A Million Ways to Die in the West
Universal Pictures | Release Date: May 30, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
44
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 43 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
19
Negative:
12
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
CineVueEd FranklMay 30, 2014
So much is thrown at the wall that some of it's got to stick - comedy for comedy's sake, if you will - and while that doesn't make for a great film necessarily, it certainly doesn't make for a bad one. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMay 30, 2014
This is a movie that -- in addition to being exceedingly well-cast and surprisingly well-shot -- is gleefully inappropriate and indulgently crass at every turn. Read full review
60
The DissolveNathan RabinMay 28, 2014
MacFarlane’s follow-up feels less like a film than like an extremely long, fairly inspired live-action episode of Family Guy, one that’s only as strong as the latest gag or riff. And this being a Seth MacFarlane production, those gags and riffs are of varying levels of quality. Read full review
60
Time OutMichael ChenMay 28, 2014
Despite the constant threat of untimely death, though, the consequences never seem too dire, and MacFarlane’s irreverent humor feels subdued without the jolt of animation that gave his previous big-screen effort, "Ted," an extra oomph of shock and awe. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc MohanMay 30, 2014
There are plenty of very funny jokes in the movie, but near-fatal lulls whenever it tries to make MacFarlane into a romantic lead or a genuinely inspiring hero — in other words, whenever it tries to make us like him. Read full review
58
HitfixDrew McWeenyMay 28, 2014
A Million Ways To Die In The West certainly has merits, and in some ways, it is a step forward for MacFarlane, but it is also deeply undisciplined, and it undercuts its own best instincts in ways I find almost unbearably frustrating. Read full review
58
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeMay 28, 2014
The moments of absurdity land with a wonderfully weird grace, while the desperately vulgar gags about sex and scatology echo and crash as though they were being uttered in a middle-school boys’ restroom. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJun 2, 2014
As far as the actors are concerned, Liam Neeson seems to be having fun hamming it up as the villain - a role he rarely gets to play. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyMay 29, 2014
MacFarlane is a very funny dude, and there are times A Million Ways to Die is indeed funny. But too often the movie feels half-baked. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMay 29, 2014
A Million Ways to Die in the West seems serious about only one thing: its contempt for the gun-crazed macho ethos exalted in countless Hollywood westerns. You might call the movie “Revenge of the Übernerd.” Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMay 29, 2014
’Round these parts, when a movie promises a million laughs but only delivers a dozen chuckles, that’s a hanging offense. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMay 28, 2014
Stocking the supporting cast with top-drawer talent, he gives most of his costars little to do besides attract our attention on movie posters. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyMay 28, 2014
Whenever MacFarlane — who has enough trouble maintaining basic continuity — has to stage a fight or choreograph a musical number, the whole thing falls apart. Read full review
42
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMay 28, 2014
As director and writer, MacFarlane appears to have forgotten everything about cinematic standards of pacing, characterization and meaningful smut, resulting in an encore that's slow, sketchy and dumb-dirty. Read full review
40
The GuardianMike McCahillSep 22, 2014
Spiritually, it's closer to a mid-range crowd-pleaser such as City Slickers than Blazing Saddles, too enamoured of genre convention to reach for the comic dynamite. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinMay 30, 2014
Some of the gags do land — maybe one in four. But the genre-parody genre with big stars and poop jokes needs a little more class than MacFarlane is capable of providing. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanMay 29, 2014
In the end, Albert’s biggest problem isn’t the threat of coyotes or cholera. It’s that he’s being played by the wrong guy. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMay 28, 2014
MacFarlane's film is too broad, too dumb, too offensive to justify the meager laughs it generates. Read full review
40
VarietyScott FoundasMay 28, 2014
Seth MacFarlane has delivered a flaccid all-star farce that’s handsomely dressed up with nowhere to go for most of its padded two-hour running time. Read full review
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