stories like this are gold mines of terrific reaction shots.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

P.S. (2004)

Rated R for language and sexuality

Laura Linney as Louise Harrington

Topher Grace as F. Scott Feinstadt

Gabriel Byrne as Peter Harrington

Paul Rudd as Sammy Silverstein

Marcia Gay Harden as Missy Goldberg

Lois Smith as Ellie Silverstein

Written and directed by

Based on the novel by.

• Helen Schulman

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Ponniyin Selvan 1 release and review LIVE UPDATES: Mani Ratnam delivers a royal epic, to collect Rs 50 cr on day 1 in box office

Ponniyin selvan 1 movie review, movie launch live updates: mani ratnam's magnum opus is out in theatres. the film stars vikram, aishwarya rai bachchan, jayam ravi, karthi, trisha, aishwarya lekshmi, sobhita dhulipala, prabhu, r. sarathkumar, vikram prabhu, among others..

Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan 1 is out in theatres. Starring Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Trisha, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Prabhu, R Sarathkumar and Vikram Prabhu in significant roles, PS 1 has been in the making since 2019 and in a recent interview, Jayam Ravi revealed that both the parts of the film were shot in 150 days.

Ponniyin Selvan is based on the novel of the same name by Kalki Krishnamurthy, which was first published in 1955. Talking about adapting the book into a film, Mani Ratnam told Film Companion, “I think when you converted it (novel) into a script, you have to follow some spine and go with it. My writer told me the best line I heard before the film. He said, ‘Read the book once, throw it away and then you write.’”

Vikram, who plays the role of Aditha Karikalan, the crown prince and the commander of Northern troops in Sundara Chola’s reign, recently spoke to PTI about the ensemble cast and said, “It’s a very rare thing to feel comfortable and not feel threatened by your co-actors. It’s very rare that you want them to excel in what they’re doing and want to keep up with that.” Praising Karthi and Jayam Ravi, he said, “Karthi carries the whole film on his shoulder. The whole story goes through his character… It’s not straight at all, there are so many ups and downs. It’s a crazy trip for him. It’s a trippy character. And Ravi’s character is again something else, very different where he’s so composed and he’s so calm but there’s so much confusion and so many things going on in his head. At the same time, he has to be princely. And so these are roles that as actors you really want to get into.”

Follow all the latest updates about Ponniyin Selvan 1 here:

A Twitter user @ kyapatabro wrote, " #PonniyanSelvan is a magnificent piece of Period CINEMA (Proper Cinema, not Movie) with an outstanding cast. For period cinema lovers, it doesn't get any better than this. Comparing it with Bahubali is just amateurishly silly."

          View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Sobhita Dhulipala (@sobhitad)

Thank you #ManiRatnam sir… for #PonniyinSelvan1 ….thank you for inspiring .. relentlessly pushing boundaries …and making us proud pic.twitter.com/ok1zZbCSe6 — Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) September 30, 2022

A Twitter user @ BrandAK4Eva wrote, " Done watching #PonniyanSelvan #ponniyinselvan1 #PS1. To be honest, I went for the movie with low expectations but ended up being fully satisfied and now eagerly waiting for Part 2. I like the realistic approach of the film. Engaging and all the actors has performed well."

The ace director had told The New Indian Express, "Fitting Ponniyin Selvan into a single film was the biggest challenge I had when thinking of adapting. Today, the audience has embraced the idea of duologies and trilogies, and this seemed like the perfect time for me to explore the format. If I had made the material as a single film, I would have been critical of myself for leaving out so many details."

Twitter user @Gowdamakash wrote, "I never read the novel.I watch the film.I went to witness the story of the Chola dynasty.I was so invested in the film and the film took me into its world.I was wondering how a film could be too good without any flaws & keep us engaged with our mouths open. A Stellar cast had been assembled, Every character was brilliant with their performances. I loved the comedy of Nambi and the show-stealer Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan."

Chiyaan Vikram's speech about Aishwarya Rai literally made me emotional. He understands her so well. He talked about her stardom, her personality,her manners ,her talent chemistry..Love you @chiyaan ?? #AishwaryaRaiBachchan #PonniyanSelvan #PonniyanSelvan1 pic.twitter.com/bi8iQAUgCw — Mohabbatein PS 1,VV on Sept 30 (@sidharth0800) September 26, 2022

#PonniyinSelvan - First Tamil Trailer to be Screened in Las Vegas, America ??? TAMIL CINEMA'S PRIDE shining Overseas ? #ChiyaanVikram #Karthi #JayamRavi #Trisha #AishwaryaRaiBachchan #PS1 #PonniyanSelvan1 pic.twitter.com/jpcqPU3wYw — VCD (@VCDtweets) September 25, 2022

After all the glitz and glamour around #PonniyanSelvan1 , I just decided to give this movie a go. I was a little wary of Mani Ratnam coming up with a war drama / epic because that's not a genre that Mani has ever handled. Please read my thread on the movie: (1/10) — SatyaSarvopari (@dharmo_rakshita) September 30, 2022

A Twitter user @devrajmukesh wrote, " A Mani Ratnam Masterpiece. This is exactly how I wanted to see it in a big screen. Surely going to watch again this weekend.. What a pride moment."

Hearing the most amazing things about #PonniyinSelvan1 #PS1 ! With so many friends like family in the film it feels like a personal victory ! Take a bow team ! @MadrasTalkies_ #ManiSir @arrahman pic.twitter.com/b9rWBW7NwS — Dulquer Salmaan (@dulQuer) September 30, 2022

A fan @okimmthinking tweeted, "Just watched Ponniyan Selvan #PS1 Karthi steals the show. Detailing could have been better for outside Tamil audience. Can't imagine another human being in Nandini role the Queen Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ?."

A Twitter user @Devanayagam shared, "The true success of a film with such an ensemble cast lies in how every character is registered long after the film! #PS1 does it comfortably! Everyone delivered their best & that's the reason the film stands true to its novel! Thanks to MR for making no compromises whatsoever!?."

Mani Ratnam's film is a 'largely faithful and brilliant adaptation and has no dull moments'. Indian Express critic gave the film four stars and wrote, "Mani Ratnam understands Kalki's novel is a mainstream page-turner, so he retains its flavour and neither intellectualises it, nor dumb it down."

READ THE FULL PS1 REVIEW HERE

@_VijayFan_ tweeted "Its my personal review....(4.5/5)??? #PS1 is just an Amazing Period Film ? Mani sir take me to the Chola Dynasty with the Great VFX..! Don't miss the Theatre Experience guys??."

Karthik Subbaraj tweeted, "#PS1 Spellbound.... Mindblowing..... Masterpiece!!!!  Crown to Indian Cinema ??? Big bow to King #Manirathnam sir & team.. ??????."

Dulquer Salmaan tweeted, "Hearing the most amazing things about #PonniyinSelvan1 #PS1 ! With so many friends like family in the film it feels like a personal victory ! Take a bow team ! @MadrasTalkies_ #ManiSir @arrahman."

Abhishek Bachchan took to Twitter to post, "The day is finally here! #PS1 in theatres today, congratulations to the team who've put in years of hard work & excellence in making this masterpiece. Best wishes on the release! #PonniyinSelvan1 #AishwariyaRaiBachchan #ManiRatnam."

Director Ponram tweeted, "Finally I watched #PonniyinSelvan1 in cinemas, epic cinema Wow super screenplay! Finally, Thanks to the Legend & Ace Director #maniratnam sir and the entire  #PonniyinSelvan1 team for making this happen.??? A.K, A.M.V and V.D these are all the main grips of the story."

Fans seem me be happy with this Mani Ratnam's magnum opus, PS 1.

Happy to have played Dear sir Mani Rathnam’s Parthibendran Pallavan in his dream project #PonniyinSelvan Do watch & enjoy the 1st of 2 parts from 30th September 2022 #PS1 ?? pic.twitter.com/GBt5pirkkS — Vikram Prabhu (@iamVikramPrabhu) September 29, 2022

Actor Jayam Ravi shared a photo from the PS 1 sets and wrote, "Once a student, always a student ?? Thank you guru for believing in me ? #Ponniyinselvan in theatres from tomorrow God bless! #PS1 #Ponniyinselvan #Manirathnam sir."

Actor Arun Vijay tweeted, "Wishing our pride #Mani sir @arrahman sir, @chiyaan sir, @actor_jayamravi brother & @Karthi_Offl brother and all the other cast & crew a spellbinding success on creating and being part of our magnum-opus #PS1 ??? Let's watch it in theatres and celebrate!!?? @LycaProductions."

