Ben-Hur
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: August 19, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
38
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 34 Critics
Positive:
3
Mixed:
21
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyAug 19, 2016
I’m not qualified to say whether it’s an effective delivery system for its Christian message, but I think I can credibly pronounce it a good popcorn movie. Read full review
67
The PlaylistJason OoiAug 22, 2016
In spite of its various imperfections, Ben-Hur always manages to entertain, proving the timelessness of epic structure and scale. And even if nothing about the movie particularly stands out on its own, when all the pieces come together, one cannot help but feel immersed in the world and ideals presented. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyAug 17, 2016
The Wyler film’s rousing chariot sequence—filmed separately and at lavish expense by Andrew Marton and Yakima Canutt, one of the greatest stuntmen who ever lived — is hard to beat. But Bekmambetov acquits himself nicely, offering up a loud and vicious circular chase, with point-of-view shots of people getting hit by chariots as armored Romans scamper around like rodeo clowns. Read full review
60
Village VoiceMichael NordineAug 17, 2016
In paring down and streamlining its source material, this new version also saps its heft. Read full review
60
The GuardianJordan HoffmanAug 17, 2016
Surprisingly, many of Bekmambetov’s updates work well. Read full review
58
Consequence of SoundBlake GobleAug 25, 2016
This Ben-Hur is closer to an ‘80s actioner about two men who once loved each other parting ways, only to reunite and settle their differences through vicious means. Read full review
50
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallAug 25, 2016
Let's cut to the chariot chase. The latest screen version of Ben-Hur would be little more than a condensed miniseries without it, framed for small television screens, with performances to fit. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 21, 2016
An amateurish effort that boasts direct-to-video characteristics, the latest version disappoints in almost every production aspect. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniAug 19, 2016
The new Ben-Hur isn't much of an improvement. Dominated by CGI effects, it's a soap opera better fit for basic cable. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 19, 2016
Everyone, from director to cast, seems so rushed that there’s no time for romance, less time for leaps of faith and every moment of conversion is abrupt, dictated by the script and not by the heart. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyAug 18, 2016
That Morgan Freeman voice! It’s so rich and full and authoritative that even when he’s telling Judah, “OK, OK,” you almost believe people used that word in the year 33. If they were very progressive. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAug 18, 2016
The leading actors labor valiantly and to little effect. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 18, 2016
Ben-Hur struggles to find an identity and never really gets there. The well-intentioned efforts to achieve moving, faith-based awakenings are undercut by the casually violent, PG-13 action sequences. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyJoe McGovernAug 17, 2016
This arena, unfortunately, is no Thunderdome. The chariot race is sloppily framed, choppily edited, and droopily choreographed, with special effects that look like they needed another few passes through the CGI machine. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Aug 17, 2016
All the flash and sizzle of modern movie effects can't make up for a once spectacular tale that feels not just scaled-down, but shrunk. Read full review
50
Screen InternationalTim GriersonAug 17, 2016
Timur Bekmambetov’s Ben-Hur remake offers robust spectacle and some decent performances. But ultimately, the director of Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is, perhaps unsurprisingly, not the ideal filmmaker to capture this timeless story’s more nuanced emotional range. Read full review
42
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerAug 19, 2016
As Judah Ben-Hur – full names, please – Huston is serviceable, but he’s a finer actor than this costumed kitsch allow him to be. As Judah’s boyhood best friend and adoptive brother, Messala, against whom Judah will eventually square off in the Roman Circus, Toby Kebbell has even less to work with than Huston, and he bears a disconcerting resemblance to motivational guru Tony Robbins. Read full review
42
IndieWireDavid EhrlichAug 17, 2016
The good news is that the story of Ben-Hur is so rock solid that not even the director of “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” can screw it up completely. Read full review
40
Total FilmKevin HarleyJan 21, 2017
Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov stresses spectacle over subtext – and, effectively, leaves the cast floundering fast. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfAug 19, 2016
Taking the worst of it on the chin is star Jack Huston, whose Jewish prince turned galley slave, Judah Ben-Hur, suffers from a distinct lack of personality—he’s like a boulder that someone forgot to chisel into a statue. Read full review
40
The New York TimesStephen HoldenAug 18, 2016
Overseen by a director not known for his human touch and lacking a name star, except for Mr. Freeman, Ben-Hur feels like a film made on the cheap, although it looks costly. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranAug 18, 2016
As directed by Timur Bekmambetov, this 21st century Ben-Hur is more phlegmatic than awful, a by and large dull and lethargic piece of work that is not bad enough to get mad at. What it lacks most of all is a convincing reason to exist. Read full review
40
EmpireJonathan PileAug 17, 2016
It’s an adequate retelling, mostly, but with moments of eye-rolling ineptitude. Read full review
40
VarietyOwen GleibermanAug 17, 2016
Minus a hero who has the macho charisma to wrap a movie around him like he owned it, the new Ben-Hur is an oddly lackluster affair: sludgy and plodding, photographed (by Oliver Wood) in nondescript medium close-up, an epic that feels like a mini-series served up in bits and pieces. Read full review
38
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenAug 18, 2016
Cheap and cheesy at every level, this Ben-Hur barely qualifies as an epic. It’s a wholly unnecessary addition to the venerable franchise. Read full review
37
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanAug 18, 2016
Bekmambetov and Co. have created a redesigned product that is at once inferior to the original and a slavish imitation. Read full review
35
TheWrapRobert AbeleAug 17, 2016
This Ben-Hur may not be an epic fail, but its steady stream of shortcomings are certainly a cautionary journey for anybody with the hubris to try and rebuild the monuments of movies past. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesAug 24, 2016
It’s not the unmitigated disaster early reviews suggested. Instead, it is a blandly competent and doggedly uninspired redo of material adapted a half-dozen times already. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyAug 17, 2016
Misguided, diminished and dismally done in every way, this late-summer afterthought will richly earn the distinction of becoming the first Ben-Hur in any form to flop. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter TraversAug 19, 2016
The last of the summer's movie epics is a digitalized eyesore hobbled in every department by staggering incompetence. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleAug 18, 2016
The problem comes down to this: If you take the spirituality out of Ben-Hur, you take the Ben-Hur out of Ben-Hur. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorAug 18, 2016
As the new Ben-Hur unspools into insignificance and sentimentality, there are fleeting moments that suggest someone behind this $100-million movie was actually thinking hard about how to replay a schlocky biblical epic for a secular audience in 2016. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineKeith WatsonAug 17, 2016
Ben-Hur director Timur Bekmambetov offers nothing new to the cinematic lexicon of the chariot race. Read full review
0
New York PostLou LumenickAug 18, 2016
There’s a fatally miscast lead (Jack Huston, you are no Charlton Heston), cut-rate special effects, reams of eyeball-glazing dialogue, and a schmaltzy “inspirational” script that pointlessly alters the story in ways that make absolutely no sense. Read full review
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