Proud Mary
Screen Gems | Release Date: January 12, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
35
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
12
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
63
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonJan 12, 2018
Proud Mary doesn’t deserve the lack of faith its studio has in it. In fact, it’s almost good, so close to success that its flaws truly become frustrating. Read full review
60
ScreenCrushMatt SingerJan 12, 2018
Clichés usually become clichés because they resonate with audiences, and all it takes to freshen one up are a couple of new twists. Proud Mary has just enough of them to make some satisfying out of very familiar material. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyDevan CogganJan 12, 2018
Henson clearly has the swagger, charm, and ferocity to make one hell of an action star. She deserves a movie that does her talents justice. Read full review
50
Village VoiceApril WolfeJan 18, 2018
It’s a sad day when the cinematographer carries the full burden of storytelling, but in this instance, it’s also at least a wonderful opportunity to marvel at Laustsen’s work. Read full review
50
VarietyOwen GleibermanJan 12, 2018
Henson is the right actress to play a contract killer grown weary, but as a thriller Proud Mary doesn’t quite do her justice. It’s a connect-the-dots underworld trifle, watchable and minimal...though Henson holds it together and, at moments, comes close to convincing you that you’re watching a better movie. Read full review
45
IGNWitney SeiboldJan 12, 2018
Although Taraji P. Henson is always a delight, a rote plot, bland action, and a serious lack of interpersonal chemistry hamstrings any potential Proud Mary might have at being fun. Read full review
42
ConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerJan 14, 2018
Henson, ever the magnetic performer, elevates so much of Najafi’s boilerplate direction with sheer presence alone; while the film consistently suffers from the tendency to bathe nearly every scene in maudlin strings and over-exposition, the actress manages to convey multitudes about Mary’s interiority with little more than a sustained gaze. Read full review
42
The Film StageJared MobarakJan 13, 2018
There are countless openings for the plot to take wild left turns and embrace its overt severity as entertainment, but Proud Mary would rather stay the course of its one-note trajectory and remain earnest in its desire to be taken seriously. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeJan 12, 2018
She’s (Henson) a compelling leading woman, all in all. Too bad she’s stuck in such an incompetently directed mess of a movie. Read full review
40
VoxAlissa WilkinsonJan 16, 2018
Wherever it falls on the quality spectrum, the bigger, more concerning story here is that Proud Mary’s journey into the movie marketplace is a good example of how Hollywood still fundamentally doesn’t understand what to do with many movies starring black actors. Read full review
40
The New York TimesGlenn KennyJan 12, 2018
Ms. Henson, ever simmering, takes Mary’s moral conundrum very seriously. Her expressive eyes and nuanced body language work well for the character; she can put across a major change in attitude just by shifting a hip. The script, though, doesn’t give her a whole lot of material with which to credibly enact her character’s crisis. Read full review
40
Time Out Michael GingoldJan 12, 2018
The gang-war intrigue is strictly formula, and too much of Mary’s character development is delivered through expository dialogue. Read full review
40
The GuardianSimon AbramsJan 12, 2018
The makers of Proud Mary don’t know what to do with their terrific ensemble cast. Henson may be due for a Taken-style career boost (and Proud Mary may very well be it). But she deserves so much better than this. Read full review
38
Rolling StonePeter TraversJan 18, 2018
Every paying audience member deserves their 12 bucks back. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy BurrJan 17, 2018
A by-the-numbers B flick with a preposterous script and a good cast trying their best. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 16, 2018
There’s little coherence to its style and subtexts even if its plot is penny plain. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineChuck BowenJan 14, 2018
Babak Najafi’s Proud Mary is a so-so action melodrama with an insulting whiff of generic blaxploitation stylistics. Read full review
33
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJan 12, 2018
It’s almost a blessing in disguise that Proud Mary is so light on action, as Henson and Winston generate some real chemistry during the low-key moments they share together, both of them doing a fine job of negotiating between violence and vulnerability. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovJan 17, 2018
A studied but silly misfire from the director of the abysmal London Has Fallen that attempts to walk the walk without ever actually being a movie genre fans, or much of anyone else for that matter, would want to see. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshJan 12, 2018
Proud Mary isn't a retro action thriller at all, but a staid family drama, and an incredibly boring one at that. Read full review
30
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJan 12, 2018
Dimly lit and slackly made. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeJan 12, 2018
The mob-war stuff here could not possibly be more rote. Read full review
20
TheWrapInkoo KangJan 12, 2018
Proud Mary did not screen for critics, nor should it have. It’s a copy of a copy of a mediocre original, with the drab aesthetics of a TV movie and the emotional hollowness of an infomercial. Read full review
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