Still, for at least two hours, it's awfully nice to stare in impressive awe at Johnny Depp without having to roll our eyes or squint.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 16, 2024

Despite the seemingly eternal appeal of gangsters in cinema, and Bulger as a subject of fascination and horror, Black Mass proves to be little more than uninterestingly made based-on-a-true-story fare.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 27, 2022

Johnny Depp plays a monstrous Boston gangster in a disguise so unsettling you'll struggle to recognise him.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 8, 2021

Provides more than enough underworld intrigue to keep things interesting.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 3, 2021

Though building upon favorable groundwork and populated with engaging performances, it loses much of its appeal by relating its shocking plot with an absence of panache.

| Original Score: 5/10 | Dec 4, 2020

Depp has argued that it's not truly a gangster film.

| Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 3, 2020

[Depp] exists in a bubble, unaffected by all the shortcomings happening around him. His work single handedly makes this worth watching.

| Original Score: B- | Jul 14, 2020

With uniquely fascinating source material, the bland "Black Mass" can't feel like anything but a missed opportunity.

| Original Score: C+ | Jul 3, 2020

Black Mass paints a riveting portrait of one of the worst criminals in the history of American organized crime.

| Jun 29, 2020

...it's frustratingly half-assed, and it should have been able to harness the weird charisma of Whitey Bulger. His story is so odd, grand and compelling. With a subject like that, someone is going to eventually get it right.

| Feb 13, 2020

It makes for a bleak view of humanity dressed up in tacky 70s clothes and some of the worst hairstyles ever committed to film. But if you're a fan of gangster movies and/or Depp, Black Mass is the best dose you're going to get this year.

| Jan 10, 2020

Overall, Black Mass is an engaging, nail-biting thriller with [Johnny] Depp's best performance in years.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 18, 2019

Johnny Depp clocks in for a remarkably terrifying and charmingly sinister performance in an indifferent entry to the gangster film genre: Black Mass.

| Original Score: 7.3/10 | Nov 13, 2019

While it may not get a top grade, Black Mass is still a must-see for the cinematic partnership of Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

| Original Score: B+ | Oct 16, 2019

'Black Mass' walks in a very entertaining way between the work of its director - the sensational sequences of violence - and its actors. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Sep 11, 2019

It's an enthralling true story, and Depp's entire support cast, Edgerton in particular, are worthy of a ticket in themselves.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 26, 2019

Depp chillingly embodies the unholy ruthlessness of the notorious Irish-American mobster.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 20, 2019

Cooper directs with a very spare, matter-of-fact style that allows the characters' brutality to speak for themselves through their own nonchalance.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 5, 2019

Although not a particularly original film Black Mass is as good as it can be given its constraints, holding the audience's attention throughout with lean editing and sterling performances.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 19, 2019

Entertaining but underwhelming for a movie of its kind.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Apr 11, 2019