Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes
Critics list

Samantha Nelson

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

Samantha Nelson is a Chicago-based critic and entertainment writer. Her work can be found at Polygon, IGN, The A.V. Club, and What to Watch. Find Samantha @samanthanelson1

Publications:

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Zootopia 2 (2025) 91% EDIT “Zootopia 2 isn’t as narratively tight as the original... But it’s just as ambitious in its earnest effort to drive home a big moral message by inviting viewers into an incredibly detailed, vibrant world.” – Polygon Nov 25, 2025 Full Review Predator: Badlands (2025) 86% EDIT “While there's plenty of CGI-packed action, there's no real tension.” – Polygon Nov 4, 2025 Full Review TRON: Ares (2025) 53% EDIT “Rønning’s dazzling action sequences and the killer soundtrack might be enough to satisfy fans, but Tron: Ares feels just as likely to get lost among a sea of the type of films Tron inspired.” – Polygon Oct 7, 2025 Full Review The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) 86% EDIT “It’s a silly family-friendly story that stands on its own, without expecting its audience knows what came before or cares much about what comes after.” – Polygon Jul 22, 2025 Full Review 28 Years Later (2025) 88% 4/5 EDIT “With 28 Years Later, Boyle and Garland have once again produced a remarkable, surreal film by stretching and evolving the genre’s tropes.” – Polygon Jun 18, 2025 Full Review Our Times (2025) 40% EDIT “Rather than obsessing over the idea of fixing the past, Our Time is a bittersweet meditation about personal growth and the way relationships shift with circumstances.” – Polygon Jun 12, 2025 Full Review Fountain of Youth (2025) 35% EDIT “Vanderbilt and Ritchie’s attempt to find some profound meaning in the search for lost treasure never really works, because their characters are too thin to make their emotional catharsis meaningful. ” – Polygon May 23, 2025 Full Review Stan Lee (2023) 80% 3/10 EDIT “Glosses over all of the controversy surrounding the leader of Marvel Comics at the expense not just of the other other writers and artists who deserve credit, but of the documentary itself, which is a bland and uninformative work of brand-building.” – IGN Movies Jun 22, 2023 Full Review Nimona (2023) 92% 9/10 EDIT “It’s a beautifully animated film that never loses sight of its goals as it seamlessly blends goofy humor and action, an imaginative setting, and powerful emotional moments to produce a memorable and highly relevant family film.” – IGN Movies Jun 14, 2023 Full Review Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham (2023) 71% 8/10 EDIT “While not all the tweaks to the original comic’s story are for the best, this largely faithful adaptation delivers plenty of unsettling horror, well-done action scenes, and detective-driven twists.” – IGN Movies Mar 28, 2023 Full Review Sharper (2023) 68% 5/10 EDIT “The transparent story and clumsily executed conclusion keep it from delivering a truly satisfying mystery.” – IGN Movies Feb 9, 2023 Full Review New Gods: Yang Jian (2022) 63% 6/10 EDIT “New Gods: Yang Jiang is worth watching for its novel animated action sequences, but its muddled story lacks the punch of its predecessor, New Gods: Nezha Reborn. ” – IGN Movies Jan 17, 2023 Full Review Spirited (2022) 70% 5/10 EDIT “Bombastic musical numbers cause tonal whiplash in a script pulled in too many directions. Even archetypes need some character development, and Spirited fails to make its happy ending feel earned.” – IGN Movies Nov 11, 2022 Full Review DC League of Super-Pets (2022) 72% 88 EDIT “It’s refreshing to see the joy that can be brought back to comic book stories when they’re just dealing with simpler stuff and can lean into earnest heroes and maniacal villains.” – Polygon Jul 27, 2022 Full Review Green Lantern: Beware My Power (2022) 56% 4/10 EDIT “Unfortunately, writers Ernie Altbacker and John Semper and director Jeff Wamester can’t actually live up to their grand ambitions, failing to do those storylines justice while also robbing John Stewart of a satisfying backstory.” – IGN Movies Jul 25, 2022 Full Review Mother/Android (2021) 34% 3/10 EDIT “Mother/Android tries to bring an emotional heart to the robot uprising genre, but it's so laden with tropes and short on personality that it's hard to care about the characters.” – IGN Movies Dec 16, 2021 Full Review Don't Look Up (2021) 56% 7/10 EDIT “A bleak commentary on humanity's failure to address climate change, Don't Look Up eviscerates disaster movie tropes and the institutions that fail to stand up for the greater good of humanity.” – IGN Movies Dec 11, 2021 Full Review Encounter (2021) 54% 5/10 EDIT “The beautiful images of desolate California and Nevada vistas and powerful performances don't do enough to make up for the bleak and manipulative melodrama.” – IGN Movies Dec 2, 2021 Full Review Finch (2021) 74% 5/10 EDIT “Excellent visuals and strong performances make moments of Finch shine, but the film's lackluster story never really feels like it justifies its existence.” – IGN Movies Nov 4, 2021 Full Review The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (2021) 100% 60 EDIT “The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf isn't a bad film, but it fundamentally lacks an identity of its own.” – IGN Movies Aug 16, 2021 Full Review America: The Motion Picture (2021) 34% 15 EDIT “Any goodwill provided by the concept or cast is utterly squandered by a film that packs in endless references without having anything whatsoever to say.” – Polygon Jun 30, 2021 Full Review Justice Society: World War II (2021) 76% EDIT “The creators of Justice Society: World War II managed to mess up the simple joy of having superheroes fight Nazis, by lacking anything meaningful to say beyond "The Justice League is a good idea."” – Polygon May 4, 2021 Full Review Proxima (2019) 86% EDIT “In Penny Dreadful, Green demonstrated an ability to alternate between seeming preternaturally confident and absolutely tortured, and that contrast is on full display in Proxima.” – Polygon Nov 6, 2020 Full Review Iron Sky: The Coming Race (2019) 29% EDIT “The Coming Race might not sell the need for this absurd series to continue, it at least provides a reason to go back and watch the original, and help its creators get the money they need to try to recapture their uniquely bizarre form of movie magic.” – The Verge Jul 17, 2019 Full Review Alita: Battle Angel (2019) 61% EDIT “It's a shame that the film doesn't stand on its own, with a story as creative and engaging as its setting.” – The Verge Feb 1, 2019 Full Review
No Reviews Yet
Load More