Titus
Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: December 25, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
7
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A film of audacity and total gut-level appeal. Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
Gorgeous in its gore and, for all its destruction, despair and death, concludes on an optimistic and vibrantly alive note. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleRobert Faires
A spectacularly imaginative piece of Shakespearean cinema. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneJohn Petrakis
Once you get used to the broad gestures, visual stylings and reach-for-the-sky emotions, you may find yourself luxuriating in this movie's undeniable grandeur. Read full review
88
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
Taymor conjures images that are as indelible as they are wordlessly articulate. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A brilliant and absurd film of "Titus Andronicus" that goes over the top, doubles back and goes over the top again. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerDesmond Ryan
Visually brilliant and thought-provoking. Read full review
85
TNT RoughCutDon Kaye
A surreal and visually dazzling smorgasbord of pageantry, high camp, tragedy, spectacle, and gore.
80
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Taymor's visual and visceral flair makes Titus a grabber.
80
Dallas ObserverAndy Klein
Taymor moves Titus completely out of time and into all time. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
One of Hollywood's bloodiest and goofiest adaptations. Read full review
75
New York PostJonathan Foreman
Rescues a rarely performed tragedy and makes a brilliant case that it is the Shakespeare play for our time. Read full review
70
TimeRichard Corliss
Vivid, relevant and of elevating scariness. Read full review
63
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
The director bludgeons us dumb with her genius. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Julie Taymor's beautifully stylized but nauseatingly violent adaptation of Shakespeare's first play. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeJay Carr
A brilliant production of a mediocre play. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyF. X. Feeney
Taymor has done an inspired job of resurrecting one of Shakespeare's unruliest works, just in time for the new century. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Much of it is inspired, some of it is downright awful, but it does entertain, even as it threatens to drown its generally fine cast in a flood of blood and sundry body parts. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Remains a sampling of stagy scenes barreling to a gruesome climax, parts greater than the sum of the whole. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Makes the best possible argument for a cautionary drama that contemplates the absolute worst in us. Read full review
50
USA TodayStaff [Not Credited]
There's a lot to talk about but so much outrageousness that the end effect is wearying and not a little absurd. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Taymor makes the action clear and easy to follow with her bold physicalization of the story and forceful direction of an astutely chosen cast. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
A nonstop carnival of murder, rape, and mutilation . Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
There's something hideously pretentious about the whole thing. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Even the most shocking elements of the story are made bland by childish overkill. Read full review
30
SalonCharles Taylor
Like so many self-conscious directors, Julie Taymor wrecks Shakespeare's already disastrous play with her own horrific vision. Read full review
30
Film.comErnest Hardy
An often gorgeous, dizzying assault of ideas and visual flourishes...it's just not very good. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
More travesty than tragedy. Read full review
18
Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson
Invoking unpleasant memories of "Caligula" (only without the sex), Titus does no justice to Shakespeare. Read full review
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