The Hunter
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: April 6, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenApr 5, 2012
The Hunter never declares who is good or bad or right or wrong. And the implications of Martin's decision when the moment of truth finally arrives are left for the viewer to unravel. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsApr 27, 2012
To keep serious cinema from going extinct, this could be sold as "The Hunger Games" cross-bred with "The Lorax," but it's better and more mature than either of those hit movies. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle SmithApr 6, 2012
Dafoe proves to have the right blend of ruggedness and sensitivity for this conflicted hero. The actor's habit of maintaining a lavishly styled coiffure in all situations, even when his character is meant to be sleeping in the rain for days on end, is becoming distracting, though. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubSam AdamsApr 4, 2012
The movie fumbles badly when it's time to turn those actions toward resolution, forcing an ending that seems both arbitrary and cruel. At under 80 minutes, the movie is terse enough that it could do without trumped-up events. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenApr 13, 2012
The film is at its best when Dafoe is simply going about the ritual tasks of his character's work, setting up a camp or laying traps in the wilderness. Read full review
70
MovielineMichelle OrangeApr 5, 2012
Scene by scene The Hunter, adapted from a novel by Julia Leigh, holds your attention like a pair of big, inquisitive eyes, or perhaps the point-blank scope of an automatic rifle. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovApr 4, 2012
Dafoe, as expected, is magnificent in the taciturn role, but the film tends to falter when he's not out stalking, combining as it does elements of family drama, environmental outrage, and outright suspense. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliApr 14, 2012
The Hunter works best as a travelogue and a thought-piece about the ugly, shadowy side of resurrecting dead species. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Adam NaymanApr 12, 2012
By the time The Hunter jettisons its narrative ballast altogether and embraces its elemental appeal, it's too late. The near-mythic grandeur of its final scenes is less a welcome payoff then a suggestion of the truly striking film that might have been; it's ironic that a movie about a man who sets traps for a living would itself end up ensnared by formula. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanApr 12, 2012
At the core of the movie is the message that the real lonely hunter is the heart. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfApr 3, 2012
You watch Dafoe's intelligent hands skillfully setting traps, building fires and squeezing triggers, and wonder if an entire movie might be made of such manly components. Probably not. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrMay 17, 2012
The Hunter becomes turgid with corporate conspiracies, hired assassins, and offscreen tragedies, and the appealing leanness of the early scenes gets lost. Read full review
50
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonApr 3, 2012
The Hunter is too many films in one. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineJesse CataldoMar 29, 2012
The film refuses to focus on its core story, hedging its bets with forays into family drama, environmental thriller, and corporate intrigue. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierApr 5, 2012
The idea of Willem Dafoe, one of our most watchable actors, playing a man stalking a thought-to-be-extinct animal in the wild is gripping in theory. In execution, however, The Hunter loses its way. Read full review
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