End of the SpearMovie Reviews

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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 45 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
14 Iffy for 14+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 70
    The New York Times | Stephen Holden

    Inspiring enough to make you wish that the filmmakers had reined in their sentimental excesses. Read full review

  • 50
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    The movie is tentative, dramatically speaking...The most powerful moments come at the end -- documentary excerpts of Steve Saint, the son of one of the missionaries, and his friendship with Mincayani, the man who killed his father. Read full review

  • 50
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    It's not remotely as luscious or half as bold as Malick's movie, but it is shorter and more educational. Read full review

  • 50
    Philadelphia Inquirer | Steven Rea

    Shot in Panama, with a cast of local Indians and B-tier Latino and Anglo actors, End of the Spear has neither the marquee heft nor the artistic gravitas of "The New World." Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter | Michael Rechtshaffen

    It might have been inspired by actual events, but End of the Spear is, literally and figuratively, simply too dull to make any impact. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety |

    Although overly earnest and often stilted, the film should find great favor principally among religious auds. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times |

    What creeps in is the dramatic simple-mindedness attendant with a purity-of-purpose mind-set. Read full review

  • 38
    New York Daily News | Jami Bernard

    In documentary footage played over the closing credits, the real warrior is introduced to American fast food and returns to his people too fat and sluggish to spear himself a snack, let alone a missionary. Read full review

  • 25
    San Francisco Chronicle | Ruthe Stein

    A Christian-themed film about redemption with almost no redeeming qualities as entertainment. Read full review

  • 25
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    Atrociously scripted and edited. Read full review

View more reviews for End of the Spear on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 14+ Christian missionaries "save" Ecuadorian tribe.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this film includes some explicit violence: White hunters kidnap a Waodoni girl (in an early, harrowing chase and grab scene); the Waodonis kill each other and members of another tribe, out of vengeance and fear; and the Waodonis attack four white missionaries, spearing them brutally. As a child, the son of one of the dead missionaries lives briefly with his aunt and the tribe, unknowingly befriending the man who killed his father. Eventually, they have an emotional reckoning.
  • Families can talk about the film's two main themes. One, is evangelism an effective and fair or aggressive and intrusive way to change an entire community's behavior and culture? And two, how does the film make the case for nonviolence rather than vengeance, in response to devastating violence? How does the film use stereotypes to make this case -- generous and collaborative women, enthusiastic but ignorant white men, and violent and primitive natives?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Nonviolent message is commendable; stereotyping of characters (white and native) is regrettable.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: Several scenes involving hunting and/or spearing of humans, with wounding and blood visible.
  • sex false0 Sex: Not an issue
  • language false0 Language: Not an issue
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Not an issue
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Dave White

2.0

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End of the Spear Movie Ratings + Reviews

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