Kon-Tiki
Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: April 26, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierApr 25, 2013
This terrific film certainly contains the spark of discovery. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfApr 23, 2013
Directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg are unusually committed to maritime mechanics, and the excitement grows as steadily as the sailors’ beards. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comDonald LiebensonJun 11, 2013
While the wind goes out of its sails a few times along the way, this is a ravishingly photographed, old-fashioned man-against-the-elements adventure epic propelled by human-scaled heroics. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc MohanMay 30, 2013
For most of its running time, it's a riveting rendition of a stranger-than-fiction tale. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesBill ZweckerMay 2, 2013
Kon-Tiki reminds us how important it is to expand our horizons by making discoveries, exploring new worlds and pushing ourselves to the absolute limits of human endurance. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreApr 30, 2013
Kon-Tiki is a grand old school yarn with enough drama and dramatic incidents to make even Indiana Jones envious at the adventure of it all. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle SmithApr 26, 2013
In the most thrilling sequence of this consistently rousing old-school adventure, Heyerdahl grabs a passing shark with his bare hands, thrusts a hook into it, drags it aboard and guts it with a knife. Now that’s what I call entertainment. I haven’t seen such crazed brutality since Lou Lumenick’s review of “Movie 43.” Read full review
75
NPRIan BuckwalterApr 25, 2013
There's no denying its status as a rousing and thoroughly enjoyable Old Hollywood-style adventure. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubSam AdamsApr 24, 2013
Kon-Tiki, Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg’s modern dramatization, while well-acted and smartly filmed, rarely musters any actual sense of excitement. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedApr 23, 2013
As an epic of awesome achievement, it never bores. Read full review
75
The PlaylistJessica KiangApr 1, 2013
There is little more to Kon-Tiki than a fun, handsomely-mounted, old-style adventure story. And as impressive a feat as that is to achieve, especially outside of Hollywood, which kind of specialises in this sort of thing, those looking for something with more depth from this category may come away a little disappointed. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranApr 25, 2013
Kon-Tiki features a protagonist who was determination itself, a filmmaking style that is square as opposed to cutting edge, and a story that is strong enough to involve us despite its earnest underpinnings. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisMay 29, 2013
Although a Norwegian production, the film has a muted Hollywood sensibility that keeps things real. It’s an absorbing and often lyrical piece of storytelling that doesn’t overembellish the facts or rely on a pumped-up score or whiplash editing to heighten the dramatic action. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrMay 4, 2013
Kon-Tiki is stalwart and uplifting and there are passing moments of wonder. Read full review
60
CineVueBen NicholsonDec 18, 2014
In only ever managing to skim the surface, the spirit of their crusade is never really evoked. What's left is ultimately a handsome, and at times heart-stopping voyage that never lives up to its classic forebears. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyDec 18, 2014
It’s a sturdy, straight tribute to an undertaking that feels wacky, quixotic and heroically mad – proving little that it set out to prove, but a great deal accidentally, about resourcefulness and survival in extremis. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottJun 21, 2013
Roenning and Sandberg never dig deeply into the real, underlying motivating force behind Heyerdahl's voyage aboard the Kon-Tiki -- the name of his visually unimpressive but ultimately seaworthy raft -- other than relying on the fact that he wanted to prove his theory correct. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenApr 1, 2013
Delivering visual drama and understated character study, sometimes in disappointingly formulaic fashion, the feature has its incisive moments but falls short as both epic and intimate portrait. Read full review
60
VarietyAndrew BarkerApr 1, 2013
This is filmmaking of great ambition and ability, though it’s not always conducive to solid storytelling. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenMay 2, 2013
In a kind of perverse alchemy, this film manages to turn that narrative gold into dross, and reduce the daunting perils of a 4,300-mile voyage to a ho-hum checklist. Welcome to the reverse magic of the movies. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaMay 2, 2013
The movie is a pretty humdrum affair when it focuses on humans, even when actors are playing characters based on real people. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChuck BowenApr 21, 2013
It lacks the fire and eccentricity that we want from our stories of adventurers driven by obsessions that could be seen as egotistical or just plain bonkers. Read full review
30
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 25, 2013
There’s no denying the real Heyerdahl’s bravery, but if this movie is to be believed, his voyage was largely bereft of tension and interesting conversation. Read full review
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