#ps1 is epic!!! First day first show! And I’m going again.The kind of historical/ period film we crave… cinema and story telling at its bestest, Amazing performances, music, cinematography! my heart is racing!!!! Go watch it in every language #manisir is a true true genius pic.twitter.com/j7NX6jsUye — Aditi Rao Hydari (@aditiraohydari) September 30, 2022

"#ps1 is epic!!! First day first show! And I’m going again.The  kind of historical/ period film we crave… cinema and story telling at its bestest, Amazing  performances, music, cinematography! my heart is racing!!!! Go watch it in every language #manisir is a true true genius," she tweeted.

This grandeur has to be watched on the big screen only! Say no to piracy - Report links! Catch #PS1 in theatres now! #PonniyinSelvan1 #PS1FromToday #ManiRatnam @arrahman @MadrasTalkies_ @LycaProductions @tipsofficial @tipsmusicsouth pic.twitter.com/ic8TdSmIWt — Lyca Productions (@LycaProductions) September 30, 2022

'This grandeur has to be watched on the big screen only!," tweeted the makers.

@chakara_17 tweeted, "#PonniyinSelvan by #ManiRatnam is a cinematic masterpiece, a grand visual spectacle. It’s the perfect blend of mainstream cinema with purist elements, and stunning staging! Here is a ? on why #PS1 is the best magnum opus from Tamil cinema."

Dr. Dhananjayan tweeted, "#PonniyinSelvan is a brilliant teamwork led by #ManiRatnam sir @arrahman @sreekar_prasad DoP #Ravivarman #ThottaTharani & others. Every Tamil will be proud of this Epic film from @MadrasTalkies_@LycaProductions. Narrated so well. Don't miss to experience in Theatres ???."

A fan @Nn84Naganatha shared, "#PonniyinSelvan blockbuster ??Being a person who have not read d book or tried to kno wat d story was before watching and i Enjoyed it. Super work by #ManiRatnam. Tis is going to b d Next big thing frm Kollywood in terms of collections..?."

A user @Darktoevsky shared on Twitter, "Period film with zero western influence soo rooted,original,mostly live locations. First of its kind in South Indian Cinema. #PonniyinSelvan."

A Twitter user @dp_karthik shared, "Just enjoy #PonniyinSelvan as a standalone film. If you start to compare with other films, Then you will miss this saga. Having a good first half is doesn’t enough. Even a slow paced second half will work but having an average climax will makes the entire look of the film down."

Once a student, always a student ?? Thank you guru for believing in me ? #Ponniyinselvan in theatres from tomorrow God bless! #PS1 #Ponniyinselvan #Manirathnam sir pic.twitter.com/mlXsiXzxRv — Arunmozhi Varman (@actor_jayamravi) September 29, 2022

Thanks to the entire #PonniyinSelvan1 team for making this happen!!? May this be the historic success of Indian cinema ? @MadrasTalkies_ @arrahman @chiyaan @actor_jayamravi @Karthi_Offl #AishwaryaRai @trishtrashers @realsarathkumar @prakashraaj @rparthiepan @LycaProductions pic.twitter.com/CkpDLKDIJ0 — Kavithalayaa (@KavithalayaaOff) September 30, 2022

Production company Kavithalayaa tweeted, "Thanks to the entire #PonniyinSelvan1 team for making this happen!!? May this be the historic success of Indian cinema ?."

A Twitter user @DeaDu_ shared, "#PonniyinSelvan - Well made period drama.. No wonder why many actors wanted to do Vanthiyethevan.. Loved every bit of it.. Was super thrilled to get to know about each nd every character as d story moves.. Even d final face reveal got me excited.. A Visual Grandeur.. EPIC!!! ??."

Ramesh Bala tweeted, "#PS1 [4.5/5] : An Epic Screen Translation of #Kalki 's Great Novel..Story and screen play have enough twists and turns that are interesting and transport to Chola Great Dynasty..Only Dir #ManiRatnam could have done this.."

#PonniyinSelvan1 FDFS Begun with a Housefull show in your Fans Fort RKP Cinemas ? Audience Response Vera level ? @chiyaan @Karthi_Offl @actor_jayamravi @trishtrashers @LycaProductions @MadrasTalkies @RKPCINEMAS pic.twitter.com/rgLbANMeN1 — Pudukkottai Movie Updates (@PDKTmovies) September 29, 2022

"#PonniyinSelvan1 FDFS Begun with a Housefull show in your Fans Fort RKP Cinemas ?Audience Response Vera level ?," read a post.

A Never before cinematic experience. Absolutely stunning presentation by #ManiRatnam sir, @arrahman sir, @dop_ravivarman sir, @sreekar_prasad sir, Tharani sir and the sound department. Honoured to be a part of this magnum opus @LycaProductions . Our pride #PonniyinSelvan . #PS1 pic.twitter.com/EEi6R5nmY1 — His Highness Vanthiyathevan (@Karthi_Offl) September 30, 2022

Actor Karthi took to Twitter to share, "A Never before cinematic experience. Absolutely stunning presentation by #ManiRatnam sir,  @arrahman sir, @dop_ravivarman sir, @sreekar_prasad sir, Tharani sir and the sound department. Honoured to be a part of this magnum opus @LycaProductions. Our pride #PonniyinSelvan. #PS1."

"Big strength and advantage of Ponniyin Selvan part 1 is second half is more engaging than first half ..That's why we are seeing full positive feedback from people. If 2nd half wins movie wins ? ? #Ps1 bo records???," wrote a fan @Sureshmoorthy17.

A Twitter user @manikbasha2197 shared some advice, "One kind advice for people who are going to watch #PonniyinSelvan1 - don't expect it to be a Bahubali or KGF. The original novel's story isn't such too. It's at heart, a political drama set in the time of Cholas, with many players involved, along with action and grandeur."

A Twitter user @arunmozhi1996 wrote, "Ponniyin Selvan 1 is a masterpiece and I felt like reading the book…..Please do watch in theatres ….@_NewCinema you gave the impeccable cinematic experience as usual…"

Actor Prakash Raj tweeted, "Thank you #ManiRatnam sir… for #PonniyinSelvan1 ….thank you for inspiring .. relentlessly pushing boundaries …and making us proud."

Are you planning to watch the movie Ponniyin Selvan 1? This guide to the five-part Ponniyin Selvan novel series will be a great help. READ HERE

Actor Sivakarthikeyan shared via Twitter, "Waiting to watch The Great Kalki's #PonniyinSelvan1 in our legend #ManiRatnam Sir's magic ? Best wishes to the entire team ? May this be the humongous hit of Indian cinema ??."

History created by legends with a big bunch of great talents! It’s inevitably a Mega blockbuster? Tamil audience around the globe should feel proud & experience this epic in theatres? Standing ovation & take a bow to each & everyone involved in making this historical event? pic.twitter.com/2uYJyk34BO — Vignesh Shivan (@VigneshShivN) September 29, 2022

Filmmaker and actor Nayanthara's husband Vignesh Shivan tweeted, "History created by legends with a big bunch of great talents! It’s inevitably a Mega blockbuster?. Tamil audience around the globe should feel proud & experience this epic in theatres? Standing ovation & take a bow to each & everyone involved in making this historical event?."

Alaikadal (Doobi Doobi) – a soulful composition by AR Rahman after a long time – is that song for singer Antara Nandy. Singing for Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan 1, a period drama based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s eponymous and emblematic Tamil novel, Nandy, in her debut, does justice to the abundant crests and troughs in this compelling composition. Read more

The five-part Ponniyin Selvan novel series spans about 2200 pages, and it’s a given you can’t read that before the film’s release date on September 30. But, we have you covered. Set in the 10th century, the novel is about the ascent of its titular character, Ponniyin Selvan, who is widely known as Rajaraja Chola I. He is one of the few kings, who is regarded as The Great. Read more

If you are still in doubt about booking your ticket for Mani Ratnam's epic drama Ponniyin Selvan 1, check out its trailer here. 

After the humongous success of Nadodi Mannan (1958), MGR declared his next film will be the big screen adaptation of Ponniyin Selvan. In the year 1959, he also published an advertisement announcing the same in a December edition of the monthly film magazine Nadigan Kural. Despite MGR’s repeated attempts, he was unsuccessful in turning Ponniyin Selvan into a big-screen spectacle. Then, Kamal Haasan bought the rights to the novel from MGR. During the audio launch of director Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan: 1, he recalled MGR’s advice to him: “He told me to make this film immediately. I didn’t understand why back then.” Read more

Some people compared Ponniyin Selvan 1 to the popular fantasy drama series Game of Thrones and called it ‘Tamil Game of Thrones.’ But Mani Ratnam holds a different view. While interacting with Film Companion, Ratnam refused to accept that Ponniyin Selvan – I is the Tamil version of GOT. Instead, he had a hilarious response to the comparisons. He said, “I think Game of Thrones is the English version of Ponniyin Selvan – I.”  Read more

Mani Ratnam's magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan 1 has already amassed over $500k in the US market. Sarigama Cinemas, which has released the film in USA, shared on Twitter, "A Massive start for the Magnum Opus #PS1 in USA ud83dudd25 Premieres gross $548K from 282 locationsud83dudd25." 

