The Kingdom
Universal Pictures | Release Date: September 28, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
12
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Berg doesn't let up on the tension, even when the action is bloodless. Read full review
80
EmpireHelen O'Hara
Not quite as smart as it wants to be, and a better action movie than it is a political thriller, this is still a heart-pounding drama. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Overall, the film is smart and engaging, and if it plays a little on our fears of the next big terrorist attack, it does so without feeling exploitative. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Matthew Michael Carnahan's caffeinated script isn't much concerned with balance, but it gets some anyway, from the resonant images of culture clash that Berg catches on the fly and a remarkable performance from Ashraf Barhom. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Director Peter Berg and first-time writer Matthew Michael Carnahan do a smooth, efficient job of storytelling most of the way. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Though its violence is searing and brutal, the film, about four FBI agents investigating a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia, shows a conscience and a brain, and if it explains things a bit simplistically at times, so much the better. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Foxx is magnetic in the lead, and the subplot in which he bonds with his Saudi police liaison (Ashraf Barhom, giving the movie's best performance) is touching. Read full review
70
VarietyJohn Anderson
A realist thriller that mixes crowd-pleasing mayhem with provocative politics. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
A timely--if tepid--fantasy of American vengeance on the Qutbian extremists of Saudi Arabia. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Sensationally directed by Peter Berg, it’s a combination forensics detective movie (car bomb blows up secure American compound in Saudi Arabia--who dunnit and how can we stop him from doing it again?) and red-meat waste-the-terrorists action picture. Read full review
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
As a genre movie, The Kingdom delivers atmosphere, heroic American derring-do and some decent thrills, though director Peter Berg's approximation of a jerky documentary style suffers from its proximity to the more textured "Bourne Ultimatum." Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The Kingdom is distasteful in several obvious and irrefutable ways: For one thing, the idea of setting an action-thriller against terrorist activity that's all too close to real-life events is simply opportunistic and creepy. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
The result is a slick, brutishly effective genre movie: “Syriana” for dummies. Which is not entirely a put-down. Read full review
70
TimeRichard Corliss
Director Peter Berg cannily hypes the tension and the sentiment in the only one of the current Middle East political movies designed to appeal to the action crowd. Hard truths are absorbed while stuff blows up. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
The filmmakers's attempts to balance out the gung-ho shoot-'em-ups with an overlay of "fairness" are rudimentary. The movie works us into a frenzy of righteous revenge, it makes us cheer each kill by the FBI warriors, and then it tells us that this violence only breeds more violence. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Wants to be both a hot-button, ripped-from-the-headlines statement movie and a crowd-pleasing, rip-roaring action thriller. It ends up meeting each goal about halfway. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Director Peter Berg's frenetic style heightens tension and a sense of disorientation. But some will find its chaotic quality dizzying and off-putting. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The movie ends on a plaintive can’t-we-all-get-along note, but at heart it’s a Charles Bronson flick. It mashes the revenge button the real world won’t let us push. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneSid Smith
The Kingdom has a heart and a viewpoint. It’s a thrill ride with a lingering thought or two in its wake. But the explosions, breakneck chases, daredevil escapes and predictability about which side will be victorious remain its foremost mission. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Berg has an excellent eye for violent extravaganza and the action - especially a 10-15 minute set piece midway through - is as cleansing as a high colonic. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Ultimately, this jingo-bingo action thriller squarely hits its target, then delivers a delayed-action message contrary to everything that has preceded it. Berg heroizes the plucky Americans, but in the closing scenes of his ripping action flick, sucker-punches them. It's as if this populist Syriana frags itself. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Peter Berg's fast-talking and unnecessarily complicated tale of Middle East terrorism is more smoke and mirrors than meat. It may come on like Syriana, but it boils down to little more than a diverting episode of "CSI: Riyadh." Read full review
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