Human Target
FOX | Release Date: January 17, 2010
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
NewsdayVerne Gay
Season 1 Review: Target is pure, utter, ridiculous, over-the-top-into-the-ravine entertainment. Read full review
91
NewsdayVerne GayNov 16, 2010
Season 2 Review: Still smart, still good, still fun, Human Target remains one of TV's best comic books. Read full review
91
Boston HeraldMark A. Perigard
Season 1 Review: Fox’s Human Target is the closest thing on TV to swigging a keg of Red Bull. It’s one hour of pure energy, a blast of fun action and stunts. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyKen Tucker
Season 1 Review: Target is a helluva lot of fun. Valley delivers punchlines as well as he does elbows to the faces of villains. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanNov 17, 2010
Season 2 Review: The escapism is sky high. Valley remains as charismatic as ever, with McBride's disdainful asides and Haley's chilly creepiness intact. It would be unfortunate if Human Target somehow got soapy or dumber, because good popcorn is rare. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushNov 17, 2010
Season 2 Review: In an effort to (one hopes) broaden the show's appeal, Human Target immediately welcomes two new regular female characters, a rare example of tweaking a formula and making it even more fun to watch. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyNov 17, 2010
Season 2 Review: Human Target was a good wise-guy action adventure last season. It's already looking like a better one this season. The main reason: Two girls, Indira Varma and Janet Montgomery, have crashed the testosterone party. Read full review
80
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: Although the series departs from its comicbook roots, the premiere establishes a topnotch look, clever style and bigscreen tone. Perhaps most significantly, the second hour happily matches or surpasses the first. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamara
Season 1 Review: Writer and executive producer Jonathan E. Steinberg does an admirable job preserving the smart-mouth humor and ker-pow, splat fun while creating story lines and characters grounded in the alpha-male charm that made guys like Pierce Brosnan, Bruce Willis and Robert Conrad so popular. Read full review
80
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 1 Review: In that way, he's not unlike the super-competent Michael Westen from "Burn Notice," and "Human Target" has the same fun, retro-chic vibe as that USA series. But because it's on a broadcast network, the show works on a broader scale. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineMatt Roush
Season 1 Review: Mark Valley, droll and dashing, is long overdue a hit series, and I’d like to think this fast-paced piece of popcorn fluff could be the ticket. I’d watch Human Target for the retro-cool opening credits alone. Read full review
80
Zap2it (Inside the Box)Rick Porter
Season 1 Review: It's a somewhat old-fashioned and pretty kick-ass hour of TV, with great action sequences in the first two episodes and, probably more important, well-turned performances by its three regulars: Mark Valley, Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Haley. Read full review
75
People WeeklyTom GliattoNov 19, 2010
Season 2 Review: The interplay of the sexes has been used to better effect on other action vehicles--including FX's animated Archer--but the actresses lighten the tone, adding zip to a show that thrives on speed. [29 Nov 2010. p.42]
75
Entertainment WeeklyKen TuckerNov 17, 2010
Season 2 Review: New regulars Indira Varma (Luther) and Janet Montgomery (Entourage) help star Mark Valley lighten the tone--and the action remains nifty. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineAaron RiccioNov 12, 2010
Season 2 Review: Thanks to the exciting new chemistry on the show, Human Target can now find complications within the ensemble, and not just within each week's set piece. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: Right now it's an action-packed drama that entertains with ease. That's plenty good enough. Read full review
75
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: The tweaks this new Fox hour brings to the template are a higher degree of special-effects-fueled action, a faster pace and a consistently amusing tongue-in-cheek tone. Read full review
75
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesChuck Barney
Season 1 Review: Whatever the case, it's a blast to watch Valley's character squirm his way out of a major mess, while keeping his droll sense of humor intact. Human Target never will be a big-time Emmy magnet, but as a piece of good, escapist fun, it definitely hits the mark. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesPaige Wiser
Season 1 Review: I managed to follow the action without even trying. So if you find Jack Bauer overwhelming, try Human Target. It's the non-thinking man's "24." Read full review
75
New York PostLinda Stasi
Season 1 Review: Think Jack Bauer with excellent grooming. Or in Jack's case, with any grooming [in] Fox's entertaining new all-action-all-the-time series. Read full review
70
HitfixAlan SepinwallNov 17, 2010
Season 2 Review: Human Target is still Human Target. If you enjoyed the show last year, you will now. If, like me, you were hoping for something just a little bit deeper, you might need to wait a while to see. Read full review
70
PopMattersChris ConatonNov 17, 2010
Season 2 Review: Human Target will never be mistaken for a great, complex or provocative show, but it does provide a consistently fun hour of action. And there's definitely room for that on network TV. Read full review
70
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayNov 17, 2010
Season 2 Review: I can't promise I'll make it to the end of Season 2 with Chance and company (my DVR bears witness to the fact that my eyes are, well, bigger than my eyes), but at least I'll know where Target is. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
Season 1 Review: Although this Valley is too deep at times, there are enough elements to provide a fun, action-packed experience. Read full review
70
Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
Season 1 Review: Whether Chance has any actual superpowers might be a point worth debating if watching Human Target weren’t so much fun. Read full review
70
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: Seems like they're off to a decent start. Read full review
70
Deseret NewsScott D. Pierce
Season 1 Review: It's a slam-bang action adventure with comedy and a little bit of personal drama. And it doesn't aspire to be anything more than that. Read full review
63
People WeeklyTom Gliatto
Season 1 Review: The show, despite good stunt work, is clunkily overfamiliar. [1 Feb 2010, p.37]
60
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenNov 15, 2010
Season 2 Review: The second season premiere is a stronger hour than the show's pilot that aired in January with more character definition and lighter moments. Read full review
60
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: Human Target is perfectly adequate action fluff. It’s fast-paced, chock full of fight choreography, and filled with gimmicks including an out-of-control train and an upside-down airplane. Read full review
60
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 1 Review: Nothing very important is happening here, but if you love "24" for its silliness rather than its sometimes muddled message, "Human Target" might just hit the bull's-eye for you. Read full review
60
Washington PostHank Stuever
Season 1 Review: The premise of this new series seems charmingly assembled from leftover "Magnum P.I." and "Spenser for Hire" polyforms kept in a storage bin somewhere. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: Human Target lays a good premise and an intriguing character over a fairly stock detective story. It's not the worst way to spend an hour. Read full review
50
SalonMatt Zoller SeitzFeb 3, 2011
Season 2 Review: In its second season it's a wisecracking caper series with glossy B-movie production values, an appealing cast, an overlay of global espionage fantasy, and action scenes so inventively choreographed that you can almost forgive their cliched shaky-cam imagery and "What the hell just happened?" editing. And that's it. Read full review
50
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardNov 17, 2010
Season 2 Review: Now this show plays like a cross between any generic CBS crime procedural and the network's "Bones." Human Target needs a course correction. Read full review
50
The New York TimesMike Hale
Season 1 Review: There’s too much hinting around about Chance’s troubled past--reflecting the solemn pretensions of the comic book-- and the writing, in terms of both humor and plotting, isn’t at the level of the show’s role models. Read full review
50
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: Valley has long displayed a flinty appeal and here he adds a knowing sense of humor. But it will take more than that to get viewers interested enough to take aim at Human Target on a weekly basis. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: Despite a terrific cast, Human Target feels like a soulless thing created from bits and pieces from better TV shows and movies. Read full review
30
PopMattersCynthia Fuchs
Season 1 Review: Even the flashy action is of a piece with all this conventional structuring, as Chance regularly takes a few minutes to run and jump or punch and shoot. Such predictability does Human Target no favors. Read full review
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