Trisha, known for Tamil and Telugu hits such as Varsham, Ghilli, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa and 96, said she had full faith in Mani Ratnam’s vision. “I know what I’ve done and I’ve seen the rushes during the dubbing. And I know the way Mani sir visualised Kundavai. With screen space and screen time, you never know the final output. Only Mani sir knows but I’m very confident that whatever I’ve done is very impactful,” she told PTI. Read more

Vamsi Kaka shared on Twitter, "#PS1 #PonniyinSelvan Telugu AMB Cinemas all shows advance Housefull Day 1." 

What puts Vikram Vedha over Ponniyin Selvan 1 in the northern circuit is its lead actors, Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan, who have a larger mass appeal among the Hindi-speaking audience. Also the buzz around the film in the north is much lower. As per Girish Johar, Ponniyin Selvan 1 might open at around Rs 2 crore in the Hindi-speaking states. Read more

Filmmaker Vasan Bala shared on Twitter how his mother hasn't visited a cinema hall for decades but now she wants to watch Ponniyin Selvan 1. He tweeted, "My Mother in the last couple of decades has not really asked me to take her to watch any film...now she has, it's her childhood, the novel she has been talking about since I remember... forever #PS1." 

The makers of Ponniyin Selvan paid their tribute to author Kalki Krishnamurthy, on whose novel the magnum opus is based on. A tweet by Lyca Productions read, "In honour of the man and brain behind the #PonniyinSelvan novel! Remembering #Kalki!"

In honour of the man and brain behind the #PonniyinSelvan novel! Remembering #Kalki ! #PS1 in theatres from tomorrow Book your tickets here?? https://t.co/Zzumq3RceF https://t.co/yc8FeTiH0N #PonniyinSelvan1 #PS1FromTomorrow #ManiRatnam @arrahman @MadrasTalkies_ @LycaProductions pic.twitter.com/dtGIOErrpY — Lyca Productions (@LycaProductions) September 29, 2022

SS Rajamouli couldn't believe it when actor Jayam Ravio told him that both the parts of the Mani Ratnam film were shot just 150 days. Ravi shared, “I told Rajamouli sir that we have finished two parts of Ponniyin Selvan in 150 days. So, Rajamouli sir got up from his chair and said Ravi don’t say this and scare me, please. It took five years for me to shoot both films (Baahubali). That’s the respect he has for Mani sir. He later sat down and asked, ‘How do you work?’ He is learning from the master.” Read more

In a press conference in New Delhi, Jayam Ravi recalled the time when he met Ratnam for the first time to talk about the role. “He (the king) is Ponniyin Selvan aka Raja Raja Chola and it’s an important role. I was feeling that pressure but Mani sir made sure he took it off me by sharing certain details about the character. He told me that ‘Ravi, this is very important for me. We both have to do it and I cannot do it alone. So, whatever concentration you have, put it on the table. Let’s do it together.’” Read more

Actor Trisha, who essays the role of Princess Kundavai in the upcoming magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1, posted a picture of herself with her co-actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on Twitter a few days ahead of the film's release. Aishwarya plays the role of Queen Nandini in the Mani Ratnam directorial.

Ash? pic.twitter.com/pgcyNgEuGB — Kundavai (@trishtrashers) September 22, 2022

The trade experts expects that PS:1’s opening day collection will be around Rs 25 crore in Tamil Nadu alone. The film’s global box office is expected to be around Rs 70 crore. If the predictions come true, the first-three day worldwide collection of this film will be upwards of Rs 150 crore. Rakesh Gowthaman, who manages Chennai’s popular twin-screen Vettri Theatres said, "People who have read the book, who have not gone to a theatre in a long time, would want to watch this film on the big screen. I know a 75-year-old person and the last film he watched in the theatre was Baahubali 2; now, he wants to come to cinemas to watch this film. The crowd we are going to see is going to have a lot of family audience and senior citizens. This is not the crowd we saw for Vikram or KGF 2. If the movie is a good watch, it might break the record of Vikram in Tamil Nadu." 

Ponniyin Selvan 1 has generated a lot of interest in cinemagoers. Rakesh Gowthaman, who manages Chennai’s popular twin-screen Vettri Theatres, told indianexpress.com, "People who have read the book, who have not gone to a theatre in a long time, would want to watch this film on the big screen. I know a 75-year-old person and the last film he watched in the theatre was Baahubali 2; now, he wants to come to cinemas to watch this film. The crowd we are going to see is going to have a lot of family audience and senior citizens. This is not the crowd we saw for Vikram or KGF 2. If the movie is a good watch, it might break the record of Vikram in Tamil Nadu."

PS 1 will face competition in the Hindi belt from Vikram Vedha, which stars Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan in the lead roles. It’s said that the movie may open to Rs 2 crore in box office receipts in the north Indian circuit. Even in that case, it’s still a good start for an original Tamil film. If it generates good word of mouth, the movie may perform better.

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Camila Mendes' new movie debuts with 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating

"Transcending many of the barriers of the genres it represents."

The musical comedy, which has been released on Prime Video today (April 4), and stars the Riverdale actress Mendes alongside her real-life partner Rudy Mancuso – who also wrote and directed the film.

Música follows Mancuso's character, also named Rudy, a Brazillian-American who has synesthesia, a condition which causes him to hear musical rhythms in his head from everyday sounds.

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Rudy tries to balance love, family and his own culture, while attempting to figure out what he wants to do when he graduates college.

The film received early critical acclaim after premiering at SXSW, debuting with a perfect 100% score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. It's since slipped to a near-perfect 95% from 19 reviews.

Here are a selection of Música ’s reviews:

"Mancuso is a revelation. The multi-hyphenate filmmaker manages to carry the entire plot, be charming, silly, compelling, and a character you easily want to root for. Música heralds the arrival of a filmmaker, an actor, and a musician worth paying attention to, while also delivering a winning and visually inventive musical comedy."

" Música exceeds all expectations, becoming the biggest surprise of the year to date, and serving as a showcase for Rudy Mancuso's immeasurable talent.

"A multi-department success that elevates a semi-autobiography about love, family, and Brazilian-American culture, transcending many of the barriers of the genres it represents, and revealing the world of synesthesia in a truly cinematic manner."

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Ready Steady Cut

"As formulaic as the narrative is, the rhythmic dancing infused with bright theatrical set pieces shows how this little gem is cut from a cloth above the rest.

"Rudy Mancuso is a uniquely talented individual who offers viewers an artistic representation of synesthesia wrapped up in a touching feel-good story about reaching adulthood as the child of an immigrant mother."

"It's a sweet and silly romance that distinguishes itself from the usual fare by making use of Mancuso's expansive imagination.

"With fast and flashy fantasy sequences showcasing a blend of music, animation and puppetry, Mancuso keeps the pace snappy, and constantly delights the eye with innovative staging and unique camera angles."

Música is available to stream now on Prime Video .

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Content production intern, Digital Spy

After studying for an English degree at the University of Exeter, Erin completed a PPA-accredited Masters in Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. She recently joined the team at Digital Spy , writing across both news and features. 

Erin is a fan of all things TV, from comedy and drama to reality TV and soaps.

.css-15yqwdi:before{top:0;width:100%;height:0.25rem;content:'';position:absolute;background-image:linear-gradient(to right,#51B3E0,#51B3E0 2.5rem,#E5ADAE 2.5rem,#E5ADAE 5rem,#E5E54F 5rem,#E5E54F 7.5rem,black 7.5rem,black);} Prime Video

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Rotten Tomatoes Ratings — How Does Rotten Tomatoes Work?

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T he Rotten Tomatoes ratings system―good or bad? Well, I’d say it’s a bit better than the original way tomatoes were used to judge entertainment. Because even if we want to throw fruit at the screen, 21st century technology reminds us we don’t have to. Rotten Tomatoes will provide us with a fair Critic consensus before we even get to the theatre (saving us a ton of food and money).

So how does Rotten Tomatoes work, exactly? Is it a reliable judge of… characters … Okay, okay, hold your tomatoes please. Let’s get a behind the scenes look at how it all works.

What do the Rotten Tomatoes symbols mean? Read on

Rotten tomatoes ratings system.

Rotten Tomatoes started in 2000 and it quickly became moviegoers go-to for reviews. But ever since Fandango acquired the company, it’s become even more well-known adding something called a “Tomatometer” score next to every movie and ticket listing. 

Critics have suggested that there is much more nuance and complication when it comes to the correlation between a Rotten Tomatoes rating and ticket sales. And while we will not get into that in this article, I think there is something to be said psychologically about seeing a rating right before you make your choice.

But I digress. 

