Reign of Fire
Metascore
39 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 30 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 30
  3. Negative: 12 out of 30
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  1. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Foreman
    38
    It strains belief that nuclear weapons couldn't kill off the dragons, but three people with crossbows could.
  2. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    38
    Often incomprehensible (a combination of jumpy editing and lots of thick British Isles accents) and hardly ever entertaining - even unintentionally.
  3. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    38
    The story doesn't clarify why the dragons hibernated for hundreds of years, nor why they awakened. Clearly, however, the filmmakers might have benefited from more sleep before penning the script.
  4. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    38
    Reign of Fire never comes close to recovering from its demented premise, but it does sustain an enjoyable level of ridiculousness.
  5. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    30
    Director Rob Bowman seems at a loss as to what to bring to the film, which, even with its good choice of leads, plods along from one dragon fight to the next, all of them staged to showcase Fire's impressive CGI dragons, but none choreographed with any real flair.
  6. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Dennis Lim
    30
    Peaks early with a vertiginous dogfight; thereafter, spotty CGI and a bamboozling plot conspire toward a colossal anticlimax.
  7. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephen Hunter
    30
    It's just silly, loud and goofy. The dragon needed a bigger part and the two stars smaller ones.
  8. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    25
    One regards Reign of Fire with awe. What a vast enterprise has been marshaled in the service of such a minute idea. Incredulity is our companion, and it is twofold: We cannot believe what happens in the movie, and we cannot believe that the movie was made.
  9. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    20
    Dragons torch the earth as manly men with weird hair battle them in this colossally misconceived dud.
  10. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    20
    So what's not to like? There's the bad CGI, the choppy pacing, the comically intense acting, the repetition, the dullness and mostly the idiot plot about how there's only one male dragon and everything will be fine if they kill the Big Dick. Wha? Somebody get a hose and put this Fire out.
  11. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    20
    A disaster of a drama, saved only by its winged assailants. You know a picture's in trouble when you find yourself rooting for humankind to lose.
  12. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    0
    Truly awful.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.1 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 54 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 37
  3. Negative: 7 out of 37
  1. cameronmorewood
    5
    Heartbreakingly mediocre for such a list of good ideas.
  2. NF123
    7
    A stupid ending, with laughable dialogue and Matthew McConaughey looking and acting like something out of GI joe and yet I was never bored and found it quite entertaining. I'm a bit annoyed though because it's never as epic or explosive as it should be and never as heartfelt as it wants to be. The cover and posters are misleading… Full Review »
  3. TK
    7
    Not the best movie ever... but mildly entertaining. The characters are somewhat likable and the story was predictable but decent. PS Aron, your not cool and couldn't write a review worth reading to save your life... regardless of what Mindy might think.… Full Review »
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