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(1 - 34) of 34 OFCS Rating: 35% Rotten Page   1   D+ "Sure, the film looks slick, but the screenplay is a mess and it only comes across as absurd that a film that has no regard for human life for its first 100 minutes asks us to stop and care for its final eight."   FromTheBalcony   Bill Clark 3/5 "The best Tarantino riff of 1994."   CinemaBlend.com   Brian Holcomb B+ "It's a manic visual exercise, but from a thoroughly intelligent filmmaker who has more on his mind than just a hack fireworks display meant to beguile 15 year-olds with too much free time (think garbage like Running Scared)."   OhmyNews.com   Brian Orndorf 2.5/5 "grabs you by your lipstick-smudged collar and chucks you headfirst into a car-crash dizziness of crime, punishment, and bureau hobgob."   Filmcritic.com   Chris Cabin B "Writer/director Joe Carnahan (see "Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane" and "Narc") makes an overreaching but inspired effort at reinventing the dumb gangsters with big guns motif that Quentin Tarantino created and continues to modify."   ColeSmithey.com   Cole Smithey "A list of players doesn't quite indicate the pile-on of firepower that will converge for the final showdown, or the convolutions of plot that draw everyone to the same location."   PopMatters   Cynthia Fuchs 3/5 "It wants to be so many things at once that it never truly finds its focus, and yet it manages to be quite a blast anyway."   eFilmCritic.com   David Cornelius 2.5/4 "The uneven tone consequently ensures that the film is generally only interesting in spurts, with certain sequences quite compelling and others inordinately dull..."   Reel Film Reviews   David Nusair 2/4 "A 180-degree switch in tone and a ridiculous last-minute "twist" botch the outcome."   TheMovieBoy.com   Dustin Putman B "It's never boring for a minute, and it's a ridiculous, fun waste of time."   EricDSnider.com   Eric D. Snider C "Fast, furious, annoying and -- political subtext or no -- unrewarding."   Film Blather   Eugene Novikov 3/4 "A great ensemble cast, along with excellent direction makes this a gem worth the watch..."   Cinema Crazed   Felix Vasquez Jr. F "What Carnagehan--sorry, Carnahan--has wrought is a foul, speciously cool exercise in gross, pointless mayhem...all sass and no substance."   One Guy's Opinion   Frank Swietek 2/4 "Smokin' Aces is Tarantino lite -- a vague and unsuccessful attempt to bring together a bunch of offbeat, unrelated characters in a situation where a bloody resolution is inescapable."   ReelViews   James Berardinelli 2/4 "Narrative spunk ultimately tapers off to a series of slick but silly plot devices that drag the action over the finish line with a resounding and disappointing thud."   Palo Alto Weekly   Jeanne Aufmuth "What sounds like an interesting idea goes up in a blaze of bullets as none of the characters exist beyond the film frame."   Light Views   John Larsen 3/5 "There is a little bit of something for everyone in this one. ."   3BlackChicks Review   Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel 3.5/4.0 "...by the time the guns start blazing, ...the body count (and the surprise order) really hits home; you actually give a crap whether these people die or not."   MovieCrypt.com   Kevin A. Ranson 3/5 "There's enough blood, bullets, boobs, action and octane to keep cheap bags of testosterone like myself interested."   7M Pictures   Kevin Carr C "It's like True Romance crossed with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels remade with the artistic vision of Domino."   Reeling Reviews   Laura Clifford 3/4 "The gleeful sadism and snarky dialogue of the film's opening scenes quickly gives way to something darker and more disorienting, driven by a deep, coruscating disgust at the world's venal duplicity and corruption."   TV Guide's Movie Guide   Maitland McDonagh 0.5/4 "A downright miserable experience."   Mark Reviews Movies   Mark Dujsik D+ "The rat-a-tat-tat dialogue and 70s trappings of Smokin' Aces is pure Tarantino, although like the countless imitators, it isn't as clever as its inspiration."   Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema   Mark Pfeiffer "[A] steaming pile of meaningless, worthless, civilization-in-decline, orgy-of-violence, bread-and-circuses sign of the apocalypse..."   Flick Filosopher   MaryAnn Johanson C "A flashy, nasty, hyper-violent story."   Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies   Nell Minow 1/4 "A multi-character crime saga that's even less appealing than watching televised poker."   Slant Magazine   Nick Schager 2.5/5 "Had Carnahan stuck more with the antics of his rogues' gallery and spent less time with the predictable FBI story, he'd have ended up with a work of glorious depravity."   Film Threat   Pete Vonder Haar 4/5 "A terrific sense of style and wit, plus solid performances all around."   Shadows on the Wall   Rich Cline 4/5 "Could've been a classic belch of grindhouse-throwback foolishness if not for Carnahan's apparent need to take his story seriously after all."   eFilmCritic.com   Rob Gonsalves C- "We ask for so little from movies like this; the least it can to is place its disposable thrills in a decently constructed package."   Flipside Movie Emporium   Rob Vaux C+ "I enjoy shot 'em up action and gritty dialog as much as any fan of this genre but I also want a story that will stay with me. Smokin' Aces didn't stay with me."   Reeling Reviews   Robin Clifford "It's flashy and feels hip, but I wonder if it's all just a smokescreen much like the one in the film's plot."   Movie Views   Ryan Cracknell C "It's kind of fun as purely abstract exercises in cinematic flair but a hollow substitute for an actual movie."   Seattle Post-Intelligencer   Sean Axmaker 3/10 "Sloppy, slapstick, son-of-"Pulp Fiction"...it's a sucker bet!"   www.susangranger.com   Susan Granger  (1 - 34) of 34 OFCS Rating: 35% Rotten Page   1