On August 13, 1982, Universal released teen comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High in theaters, marking the directorial debut of Amy Heckerling from a screenplay by Cameron Crowe. The film, featuring a breakout performance from Sean Penn, would go on to become a cult classic. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below:

Fast Times at Ridgemont High has it all Pac-Man, pizza, cruising, cursing, rockin’, rollin’ enough to keep even the most “totally awesome” teen tuned in all the way. And, given the recent success of almost every zany adolescent film, Fast Times should easily pull in its share of youngsters. What separates this Universal release from the pack, however, is its warmth. It may be a film about kids, but it’s for adults who have not forgotten what it’s like to be a kid.

Fast Times follows six teenagers through one year at Ridgemont High, clocking every escapade, from ordering a pizza for arrival during U.S. History to boyfriends and unwanted pregnancies. Screenwriter Cameron Crowe has adapted his bestselling book quite well, keeping a very personal perspective (Crowe actually went back to high school before writing the book, posing as a student for a year as research). Amy Heckerling, in her feature debut, has proven herself to be a truly gifted director, able to tickle the ribs with one hand while the other tugs at the heartstrings.

Although the high school setting might at first brand Fast Times as another Porky’s spin-off, the film stands on its own. If comparisons are to be made, they might better link Fast Times with the intimate portrayal of ’50s teens in American Graffiti. Both Graffiti and Times delve beneath the surface of their characters, showing in the process that teenagers haven’t changed all that much. They just quit cruising the main drag with Elvis. Now they “check out” the mall to the beat of the Go Go’s.

The cast approaches the picture with a delightfully devil-may-care sincerity, playing off of one another with a simple ease. It is these characterizations, as written by Crowe and under the skillful eye of Heckerling, that give the film its charm. The most flamboyant in his characterization is Sean Penn as Spicoli, the bleached-out surfer with the permanently blood-shot eyes and a half-smile pinned to his cheeks. Penn provides the wilder moments at Ridgemont High, and to his credit, never dropped the reality of his character in going for a madcap laugh.

Judge Reinhold’s Brad also adds consistent comic edge to the picture with his sad eyes and fast food attitude. Robert Romanus, as Damone, would scalp Ozzy Osbourne tickets to his grandmother, and yet deftly treads the tightrope between cockiness and desperation. Phoebe Cates play the nymphette Linda to the hilt, showing only now and again the lost little girl inside. Jennifer Jason Leigh, as the freshman with a lot to learn, proaches her Stacy with the most even of keels. Her performance, although quite natural, tends toward the monochromatic. Brian Hecker, as the would-be beau, has little to do other than proffer an embarrassed smile. Veteran actor Ray Walston, as the history teacher, plays a sour-pussed straight man to the constant shenanigans of Spicoli.

Music plays an important role in Fast Times, offering an ambience that varies from “Oingo Boingo” to Jackson Browne. Although the likes of the Go Go’s and the Cars are present at times, the soundtrack as a whole seems too staid to provide a backdrop for ’80s kids kicking around in the heyday of punk. Other technical credits include the fine work of Dan Lomin whose art direction gives the Sherman Oaks Galleria an intimacy it has never known. — Gina Friedlande, originally published on Aug. 11, 1982.

Super Duperr is a riot in all senses of the word. A wild ride filled with laughter and emotion it presents an unusual matchup of traditional and modern values.Rohit (Lalit Prabhakar) and Isha (Vidula Chougule) are a young couple trying to make their mark in the entertainment industry. They take their relationship to the next level and purchase a flat in Mumbai with their savings. It is here that they realise that they have fallen for a scam when the same house is sold to and currently occupied by a rural family. What follows is a series of clashes and learning moments that test the morality of both parties. The story is a fun take on a series of real world scams and as such has a very interesting premise. The Sameer Asha Patil film however chooses to take a detour in favour of certain stretched out gags and slow motion shots. What could have been a deep exploration of the two worlds colliding, ends up being a formulaic checklist of a wedding song, an action sequence and a few slapstick gags. These are passable of course, but the ho-hum nature of the story’s progression feels under utilized. Super Duperr does offer impactful emotional sequences, notably the equation between the parents (Shashank Shende and Nirmiti Sawant) and his eldest son (Hrishikesh Joshi). The music and cinematography are well executed and add abundantly to the viewing experience. Super Duperr set a rich tapestry only to ultimately doodle in a corner. While it could have benefitted from adding more inter-family interactions, it remains a good watch for this weekend.

