Critics Consensus

Critics Consensus: Jonas Brothers Fizzles

Plus, guess Street Fighter's Tomatometer!

by Tim Ryan | February 26, 2009 | Comments

This week at the movies, we’ve got teenybop pop (Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience) and a video game adaptation (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, starring Kristin Kreuk and Michael Clarke Duncan). What do the critics have to say?

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Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience

It’s unlikely that Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience will make anyone forget such classic concert films as Woodstock or Gimme Shelter. Heck, critics say it’s not even in the same league as Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert. In JBT3DE, the squeaky-clean siblings perform their sticky-sweet hits for a rapturous crowd of tweens, while occasionally paying homage to A Hard Day’s Night and offering some backstage banter. The pundits say the movie should please the brothers’ adoring followers, but non-acolytes will continue find the group’s appeal elusive, and the 3-D effects aren’t particularly innovative or exciting.

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Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li delves into the backstory of the title character, who vows to avenge the death of her father — presumably by utilizing a lot of flying spin kicks. (Personally, I’d like to see a brooding, introspective drama about the life and times of Blanka, but that’s just me.) The film wasn’t screened for critics prior to its release, so it’s time to put down those controllers and guess that Tomatometer!

Also opening this week in limited release:

Birdsong, an offbeat take on the tale of the Three Wise Men and their journey to visit the infant Jesus, is at 100 percent.
Robert Blecker Wants Me Dead, a documentary about a death penalty advocate who wrestles with his conscience, is at 100 percent.
The Examined Life, a documentary that follows noted philosophers like Cornel West and Slavoj Zizek as they expound on mankind’s place in the world, is at 92 percent.
The Trouble with Romance, an indie comedy about four couples in various stages of relationships, is at 40 percent.
An American Affair, starring Gretchen Mol in a coming-of-age tale set against backdrop of the JFK assassination, is at 33 percent.
Crossing Over, starring Harrison Ford and Ashley Judd in a drama that looks at immigration from a variety of viewpoints, is at 11 percent.