Joshua Rivera

Joshua Rivera AV Club Jul 23, 2026 C For longtime fans, it is a generous gesture, a pleasurable reassurance that the creative voices stewarding these characters have not lost a beat and kept this world exactly as you remember it. Go to Full Review Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender (2026) 90% - -

Joshua Rivera IGN Mar 14, 2025 6/10 Those looking for scares will be disappointed. The first film from writer director Mark Anthony Green is, however, interesting enough when it has things to say about pop stars and the people who write about them. Go to Full Review Opus (2025) 39% - -

Joshua Rivera IGN Feb 19, 2025 4/10 While the movie's points are clear, they're also cliché -- as is the movie's horror. The director's ambition exceeds his grasp, telling a story about characters who are not well-drawn enough to feel either universal or specific. Go to Full Review The Dead Thing (2024) 81% - -

Joshua Rivera The Atlantic Sep 16, 2024 The sequel is, in many ways, exactly what it looks like: a revival of a decades-old movie with plenty of cultural stock to cash in on, happy to play the hits. But it is also an artist’s reflection on his journey from ghastly pariah to mall-goth staple. Go to Full Review Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) 76% 100%

Joshua Rivera Polygon Jul 23, 2024 Unfortunately, this plot, and the gags around it, only undercut Deadpool and the very narrow lane of pathos that makes him tick. Go to Full Review Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) 77% - -

Joshua Rivera Polygon Jun 6, 2024 The joys of Smith and Lawrence’s characters getting on each other’s nerves during improbably explosive shootouts is constantly derailed, as the script workshops or retcons every previous element from prior movies into the grand scheme of this one. Go to Full Review Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024) 65% - -

Joshua Rivera Polygon May 14, 2024 Evil Does Not Exist leans toward a folk-horror tradition, as Hamaguchi slowly pivots away from dispassionate naturalism, building to an impressionistic, opaque finale Go to Full Review Evil Does Not Exist (2023) 91% - -

Joshua Rivera Polygon May 8, 2024 Every frame is a technical marvel. And every minute of it is probably better spent watching something else. Go to Full Review Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) 80% - -

Joshua Rivera Polygon May 3, 2024 It takes whatever pleasure that can be derived from a Pop-Tart, and chokes on it. Go to Full Review Unfrosted (2024) 39% - -

Joshua Rivera Polygon Mar 28, 2024 It’s an achievement in absurd spectacle, a comically silly way to spend $135 million. I hope Warner Bros. keeps burning money this way. Go to Full Review Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) 54% - -

Joshua Rivera Polygon Feb 29, 2024 In repeat viewings, it’s possible that this nagging reveals itself to be a void, as the thinness of its characters is just meant to facilitate gags, and the jokes don’t much build out its characters or the world they inhabit. Go to Full Review Drive-Away Dolls (2024) 64% 53%

Joshua Rivera Polygon Dec 13, 2023 It’s merely pleasant, a nice diversion that mostly suffers from the strong association with a much better film. Go to Full Review Wonka (2023) 82% 47%

Joshua Rivera Polygon Dec 7, 2023 Both Eileen’s script and McKenzie’s choices depict her character as someone who wants to be human, even a certain kind of human, but doesn’t know how, or even to what end. Go to Full Review Eileen (2023) 81% 53%

Joshua Rivera Polygon Dec 1, 2023 An ouroboros of art and artist, a current creator channeling a historical one and wrestling with the same questions he faced, struggling in the same way to not let their passions subsume them, unsure whether they’re successful. It’s mesmerizing. Go to Full Review Maestro (2023) 78% 63%

Joshua Rivera Polygon Nov 21, 2023 Napoleon reminds us of a time where the known world was plunged into violence by one man’s passions, and explores how easily one man’s insecurities can drown us all in blood. Go to Full Review Napoleon (2023) 58% 59%

Joshua Rivera Polygon Nov 8, 2023 Like a good episode in a lousy season, The Marvels reminds the fans why they’re watching — and it might even be someone’s favorite installment in the ongoing story. Go to Full Review The Marvels (2023) 63% 83%

Joshua Rivera Polygon Oct 5, 2023 Flora and Son is easy to love, and easy to forgive in its flaws. Go to Full Review Flora and Son (2023) 93% 83%

Joshua Rivera Polygon Sep 21, 2023 Expend4bles stretches the franchise to its limits, and those limits frankly don’t reach very far. Go to Full Review Expend4bles (2023) 14% 70%

Joshua Rivera Polygon Sep 11, 2023 Watching these movies is like hanging out with her character in a crowded home full of her kooky relatives. They’re warm, they’re welcoming, and they’re very Greek. And as far as they’re concerned, when you’re hanging with them, you are too. Go to Full Review My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (2023) 31% 71%

Joshua Rivera Polygon Aug 18, 2023 Blue Beetle is the latest blockbuster to trot out a tired old saw that turns corporate representation into a contract with the people being represented. Go to Full Review Blue Beetle (2023) 78% 40%