Bronson
Metascore
71 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 22
  3. Negative: 3 out of 22
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  1. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    100
    Bronson owes a little or a lot to Kubrick's "Clockwork Orange," but if that's a crime I wish more people would commit it.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Gary Goldstein
    90
    Whether it's Peterson/Bronson's more theatrical bits or his untamable character's many blood-spitting, knuckle-beating, explosions, Hardy chomps down on his once-in-a-career role with stunning ferocity and never lets go. He's extraordinary.
  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    90
    Bronson invites you to admire its protagonist as a pure, muscular embodiment of anarchy. And perhaps you will, but you may also be glad that he’s still behind bars.
  4. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    83
    There are two Bronsons on display here: the impossible thug that we don’t dare release into polite society, and the guy we enjoy watching do his terrible thing. The man and the movie are both living, punching contradictions.
  5. NPR
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    80
    He's neither victim nor hero, but a man who, in every conceivable sense, belongs behind bars.
  6. Arizona Republic
    Reviewed by: Bill Goodykoontz
    80
    This is unhinged genius, an amazing piece of acting. Brutal, yes, but magnetic all the same.
  7. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Joshua Rothkopf
    80
    Refn has somehow found his way to an authentic English hard-man drama, anchored in a dynamite performance, even as it celebrates thug life.
  8. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Kimberley Jones
    78
    Refn’s artful and energetic film never goes further than face value.
  9. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    75
    This movie and Hardy's electrifying performance will knock you for a loop.
  10. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    It is 92 minutes of rage, acted by Tom Hardy.
  11. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    75
    Hardy is remarkable, however. This is an actor with a memorably expressive rasp of a voice, both blunt and musical.
  12. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    75
    Tom Hardy gives an amazing performance as Peterson, who took on the nickname Charlie Bronson, after the "Death Wish" actor.
  13. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: David Hiltbrand
    75
    The tone is surreal, at once visceral and clinical, making Bronson an unsettling experience: savage, disturbing, and yet somehow fascinating.
  14. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    75
    Bronson isn’t a story in the traditional sense at all. It’s a meditation on the art of rage - an action painting passing itself off as an action movie.
  15. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    75
    It's played with real zest and energy, and if you can stand the heat it gives off it may charm you despite yourself.
  16. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not credited)
    70
    With an intelligent, provocative and stylized approach, Bronson (based on a true story) follows the metamorphosis of Mickey Peterson into Britain's most dangerous prisoner, Charles Bronson.
  17. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    63
    It's lively and vivid but ends up leaving the viewer indifferent to the central character, his life, and his dubious place in British pop culture.
  18. Variety
    Reviewed by: John Anderson
    60
    Too smart/arty for the slasher set, and too violent for high-brows, Bronson may have a tough time finding its niche, although it has "cult hit" written all over it.
  19. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Rick Groen
    50
    Bronson is one of those “based on a true story” dramatizations where the theatrically staged drama only gets in the way of the more interesting truth.
  20. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Stephen Farber
    30
    Despite the artistic flourishes, this is still an utterly repellent look at a psychopath who does not deserve the attention of the filmmakers or the audience.
  21. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    30
    Bronson is essentially a faux-operatic, music hall turn--a larky, lumpen version of "Lola Montès."
  22. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Walter Addiego
    25
    It's an assaultive work about an assaultive fellow.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.7 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 49 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. Longbottom94
    8
    Many have dismissed this film for not exploring the character of Charlie Bronson. Saying this completely negates the focus of the film. Refn is only focused on exploring the idea of the man, not the man himself. The main theme of the picture is the fascination with fame, the other-worldly persona it brings and, the emotionally empty ramifications it has. Fame is without substance, so therefore the character is too.… Full Review »
  2. MartinB
    9
    Anyone who doesn't like this movie simply just doesn't get it. Maybe it's a British thing (I'm Irish but have grown up on British TV) or maybe it's particularly enjoyed by those who like Theatre of the Absurd (Beckett etc), but this is without doubt one of the best movies of the last ten years.… Full Review »
  3. Nesbitt10
    8
    One thing's certain: Hardy's "Charlie Bronson'' is a terrifying, charming, altogether mesmerizing individual, a man you'll be thankful is locked up. Peterson sidesteps the sociopath's standard resume: He's not the product of a broken home but a comfortable middle-class youth in Luton. He just likes to break things. Over other people's heads.The film opens with a man on stage proclaiming "My name's Charlie Bronson, and all my life I've wanted to be famous." The auditorium seems empty but later a still unseen audience provides the approval he seeks. Based on a true story set in 1974, a young Michael Peterson (Tom Hardy) decides he wants to make a name for himself. He takes a sawn-off shotgun and attempts to rob a post office only to be swiftly apprehended by authorities and sentenced to seven years in jail. But unable to control his violence, Peterson stays behind bars for 34 years, 30 of which are spent in solitary confinement. During this time, Michael Petersen, the boy, fades, and 'Charles Bronson,' his superstar alter ego, takes over. Exposed to violence from an early age, Michael is gradually swallowed up by the prison system, seemingly an environment that suits him. For that matter, he occupies any territory in which he exists, by sheer brute force.
    As a film it is beautifully structured and edited, and impressively shot in dark tones--illustrating his theme that Bronson is "an artist looking for a canvas", whose search is frequently violent, crazy and erratic.The film echoes the stylistic music-driven texture-making of Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" with a smirking violence.
    The film almost solely rests upon the astonishing performance from a almost unrecognizable Hardy. Never asking for our sympathy for his situation, but somehow time to time able to. Hardy brings a raw physicality to the role, leaping naked about his cell, jumping from tables, hurling himself into half a dozen guards.
    Unfortunately the film never smirking under the skin of Bronson and his motivations. It omits the facets of his life including the Muslim woman he married in jail, his conversion to Islam, and subsequent renouncement and the awards he won for his art and poetry.

    Gripping and visceral, ugly and beautiful, terrible and haunting, "Bronson" is quite brilliant.    … Full Review »
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