‘Animals’ Rotten Tomatoes Reviews Bash Ben Affleck Crime Thriller

Movie Review: In Ben Affleck’s ‘Animals,’ a kidnapping threatens a mayoral campaign

We have now gotten two remakes of Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low,” and yet not a single new rendition of “Stray Dog.”

Ben Affleck’s Animals Is a Catastrophe

Those of us who adore Ben Affleck’s work as a star and/or director are in for a rough time with his new Netflix film ‘Animals,’ which is somehow yet another adaptation of Kurosawa’s ‘High & Low.’ A really bad one.

Movie Review: In Ben Affleck's 'Animals,' a kidnapping threatens a mayoral campaign

Ben Affleck, who directed, co-wrote and stars in “Animals,” never finds much of a pulse in his lackluster riff on Akira Kurosawa's “High and Low” for Netflix. In it, he transfers the hostage story to Los Angeles and the political…

Movie Review: In Ben Affleck’s ‘Animals,’ a kidnapping threatens a mayoral campaign – WTOP News

We have now gotten two remakes of Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low,” and yet not a single new rendition of “Stray Dog.” Lamentable though that imbalance may be — you may have your own Kurosawa favorite — it’s not hard to see the contemporary appeal of 1963’s “High and Low.” It’s an ingenious plot. A...

Ben Affleck’s New Netflix Kidnapping Thriller Animals Tests the Moral Boundaries of Its Haves and Have Nots Characters

The new Netflix thriller Animals is tautly directed by Ben Affleck, who keeps the emphasis on the characters’ flawed humanity. None of the choices available to the protagonists are good ones, and the many “what would you do in this scenario?” questions the film poses keep the story compelling when the kidnapping plot itself ventures into formula.

‘Animals’ Review: Ben Affleck’s Tedious New Netflix Thriller Is Quite Literally Just Bad TV

The director of "Argo" and "The Town" also stars as an embattled mayoral candidate in an LA kidnapping movie that lacks the visual flair and propulsive storytelling of his other work.