True Lies: Critic Reviews

As this comedy of manners unfolds, it is played for all-out action as well as satiric humor.

This mixture of comedy and super-agent spectacle works well at first. But when Schwarzenegger's family and working worlds link up -- an inevitable development -- the plot becomes increasingly ridiculous and overwrought.

True Lies, far too technologically bloated for its cartoony plot, overestimates the human tolerance for high-tech mayhem.

On the basis of stunts, special effects and pure action, it delivers sensationally.

If the Gulf War gave you an insatiable taste for burning oil and burning Arabs, this extravaganza will tide you over for at least a couple of days.

Providing its share of fun in stretches, pic ultimately overstays its welcome with a level of mayhem that will simply feel like too much for any marginal fan of the genre.

However high your ranking on the culture scale, I defy you to watch this and leave the theatre without a whistled 'Wow' followed by a grudging 'That's entertainment.'

An old-fashioned, high-tech, fun time at the movies.

Far be it from me to say that True Lies isn't a fun lark of an action-comedy, but it could stand to be a lot more fun and a lot more larking.

An affectionate homage to James Bond movies, ratcheted up to meet the action/adventure expectations of today's audiences.

James Cameron is able to present his usual high-impact action, pushing the film out of the realm of simple Bond spoofing.

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I've said it before, and I'll go on saying it unless he flips out and does an Edith Wharton adaptation: Nobody does action like James Cameron.

Though not as irksome and irritating as Schwarzenegger's Last Action Hero, this James Cameron actioner is a more of a big technical machine than a story (which is senseless); some of the effects are good but Jamie Lee Curtis is totally wasted.

One of the best mega-budgeted summer blockbusters of the modern era. A deft blend of thrilling action and edgy comedy.

The comedic bits fall flat - but the action sequences are quite outlandish.

Awnode's best balanced film...fun spy games.

Could stand to have about 30 minutes excised -- but the final one-liner is classic.

Good action sequences marred by a mean-spirited, misanthropic tone.

A thrilling adventure with many laughs along the way.