Central Intelligence
Warner Bros. | Release Date: June 17, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
23
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzJun 16, 2016
The best thing about this movie is that you believe in the relationship. Hart and Johnson are a classic comedy duo in the tradition of Abbott & Costello, Bob Hope & Bing Crosby and Gene Wilder & Richard Pryor. Read full review
75
ConsequenceRandall ColburnJun 15, 2016
Central Intelligence is genuinely funny, intriguingly plotted, and quite frankly one of the biggest surprises of the year. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJun 15, 2016
What makes Central Intelligence appealing in appalling times is volcanic chemistry between Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. Read full review
70
Village VoiceBilge EbiriJun 21, 2016
Central Intelligence won’t blow you out of the theater, but you might be surprised at how well it works — how genuinely funny it is — given the familiarity of this concept. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangJun 16, 2016
Central Intelligence is dumb in all the right ways, and also a bit smarter than you might expect. Read full review
67
HitfixDrew McWeenyJun 20, 2016
Central Intelligence manages to be a far more coherent comedy than I would have expected, and it’s a worthy representation of the genre. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniJun 17, 2016
Central Intelligence is actually funny. Read full review
63
New York PostSara StewartJun 16, 2016
There’s such a genuine sweetness to Johnson you can’t help digging the shtick. Read full review
63
Washington PostStephanie MerryJun 16, 2016
Central Intelligence won’t win any points for originality, but that doesn’t make it any less funny. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 15, 2016
It dawdles between action beats and big laughs, and in the third act, that lets much of the wind out of it. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyJun 30, 2016
There may not have been such an awkwardly homoerotic bromance-seduction on film since Jim Carrey molested Matthew Broderick in The Cable Guy, but it’s one of Central Intelligence’s redeeming features that it’s generously forgiving, rather than nastily phobic, of Bob’s quirks. Read full review
60
ScreenCrushMatt SingerJun 16, 2016
This is a much better comedy than it is an action movie. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJun 16, 2016
You come to this movie hoping that Johnson and Hart make you laugh. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t. The hit-to-miss ratio is higher than you might expect, and both actors could accurately be described as pleasant, if not especially creative. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonJun 16, 2016
Thank the movie gods for Dwayne Johnson, who delivers a performance of such charm, such unexpected goofiness that the screen practically glows every time he appears. Read full review
60
The GuardianJordan HoffmanJun 16, 2016
The result, while instantly forgettable, is a fundamentally pleasurable experience. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterJon FroschJun 15, 2016
Central Intelligence demonstrates an above-average interest in story and character, and tries, if not always successfully, to craft real comic situations and action sequences. It's been made with a certain level of polish and professionalism. And it capitalizes on the chemistry between Hart and Johnson. Read full review
58
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJun 16, 2016
Nearly (but not quite) redeemed by its good nature and the megaton charisma of its two stars, Central Intelligence is a dopey blockbuster diversion that will surely keep United Airlines passengers entertained during the dog days of summer. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyJoey NolfiJun 16, 2016
While not necessarily a diamond-in-the-rough itself, Central Intelligence proves that Johnson has always been at the center of his own ring, in more ways than one. It just took the rest of us (and Hollywood) a little longer to notice. Read full review
58
TheWrapSam AdamsJun 15, 2016
Central Intelligence doesn’t feel like the birth of a great comic duo — more like a blind date that goes a little better than expected. The chemistry’s not there yet, but let’s give it another shot. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJun 16, 2016
By the time the film reaches its obvious conclusion – by the time Hart expends more energy than Bugs Bunny, by the time the espionage plot twists itself into corners too convoluted for even "Homeland" fans, by the time Thurber exhausts the audience by unleashing cameo after cameo – it’s only Johnson who remains standing tall. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrJun 16, 2016
The film itself is painless, strained, occasionally amusing, and utterly disposable — just another studio buddy comedy/action movie that forgot where it put the script. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubJun 16, 2016
It’s straightforward, it’s pretty funny and it stars two good actors who seem to be trying really hard to leave audiences satisfied. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter TraversJun 16, 2016
Central Intelligence always takes the lazy way out. You go along for the ride because Hart and Johnson promise something they can't deliver: a movie as funny as they are. Read full review
50
The Film StageJordan RaupJun 16, 2016
While it fails to deliver convincing action and its comedy feels watered down, Central Intelligence does get the “buddy” aspect correct. Doing their best with a script (also by Ike Barinholtz and David Stasser) that feels all-too-safe, Johnson and Hart manage to prove that a movie can glide by just enough on sheer charisma alone. Read full review
50
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldJun 16, 2016
The blend of Johnson’s laid-back hero-dudeness and Hart’s whippet-fast comic timing should have been good fun. But somebody, alas, had an idea, though not a good one: Make Johnson the comedian and Hart the straight man. Read full review
50
VarietyOwen GleibermanJun 15, 2016
It delivers — on some basic, giddy, turn-off-your-frontal-lobes level. It’s an action-comedy utensil, like “Rush Hour” crossed with an old Arnold Schwarzenegger shoot-’em-up, with a few goofy added sprinkles of “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.” Read full review
50
Slant MagazineEric HendersonJun 15, 2016
It's a pity that no one else involved in the making of the film had Dwayne Johnson's sly intuition. Read full review
42
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthJun 16, 2016
Any time the duo build up a significant amount of energy, the messy mechanics of the story come barreling in, shifting the narrative attention to the tedious developments involving encryption keys, which is nothing more than a Macguffin to begin with. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyJun 15, 2016
That it manages to score a good laugh every couple of minutes is mostly a credit to stars Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, who make for a better mismatched-buddy comic duo than the movie probably deserves. Read full review
40
EmpireAndrew LowryJun 20, 2016
An action comedy without any action or comedy – not even The Rock’s charisma and enthusiasm can save this dud. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe DziemianowiczJun 16, 2016
Even the obligatory blooper reel after the film isn’t as funny as it should be. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJun 16, 2016
An odd-couple caper of staggering dopeyness that makes you long for the snap and sizzle of the buddy movies of the 1980s. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiJun 15, 2016
A throwaway film that in all the worst ways give summer movies a bad name: told by idiots, full of sound and fury, and signifying nothing but first-weekend grosses. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJun 15, 2016
Central Intelligence is one of those slick, gunplay-riddled, stupidly plotted, aggressively loud buddy movies — so formulaic and dumb, even if you see it you’ll probably forget you’ve seen it by the end of the year...And if that’s the case, consider yourself fortunate. Read full review
25
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJun 17, 2016
With its canned, predictable action sequences and mirthless attempts at humor, it displays an ineptitude that is frankly shocking considering the talent involved. Read full review
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