Metacritic reviews

A tale that's so enriching, so heartwarming, so funny, so touching and so breathtaking, you'll wonder why the king of wackiness didn't branch out sooner.

Director Tim Burton finally hooks the one that got away: a script that challenges and deepens his visionary talent.

When it catches fire, this great-looking movie offers hilarious diversions.

The movie is a gently overstuffed cinematic piñata, crammed with tall tales -- with giants and circuses and fairy-tale woods, plus a huge squirmy catfish, all served up with a literal matter-of-fact fancy that is very pleasing.

Big Fish is a clever, smart fantasy that targets the child inside every adult, without insulting the intelligence of either.

What is most disappointing about Big Fish is the nervousness of its fantasizing--a strange unwillingness, new in Burton's work, to trust the wit of the audience. [15 December 2003, p. 119]

The imaginatively illustrated but precariously precious film offers up a string of minor pleasures but never becomes more than moderately amusing or involving.

Has moments of genuine emotion...but overall, the film feels like it issues from a place Burton doesn't inhabit.

A misfire. The film that wants to be lighter than air instead crashes to earth with the swiftness of a concrete parachute.

The film fairly groans from all the narrative gamesmanship and lavish romantic gestures...The unbewitched viewer may groan as well.