I know for me, the ubiquitous nature of a Rotten Tomatoes score has made me feel like they hold more weight than they once did. But do they really hold more weight? How is the score actually calculated? And how are critics curated? 

Let's break it down.

Tomatometer Breakdown

Rotten tomatoes rating system, how does the tomatometer work.

The Rotten Tomatoes rating system uses a scale better known as the “The Tomatometer.” This represents the percentage of positive reviews for a given film or show. The Tomatometer score is calculated after five reviews.

As the reviews come in, The Tomatometer measures the positive reviews against the negative ones and assigns either an overall score of fresh or rotten rating to the film or television show. 

A red tomato score indicating its fresh status, is designated when at least 60% of the reviews are positive. 

A green splat indicating rotten status, is displayed when less than 60% of the reviews are positive. 

If there is no score available, it usually just means the movie or show hasn’t been released or there aren’t enough reviews yet. So, now that we know how they’re calculated, who’s doing the reviewing? 

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How Does Rotten Tomatoes Rate Their Movies

How is rotten tomatoes rated .

Rotten Tomatoes is careful in its Critic curation. It won’t include just any critic’s review. It aggregates those who have been regularly putting out movie reviews over the last two years, and those who are considered active by Rotten Tomatoes standards. This just means they’ve published a review within the last year. While there are about 3,000 accepted reviewers (see the Tomatometer-approved critics criteria), usually only several hundred are actively reviewing for any given film. 

Many times, it’s much less. And Top Critics are counted with a separate score. So while the the Rotten Tomatoes rating system is really just general consensus, you can see some of the more renowned critics in a different space.

But it’s not just about the critics! You also get a fully rounded out review because you can also see how the audience feels. 

What is the Tomatometer?

Popcorn rating explained, rotten tomatoes audience score.

This is a great feature of the site because it provides information from everyday moviegoers but also gives you some insight to see how close this score is to the critics’ scores. It can help you gauge if it’s truly a must-see or probably-pass. And it’s calculated similarly to critic reviews.

The Audience Score is designated by a popcorn bucket.

The score is the percentage of users who have rated the movie or show positively. There is also a section for Verified Ratings which includes those that have actually bought tickets. 

To receive a full popcorn bucket , at least 60% of users give a film or show a star rating of 3.5 or higher.

A tipped over popcorn bucket indicates that less than 60% of users have given it a 3.5 or higher. 

The most interesting finds are the ones that have a green splat for critics, and a full bucket of popcorn from the audience. 

While it’s rarely ever vice-versa, it happens, and it’s then when Rotten Tomatoes ratings may seem more subjective, and we wonder if the system works. And while reviews are opinion to some extent, the site boasts something called Certified Fresh, which brings a little more objectivity to the critique. 

Audience Score Breakdown

Certified rotten tomatoes score, what is certified fresh.

What does Rotten Tomatoes mean by Certified Fresh?

If a film or television show is awarded a Certified Fresh status, it’s being acknowledged that it’s met these requirements:

• It has at least five reviews from Top Critics
• A steady Tomatometer score of at least 75%
• Limited release films must have at least 40 reviews
• Wide release films must have at least 80 reviews
• TV shows are eligible by season and must have at least 20 reviews per season

Of course these stats could fluctuate, especially within the first few days or weeks of a film’s release. If it meets these requirements, it is automatically flagged for review.

When the Rotten Tomatoes staff can determine the movie or show is unlikely to fall below these numbers, it achieves its Certified Fresh status.

Similarly, if the Tomatometer score ever falls below 70%, it will lose this status. Because the Rotten Tomatoes ratings system is so general, RT certified fresh consideration gives the site more objective credibility. 

What does Rotten Tomatoes mean for movies

Is rotten tomatoes good for movies.

So, what's the bottom line? With the movie theater business under constant assault from the rise of streaming services, audiences are less and less likely to venture out to the movies. If they do happen to make it outside the house, they'll likely be extra picky about how they spend their money.

Will they choose an "untested" wildcard movie or one that has general approval from fans and critics? The answer is self-evident. On its surface, the Rotten Tomatoes rating system and Tomatometer seem to be a legitimate resource for the discerning consumer. 

However, there is also a legitimate concern for low-budget indie movies who already have the cards stacked against them in distribution. Since they don't have the marketing budget of the Hollywood tentpoles, curious moviegoers have little else to go on besides the Tomatometer. These "little fish" movies live or die by this system, which is ultimately opinion-based and subjective.

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What is a Cliche? Learn from Examples

If you’re a filmmaker or just love the movies, using cliches are a sure fire way to get awarded a nice big green splat, or a tipped over popcorn bucket.  Next up, are some examples of these tired situations and ways to avoid them.

Up Next: Cliche explained →

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Rotten Tomatoes, explained

Does a movie’s Rotten Tomatoes score affect its box office returns? And six other questions, answered.

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In February 2016, Rotten Tomatoes — the site that aggregates movie and TV critics’ opinions and tabulates a score that’s “fresh” or “rotten” — took on an elevated level of importance. That’s when Rotten Tomatoes (along with its parent company Flixster) was acquired by Fandango , the website that sells advance movie tickets for many major cinema chains.

People had been using Rotten Tomatoes to find movie reviews since it launched in 2000, but after Fandango acquired the site, it began posting “Tomatometer” scores next to movie ticket listings. Since then, studio execs have started to feel as if Rotten Tomatoes matters more than it used to — and in some cases, they’ve rejiggered their marketing strategies accordingly.

It’s easy to see why anyone might assume that Rotten Tomatoes scores became more tightly linked to ticket sales, with potential audiences more likely to buy tickets for a movie with a higher score, and by extension, giving critics more power over the purchase of a ticket.

But that’s not the whole story. And as most movie critics (including myself) will tell you, the correlation between Rotten Tomatoes scores, critical opinion, marketing tactics, and actual box office returns is complicated. It’s not a simple cause-and-effect situation.

My own work is included in both Rotten Tomatoes’ score and that of its more exclusive cousin, Metacritic . So I, along with many other critics , think often of the upsides and pitfalls of aggregating critical opinion and its effect on which movies people see. But for the casual moviegoer, how review aggregators work, what they measure, and how they affect ticket sales can be mysterious.

So when I got curious about how people perceive Rotten Tomatoes and its effect on ticket sales, I did what any self-respecting film critic does: I informally polled my Twitter followers to see what they wanted to know.

Here are seven questions that many people have about Rotten Tomatoes, and review aggregation more generally — and some facts to clear up the confusion.

How is a Rotten Tomatoes score calculated?

The score that Rotten Tomatoes assigns to a film corresponds to the percentage of critics who’ve judged the film to be “fresh,” meaning their opinion of it is more positive than negative. The idea is to quickly offer moviegoers a sense of critical consensus.

“Our goal is to serve fans by giving them useful tools and one-stop access to critic reviews, user ratings, and entertainment news to help with their entertainment viewing decisions,” Jeff Voris, a vice president at Rotten Tomatoes, told me in an email.

The opinions of about 3,000 critics — a.k.a. the “Approved Tomatometer Critics” who have met a series of criteria set by Rotten Tomatoes — are included in the site’s scores, though not every critic reviews every film, so any given score is more typically derived from a few hundred critics, or even less. The scores don’t include just anyone who calls themselves a critic or has a movie blog; Rotten Tomatoes only aggregates critics who have been regularly publishing movie reviews with a reasonably widely read outlet for at least two years, and those critics must be “active,” meaning they've published at least one review in the last year. The site also deems a subset of critics to be “top critics” and calculates a separate score that only includes them.

Some critics (or staffers at their publications) upload their own reviews, choose their own pull quotes, and designate their review as “fresh” or “rotten.” Other critics (including myself) have their reviews uploaded, pull-quoted, and tagged as fresh or rotten by the Rotten Tomatoes staff. In the second case, if the staff isn't sure whether to tag a review as fresh or rotten, they reach out to the critic for clarification. And critics who don't agree with the site’s designation can request that it be changed.

As the reviews of a given film accumulate, the Rotten Tomatoes score measures the percentage that are more positive than negative, and assigns an overall fresh or rotten rating to the movie. Scores of over 60 percent are considered fresh, and scores of 59 percent and under are rotten. To earn the coveted “designated fresh” seal, a film needs at least 40 reviews, 75 percent of which are fresh, and five of which are from “top” critics.

What does a Rotten Tomatoes score really mean ?

A Rotten Tomatoes score represents the percentage of critics who felt mildly to wildly positively about a given film.

If I give a film a mixed review that’s generally positive (which, in Vox’s rating system, could range from a positive-skewing 3 to the rare totally enamored 5), that review receives the same weight as an all-out rave from another critic. (When I give a movie a 2.5, I consider that to be a neutral score; by Rotten Tomatoes' reckoning, it's rotten.) Theoretically, a 100 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating could be made up entirely of middling-to-positive reviews. And if half of the critics the site aggregates only sort of like a movie, and the other half sort of dislike it, the film will hover around 50 percent (which is considered “rotten” by the site).

