Peter Rabbit
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: February 9, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
16
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Time OutDanielle ValenteFeb 6, 2018
It’s certainly a new spin, but those who make the leap will do so vigorously. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Anne T. DonahueFeb 8, 2018
The movie is absolutely not your grandparents' beloved book. But like Peter himself, you learn to grow with this update. Because this is a new generation's version of Peter Rabbit: one that honours the original while still being itself. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTom RussoFeb 7, 2018
If the freneticism gets repetitious, the target audience won’t mind, at least not judging by a preview crowd’s delirious reaction to a recurring electrified-doorknob gag. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubFeb 7, 2018
Yes, the two-minute trailers were an atrocious affront. But it turns out the other 91 minutes include thoughtful characters and some clever humor in between the pratfalls. Read full review
70
Village VoiceBilge EbiriFeb 5, 2018
While the film does insist on its own irreverence a bit too much at the outset...it offers plenty of lively fun once it settles down, and wisely keeps the pandering to a minimum. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 10, 2018
This all adds up to a movie whose net laughs exceed any annoyance Corden, the endless pop song action montages and frantic, “Ace Ventura” animal antics create. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshFeb 8, 2018
The animation technology is top-notch, but the gentle spirit of Beatrix Potter's books is subsumed into a chaotic, violent mayhem, manically soundtracked to the day's hits. Read full review
63
The Associated PressSandy CohenFeb 7, 2018
Adults may find the plot predictable and the pacing a bit wanting, but the dynamic animation and beloved characters help compensate, as does the film’s cheeky self-awareness. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineKeith WatsonFeb 5, 2018
Peter Rabbit plays like a country cousin to Paul King's Paddington films, similarly balancing slapstick, absurdism, and a touch of gross-out humor, though without King's transcendently oddball sensibility. Read full review
60
EmpireOlly RichardsMar 12, 2018
The animals are cute and Gleeson is extremely game. What keeps Peter from Paddington-style delight is a self-conscious need to distance itself from its source material. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaFeb 15, 2018
It’s so insistent that this isn’t your great-grandmother’s Peter Rabbit — while, again, not straying from the original character design all that much — that it feels like the animators are at war with the writers, and the loudest of the two groups tends to win out at every turn. Read full review
60
The New York TimesGlenn KennyFeb 8, 2018
Its story line is clean; the live-action actors, particularly Rose Byrne (as Bea, an artist who paints portraits of the bunnies), bring their onscreen-appeal A game; and the computer-generated animals are charming, albeit lacking in the particular gentle winsomeness of Potter’s originals. Read full review
60
The GuardianSteve RoseFeb 4, 2018
This kids’ animation is altogether lively and funny with just enough soul, even if it comes at the expense of Potter’s sensitivity and delicacy. Read full review
58
The PlaylistWill AshtonFeb 9, 2018
Peter Rabbit isn’t without its odd delights, and while it won’t serve as the definitive version of Potter’s adoring, timeless creation, Gluck’s film may find a way to burrow into your heart. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerFeb 5, 2018
For a Brit-inflected talking-animal picture in the wake of the "Paddington" series, it’s not good enough. Read full review
55
IGNSimon ThompsonFeb 4, 2018
The relentlessly slapstick Peter Rabbit may please the kids, but the film never quite realizes its full potential. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovFeb 14, 2018
If you’re expecting "Paddington"-level profundity and whimsical adventure you’re going to be sorely disappointed. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaFeb 9, 2018
Clearly there is a severe case of “Paddington” envy here and a hunger for yet another animated franchise. But easy chuckles are no substitute for genuine charm. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternFeb 8, 2018
This “Peter Rabbit” has certain charms, chief among them the bond of fondness between Peter and Bea, and the cinematography by Peter Menzies Jr. (whose father shot 63 episodes of “Skippy,” a once-beloved Australian TV series about a boy and his kangaroo). Read full review
50
Washington PostJane HorwitzFeb 8, 2018
The rift that opens between Bea and the two combatants feels somehow terribly contrived. From there until the requisite happy ending, the story loses some of its emotional weight, if not its humor. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenFeb 4, 2018
While Potter devotees will no doubt be scandalized by the edgier bad-boy ‘tude now possessed by Mr. McGregor’s mischievous cotton-tailed nemesis, the greater offense committed is the awfully flimsy plotting that fails to take full advantage of terrific production values and the work of an engaging cast led by the affably energetic James Corden. Read full review
40
The TelegraphRobbie CollinMay 12, 2018
Gleeson and Byrne actually make for an appealing double act, and their scenes together are fun enough to make you wish that Gluck had ditched the digital animals and made an all-human countryside screwball instead. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghFeb 8, 2018
For anyone familiar with the original Peter Rabbit, it’s a little depressing to see its storybook charm reduced to slapstick. You can only see a person get electrocuted so many times before the gag wears thin, and with it the movie’s welcome. Read full review
40
TheWrapTodd GilchristFeb 4, 2018
Peter Rabbit feels obligated to point out all of the clichés that it’s rehashing, in the mistaken belief that doing so absolves itself from coming up with anything better to replace them. Read full review
40
VarietyPeter DebrugeFeb 4, 2018
Yes, it’s impressive from a visual effects standpoint.... However, had Potter lived to see what Hollywood has cooked up for her mischievous hero (who was sent to bed without supper in her own didactic tale), she almost certainly would have preferred for Peter (charmingly voiced by James Corden) and his three more cautious sisters...to have wound up in one of Mrs. McGregor’s infamous rabbit pies. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangFeb 8, 2018
The movie...resembles a sloppily tended garden plot where crude sight gags and violent set-pieces flourish like weeds, but anything resembling actual humor or delight refuses to take root. Read full review
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