12
Metascore
26 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 40VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanThere have been worse ideas, but in this case the execution isn’t good enough to bring the notion of an emoji movie to funky, surprising life.
- 30The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeIf not always imaginative or digestible, the look of the settings and characters should keep kids awake for 86 minutes; and if the trick that eventually saves the day makes very little sense to critical moviegoers, at least it's cutely frantic eye candy.
- 25IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichThe most distressing aspect about The Emoji Movie is that a spectacle this self-evidently soulless no longer feels like a new low. It doesn’t even leave a dent.
- 25The A.V. ClubVadim RizovThe A.V. ClubVadim RizovThere was probably never going to be a version of this film that would prove even remotely plausible as a movie someone felt passionately about making for artistic reasons; as far as expanding on smartphone-related IP, this is an even weaker starting point than Sony Animation’s recent The Angry Birds Movie.
- 10ScreenCrushMatt SingerScreenCrushMatt SingerThere are plenty of words that can describe The Emoji Movie. Here are a few of them: Unfunny. Saccharine. Nonsensical. Painful. And, of course, crappy. (If you prefer the poop emoji, that works too.)
- 10Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonA film as mindless and disposable as most smartphone apps — and nowhere near as addictive — Sony’s animated The Emoji Movie is a calamitous comedy that inadvertently shows how difficult it is to pull off the witty, imaginative world-building that Pixar makes seem so breezy.
- 10The Emoji Movie is a waste of time, resources, and a bunch of comedians’ voices, plus a premise that actually had the potential to do some small good in the world. It’s less of a movie and more of an insult.
- 0TheWrapAlonso DuraldeTheWrapAlonso DuraldeIt is a soul-crushing disaster because it lacks humor, wit, ideas, visual style, compelling performances, a point of view or any other distinguishing characteristic that would make it anything but a complete waste of your time, not to mention that of the diligent animators who brought this catastrophe into being.
- 0New York Daily NewsJordan HoffmanNew York Daily NewsJordan HoffmanThe only thing worse than the dialogue is the absurd product placement.
- 0New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaNew York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaIt is one of the darkest, most dismaying films I have ever seen, much less one ostensibly made for children.