Contrary to some people’s perceptions, Rotten Tomatoes itself maintains no opinion about a film. What Rotten Tomatoes tries to gauge is critical consensus.

Critics’ opinions do tend to cluster on most films. But there are always outliers, whether from contrarians (who sometimes seem to figure out what people will say and then take the opposite opinion), or from those who seem to love every film. And critics, like everyone, have various life experiences, aesthetic preferences, and points of view that lead them to have differing opinions on movies.

So in many (if not most) cases, a film’s Rotten Tomatoes score may not correspond to any one critic’s view. It’s more like an imprecise estimate of what would happen if you mashed together every Tomatometer critic and had the resulting super-critic flash a thumbs-up or thumbs-down.

Rotten Tomatoes also lets audiences rate movies, and the score is often out of step with the critical score. Sometimes, the difference is extremely significant, a fact that's noticeable because the site lists the two scores side by side.

There’s a straightforward reason the two rarely match, though: The critical score is more controlled and methodical.

Why? Most professional critics have to see and review many films, whether or not they’re inclined to like the movie. (Also, most critics don’t pay to see films, because studios hold special early screenings for them ahead of the release date, which removes the decision of whether they’re interested enough in a film to spend their hard-earned money on seeing it.)

But with Rotten Tomatoes’ audience score, the situation is different. Anyone on the internet can contribute — not just those who actually saw the film. As a result, a film’s Rotten Tomatoes score can be gamed by internet trolls seeking to sink it simply because they find its concept offensive. A concerted effort can drive down the film’s audience score before it even comes out, as was the case with the all-female reboot of Ghostbusters .

Even if Rotten Tomatoes required people to pass a quiz on the movie before they rated it, the score would still be somewhat unreliable. Why? Because ordinary audiences are more inclined to buy tickets to movies they’re predisposed to like — who wants to spend $12 to $20 on a film they’re pretty sure they’ll hate?

So audience scores at Rotten Tomatoes (and other audience-driven scores, like the ones at IMDb) naturally skew very positive, or sometimes very negative if there’s any sort of smear campaign in play. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. But audience scores tend to not account for those who would never buy a ticket to the movie in the first place.

In contrast, since critics see lots of movies — some of which they would have gone to see anyhow, and some of which they would’ve never chosen to see if their editors didn’t make the assignment — their opinion distribution should theoretically be more even, and thus the critical Rotten Tomatoes score more “accurate.”

Or at least that’s what Rotten Tomatoes thinks. The site displays a movie’s critics’ scores — the official Tomatometer — at Fandango and in a more prominent spot on the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes landing page. The audience score is also displayed on the Rotten Tomatoes page, but it’s not factored into the film’s fresh or rotten rating, and doesn’t contribute to a film being labeled as “certified fresh.”

Why do critics often get frustrated by the Tomatometer?

The biggest reason many critics find Rotten Tomatoes frustrating is that most people’s opinions about movies can’t be boiled down to a simple thumbs up or down. And most critics feel that Rotten Tomatoes, in particular, oversimplifies criticism, to the detriment of critics, the audience, and the movies themselves.

In some cases, a film really is almost universally considered to be excellent, or to be a complete catastrophe. But critics usually come away from a movie with a mixed view. Some things work, and others don’t. The actors are great, but the screenplay is lacking. The filmmaking is subpar, but the story is imaginative. Some critics use a four- or five-star rating, sometimes with half-stars included, to help quantify mixed opinions as mostly negative or mostly positive.

The important point here is that no critic who takes their job seriously is going to have a simple yes-or-no system for most movies. Critics watch a film, think about it, and write a review that doesn't just judge the movie but analyzes, contextualizes, and ruminates over it. The fear among many critics (including myself) is that people who rely largely on Rotten Tomatoes aren't interested in the nuances of a film, and aren't particularly interested in reading criticism, either.

But maybe the bigger reason critics are worried about the influence of review aggregators is that they seem to imply there's a “right” way to evaluate a movie, based on most people's opinions. We worry that audience members who have different reactions will feel as if their opinion is somehow wrong, rather than seeing the diversity of opinions as an invitation to read and understand how and why people react to art differently.

Plenty of movies — from Psycho to Fight Club to Alien — would have earned a rotten rating from Rotten Tomatoes upon their original release, only to be reconsidered and deemed classics years later as tastes, preferences, and ideas about films changed. Sometimes being an outlier can just mean you're forward-thinking.

Voris, the Rotten Tomatoes vice president, told me that the site is always trying to grapple with this quandary. “The Rotten Tomatoes curation team is constantly adding and updating reviews for films — both past and present,” he told me. “If there’s a review available from an approved critic or outlet, it will be added.”

What critics are worried about is a tendency toward groupthink, and toward scapegoating people who deviate from the “accepted” analysis. You can easily see this in the hordes of fans that sometimes come after a critic who dares to “ruin” a film's perfect score . But critics (at least serious ones) don't write their reviews to fit the Tomatometer, nor are they out to “get” DC Comics movies or religious movies or political movies or any other movies. Critics love movies and want them to be good, and we try to be honest when we see one that we don't measures up.

That doesn't mean the audience can't like a movie with a rotten rating, or hate a movie with a fresh rating. It's no insult to critics when audience opinion diverges. In fact, it makes talking and thinking about movies more interesting.

If critics are ambivalent about Rotten Tomatoes scores, why do moviegoers use the scores to decide whether to see a movie?

Mainly, it’s easy. You’re buying movie tickets on Fandango, or you’re trying to figure out what to watch on Netflix, so you check the Rotten Tomatoes score to decide. It’s simple. That’s the point.

And that’s not a bad thing. It's helpful to get a quick sense of critical consensus, even if it's somewhat imprecise. Many people use Rotten Tomatoes to get a rough idea of whether critics generally liked a film.

The flip side, though, is that some people, whether they’re critics or audience members, will inevitably have opinions that don't track with the Rotten Tomatoes score at all. Just because an individual's opinion is out of step with the Tomatometer doesn't mean the person is “wrong” — it just means they're an outlier.

And that, frankly, is what makes art, entertainment, and the world at large interesting: Not everyone has the same opinion about everything, because people are not exact replicas of one another. Most critics love arguing about movies, because they often find that disagreeing with their colleagues is what makes their job fun. It's fine to disagree with others about a movie, and it doesn't mean you're “wrong.”

(For what it’s worth, another review aggregation site, Metacritic, maintains an even smaller and more exclusive group of critics than Rotten Tomatoes — its aggregated scores cap out around 50 reviews per movie, instead of the hundreds that can make up a Tomatometer score. Metacritic’s score for a film is different from Rotten Tomatoes’ insofar as each individual review is assigned a rating on a scale of 100 and the overall Metacritic score is a weighted average, the mechanics of which Metacritic absolutely refuses to divulge . But because the site’s ratings are even more carefully controlled to include only experienced professional critics — and because the reviews it aggregates are given a higher level of granularity, and presumably weighted by the perceived influence of the critic’s publication — most critics consider Metacritic a better gauge of critical opinion.)

Does a movie’s Rotten Tomatoes score affect its box office earnings?

The short version: It can, but not necessarily in the ways you might think.

A good Rotten Tomatoes score indicates strong critical consensus, and that can be good for smaller films in particular. It’s common for distributors to roll out such films slowly, opening them in a few key cities (usually New York and Los Angeles, and maybe a few others) to generate good buzz — not just from critics, but also on social media and through word of mouth. The result, they hope, is increased interest and ticket sales when the movie opens in other cities.

Get Out , for example, certainly profited from the 99 percent “fresh” score it earned since its limited opening. And the more recent The Big Sick became one of last summer's most beloved films, helped along by its 98 percent rating. But a bad score for a small film can help ensure that it will close quickly, or play in fewer cities overall. Its potential box office earnings, in turn, will inevitably take a hit.

Yet when it comes to blockbusters, franchises, and other big studio films (which usually open in many cities at once), it’s much less clear how much a film’s Rotten Tomatoes score affects its box office tally. A good Rotten Tomatoes score, for example, doesn't necessarily guarantee a film will be a hit. Atomic Blonde is “guaranteed fresh,” with a 77 percent rating, but it didn‘t do very well at the box office despite being an action film starring Charlize Theron.

Still, studios certainly seem to believe the score makes a difference . Last summer, studios blamed Rotten Tomatoes scores (and by extension, critics) when poorly reviewed movies like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales , Baywatch , and The Mummy performed below expectations at the box office. ( Pirates still went on to be the year’s 19th highest-grossing film.)

