Fist Fight
Warner Bros. | Release Date: February 17, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
37
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
13
Negative:
12
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
New York Daily NewsJordon HoffmanFeb 16, 2017
It’s rare that a movie with so many F-bombs and drawings of male reproductive organs has such a witty Ken Burns gag. Fist Fight is a knockout. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyFeb 17, 2017
A consistently intelligent (or at least bright), coherently constructed comedy that is on occasion a rather pointed critique of the American education system in the early 21st century. Don’t let that keep you away, though. It’s more often than not really funny. Read full review
67
The Film StageJared MobarakFeb 16, 2017
It’s stupid, mindless, and crude, but I laughed throughout and admittedly can’t wait to watch it again. Read full review
60
Total FilmJordan FarleyMar 6, 2017
C+ gags and D- supporting characters sabotage the final grade, but a perma-livid Cube is the star pupil and the brutal playground punch-up doesn’t disappoint. Read full review
60
Village VoiceBilge EbiriFeb 22, 2017
Thanks to that cast, and some savvy direction, you might very well enjoy Fist Fight. But don’t be surprised if it also leaves a sour taste in your mouth. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. ScottFeb 16, 2017
While I can’t exactly say that the movie cheered me up, it did give me something I needed. Not catharsis or uplift but a bracing dose of profane, sloppy, reasonably well-directed hostility. We take what we can get. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinFeb 16, 2017
For much of its fast-paced running time, the film, which involves an after-school fight between two polar-opposite teachers, is just amusing enough to make up for its sheer preposterousness. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyDevan CogganFeb 16, 2017
The jokes are downright sophomoric… and sparse. Read full review
50
The PlaylistWill AshtonFeb 16, 2017
Predictable and overdone, it’s yet another unremarkable studio comedy that wobbles on its before getting knocked out. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoFeb 16, 2017
Fist Fight suffocates a genuine script with easy, intro-level juvenility. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeFeb 16, 2017
The film's last act grows more enjoyable by the minute, observing as the teacher stands up not just to his tormentor but to everyone else who might want to demean him. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleFeb 16, 2017
For at least an hour of its hour and a half running time, Fist Fight is a complete failure, a sour comedy without laughs. But then something happens in the movie’s last quarter. It doesn’t exactly redeem itself, but it comes into focus and starts making sense on its own weird terms. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 16, 2017
There are too many misses among the hits. Once you get past the premise, there’s not a lot farther to go Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTom RussoFeb 16, 2017
The movie works best when it finds a balance between flatly familiar and over-aggressively unexpected. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyFeb 15, 2017
The fact is that moviegoers deserve a better class of comedy, or at least movies that aren’t composed of one part recycled three-act filler and one part vamping. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfFeb 24, 2017
But mostly, knock it for reducing Ice Cube to the tired sneer he’s been successfully avoiding in recent films, especially in last year’s Barbershop: The Next Cut. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineKeith WatsonFeb 16, 2017
Over-stuffed and under-conceived, Fist Fight is a clumsy mélange of clashing comedic perspectives. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 16, 2017
There’s little tension or comic build-up. Read full review
37
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanFeb 16, 2017
The slapsticky, sight-gag-heavy yukfest, which is filled with the kind of phallic humor you may have sniggered at when you were 16, floats like a dead butterfly and stings like a B-movie. Read full review
25
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliFeb 18, 2017
More galling and tedious than funny. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter TraversFeb 17, 2017
Charlie Day owns one of the highest-pitched male squeaks in the business and he puts it to hilarious use on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I could watch him in anything – but Fist Fight is pushing it, given that's it's always raining a storm of comic clichés that quickly drowns any semblance of audience goodwill. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerFeb 16, 2017
A stunningly unnecessary comedy, Fist Fight perpetuates unoriginal characters, a preposterous premise and a half-hearted stand-up-for-yourself message. Read full review
25
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenFeb 16, 2017
What a pestilential little picture is Fist Fight. Read full review
25
ConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerFeb 16, 2017
What’s most unfortunate about Fist Fight is the wealth of talent it amasses for little to no discernible purpose. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenFeb 22, 2017
Fist Fight is not a complete dud, but it does grasp at the lowest hanging fruit for its humor. Read full review
20
TheWrapRobert AbeleFeb 16, 2017
Fist Fight is so ineptly assembled, shoddy-looking and devoid of comic tension or creative lunacy — like a movie comprised of outtakes — that you half-expect the filmmakers not even to deliver a fist fight. Read full review
20
VarietyPeter DebrugeFeb 16, 2017
A risible excuse for comedy that treats compulsory education as a joke and violence as a reasonable way to solve problems. Read full review
0
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperFeb 16, 2017
Had I been attending Fist Fight as a non-critic, any number of scenes might well have catapulted me out of my seat and out the door. Read full review
More From This Movie

37 Critic Reviews

5.3 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