Blood Father
Lionsgate Premiere | Release Date: August 12, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
85
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeJul 3, 2016
If you can separate the art from the artist — as most of us do at some point, or there’d be almost no movies or plays or novels or music or paintings left to enjoy — it’s a stone-cold gas. Read full review
83
The Film StageDan MeccaAug 10, 2016
Blood Father, directed by Jean-François Richet (Mesrine, Assault on Precinct 13), works remarkably well as a grindhouse throwback, sporting a screenplay (from Peter Craig and Andrea Berloff, based on Craig’s novel) that’s better than it has any right to be. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla DargisAug 25, 2016
Mr. Gibson makes a persuasive derelict John Wayne with a loose, energetic performance, finely tuned comic timing and an amused, self-aware “Lethal Weapon” glint. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayAug 11, 2016
Luckily for Gibson fans, the movie’s a small gem: a good old-fashioned chase picture, thickened with pulp. Read full review
80
The GuardianNigel M SmithMay 21, 2016
As comeback projects go, Blood Father is stellar. It’s a wonder Quentin Tarantino, the king of career resurrection, didn’t get to Gibson first. The actors completely tears into the role of Link, a battered and disgruntled ex-con. Richet matches him, delivering a muscular and deliriously entertaining B-movie that is sure to play like gangbusters with genre aficionados. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyAug 12, 2016
An efficient and pleasurable bad-man-tries-to-go-good exposition that gives Gibson ample opportunity to flex his now-somewhat-grizzled movie-star muscle. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyAug 11, 2016
A violent, grungy, Peckinpah-lite action thriller that’s worth checking out just to be reminded how powerful an actor Mel Gibson continues to be even—if the parts aren’t coming like they once were. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyAug 10, 2016
Without Gibson’s baggage, it’s easy to appreciate the movie as a minor throwback to the R-rated action films of the ’80s and early ’90s, which similarly mixed the very lurid and the very wholesome, even if the action scenes don’t live up to the genre’s heyday. Read full review
67
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthAug 5, 2016
Operating for much of its running time with an equal balance between guilty pleasure grittiness and decent father/daughter drama, the film’s conclusion tips toward the latter in an unconvincing shift toward sentimentality and Life Lessons that not only is out of place, but betrays John’s own code of stoic endurance. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 1, 2020
Like some of Mel’s other B pictures, Blood Father delivers the goods. And that’s all it ever promises to do. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChuck BowenAug 10, 2016
The film shrewdly capitalizes on Mel Gibson's off-screen embarrassments and controversies. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsAllen SalkinOct 6, 2020
The movie is pretty good. Read full review
60
EmpireJames WhiteOct 10, 2016
This is Mel Gibson back to doing what he once did best, just older and grumpier. The movie has problems but delivers when it needs to. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyOct 6, 2016
In the grizzled spectacle Gibson willingly makes of himself, it has a B-movie equivalent of that A-plus Mickey Rourke comeback, delivered with just enough clout to count as a step in the right direction. Read full review
60
VarietyOwen GleibermanMay 21, 2016
Blood Father is trash, but it does capture what an accomplished and winning actor Mel Gibson can be. Just because he lost his bearings, and his career, doesn’t mean that he lost his talent. Read full review
58
IndieWireEric KohnMay 21, 2016
By no means a great piece of filmmaking, Blood Father nevertheless recaptures some of the rough attitude of Gibson's "Mad Max" days, as he shoots, growls and head-butts through a routine tale of angry drug lords. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonMay 21, 2016
The fading, erstwhile disgraced star’s grizzled, weary urgency gives this story some gusto and resonance, but otherwise, Mesrine director Jean-François Richet delivers adequate B-movie excitement only in spurts. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijMay 21, 2016
A serviceable piece of B-movie entertainment without an ounce of originality Read full review
More From This Movie

66 Critic Reviews

6.6 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL