86
Metascore
24 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonTime Out LondonTom HuddlestonRarely has a film used London’s landmarks so cannily, and rarely has screen Shakespeare been so sharp and satisfying.
- 100The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThe “fascist” staging could have been hackneyed, but Loncraine carries it off superbly as the showcase for action-thriller noir.
- 100San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleA good rule of thumb for Richard III is that if it's not fun, somebody's doing something wrong. Nothing's wrong here. Some of the unexpected visual touches are brilliant, others simply entertaining. But the picture never stops coming at you.
- 100RogerEbert.comRoger EbertRogerEbert.comRoger EbertThis is a film with a dread fascination. McKellen occupies it like a poisonous spider in its nest.
- 90Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMade with gusto, daring and visual brilliance, this stripped-down, jazzed-up “Richard” pulsates with bloody life, a triumph of both modernization and popularization.
- 89Austin ChronicleAustin ChronicleThe cast, a who's who of British stars, is terrific, filling the drama with urgency. But driving it is Richard, is McKellen's towering performance, which seems embodied in his face, the left half sloping down, like a cliff sliding into the sea or like it's being pulled slowly -- fatefully -- to hell.
- 80EmpireAngie ErrigoEmpireAngie ErrigoRigorous adaptation of the notoriously "difficult" play.
- 80The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenFor all the talk nowadays about a revival of swank, nothing in contemporary fashion can compete with the glamour of upper-class English life in the 1930's as it is elegantly caricatured in Ian McKellen's updated Richard III.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliWhile this curious clash between a near-modern setting and the much older source material might seem confounding, it actually serves to energize the play, as well as making it more palatable to present-day audiences.
- 67Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklyWatching the splendid Ian McKellen embody any Shakespeare character is always a pleasure, and his slithery portrayal here of the Bard’s most hissable villain is a treat.