Risen
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: February 19, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
13
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenFeb 18, 2016
With intelligence and great moviemaking skill, [Reynolds] has created a classic variation on a venerated ancient theme. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleFeb 19, 2016
Whatever your religious affiliation, you will come away thinking that if all this did actually happen, it probably happened something like this. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniFeb 19, 2016
While it descends too often into the melodramatic, it's a solid, smart picture and a welcome addition to the genre. Read full review
75
Boston GlobePeter KeoughFeb 18, 2016
As played by Fiennes, who has the aquiline face and piercing eyes of Max Van Sydow, Clavius is no pushover. You believe his disbelief, so when it wavers, yours might as well. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 18, 2016
Yes, it’s aimed at believers. But Reynolds & Co. avoid the traps of Mel Gibson’s movie and many others by making these times horrifically real, but these Biblical figures and what they were about compelling in their kindness, soft-selling their message so sweetly that even a Roman with blood on his hands will question his Empire, his religion and his way of living before all is said and done. Read full review
70
Screen DailyJohn HazeltonFeb 18, 2016
Though there’s some clunky dialogue and not much real character development, Reynolds manages to put the action, mystery and drama elements together into a credible, and at times quite touching whole. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangFeb 18, 2016
Whether or not it triggers a craze for divinely inspired detective stories, Risen makes a decent case for itself as the “Columbo” of the genre: It’s amiable, creaky and not remotely predicated on the element of surprise. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyChristian HolubFeb 18, 2016
Risen is more entertaining than Bible-adjacent stories are usually allowed to be. Read full review
65
TheWrapInkoo KangFeb 18, 2016
Unlike the first half, which felt like a fresh look at Biblical events from an unfamiliar POV, the latter section simply recreates the end of the Gospel of Matthew with little of the urgency or humanity that fueled it before. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzFeb 18, 2016
An old-fashioned Biblical spectacular with fresh blood in its veins. Read full review
60
EmpireJonathan PileMar 14, 2016
It has its moments, but it blows the interesting premise — the resurrection of Jesus told as a mystery — too early for an overlong, overly religious finale. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriFeb 22, 2016
Still, for a film that could have easily become bogged down in Sunday School reverence, or culture-war opportunism, Risen presents an intriguing, oblique approach to a Bible movie. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfFeb 19, 2016
It’s not often that faith-based films, competing in the same marketplace that rewards action, embrace the deeper, more difficult idea of meeting hate with love, but Risen tries. It’s a drama that neither seeks to convert viewers, nor confront true believers with anything uncomfortable—only reaffirm their bedrock convictions, the ones that are worth repeating. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckFeb 18, 2016
Risen is fairly engrossing in its thriller-like section, with Fiennes' restrained performance providing a solid dramatic anchor and the Maori actor Curtis being a nice change from the usual blonde-hair/blue-eyed Jesus. But when the film shifts into inspirational territory it ironically becomes far more prosaic, depicting the miracles in a low-budget, low-key fashion that will hardly win any converts. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 18, 2016
The film, directed and co-written by Kevin Reynolds ("Fandango," um, "Waterworld"), is a nice-enough telling of the Resurrection of Jesus, which at times seems like it also wants to be a Very Special Episode of "CSI: Jerusalem." It's well-made and well-acted. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Feb 18, 2016
In the end, you get a Sunday morning sermon when what you really want is a Saturday midnight screening. Read full review
58
The Film StageMichael SnydelFeb 19, 2016
Even at its most transparently manipulative, Risen doesn’t feel punishing. It’s universally good-natured without feeling too conniving. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyFeb 18, 2016
Refreshingly unpretentious, Risen reimagines the Gospel as an ancient Roman cop movie. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovFeb 24, 2016
Surprisingly, it’s distinctly one of the better faith-based films in some time to wander down the road to Galilee. Read full review
50
Village VoiceMichael NordineFeb 23, 2016
Cliff Curtis is appealingly low-key as Christ, humble in a way that the film around him would have done well to emulate. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperFeb 18, 2016
Give the Sony Pictures-backed Affirm Films and Risen director and co-writer Kevin Reynolds credit for making a different kind of Biblical semi-epic. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn HornadayFeb 18, 2016
Risen turns out to be an intriguing, if ultimately frustrating, retelling of the familiar story, here reconfigured as a detective procedural. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshFeb 18, 2016
Risen is a fascinating cultural artifact, but as a film, it's destined for no glory greater than as an appropriate cable rerun on Easter. Read full review
38
Rolling StonePeter TraversFeb 19, 2016
So Risen joins the swelling ranks of faith-based films that pander to audiences instead of serving them. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithFeb 18, 2016
Risen veers so far off the Bible’s path that it might as well be a tale of this 13th apostle, called Marty, who was in charge of snacks and mini-golf reservations. Read full review
30
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisFeb 18, 2016
If you drink every time you’re reminded of Monty Python’s 1979 Judean jaunt, “Life of Brian,” you might just make it through to the end. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorFeb 18, 2016
Any hope that the clever concept behind Risen might produce a clever movie is thrown to the ground, where it lies quivering for the next hour or so, before expiring noisily in the film’s second half. Read full review
12
Slant MagazineEric HendersonFeb 19, 2016
It's an episode of Without a Trace: Jerusalem presented with all the panache of a Trinity Broadcasting Network TV special. Read full review
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