Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas
Music Box Films | Release Date: May 30, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
12
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Portland OregonianMike RussellMay 6, 2014
With strong performances, the gorgeously overwhelming environment (the sounds of wind and flies are practically supporting characters), and at least one agonizingly long close-up, Age of Uprising unsettles as it raises troubling questions about the price, morality and flexibility of a "principled stand." Read full review
80
The DissolveChris KlimekMay 28, 2014
With his thin-lipped, narrow-eyed, disquietingly symmetrical face, Mikkelsen is nearly as good a prop as he is an actor. That impassive but selectively expressive mug is what makes Age Of Uprising’s climax shocking and memorable, but not at all in the way viewers will be conditioned to expect. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJun 4, 2014
This is a much drier, more reserved affair, though it can be quite powerful on the rare occasions when it allows raw emotion to make its way to the surface. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChuck BowenMay 25, 2014
Greatly cognizant of the revenge genre's penchant for hypocritical demagoguery, director Arnaud des Pallières unsettles the audience's usual feelings of vicarious blood lust. Read full review
60
The New York TimesNicolas RapoldMay 29, 2014
The severely beautiful film is painted in a dauntingly austere manner, as if lost in a war against itself, with confrontations underplayed and the rural landscapes making more of an impression than the detoured drama. Read full review
60
Village VoiceRob StaegerMay 27, 2014
The feudal revenge drama sacrifices thrills in favor of moral reflection in the unspoiled French countryside, keeping most of its violence at arm's length. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 6, 2014
Perhaps as a parable, simplicity is what is required, although sometimes the film does not rise to tragedy. Visually, Age of Uprising is classy and plausible, but delivers less than it promises. Read full review
60
The TelegraphRobbie CollinMay 6, 2014
Age of Uprising falls awkwardly (but not altogether unappealingly) into the gap between art film and horse opera. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithMay 6, 2014
Director Arnaud des Pallières lends a bleak austerity to the story, but with only one murky battle scene to quicken the blood it’s hardly a recipe for unbridled excitement. Read full review
42
The PlaylistJessica KiangMay 29, 2013
It’s handsome, stately and deathly dull. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleMay 29, 2014
It's a strong story of lonely, even futile righteousness, which makes the plodding execution by director Arnaud des Pallierès somewhat mystifying. Read full review
40
CineVueDaniel GreenMay 6, 2014
Even Lavant's brief cameo as a roving theologist towards the finale can't spark the disappointingly bland Michael Kohlhaas into life - surely the most damning indictment of all. Read full review
40
EmpireDavid ParkinsonMay 6, 2014
This leaden relocating of an iconic German saga to 16th-century France isn’t helped by the miscast Mads Mikkelsen’s morose display as Michael Kohlhaas. Read full review
40
VarietyJay WeissbergMay 26, 2013
Kleist’s direct language and straightforward storytelling are nowhere in evidence in Pallieres’ narratively challenged adaptation, featuring a French-speaking Mads Mikkelsen in one of his least impressive characterizations. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerMay 26, 2013
An old-fashioned, Robin Hood-style revenge tale that favors self-serious storytelling over action and suspense, Arnaud des Pallieres’ Michael Kohlhaas provides a few quick thrills and some beautifully photographed landscapes, but never really convinces as an intellectual’s swords-and-horses period piece. Read full review
40
Time Out LondonGeoff AndrewMay 26, 2013
Unfortunately, Arnaud de Pallieres’s film succeeds neither as a decent adaptation of the book nor as a rewarding movie in its own right. Read full review
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