2017’s highest grossing movies in the US

But that correlation doesn’t really hold up. The Emoji Movie , for example, was critically panned, garnering an abysmal 6 percent Rotten Tomatoes score. But it still opened to $25 million in the US, which put it just behind the acclaimed Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk . And the more you think about it, the less surprising it is that plenty of people bought tickets to The Emoji Movie in spite of its bad press: It's an animated movie aimed at children that faced virtually no theatrical competition, and it opened during the summer, when kids are out of school. Great reviews might have inflated its numbers, but almost universally negative ones didn't seem to hurt it much.

It's also worth noting that many films with low Rotten Tomatoes scores that also perform poorly in the US (like The Mummy or The Great Wall ) do just fine overseas, particularly in China. The Mummy gave Tom Cruise his biggest global opening ever . If there is a Rotten Tomatoes effect, it seems to only extend to the American market.

Without any consistent proof, why do people still maintain that a bad Rotten Tomatoes score actively hurts a movie at the box office?

While it’s clear that a film’s Rotten Tomatoes score and box office earnings aren't correlated as strongly as movie studios might like you to think, blaming bad ticket sales on critics is low-hanging fruit.

Plenty of people would like you to believe that the weak link between box office earnings and critical opinion proves that critics are at fault for not liking the film, and that audiences are a better gauge of its quality. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, co-star of Baywatch , certainly took that position when reviews of the 2017 bomb Baywatch came out:

Oh boy, critics had their venom & knives ready . Fans LOVE the movie. Huge positive scores. Big disconnect w/ critics & people. #Baywatch https://t.co/K0AQPf6F0S — Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) May 26, 2017

Baywatch ended up with a very comfortably rotten 19 percent Tomatometer score , compared to a just barely fresh 62 percent audience score. But with apologies to The Rock, who I’m sure is a very nice man, critics aren't weather forecasters or pundits, and they’re not particularly interested in predicting how audiences will respond to a movie. (We are also a rather reserved and nerdy bunch, not regularly armed with venom and knives.) Critics show up where they’re told to show up and watch a film, then go home and evaluate it to the best of their abilities.

The obvious rejoinder, at least from a critic’s point of view, is that if Baywatch was a better movie, there wouldn’t be such a disconnect. But somehow, I suspect that younger ticket buyers — an all-important demographic — lacked nostalgia for 25-year-old lifeguard TV show, and thus weren't so sure about seeing Baywatch in the first place. Likewise, I doubt that a majority of Americans were ever going to be terribly interested in the fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (which notched a 30 percent Tomatometer score and a 64 percent audience score), especially when they could just watch some other movie.

A pile-up of raves for either of these films might have resulted in stronger sales, because people could have been surprised to learn that a film they didn’t think they were interested in was actually great. But with lackluster reviews, the average moviegoer just had no reason to give them a chance.

Big studio publicists, however, are paid to convince people to see their films, not to candidly discuss the quality of the films themselves. So when a film with bad reviews flops at the box office, it’s not shocking that studios are quick to suggest that critics killed it.

How do movie studios try to blunt the perceived impact when they’re expecting a bad Rotten Tomatoes score?

Of late, some studios — prompted by the idea that critics can kill a film’s buzz before it even comes out — have taken to “ fighting back ” when they’re expecting a rotten Tomatometer score.

Their biggest strategy isn’t super obvious to the average moviegoer, but very clear to critics. When a studio suspects it has a lemon on its hands, it typically hosts the press screening only a day or two ahead of the film's release, and then sets a review “embargo” that lifts a few hours before the film hits theaters.

Consider, for example, the case of the aforementioned Emoji Movie . I and most other critics hoped the movie would be good, as is the case with all movies see. But once the screening invitations arrived in our inboxes, we pretty much knew, with a sinking feeling, that it wouldn’t be. The tell was pretty straightforward: The film’s only critics' screening in New York was scheduled for the day before it opened. It screened for press on Wednesday night at 5 pm, and then the review embargo lifted at 3 pm the next day — mere hours before the first public showtimes.

Late critics’ screenings for any given film mean that reviews of the film will necessarily come out very close to its release, and as a result, people purchasing advance tickets might buy them before there are any reviews or Tomatometer score to speak of. Thus, in spite of there being no strong correlation between negative reviews and a low box office, its first-weekend box returns might be less susceptible to any potential harm as a result of bad press. (Such close timing can also backfire; critics liked this summer's Captain Underpants , for example, but the film was screened too late for the positive reviews to measurably boost its opening box office.)

That first-weekend number is important, because if a movie is the top performer at the box office (or if it simply exceeds expectations, like Dunkirk and Wonder Woman did this summer), its success can function as good advertising for the film, which means its second weekend sales may also be stronger. And that matters , particularly when it means a movie is outperforming its expectations, because it can actually shift the way industry executives think about what kinds of movies people want to watch. Studios do keep an eye on critics’ opinions, but they’re much more interested in ticket sales — which makes it easy to see why they don’t want risk having their opening weekend box office affected by bad reviews, whether there’s a proven correlation or not.

The downside of this strategy, however, is that it encourages critics to instinctively gauge a studio’s level of confidence in a film based on when the press screening takes place. 20th Century Fox, for instance, screened War for the Planet of the Apes weeks ahead of its theatrical release, and lifted the review embargo with plenty of time to spare before the movie came out. The implication was that Fox believed the movie would be a critical success, and indeed, it was — the movie has a 97 percent Tomatometer score and an 86 percent audience score.

And still, late press screenings fail to account for the fact that, while a low Rotten Tomatoes score doesn’t necessarily hurt a film’s total returns, aggregate review scores in general do have a distinct effect on second-weekend sales. In 2016, Metacritic conducted a study of the correlation between its scores and second weekend sales , and found — not surprisingly — that well-reviewed movies dip much less in the second weekend than poorly reviewed movies. This is particularly true of movies with a strong built-in fan base, like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice , which enjoyed inflated box office returns in the first weekend because fans came out to see it, but dropped sharply in its second weekend, at least partly due to extremely negative press .

Most critics who are serious about their work make a good-faith effort to approach each film they see with as few expectations as possible. But it's hard to have much hope about a movie when it seems obvious that a studio is trying to play keep-away with it. And the more studios try to game the system by withholding their films from critics, the less critics are inclined to enter a screening devoid of expectations, however subconscious.

If you ask critics what studios ought to do to minimize the potential impact of a low Rotten Tomatoes score, their answer is simple: Make better movies. But of course, it’s not that easy; some movies with bad scores do well, while some with good scores still flop. Hiding a film from critics might artificially inflate first-weekend box office returns, but plenty of people are going to go see a franchise film, or a superhero movie, or a family movie, no matter what critics say.

The truth is that neither Rotten Tomatoes nor the critics whose evaluations make up its scores are really at fault here, and it’s silly to act like that’s the case. The website is just one piece of the sprawling and often bewildering film landscape.

As box office analyst Scott Mendelson wrote at Forbes :

[Rotten Tomatoes] is an aggregate website, one with increased power because the media now uses the fresh ranking as a catch-all for critical consensus, with said percentage score popping up when you buy tickets from Fandango or rent the title on Google Market. But it is not magic. At worst, the increased visibility of the site is being used as an excuse by ever-pickier moviegoers to stay in with Netflix or VOD.

For audience members who want to make good moviegoing decisions, the best approach is a two-pronged one. First, check Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic to get a sense of critical consensus. But second, find a few critics — two or three will do — whose taste aligns with (or challenges) your own, and whose insights help you enjoy a movie even more. Read them and rely on them.

And know that it’s okay to form your own opinions, too. After all, in the bigger sense, everyone’s a critic.

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• Despite past movie failures, Neeson's latest film showcases his ability to deliver a critically-acclaimed performance.
• The high rating for "In the Land of Saints and Sinners" proves Neeson is a solid action star, and that he's ready for his upcoming role in "The Naked Gun" reboot.

Liam Neeson has a major remake coming soon, and his most recent movie's critical success on Rotten Tomatoes has perfectly set the stage for it. For years, Liam Neeson has established himself as one of the biggest names in the entire action genre. Neeson has played some deadly action heroes over the course of his career, and they often led to major critical success. However, not all of his action movies have been hits, and his recent movies have especially suffered.

Neeson has had a bad streak with his movies and their critical reception stretching back over four years and eight movies. In that time frame, his highest rated film was The Ice Road , which only scored 44% on Rotten Tomatoes , though many others were hits with audiences. Neeson's streak of movies with below average ratings was very worrying for the future of his career, but it now seems he's solved the problem ahead of his upcoming remake .

Liam Neeson's 10 Best Action Movies, Ranked

In the lands of saints & sinners gets neeson's career back on track before naked gun, its critical success is a positive sign ahead of the reboot.

