Basic
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) | Release Date: March 28, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
34
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
14
Negative:
15
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
58
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
Basic essentially is a fun movie, surprise ending and all. To take it too seriously is to miss the point. Travolta is charming, his performance recapturing the old charisma. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Just not worth revisiting, unless one wants to tie one's brain into a knot for no discernible reward. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Basically, it's a muddle. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
The tepid result is like "Courage Under Fire" without the compelling Meg Ryan angle, or Travolta's 1999 "The General's Daughter" without the sexual squalor. It all feels a little moldy. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Entertainment more suitable for the living room than the movie theater. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Their (Travolta/Jackson) teamwork was classic. Basic breaks up the team. What's up with that? Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
So unashamedly confusing, so intent on piling twist upon twist upon twist, it makes your head hurt just trying to figure out what's happened. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Comes across as a cheesy, fundamentally unsatisfying experience. Read full review
50
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Chases its tail for so long, it morphs from a whodunit into a who-cares. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Confused, and confusing. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
As the mismatched interrogators, Travolta and Nielson seem to be in two different and incompatible movies. Read full review
40
Film ThreatKevin Carr
Travolta’s performance in Basic is irritatingly familiar to his overacted, spastic performance in "The General’s Daughter." Either that, or he’s channeling Nicholas Cage from “Face Off” again. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
For twists to work, viewers have to feel like they're being led along, not jerked around, and James Vanderbilt's script eventually devolves into little more than a series of jerks, stopping short only of introducing evil twins and alien interlopers. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
Those expecting a reunion with Jackson, Travolta's “Pulp Fiction” co-star, should be prepared: They don't interact at all, which is a bit like casting Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and not letting them dance together. Read full review
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