Two Brothers
Universal Pictures | Release Date: June 25, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
5
Negative:
2
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
L.A. WeeklyWalter Chaw
Annaud presents a meticulously structured fable about the importance of family, particularly the relationship of fathers and sons, to both man and beast. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
There's something simple yet miraculous about watching these beautiful animals interact with the wild and each other, even if their actions are being manipulated for the sake of drama. Annaud has taken his film's message to heart: He knows when to get out of nature's way. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
That Annaud and his deft production team create believable dramatic characters without compromising the dignity of the animals they've borrowed as stars -- is the striking (and sometimes unnerving) achievement of a film that also swoops and loops through fairytale hoops. Read full review
80
Village VoiceDavid Ng
As in "The Bear," Annaud eschews animal voice-over and visual F/X in favor of live, almost wordless action. The result is the humanization of animals and the animalization of humans. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
Tigers are such rare and beautiful creatures that you could just film them running around an enclosure for an hour or so and many would pay to see it. Annaud adds much more, and has made a compelling story that's truly for the whole family, without being overly sentimental. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Only the tigers, beautiful and dangerous, maintain their integrity. By staying true to themselves, they make nothing else matter. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderHank Sartin
The result is that virtual oxymoron, an intelligent family film. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Watching them, you realize how far computers still have to go in accurately depicting the play of muscles as beasts run, crouch and leap. Though Annaud doesn't cut to them for cute reaction shots, as weak directors do, the tigers show near-human fears and affections. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The animal action is often gripping and suspenseful. As a whole, a giant step beyond Annaud's earlier animal movie, "The Bear," a more gimmicky film of 1988. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Alan Niester
The kind of movie that kids used to flock to on Saturday afternoons in the forties and fifties. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Annaud is a filmmaker who often works with a bare minimum of dialogue. Yet his storytelling is so strong and emotional that words are barely necessary. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Charming, Kiplingesque fable. Read full review
70
VarietyDerek Elley
Combo of some stunning animal direction (courtesy of ace trainer Thierry Le Portier) and exotic period setting somewhere in French colonial Indochina charms when the quadripeds stalk the action but creaks when the bipeds open their mouths. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Yes, it's all terribly hokey. But once you accept the premise as a conceit that allows the director, Jean-Jacques Annaud, to offer an intimate, utopian vision of the animal kingdom, Two Brothers succeeds as an inspirational pastorale and passionate moral brief for animal rights and preservation. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
In the best tradition of Annaud's work, Two Brothers works as an engrossing outdoor adventure and quasi-documentary. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
The film’s simplest pleasure is its naturalism – the illusion it creates of observing the animals undetected. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Honors the power and beauty of these beasts even as it underscores the cultured savagery of the men who are crowding them out. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The result is a reassuring fairy tale that will fascinate children and has moments of natural beauty for their parents, but makes the tigers approximately as realistic as the animals in "The Lion King." Read full review
63
Miami HeraldPeter Debruge
The movie's ''bless the beasts and the children'' moralizing is simplistic and skews a wee bit too young, but it's hard to fault a film whose greatest vice is sentimentalizing an animal humans have pushed almost to the brink of extinction. Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
Borderline amazing and borderline dull at the same time. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
Some of the film's more violent scenes may be inappropriate for young and/or sensitive children. Read full review
60
EmpireNick De Semlyen
Good-natured, old-fashioned family entertainment, but Two Brothers never quite manages to strike a successful balance between fantasy and reality. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Despite the cunning mixture of live-action footage and animatronic effects in Two Brothers, there's more imagination and wonder in a good old Sabu picture like "The Jungle Book" (1942). Two Brothers is more like a tacky jungle comic book. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The result is schizophrenic, an uplifting film that's truly depressing, a movie about cruelty that tries to be fluffy. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The tiger footage in Two Brothers would make for a solid nature documentary, but because the animals are shoehorned into a narrative, they've been anthropomorphized to death. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The story, which features an apparently lobotomized Guy Pearce as an opportunistic explorer and hunter who learns the errors of his ways, is deeply dull. Read full review
30
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Unless you're a lover of tigers, there's probably no reason to see Jean-Jacques Annaud's Two Brothers. And maybe not even then. Read full review
More From This Movie

63 Critic Reviews

7.6 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL