The Contractor
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: April 1, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
11
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Film ThreatBobby LePireApr 1, 2022
The core cast, Pine and Foster especially, are superb, while the screenplay gives them plenty to chew on. At a quickly moving 105 minutes, the film is worth the time investment. Read full review
70
TimeStephanie ZacharekApr 4, 2022
If the premise sounds tired, what’s surprising—or perhaps not—about The Contractor is how well Pine carries it. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenMar 28, 2022
Director Tarik Saleh, whose previous feature was the excellent Cairo-set neo-noir The Nile Hilton Incident, stages the shoot-’em-ups and explosions effectively, but it’s the film’s quiet exchanges that carry the most visceral punch. Read full review
70
VarietyDennis HarveyMar 28, 2022
Being a solid cut above average is good enough, given so much formulaic mediocrity among thrillers cluttering the streaming market. Read full review
70
IGNAdam BankhurstMar 28, 2022
The Contractor may have an underwhelming conclusion, but the journey to get there is an emotional one, with a strong performance by Chris Pine. Read full review
67
The Film StageJared MobarakMar 28, 2022
While billed as an action film, The Contractor proves more suspense thriller in the end. Read full review
60
EmpireJohn NugentMay 9, 2022
It follows the rules of the genre as unwaveringly as its hero follows orders, but despite that, there’s a tense, tightly constructed thriller here — and Chris Pine makes a decent play as a neo-Bourne. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisMar 31, 2022
Pine and Foster sync up flawlessly, even when the dialogue fails them. This isn’t the reunion they deserve, but it’s nevertheless welcome. In silence and in action, they show you the unfathomable loss that the rest of movie never coherently expresses. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshMar 30, 2022
The Contractor is decidedly Pine’s film. His performance is as efficient as the script, which Saleh mirrors with a crisp, smooth aesthetic. There’s nothing particularly showy about the style, but it serves the story of this professional warrior working his way through an unfamiliar place. Read full review
60
SlashfilmDanielle RyanMar 28, 2022
The Contractor challenges expectations in many ways, it just never goes quite far enough. Read full review
55
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzApr 6, 2022
While his character is intended to be lost and powerless, Pine seems adrift in another way, too – a star without a proper star vehicle. Read full review
55
TheWrapFran HoepfnerMar 31, 2022
Though the first act of The Contractor is its lengthiest, the lazy pace does nothing to enrich the lives of the characters who we know are at stake. The action that follows is quick and cramped; sequences that should feel heart-pounding are, instead, dark and erratic. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleApr 4, 2022
The Contractor seems torn between two types of films: the direct-to-video staple of a reluctant soldier bearing arms to protect his family, and a bleaker condemnation of private contracting (and the systems of power that necessitate its survival). It is the second film that blinks first, leaving Pine and Foster to carry the remaining scenes to their generic conclusion. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoApr 1, 2022
The problem is that writer J.P. Davis and director Tarik Saleh seem afraid to do anything interesting or unexpected once they have their pieces in place. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubCourtney HowardMar 29, 2022
Even moderately seasoned viewers will find few surprises in its twists and turns, and little to excite them on a purely visceral level. That leaves Pine and Foster as the constant—and a reliable one—in this emerging cinematic universe of theirs, but even they might not be enough in this to earn another installment this time around. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonMar 28, 2022
This unfussy action-thriller has a lot of Jason Bourne in its bloodstream, with director Tarik Saleh focusing on taut pacing and crisp sequences. But despite some solid craftsmanship, the film never fully transcends what is familiar about the setup — much like the titular hero, The Contractor gives its all, possibly in vain. Read full review
42
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthMar 28, 2022
A thriller of divided ambitions, that earnestly wants to Say Something Important about the mistreatment of combat veterans by the very government that sends them to war, while also flirting with the opportunity for franchise potential, resulting in a film distinctly cleaved in two, unsatisfying halves. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineMark HansonMar 28, 2022
The film’s rote action-movie plotting is calibrated in a ponderously straight-faced way so as to give it some semblance of gravity. Read full review
30
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMar 31, 2022
This film is what it is, a particularly generic genre piece that the bean counters at a once-great studio must have had reason to believe would turn a profit, mostly in the foreign market. Very possibly it will. Read full review
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