PathfinderMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Pathfinder."

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Avg. Critic Score: 29 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 Iffy for 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

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

  • 70
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    Nicely balances action and adventure with American Indian wisdom and a modest romance to provide a graphic-comic-book movie experience for males in urban markets. Read full review

  • 63
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    Urban and Bloodgood make the most of their parts, locking eyes and arms, and occasionally using American English as if the snowy 10th century were another way of saying, "Where the aprs ski?" Read full review

  • 50
    New York Daily News | Robert Dominguez

    After the first 1,000 or so beheadings, impalements and severed limbs, Pathfinder's slash may just induce sleep. Read full review

  • 42
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Pathfinder's moody, muddy look is courtesy of music-video director Marcus Nispel, who doesn't distinguish between people and tree trunks when it comes to emotional content. Read full review

  • 40
    Variety |

    Like "300" and "Apocalypto," this latest bit of historical balder-dash stands in direct defiance of proven action-movie formulas, trusting its brutal concept and striking visuals to overcome a lack of star power. Read full review

  • 38
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    All cinematic creativity seems to have focused on devising the most repellent ways to maim and murder. Read full review

  • 30
    Los Angeles Times |

    One of the funniest films of the year. That's not good news for this attempted action-adventure, which clearly lost its way in its own copious fog. Read full review

  • 20
    Washington Post | Stephen Hunter

    Makes "Conan the Barbarian" seem like Dostoyevsky in its complexity. Read full review

  • 20
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    The director, Marcus Nispel, takes his butchery very seriously. (He was the lead vivisectionist for the remake of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.") He may not be able to make this movie move, but, man, can he make an eyeball fly. Read full review

  • 0
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    No more than a minute into this, and it becomes obvious that the next 98 are going to be trouble. Read full review

View more reviews for Pathfinder on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+ Bloody actioner pits Vikings vs. Native Americans.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this period action film earns its R rating with frequent scenes of hard-hitting, bloody violence. Weapons including swords, rocks, arrows, spears, spiky traps, chains, maces, and axes are used to decapitate, dismember, hang, beat, impale, stab, and crush victims (broken, rotting bodies are shown). Others die via drowning, avalanche, bear attack, falls, and more. Images of the mayhem range from aggressively chaotic to slow-motion poetic, with repeated shots of spurting blood (primarily from chests and necks). Most of the characters are bent on vengeance; the Vikings plan to exterminate the Native Americans (whom they call "savages") and are depicted as tall, dark monsters who tend to roar more than speak. When they do talk, they use a couple of mild swear words (in subtitles), including "bitch" and "damn."
  • Families can talk about the role of violence in the movie. Is it appropriate for the story that's being told? Which parts, if any, are gratuitous? How accurate do you think it is? Families can also discuss the enduring mythology of the white hero. How is it significant that Ghost is white instead of Native American? How does he struggle with his double heritage? What does he learn about vengeance?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: The Vikings are all-around grisly and evil; most of the Native Americans are stereotypical presented as being nobly in tune with the land. The protagonist is caught between both groups and is vengeful until he's killed all his enemies.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: Violence is alternately represented in lyrical and hard-hitting imagery. A child is discovered in a wrecked Viking ship among corpses; battle scenes include spearing, decapitation, arrows, knives, swords, trampling, falling, an arm getting lopped off, throats being cut, a bear attack, impaling, beating, kicking, hanging (bodies displayed after death), drowning, and crushing by an avalanche. Frequent shots of blood spurting. Vikings throw woman against a log as if to rape her, but the hero steps in.
  • sex false0 Sex: Man and woman lie close to each other, apparently nude (they're trying to keep warm, but they're also the designated romantic couple).
  • language false0 Language: Just a few curse words used by Vikings (in subtitles): "damn" and "bitch."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Brief use of medicinal herbs/smoke during a a healing ritual.
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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… some decent impalings … Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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