This film’s biggest mistake is that it brings Annie into the 21st century, only to discover that in this century she doesn’t actually have anything relevant to say.

| Original Score: 4/10 | Jun 25, 2024

Visually, Gluck keeps things zipping along with clever use of reflections and a snappy 21st century take on a car chase...

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 5, 2023

An attempt to recreate an icon for a new age but falls flatter than Miss Hannigan's high notes.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 2, 2021

Quvenzhané Wallis is truly up to the task of playing the perceptively precocious Annie.

| Original Score: 3.0/4.0 | Sep 2, 2020

It's so earnest in its approach, so sugary sweet and good hearted that my cynical self gave way to its endearing wholesomeness.

| Original Score: B+ | Jul 16, 2020

It's like a rom-com with a 10 year old. Just watch the '82 version.

| May 27, 2020

I really hated it. It was so awful in so many regards.

| Original Score: 3/10 | Mar 26, 2020

Product placement has long been a scourge of Hollywood filmmaking, but Annie is the most egregious offender in recent memory.

| Jan 9, 2020

As far as holiday films go this is perfect for lightening the holiday hangover, but ultimately it's equal parts onerous and energetic, overreaching in its attempt not buckle under the weight of previous iterations.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 3, 2019

The problem with this version is it all feels way too calculated, with the choreography during the musical numbers feeling over blocked and the songs feeling like they've been put through a studio sound system to the point of being robotic.

| Original Score: C | Jan 24, 2019

There is a lot of money up on the screen, from the stars...to the sets, but there's absolutely nothing of worth in the movie.

| Original Score: 1/10 | Dec 25, 2018

Annie is contemporary and urban but feels strangely small-and not in an intimate way.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Dec 11, 2018

Does the film veer into schmaltz and sentimentality? Sure, but considering the original material it's hard not to and Gluck is careful about when and how he decides to let that happen.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 27, 2018

Loses its way, mainly in that that the emotional arc of the film no longer belongs to Annie... The movie is supposed to be about Annie. We're supposed to care about Annie.

| Aug 10, 2018

Everything has been poured into securing the stars and filming locations, but nobody has bothered with what lies at the heart of any decent musical, which is warmth, energy, mischief, great choreography and belting songs.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 16, 2018

Few will leave the theater exclaiming "Leapin' Lizards!" - but you can bet your bottom-dollar that there's a good time to be had here.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 16, 2018

Redundant or not, "Annie" will provide a solid option for families on the lookout for a movie to see over the holidays, and maybe that's justification enough.

| Nov 28, 2017

Every time it seems that Hollywood may finally be winding down with their producing of endless unnecessary remakes, a movie like Annie comes along to remind us just how creatively bankrupt the mainstream movie industry remains.

| May 11, 2017

You may grimace at some points, but kids might like it anyway.

| Mar 7, 2017

It probably won't win over Broadway devotees or fans of the 1982 film, but parents will face much harder knocks than this taking their kids to the movies.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 14, 2016