Drug War
Variance Films | Release Date: July 26, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
86
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonAug 15, 2013
I'll go ahead and call Drug War the best Hong Kong action movie since "Infernal Affairs" (the 2002 film that Martin Scorsese remade as "The Departed"), even though technically it's a Chinese film. Read full review
100
New York PostV.A. MusettoJul 26, 2013
The climactic shootout, which goes on for 15 minutes and has an astronomical body count, is a masterpiece of its kind. Read full review
100
Slant MagazineChuck BowenJul 17, 2013
The film is a singularly huge, relentless, all-encompassing set piece that mutates and spasms with terrifying lack of foresight. It's all business, business, business. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyJul 24, 2013
Drug War brings to mind Soderbergh’s recent "Side Effects", a film defined by similar changes in perspective and genre. However, while "Side Effects" is best at its midpoint, before the viewer has really figured out what kind of movie it is, Drug War becomes both weightier and more playful with each transition, building to a harrowing finale. Read full review
91
IndieWireEric KohnJul 23, 2013
More traditional in terms of atmosphere and plot, Drug War nevertheless features a tense, unstoppable momentum, a morally ambiguous protagonist and hugely involving action scenes. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyAug 1, 2013
To has a great mastery of timing; he knows just how long to let a look linger before cutting away, how little he can reveal without losing us. The director keeps you guessing until the very end whether Choi or Zhang, or someone else entirely, will be the last man standing. Read full review
90
NPRMark JenkinsJul 26, 2013
Evil cannot triumph in a movie made in China, but Drug War's ultimate scene nonetheless manages to astonish, revealing both Choi's character and the nature of mainland justice. Rather than dodging the harshness of Chinese authority, To depicts it implacably. He does exactly what the censors want, and yet subverts their worldview. Read full review
90
Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonJul 23, 2013
Drug War might arguably be [To's] best film for this reason—it doesn't attempt to raise the stakes on its genre, but instead fully exploits what's there, piecing together an elaborate narc campaign tale out of classic clichés and tight-knot plotting, and letting the disaster of balls-out crime make its own statement. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJul 22, 2013
Hot-dog Hong Kong action stylist Johnnie To has never achieved the cult status of John Woo in this country, but his explosively entertaining — and startlingly splattery — Drug War should win him new fans. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungJul 17, 2013
In Drug War, Hong Kong genre master Johnnie To gives a superlative lesson on how to give an updated, thoroughly engrossing twist to the classic cops-and-robbers chase. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniAug 15, 2013
Drug War is a deeply intelligent, exhilarating and eminently satisfying adult crime story, one of the best thrillers you're likely to see this year. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsJul 26, 2013
The film's flintiness and initially subdued nastiness set it apart from most other action films about the thin line separating cops from crooks. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla DargisJul 25, 2013
The brilliant, unsettling action scenes — ugly, savage, dehumanizing — speak volumes. Read full review
80
The DissolveNoel MurrayJul 25, 2013
While Drug War is ultimately more an exercise in craft than a movie with a lot on its mind, it’s a remarkably skillful exercise, and hardly devoid of ideas. Read full review
80
Time OutKeith UhlichJul 23, 2013
Not a bad setup for a cops-and-robbers thriller, and in the hands of action-movie maestro Johnnie To, the result comes very close to greatness. Read full review
80
VarietyBoyd van HoeijJul 17, 2013
A nail-biter that’s actually quite light on action but so well-scripted and shot, it’s nonetheless edge-of-your-seat material. Read full review
75
The PlaylistJessica KiangJul 17, 2013
The low-key nature of what's come before simply serves to render all the more effective the final shootout, when the film careens completely, and bloodily, off the rails. Read full review
63
Film.comJordan HoffmanJul 17, 2013
Drug War is by no means a bad film, but it doesn’t do much to push the needle of originality, and doesn’t glide enough to represent perfection of the genre. Read full review
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