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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
18
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews
RogerEbert.comAug 1, 2025
Season 1 Review:
Unwilling to abandon its meditative story for loud action sequences or gaudy performances, the series takes time in a landscape that feels the need to rush through these tales. “Chief of War” forces its audience to reckon with its languid storytelling process and the histories it teaches, demanding to be seen in a genre that outsiders often dominate.
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The Mercury NewsAug 6, 2025
Season 1 Review:
It by no means sugarcoats how bloody that war got, and though it isn’t as narratively daring as “Shogun,” it is on the same playing field as that Emmy winner when it comes to the pure spectacle of it all and the level of exacting attention it pays to cultural detail.
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IndieWireJul 31, 2025
Jul 31, 2025
Season 1 Review:
Momoa adeptly embodies all of Ka’iana’s contradictions, creating a compelling portrait of a desperate leader bound by duty and sacrifice. .... While the characters in Ka’iana’s immediate family could have all used a tighter focus after his unexpected departure at the start of the season, their relationships eventually pay off in the final three episodes in a way that is rewarding and heartbreaking in equal measure.
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Jul 31, 2025
Season 1 Review:
The series’ impressively brutal action sequences are the fun stuff, but questions about the validity of a monarchy and the intrusions of the outside world on an insular culture are what stick with you. Some people may be annoyed by this. But for those who want a little bit of rumination with their raucousness, Chief of War provides a nice balance.
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Jul 31, 2025
Season 1 Review:
“Chief of War” moves rather slowly, except when it doesn’t: The opening sequence, in which Ka‘iana literally manhandles an enormous shark, assisted by jars of anesthetizing ‘awa root (kava) sprinkled into the water, is electric. You hope for more of the same. What you get is just more.
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ColliderJul 31, 2025
Season 1 Review:
As with any of these somewhat ironically called historical epics, varying levels of disbelief suspension are required. That doesn't stop Chief of War from feeling like a culturally significant series, as this could very well be the start of something special that is as engaging to explore as it is entertaining to watch.
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Aug 1, 2025
Aug 1, 2025
Season 1 Review:
It’s clearly a passion project, and like many passion projects, it can go overboard at times, grow overstuffed, not to say oversolemn — though solemnity, to be sure, is appropriate to the history. But the passion shows through, and the stuff is interesting — nothing you see everyday, for sure.
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Movie NationAug 7, 2025
Season 1 Review:
The script has its simplistic touches and obvious contrivances. Romance is minimized. .... But Momoa, a hulking specimen even in his dad-bod years (he turned 46 this month), is the riveting, scowling prescence who holds our interest and this sprawling and historically respectful narrative together.
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The TelegraphAug 1, 2025
Jul 31, 2025
Season 1 Review:
Momoa’s control over the biggest moments is so confident that many viewers will be more than happy to ignore the poorly developed ethical debates and flimsy romances that fill so much of the nine hours. It’s a series whose highlights render its lowlights all the more forgettable — often for worse, but fundamentally for better.
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LooperJul 31, 2025
Season 1 Review:
As much as I enjoyed learning about Hawaii's past, the dragging, uneventful, and repetitive conflicts in "Chief of War" surely undercut the experience. That's despite the generally stellar performances — particularly by Jason Momoa, Temuera Morrison, and Luciane Buchanan, who might be the revelation of the series (she's fierce, dazzling, and fiery at 5'2") — and a lived-in atmosphere (the island's beauty is breathtaking) that sadly falters by an uninspired execution.
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