Justin Bieber: Never Say Never 2011

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: "Never Say Never" is about as revealing as a Canadian snowmobile suit. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: The degree of hero-making in effect is unintentionally hilarious -- much of [it] plays like a campaign ad, or a career-highlights montage you'd see for someone's retirement Read more

Mike Hale, New York Times: At 105 minutes it's exhausting, even though it has been expertly cut together. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: I find him such a bland, pious, profoundly unthreatening little Furby of a pop idol, but little girls' celebrity crushes are not to be trifled with. And this sensationally engineered promo film makes Justin Bieber look like a true force of nature. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Somebody on screen - you forget who all the adults are; they're not important - describes Bieber as "the Macaulay Culkin of music," which seems right, if a little sad. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Part biopic, part concert film and all crowd pleaser, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never is a big, glossy celebration of the musical phenom that knows exactly what it needs to do to send its target audience of 'tween girls into a tizzy of giddy screams. Read more

Genevieve Koski, AV Club: The film's premise-that Bieber achieved his superstardom through years of hard work overcoming towering obstacles-is so ludicrously flawed that everything built upon it borders on self-parody. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: It's vaguely like the fascinating Michael Jackson performance documentary, "This Is It.'' Read more

Tom Charity, CNN.com: Bieber's unquestionably gifted, and if he's smart enough to listen to the grounded, talented folk around him, there's every reason to hope that he'll turn out to be just fine when he grows up. Read more

Adam Graham, Detroit News: What the movie lacks in genuine insight it makes up for in what fans really want: gazing shots at the Biebz whipping his hair back and forth. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Justin Bieber: Never Say Never may be the concert film as glorified promotional product, but it captures a genuine youthquake. Read more

Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter: An undeniably engaging musical portrait that delivers major bangs for the buck. Read more

Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times: Strictly as a piece of filmmaking, Never Say Never is a bit of a mess. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Read more

Bruce Diones, New Yorker: It has come to this: parents who have recorded their children's lives since infancy can see their home films edited into their child's very own 3-D concert documentary. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The movie remains so sanitized, so authorized that it never gives us credit for being able to make up our own minds about him and what he represents. Read more

David Edelstein, NPR: The movie is cunningly woven to show the tension between his insane success and his determination to remain a sane, normal 16-year-old. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: [Bieber is] the perfect first crush, and this is the perfect movie for someone currently experiencing that crush. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: An interminable documentary punctuated by perhaps half an hour of heavily edited 3-D performance footage. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: What the 3-D film lacks in cinematic charm and ingenuity is compensated for by its subject's high-wattage charisma and low-key earnestness. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Never Say Never is a 3D concert film to delight the shy 13-year-old with braces that lives in all of us, but after a while the movie starts to feel like lethal injection by bubblegum. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: Young fans will lose their minds, although that would have happened if the film consisted of an hour and 45 minutes of Bieber brushing his teeth. Adult chaperones who care nothing of the star's music will find the film surprisingly tolerable. Read more

Jon Bream, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A sweetly entertaining, canny celebration of the pop heartthrob du jour. Read more

James Adams, Globe and Mail: Equal parts biopic, concert film and pep rally, the movie's 105 minutes do a good job of conveying the pleasures of pop, courtesy of the very real talents of Justin Bieber. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: You don't know whether to damn Bieber and Chu for manipulating our emotions or praise them for trying to put some essence into this effervescence. Read more

Belinda Luscombe, TIME Magazine: Read more

Scott Bowles, USA Today: That Never doesn't work as a biopic isn't a surprise. Bieber's too young to paint a picture with much context. Read more

Andrew Barker, Variety: Though anyone who needs convincing won't touch this one with a 10-foot pole, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never makes a persuasive case for its titular star as a far more talented-than-usual teen idol. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: There's no scrimping on the Bieber here, but he's a curiously vague presence, obscured in the shadow of this monument to his brand. Read more

David Malitz, Washington Post: "Never Say Never" is sort of like the featured piece of a political nominating convention. It's a fluffy, mildly inspiring, celebration of the hero leading up to his big moment. Read more