Righteous KillMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Righteous Kill."

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Avg. Critic Score: 36 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

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

  • 50
    Washington Post |

    It's astonishing how much intensity and focus these two have lost, but the picture itself is not all that bad -- if you can get the collapsing-career thing out of your head. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Peter Hartlaub

    A relatively harmless movie that becomes killing-a-mockingbird sinful for what it does to its leads. Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter | Luke Sader

    An ordinary cop picture boosted by two charismatic superstars but hindered by its dearth of surprises. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times | Gene Seymour

    Righteous Kill's script is credited to "Inside Man's" Russell Gewirtz, and you wonder how the sleek, nuanced flow of that earlier movie evaded this one. Read full review

  • 40
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    A clutter of recycled cop-movie and serial-killer film clichs. Read full review

  • 40
    Variety | Justin Chang

    Unable or unwilling to match the visceral chops and moral provocations of superior serial-killer chillers, Righteous Kill is content to be a twisty genre exercise; it's like "Seven" as reimagined by M. Night Shyamalan. Read full review

  • 38
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    By the time the movie reaches its protracted conclusion, it feels like a slog. Pacino has a few funny lines, as does Leguizamo, but not nearly enough to save the film from collapsing under the weight of its own self-righteous tedium. Read full review

  • 38
    Boston Globe |

    When actors are as great as De Niro and Pacino, watching them in a movie like Righteous Kill is deadly. Read full review

  • 25
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Righteous Kill, a.k.a. The Al and Bob Show, is a cop flick with all the drama of "Law and Order: AARP." This movie defines drag-ass. Read full review

  • 25
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    It's not much fun to see these two reduced to "Mad TV" parodies of themselves. Read full review

View more reviews for Righteous Kill on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Old pros battle brutal vigilante, muddled story.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that from the very first scene at a police target range to the final sequence in which the killer is revealed, this crime thriller is all about guns, bullets, body count, serial murders, bloody victims, and vigilantism. The killer is on a crusade to administer "justice" in cases in which the legal system has failed. Victims are shot at point-blank range in several sequences, and language is consistently crude and harsh. The limited sexuality between two adults is loveless and highlights "rough" sex. A young woman snorts cocaine in a nightclub bathroom.
  • Families can talk about why movies that show frustrated people taking matters into their own hands appeal to audiences. What's the difference between a superhero punishing criminals and a more realistic movie in which ordinary citizens act as judge and jury? What are the positives of having a judicial system that gives criminals rights to a fair trial, presumption of innocence, and due process? What are the negatives of this system?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: A serial murderer justifies behavior by killing only those who have escaped punishment and "deserve it." Cop is seen as heroic when he frames a known murderer for something he didn't do.
What to watch for
  • violence false4 Violence: Lots of images of point-blank shootings, resulting in bloody deaths; a woman is attacked and beaten by an unseen assailant as she enters bathroom; bloody face of dead 10-year-old girl is revealed; close-range shoot-out between two cops and drug dealers; priest is shot while taking confession; baseball brawl between adult males; beating and kicking of handcuffed suspect by police.
  • sex false2 Sex: Woman appears to be object of stalker and is grabbed from behind -- but then consensual sex begins off-camera; "rough" sex glimpsed briefly once from a distance; sexual innuendo in male-female police banter.
  • language false5 Language: Constant cursing from beginning to end. Nonstop use of multiple forms of "f--k," "s--t," "a--hole." One racial insult.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Heinz ketchup seen in foreground.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Several instances of social drinking; one character smokes; a young woman snorts cocaine in nightclub bathroom.
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

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

...just an episode of Law & Order with a couple of A-list heavyweights collecting checks. Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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