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Invincible
Metascore
55 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 19 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 19
  3. Negative: 2 out of 19
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    Watching Invincible was a singular experience for me, because it reminded me of the fundamental power that the cinema had for us when we were children. The film exercises the power that fable has for the believing.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    80
    The period is evoked with care and imagination, and the film glows with Peter Zeitlinger's cinematography. It has some bravura images and surreal moments typical of Herzog, and composers Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt have contributed a lovely score.
  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    80
    If Invincible is soft at the center, its visual grandeur and mostly full-blooded performances make it gripping, for this eminent German director has pulled off the tricky feat of elevating a true story into a larger-than-life allegory.
  4. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    70
    An extraordinary story uniquely suited to Herzog's abilities, it eventually becomes easy to accept Ahola as a nearly mute witness to the obsessives around him, most immediately Tim Roth in a striking performance as Ahola's employer.
  5. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J. R. Jones
    70
    Though Ahola's acting is unschooled, to say the least, Herzog shrewdly uses his blunt sincerity to counterpoint Roth's spectacularly icy performance.
  6. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    67
    Half-baked Herzog, though it has twinkles of theatrical purity that remind you of when his vision was grand.
  7. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    63
    Erratically acted and, at times, clumsily written.
  8. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    63
    Invincible works, simply but provocatively, as a parable about the oppressed and the oppressors, victimhood and fanaticism.
  9. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    63
    Is a mellowed Herzog to be believed?
  10. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    63
    Invincible lacks Herzog's usual visual and intellectual panache, and is afflicted by weak English-language acting, which makes it more of a career curio than a major work.
  11. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Richard Cline
    60
    There are some realistic, scary themes at work here that make it worth a look.
  12. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Hazel-Dawn Dumpert
    60
    A wonderful movie. For every misstep there are the sublime expressions of agony and ecstasy of which Herzog is a master.
  13. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    50
    Herzog has certainly found a fascinating subject, but he does surprisingly little with it, especially considering the 135- minute running time.
  14. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Edward Guthmann
    50
    A strange but oddly memorable film.
  15. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    40
    Steers clear of historical accuracy. Herzog is obviously looking for a moral to his fable, but the notion that a strong, unified showing among Germany and Eastern European Jews might have changed 20th-Century history is undermined by Ahola's inadequate performance.
  16. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Michael Atkinson
    40
    What's more disappointing is how filthy Invincible is with missed opportunities for Herzog to be Herzog.
  17. Variety
    Reviewed by: David Stratton
    40
    This potentially intriguing story winds up being dull and at times faintly silly.
  18. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    25
    It's depressing to see how far Herzog has fallen.
  19. New Times (L.A.)
    Reviewed by: Jean Oppenheimer
    20
    The predominantly amateur cast is painful to watch, so stilted and unconvincing are the performances. Poor Roth has nobody to play against and flounders in trying to keep the ship upright. Herzog aims for a kind of operatic sweep that he fails to achieve.
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