In the Land of Saints and Sinners , Neeson's most recent movie, ended his years-long rotten streak . It currently has an 81% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes , far surpassing many of his most recent action movies. In the Land of Saints and Sinners also came at a perfect time for Neeson's career, as he'll soon be starring in The Naked Gun reboot . The movie's high rating proved that Neeson is still an impressive action star who can deliver a critically-acclaimed performance. His reputation for making good movies should carry over into The Naked Gun , and his acting will have to steal the show due to the reboot's split genres.

The Naked Gun reboot is set to release on July 18, 2025.

Why Liam Neeson Is Great For The Naked Gun Remake

Neeson can handle both the comedy and action aspects of the role.

Liam Neeson is perfect for The Naked Gun , as he's already proven himself as a more than capable actor in both of its genres. The Naked Gun franchise has mainly been a comedy series, but it also features action scenes given Frank Drebin's job as a police detective. Neeson is an underrated comedic actor, and he has been showing his action skills for over a decade, so he's more than equipped for both sides of Drebin's character . Neeson's comedic chops, which he's displayed in movies like Ted 2 and A Million Ways to Die in the West , should pair perfectly with his action experience for The Naked Gun .

If all goes well with The Naked Gun reboot, Neeson could even see his career shift from action to comedy . While he has shown his skill for comedy in the past, they've mainly come in small roles or within less successful movies. The Naked Gun would give him a chance to be the lead actor in a comedy film, and it could help audiences see him in a different light. The Naked Gun will have to be a success for that to happen, though, but luckily In the Land of Saints and Sinners has given Liam Neeson a major advantage for his next movies.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

In the Land of Saints and Sinners

In the Land of Saints and Sinners is an action crime thriller directed by Robert Lorenz and stars Liam Neeson as former assassin Finbar Murphy, who is in retirement and looking to leave his hitman days behind him. When Murphy's peaceful Irish town is rocked by terrorists who have begun abusing the locals, he slips back into his old ways to deal with them, all while trying to keep his identity a secret from those around him.

The Naked Gun Reboot

The Naked Gun is set for a reboot via writer-director Akiva Schaffer, with Liam Neeson starring in the lead role. The film is rumored to have Liam Neeson playing the son of the former franchise protagonist, Detective Frank Drebin.

IMDb vs. Rotten Tomatoes vs. Metacritic: Which Movie Ratings Site Is Best?

IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic are the three most popular ratings sites for movies, but they aren't all equal.

Thanks to online ratings, it's easier than ever to know whether or not a movie is worth watching. A quick Google search brings up plenty of websites offering their opinions on the latest films.

The three most popular are IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic. But how do these sites differ, and which should you trust for information on movies? Here's everything you need to know.

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is a gigantic compendium of movies, TV shows, and video games. Its primary use is to find detailed information about any actor, producer, or piece of media content.

When you pull up a movie, you'll see a synopsis, trailers, photos, a cast list, trivia, and much more. What makes IMDb so useful is its cross-referencing. Upon opening the page for an actor, you'll see their best-known roles. Thus, IMDb is great for those "what else have I seen her in?" moments.

The IMDb mobile app takes this a step further. If you create an account and give ratings to movies and other media, you'll see a You may know them from field on an actor's page if you've rated something they appeared in.

With a free IMDb account, you can also create a Watchlist of movies you want to see. Along with contributing to the 10-point rating scale with other users, IMDb has many other useful features to offer if you're interested.

Pros of IMDb

Unlike the other two sites, IMDb's reviews come solely from users. It only takes a minute to sign up for IMDb and leave a review, so there's little barrier to entry.

Thus, IMDb's biggest strength is that its scores gives you a good idea of what normal consumers think of it. Professional critics have no influence on IMDb scores.

IMDb has a weighted average system to prevent users from rigging the score, but the service doesn't make it clear exactly how this works. Click the review count next to the star icon on any movie's page to see a breakdown of how people rated it.

Below the overall star average, you can see how the ratings break down by a few demographics, including age and gender.

Cons of IMDb

IMDb's biggest problem is that like other platforms, most people only leave reviews if they love or hate a film. Thus, this skews the scores in favor of either fanboys or haters.

People who want to boost a movie's perception will likely rate the movie a 10, while those who didn't like it will give a rating of one. This means you should read a handful of reviews to get a full picture of the movie's quality.

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes is a trusted source for movie reviews sourced from critics. Every movie uses the "Tomatometer" to score the quality of a film. If the critic liked the movie, a red tomato appears by their review. When they don't like it, you'll see a green splat instead.

As long as 60 percent or more of critics like the movie, it earns an overall Fresh score with a red tomato. If under 60 percent of critics rate the movie favorably, it earns a Rotten score with a green splat.

Meanwhile, a Certified Fresh badge appears next to titles that are of particularly high quality. They must hold at least a 75 percent favorable score after 80 reviews, including at least five from top critics.

Open any movie's page, and you'll see the overall score plus its number of reviews at the top. Click See Score Details for a deeper breakdown. The Critics Consensus , present for most movies, is a great summary of why the movie received its score.

Rotten Tomatoes also providers a user score, shown by the popcorn bucket. When at least 60 percent of users rated it 3.5 stars (out of 5) or higher, it shows a full bucket. A tipped-over bucket represents that under 60 percent of users gave it under 3.5 stars. Since you can use half-star ratings, this is close to the IMDb score.

In 2019, Rotten Tomatoes made some changes to reduce "review bombing" of movies. There's no longer a Want to See percentage, and you'll also see a check next to user reviews where the site has confirmed that the person actually bought a ticket to the movie.

At the bottom of a movie's page, you can read excerpts from the critic reviews, filter by fresh or rotten, or only show top critics. Search for your favorite actors, and you can check the scores of films they appeared in.

Related: Sites Like Rotten Tomatoes to Find Average Ratings and Reviews for Anything

Pros of Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes has the advantage of sourcing its reviews from trusted critics. The Rotten Tomatoes criteria page explains that the site only takes reviews from trusted newspapers, podcasts, and websites. In theory, this means that only the opinions of the most-trusted movie critics influence the Rotten Tomatoes review.

The Top Critic designation lets you filter by the absolute best critics if you prefer. You can't get a more professional opinion than from these folks.

Overall, Rotten Tomatoes does a good job of letting you know at a glance whether or not a movie is worth your time. The easily identifiable icons, overall score, and consensus summary only take a moment to scan.

Cons of Rotten Tomatoes

The biggest issue with Rotten Tomatoes is that it breaks down complex opinions into a Yes or No score. It scores a critic who thought the movie was decent but had some flaws (say, a 59 percent rating) the same as one who thought the movie was absolute garbage (a zero percent score).

You'll notice this with the Average Rating under the score. Take Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle as an example. Of the 232 critic reviews, 177 of them are positive. This gives the movie a score of 76 percent. However, the critics rated the movie an average of 6.2/10---quite a bit under the 76 percent displayed on the page.

This doesn't mean the scores on Rotten Tomatoes are useless, of course. But it's important to remember that there's nuance in individual reviews, and the Fresh/Rotten system effectively turns every rating into a 100 or 0 score.

Metacritic aggregates reviews of movies and TV shows, plus video games and music albums. It's one of the best sites for gamers , but it can give you a good idea on the quality of movies too.

The site collects reviews from many sources and aggregates them into one "metascore" from 0 to 100. It displays a color and one-line indication of quality based on the overall score, with the following used for movies, TV, and albums:

• 81-100: Universal Acclaim (Green)
• 61-80: Generally Favorable Reviews (Green)
• 40-60: Mixed or Average Reviews (Yellow)
• 20-39: Generally Unfavorable Reviews (Red)
• 0-19: Overwhelming Dislike (Red)

Unlike Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic uses a weighted average system. Nobody knows the exact details, but the service assigns more importance to some sources than others. Like the other two sites, Metacritic also includes a separate user score, which does not influence the critic score.

The Pros of Metacritic

Metacritic avoids the Rotten Tomatoes problem of scoring every review as simply "good" or "bad." A review of 50 percent gets mixed in with the rest to create the metascore. Thus, the score you see on Metacritic is closer to the average review, as opposed to the percentage of critics who simply liked the movie on Rotten Tomatoes.

Additionally, among these three sites, Metacritic is the only one to feature full user reviews right next to critic reviews. This makes it easy to compare what the general public thinks compared to the professionals.

The Cons of Metacritic

While it's easy to translate a score from a five-star or 10-point scale, Metacritic's way of translating letter grade is questionable. We can see how this works on the About Metascores page :

While scoring an A as 100 percent makes sense, note the scores for B- and F , for instance. A 67 percent score for a B- seems a bit harsh. In most schools, a score of 67 percent is closer to an F than it is a B- .

And scoring an F as 0 percent seems unfair. Something like 20 percent for an F might be more appropriate. Because every site has different scales for scoring (some might not even use pluses and minuses), this could skew a reviewer's original meaning.

