LOS ANGELES (AP) - Conan is a fearless and muscular warrior, but he isn't winning the battle with film critics.
The remake of "Conan the Barbarian," with Jason Momoa in the role that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a major action star, is receiving below-average reviews in its opening weekend. AP Movie Critic Christy Lemire wrote in her one-star review: "The knowing sense of big, ridiculous fun that marked the 1982 original is gone, and in its place we get a self-serious series of generic sword battles and expository conversations."
Another remake that is faring far better with critics is the horror comedy "Fright Night," starring Anton Yelchin as a teenager who thinks his next-door neighbor (Colin Farrell) is a vampire. Lemire wrote: "This new version stays true to its origins by having a bit of cheeky fun, and the way it contemporizes the story is really rather clever." She gave the movie two and a half stars out of four.
Also debuting this weekend is the romance "One Day," based on the best-selling novel about two friends (Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess) whose lives intertwine over 20 years. Lemire wrote: "Maybe it was all more resonant, more poignant on the page: the many highs and lows and major life shifts that occur during the decades-spanning friendship/romance between Emma and Dexter in "One Day."' She gave the film one and a half stars out of four.
"Spy Kids: All the Time in the World," the fourth film in Robert Rodriguez's family friendly series, wasn't screened for critics before its opening, so reviews were still trickling in Friday. It wasn't looking good early, though - or smelling good, given that Rodriguez added AromaScope scent cards to the moviegoing experience - with positive reviews hovering around 9 percent.
Here's a look at how these movies fared on the top review websites as of Friday afternoon. Each score is the percentage of positive reviews for the film:
- "Conan the Barbarian": Metacritic, 37; Movie Review Intelligence, 42.8; Rotten Tomatoes, 25. Average: 34.9.
- "Fright Night": Metacritic, 66; Movie Review Intelligence, 70.5; Rotten Tomatoes, 76. Average: 70.8.
- "One Day": Metacritic, 48; Movie Review Intelligence, 54.4; Rotten Tomatoes, 30. Average: 44.1.
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