There Be Dragons
Samuel Goldwyn Films | Release Date: May 6, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
33
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
10
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeMay 2, 2011
Dragons may not be perfect, but it plays to the helmer's strengths, demonstrating an increasingly rare sense of scope and pageantry best served by the bigscreen. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumMay 4, 2011
Florid, convoluted historical drama. Read full review
55
MovielineMichelle OrangeMay 5, 2011
Because his character is never clear, Manolo's choices lack emotional interest and narrative urgency. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMay 6, 2011
There Be Dragons is tethered to the earth by a tangled plot, wooden acting and the heavy burden of healing old wounds. Read full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickMay 6, 2011
This may be the most politically confusing movie about that conflict since "For Whom the Bell Tolls" -- I couldn't for the life of me figure out where Escriva stood. Read full review
42
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMay 6, 2011
The flashback sequences sometimes come across like "'For Whom the Bell Tolls' for Dummies." Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierMay 6, 2011
History can be an equalizer, so director Roland Joffe ("The Killing Fields," "The Mission") makes sure saints and sinners all get painted with the same uninteresting brush in this fact-based drama. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyMay 5, 2011
It is a third man, a revolutionary, who nearly steals the show. Which might have been all right if writer-director Roland Joffé hadn't been so conflicted about whose story he wants to tell. But indecision can be deadly, and it proves to be here. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMark HolcombMay 3, 2011
Its appeal for the rest of us is buoyed by cinematographer Gabriel Beristain's attentiveness to the ravishing Argentinian locations, but the geriatric pacing, flat-footed Old Hollywood pastiche, and Joffé's inexplicable penchant for tear-jerking Catholic mysticism make Dragons more punishing than a hundred Hail Marys. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfMay 3, 2011
Controversially, Escrivá started the Opus Dei, and There Be Dragons is best appreciated by those seeking more realism than the albino self-whipper of "The Da Vinci Code." Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttMay 2, 2011
British writer-director Roland Joffé dips a toe into explosive material - the Spanish Civil War, betrayal, sainthood, Opus Dei - but all these big themes and characters slip from his grasp. Read full review
38
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMay 5, 2011
There Be Dragons is like fine wine, served in a Big Gulp cup. A little is very nice. A lot is way too much. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyMay 5, 2011
In fairness, putting holiness onscreen is an enormous challenge. It can be done, as several directors have shown, most notably Dreyer and Bresson. Bad enough that Joffe is the poor man's Lean. He's also the nonbelieving man's Dreyer and Bresson. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubAlison WillmoreMay 5, 2011
Certainly looks lavish, from the battle scenes to the beautiful period costuming, but it's so stilted and humorless that it's almost campy. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderAndrea GronvallMay 5, 2011
The resulting mix of hagiography and war epic is so muddled that characters keep addressing each other by their first names, the better to tell them apart. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenMay 5, 2011
There's an interesting story here, but Joffe never firmly wraps his arms around it. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubMay 5, 2011
Dragons may have seemed less out of place three decades ago, but it would have been a bad movie then as well. It's filled with clumsy transitions and erratic performances, and tied together by an awkward framing device. Read full review
20
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMay 5, 2011
Beyond the lugubrious pageantry, there is no sign of emotional or spiritual life in the film, only windy posturing. Read full review
20
Boxoffice MagazineVadim RizovMay 2, 2011
From its baldly overwritten dialogue to its claustrophobically stingy use of locations, Dragons is underdone in every way. Read full review
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