Also, unlike Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic seems to have few public standards. There's no detailed information on where it sources it critics from. Thus, the score potentially doesn't have as much weight behind it as Rotten Tomatoes does.

What Is the Best Movie Rating Website?

So we've now taken a look at IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic, and listed their major pros and cons. As you might have guessed, there's no one website that's best for everything.

However, we can recommend each of these sites for different reasons:

• IMDb is great for seeing what general audiences think of a movie. If you don't care what the critics say and want to see what people like yourself thought of a film, then you should use IMDb. Just be aware that fans often skew the vote with 10-star ratings, which may inflate scores somewhat.
• Rotten Tomatoes offers the best overall picture of whether a movie is worth seeing at a glance. If you only trust the opinions of top critics and just want to know if a movie is at least decent, you should use Rotten Tomatoes. While the Fresh/Rotten binary can oversimplify the often complex opinions of critics, it should still help you weed out lousy films.
• Metacritic offers the most balanced aggregate score. If you don't mind which critics' opinions go into the final score and prefer seeing a general average, then you should use Metacritic. Its standards are mostly unknown, but Metacritic makes it easy to compare professional and user reviews side-by-side.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with checking all three of these sites every time you're thinking of seeing a movie. Over time, you should figure out which site's tastes most match yours; then you'll know which is best for you personally.

Personal Taste Still Matters Most

Remember that movie scores aren't everything. All three of these sites don't, for instance, paint an accurate picture of movies that are so bad they're good. Because those movies are objectively terrible, they carry low scores even though they have ironic value.

Plus, it's impossible to sum up complex opinions from dozens of people into a single number. And no matter what the critics or general public think, your preferences might be totally different anyway. There's nothing wrong with enjoying a movie that most people find stupid. So while these sites are helpful, don't take them too seriously.

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Sonic the Hedgehog

2020, Kids & family/Comedy, 1h 40m

What to know

Critics Consensus

Fittingly fleet and frequently fun, Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game-inspired adventure the whole family can enjoy -- and a fine excuse for Jim Carrey to tap into the manic energy that launched his career. Read critic reviews

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Sonic the hedgehog videos, sonic the hedgehog   photos.

The world needed a hero -- it got a hedgehog. Powered with incredible speed, Sonic embraces his new home on Earth -- until he accidentally knocks out the power grid, sparking the attention of uncool evil genius Dr. Robotnik. Now, it's supervillain vs. supersonic in an all-out race across the globe to stop Robotnik from using Sonic's unique power to achieve world domination.

Rating: PG (Brief Mild Language|Action|Rude Humor|Some Violence)

Genre: Kids & family, Comedy, Adventure

Original Language: English

Director: Jeff Fowler

Producer: Neal H. Moritz , Toby Ascher , Toru Nakahara , Takeshi Ito

Writer: Pat Casey , Josh Miller

Release Date (Theaters): Feb 14, 2020  wide

Release Date (Streaming): Mar 31, 2020

Box Office (Gross USA): $146.7M

Runtime: 1h 40m

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Production Co: Original Film, Paramount Pictures

Sound Mix: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital

Aspect Ratio: Digital 2.39:1

Cast & Crew

James Marsden

Dr. Robotnik

Ben Schwartz

Sonic Voice

Tika Sumpter

Natasha Rothwell

Lee Majdoub

Agent Stone

Neal McDonough

Maj. Bennington

Frank C. Turner

Vice Chairman Walters

Jeff Fowler

Screenwriter

Josh Miller

Neal H. Moritz

Toby Ascher

Toru Nakahara

Takeshi Ito

Hajime Satomi

Executive Producer

Haruki Satomi

Masanao Maeda

Nan Morales

Stephen F. Windon

Cinematographer

Debra Neil-Fisher

Film Editing

Stacey Schroeder

Original Music

Sean Haworth

Production Design

Chris Beach

Art Director

Shannon Gottlieb

Set Director

Debra McGuire

Costume Design

News & Interviews for Sonic the Hedgehog

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Critic Reviews for Sonic the Hedgehog

Audience reviews for sonic the hedgehog.

My roommate is a huge Sonic fan, and she loved it. I never really cared for the games as a kid, but I liked them a lot more than I did this movie.

Sonic the Hedgehog has been an iconic character since the early 90s and this film has been a long time coming. The film was probably better served as a complete animated film and it can only service a very basic plot for so long. The character is well created and offers a lot for the entire family. The first trailer footage of the character was a nightmare of design so it's nice to see they have scaled it back to the true style design of the game. They don't go into much depth and it takes a out of control actor like Jim Carrey to steal the show. This is a fun film and when you compare it to something like Space Jam, it's a better animated film. It would've been nice to have more storyline but with the end credit scene, I'm now super excited as this was an amazing choice for number 2. 03/05/2020

Aside from maybe 2018's version of Tomb Raider or Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, most films based on video games either terribly miss the mark or bomb at the box office. Although the video game industry is booming and probably always will be, the need for game-to-film adaptations doesn't seem to have any benefit for movie studios. That's a pretty sad truth because movies like Sonic The Hedgehog deserve some recognition. Now, this film is far from great, but in terms of adapting a video game, this may just be the best one yet.  Having to flee from his homeworld via a teleportation ring, a fast, blue hedgehog by the name of Sonic ends up on Earth at a very young age. Having to fend for himself for many years, he eventually is hunted by a mad scientist and befriended by a man named Tom (James Marsden). Their bond has them eventually working together against the evil Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey). This movie is less like the video game and more of a "What If?" scenario for the character of Sonic. Personally, I found myself attached to the story and many of the elements made it an even more enjoyable experience.  Where this movie shines the most is the fact that they made such a likable feature film version of Sonic. Ben Schwartz does a great job voicing him and James Marsden did such a great job playing off a character that wasn't even there. Normally, scenarios like this seem cheap and laughable, but the bond between the two felt pretty real, even if Sonic didn't feel all that real. On top of their bond, the threat of Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik was a blast to witness. Although he is tamed down for kids, which is who this whole movie is really aimed at, he delivers a fun performance that felt like he was channelling his 1990's roots.  if you stick around to catch a scene in the mid-credits at the end, you'll see that they're planning on expanding this world in future installments and I really hope they do. This film was a nice little story, that also nicely set up a sequel I would gladly see. Yes, this movie was missing all the other classic Sonic characters, but this was also a nice move, saving the fan service stuff for later. For kids, adults, and fans of the video games, there's a lot to enjoy here, but it's also nothing you haven't already seen, so keep that in mind.  In the end, Sonic The Hedgehog delivers a fun experience for all ages. The story is something you've already seen in nearly every movie that involves a character coming to Earth from another world, but that doesn't mean it still can't be effective. This is a heartwarming story of the bond between a human and an alien essentially, but it's different enough. I'm normally not someone who champions for a sequel to be immediately made for a film, but I believe this one was good enough to deserve another go around. If you're looking for a harmless good time, Sonic The Hedgehog may just fit that description for you.

When the first footage of a live-action Sonic was unleashed, it became the Internet's new nightmare, until the Cats trailer was released. The strange, unsettling design made the classic Sega speedster just creepy to behold, and you could count his baby teeth in his human mouth. The producers did something unheard of in response to the onslaught of negative criticism — they listened. They redesigned the character to be more akin to a familiar 3D model from the games and delayed the movie several months in order to accommodate the special effects time crunch. The new and improved Sonic the Hedgehog movie benefits immensely from this redesign, though I routinely kept imagining what the original nightmare-inducing design would look like at different points in the film (a side-by-side DVD special feature, eh?). This is a kids movie very much geared toward that audience but I was mostly charmed by the inclusion of Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) into our world. He's paired with a straight-laced small-town cop (James Marsden) and given a road trip to retrieve his portal-creating magic rings. Jim Carrey plays Dr. Robotnik, a mad scientist hired by the U.S. military to find and capture the alien responsible for the mysterious power surges. Carrey's unrestrained, intense physical performance is a nostalgic delight for 90s kids who grew up on his rubber-faced silliness, and he often made me laugh through sheer force of personality alone. However, I appreciated that the screenplay actually shows effort. There are sly, unexpected jokes that didn't have to be there and yet the filmmakers didn't rest on their laurels. I enjoyed the buddy dynamic between Sonic and Marsden and the more mawkish moments didn't make me gag. It's not anything groundbreaking or operating on higher levels of sophistication like Pixar, but it's a generally enjoyable and brisk experience that's colorful, fun, and accessible to Sonic fans and non-fans alike. Perhaps this will signal a new age where studios are more beholden to the demands of a noisy fanbase, and perhaps that's not exactly the best thing moving forward for art. But it worked in this instance. The fans won. Nate's Grade: B-

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