Phantom
RCR Distribution | Release Date: March 1, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
14
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenFeb 28, 2013
Phantom is a relatively tight, gripping story told with efficiency that makes room for its fine roster of actors to explore old-fashioned ideas on honor and loyalty. Read full review
60
Time OutMichael AtkinsonFeb 26, 2013
Manly, sharp-edged submarine B movies don’t come along often anymore — so consider this Cold War off-white-knuckler a welcome blast of recycled air. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 1, 2013
Ed Harris in Phantom is like Steve Carlton with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1972 — delivering a wall-to-wall, amazing performance that's lost in a sea of dreadfulness. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn HornadayMar 1, 2013
Intriguing, if uneven, thriller. Read full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickFeb 28, 2013
Todd Robinson’s Phantom gives us a couple of things we haven’t seen in a while: the great Ed Harris and a Cold War submarine thriller. It’s not something you want to plunk down $12 for, but just diverting enough to check out when it arrives on Netflix Instant. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia PuigFeb 28, 2013
The combination of tight close-ups and jarring camera work might require a dose of Dramamine. Better yet, give this movie a wide berth and check out a superb film set in a submarine, the 1981 classic "Das Boot." Read full review
50
Portland OregonianStephen WhittyFeb 28, 2013
In the end, The Phantom remains mediocre, with flat cinematography and crude dialogue. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTom RussoFeb 28, 2013
The crew doesn’t much look the part either, save for Schaech’s Stalin ’stache. Yet the movie does show the ability to get past this, even with the weight of all its narratively risky conspiracy theorizing. It’s a shame the intrigue has to get torpedoed by elements that mostly feel correctable. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsFeb 28, 2013
Robinson is undone partly by his own workmanlike touch as a writer, and partly by matters of casting. I like Harris, and he's quite moving here, but every time Duchovny reappears the overall energy level sinks to crush depth. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasFeb 27, 2013
Though pitched as a thriller, Robinson’s woefully underbudgeted film plays instead like a chamber drama, so simple and unadorned that it could just as easily be staged as an off-off-Broadway play without anyone telling the difference. And that isn’t entirely to the film’s detriment, either: With a cast choked with great character actors like Ed Harris, William Fichtner, and Lance Henriksen, less is sometimes more. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedFeb 27, 2013
To be honest, I can rarely recall any film, on any subject, that made less sense. Read full review
50
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreFeb 26, 2013
Robinson manages some suspense, but the thriller’s ticking clock is a weak one. Read full review
42
Film.comLaremy LegelMar 2, 2013
The idea of the film is certainly clever enough, it’s the execution that lacks finesse. Read full review
40
NPRMark JenkinsMar 1, 2013
The newest model of the old submarine-from-hell picture. Read full review
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