Kandahar
Open Road Films | Release Date: May 26, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
13
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
89
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerMay 24, 2023
While Kandahar is undoubtedly spectacular war cinema, it's also a weighty meditation on the seeming impossibility for some of walking away from conflict. Read full review
80
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzMay 24, 2023
The dialogue is to the point without being eye-rolling, the action is meaty and mostly CGI-free (the highlight is a night-vision firefight) and the performances are committed, even touching. Read full review
75
IndieWireChristian ZilkoMay 26, 2023
For better or worse, Kandahar is a throwback to the kind of Tom Clancy-inspired geopolitical thrillers that used to be a bi-weekly occurrence in the 1990s. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonMay 24, 2023
It’s an action and suspense film, and, like Butler’s earlier 2023 flick “Plane,” a good one. Impressive set pieces include a car chase through a small-town bazaar, and a midnight shootout between Tom, outfitted with night-vision goggles, and a helicopter. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshMay 25, 2023
It’s a pleasure to see Butler do his thing opposite a talented array of international performers — Fazal and Fimmel are standouts — and stretch his specific set of skills into more complex contemporary storytelling, making “Kandahar” worth the trip Read full review
65
The Daily BeastNick SchagerMay 26, 2023
What [Waugh] delivers is precisely what fans are likely looking for, albeit in a package that’s more politically muddled than is necessary. Read full review
60
EmpireJohn NugentAug 9, 2023
Gerard Butler proves he has more in the tank than just thoughtless action with this Middle East-set thriller, which is unexpectedly interested in the people and politics behind the usual explosions. Read full review
58
Original-CinThom ErnstMay 26, 2023
Kandahar is standard entertainment that pushes for more than what they can deliver. Slight entertainment is the best it can be. Read full review
58
The PlaylistAndrew CrumpMay 25, 2023
In place of new, at least, we get to see Butler in his element as a man of compassion first and blazing guns second. Read full review
58
The Film StageEthan VestbyMay 24, 2023
That Kandahar’s geopolitical ambiguity isn’t the richest is maybe to be expected, but paired with lame character dynamics, it sadly sells short the potential of Butler’s weary face under duress, something I’ll nonetheless keep returning to. Read full review
50
Screen RantNadir SamaraMay 30, 2023
Kandahar won’t knock your socks off, but it offers a solid story that doesn’t try to be something it isn’t. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyMay 26, 2023
I’m all for a juicy, action-packed Gerard Butler movie. A Gerard Butler movie that wants to have its geopolitics taken seriously is a different matter. And honestly, it’s an even more different matter when the movie is not particularly juicy or, you know, action-packed. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredScott CampbellMay 25, 2023
Kandahar finds Gerard Butler doing what he does best, and while there are some admirable attempts to deviate from formula, the end result isn't going to be regarded among the action hero's top tier. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredScott CampbellMay 25, 2023
Kandahar finds Gerard Butler doing what he does best, and while there are some admirable attempts to deviate from formula, the end result isn't going to be regarded among the action hero's top tier. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMay 25, 2023
Kandahar is one of those movies that exists without having a compelling reason for doing do. As a war movie, it’s not especially insightful or gut-wrenching. As an action film, it lacks energy, momentum, and consistency. As a drama, it feels artificial and manipulative. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckMay 24, 2023
As usual, Butler brings a convincing humanity and vulnerability to his action movie heroics. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineJake ColeMay 24, 2023
Where Kandahar is most intriguing is in the oddly even-handed depiction of both American and Middle-Eastern characters as largely exasperated professionals going about their grisly work because they’re too old to pivot to a different job. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMay 24, 2023
Kandahar is very much a box-ticking exercise, with Butler playing the same kind of hero — perhaps literally the same guy — he has built a career out of. Read full review
41
Paste MagazineJesse HassengerMay 25, 2023
Kandahar gets the straight face right, but seems woefully convinced that it’s a serious drama, right down to the wailing-woman soundtrack that so many Hollywood and Hollywood-adjacent movies about the Middle East bust out to show they’re down with the anguish. Read full review
38
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiMay 25, 2023
Really, though, it is just another tiresome and impenetrably brooding Gerard Butler movie in which no event seems to matter any more than the next one — and grimaces are mistaken for drama. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreMay 25, 2023
Everything about this movie feels familiar, like we’ve seen it multiple times before, not necessarily always starring Gerry Butler. Yes he’s a credible, charismatic action star who always delivers the goods, even in middling fare like this. Read full review
33
ColliderChase HutchinsonMay 24, 2023
None of the action scenes have any passion to them and, even worse, they can feel downright contrived. That it then pretends to have something more to say strains credulity. Read full review
30
The New York TimesElisabeth VincentelliMay 25, 2023
Stupefyingly sluggish. Read full review
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