The verdict is in, and critics have widely panned The Super Mario Galaxy Movie while audiences have universally praised the family-friendly sequel. This follow-up to the fan-favorite The Super Mario Bros. Movie has been in theaters for about a week since its debut on April 1, and it has already had the best box office opening in 2026, earning more than $190 million over its 5-day domestic weekend. Worldwide, it has amassed $372 million, making it the fifth largest global opening ever for an animated film. Despite the movie being a massive box office hit, however, the review scores are terribly low for the video game adaptation, and there are several reasons why.

Fans vs. critics on The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

As of April 6, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has a mediocre 42% Tomatometer score from a total of 175 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes while holding a fantastic 89% Popcornmeter score from over 5,000 verified user ratings. That’s a stark 47-point difference between critics and users.

A similarly wide disparity can be found on Metacritic as well, where the sequel has a “generally unfavorable” Metascore of a 37 based on 45 reviews, despite it earning a “generally favorable” user score of a 7.9 (basically, a 42-point difference).

This gulf between professional reviews and user reviews for this sequel likely isn’t too surprising by fans of the original 2023 Super Mario Bros. movie. That film earned a 59% Tomatometer but a 95% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes, and it has “mixed or average” 46 Metascore but a “universal acclaim” user score of 8.1.

To be fair, the range of critic scores for the film is vast on Metacritic, with about seven reviews above a 60 and fifteen reviews below a 40. ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim give it a “Good” 7 out of 10 rating, noting that “it doesn’t necessarily deepen the emotional or narrative complexity of the franchise, but it refines what worked before amplifies it on a grander scale.” However, many other reviews are far less kind, particularly the 0 out of 5 rating from The Times that calls the film “ugly, overbranded, lifeless digital marketing vomit” and a review from Vulture that says it’s like being “asphyxiated in a ball pit filled with candy.”

Meanwhile, multiple user reviews on Metacritic are shocked at the reviews. One called the low Metascore “absolutely ridiculous,” while another asked readers to ignore the critics altogether. A different user wrote, “It’s wild to see professional critics giving this a zero. It feels like they’ve never actually picked up a controller.” And to that person’s credit, we did find that a few critics who gave low scores admitting that the film wasn’t meant for them or that they had never played a Mario game before. Indeed, the movie is chock full of Nintendo references and easter eggs, something that Mario fans will appreciate far more than anyone who doesn’t know or care about the difference between a Super Mushroom and a Fire Flower.

More broadly speaking, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has more than several traits that critics tend to dislike but that audiences enjoy. The first is that it’s a quick-paced, action-packed film, which features a handful of battles with Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Princess Peach, Toad, Fox McCloud, Bowser, Bowser Jr., and Wart. Another is that it’s a comedic adventure with cartoonish gags that are age-appropriate for kids and humorous to Mario fans who are in on the joke. On top of that, the film is a family-friendly video game adaptation, a genre that doesn’t usually score well from critics. A Minecraft Movie, another box office smash that earned $960 million worldwide (and also starred Jack Black), was equally slammed by critics with a 47% Tomatometer but lauded by audiences with an 84% Popcornmeter.

Taken altogether, the movie was almost made in a lab for reviewers to despise and for audiences to praise as a nostalgic love letter to Nintendo. Regardless, despite how critics feel, they’ll need to brace themselves for more, since the Nintendo Cinematic Universe is looking like it will come sooner than later.