City of God
Miramax Films | Release Date: January 17, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
TimeRichard Corliss
The film is seductive, disturbing, enthralling -- a trip to hell that gives the passengers a great ride. Read full review
100
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Like a bomb exploding in a fireworks factory: It's fierce and shocking and dazzling and wonderful. Read full review
100
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
A marvelous achievement that refuses to avert its gaze from the poetry and the insane savagery of the hopeless. Read full review
100
Film ThreatK.J. Doughton
Meticulous in its descriptions of well-intended individuals caught up in these ferocious waves of street crime. Read full review
100
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
An exhilarating slap in the face, bracing and sexy, smart and visceral, stylish and raw -- the advent of a fabulously exciting new moviemaking talent. Read full review
100
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
One of the most uncompromisingly bleak films I've ever seen. Read full review
100
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It's a trip to Hell and back, and testimony for embittered cynics of all that a movie can be. Read full review
100
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
The film finds a surprising amount of tenderness and humor beneath the brutality. The laughs may catch in the throat, but that's only a byproduct of City Of God's power to leave viewers breathless. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Breathtaking and terrifying, urgently involved with its characters, it announces a new director of great gifts and passions: Fernando Meirelles. Read full review
100
Washington PostDesson Thomson
One of the most startling, grittily brilliant films in recent years. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
A visual and aural feast that combines elements of classic gangster melodramas, crime epics such as "The Godfather" and playful non-linear narratives such as "Amores Perros," City of God explores a deadly culture while feeling more alive than anything that's hit the big screen in years. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen Holden
As the movie's frenetic visual rhythms and mood swings synchronize with the zany, adrenaline-fueled impulsiveness of its lost youth on the rampage, you may find yourself getting lost in this teeming netherworld. Read full review
90
Dallas ObserverJean Oppenheimer
Emotionally gripping from start to finish, the movie presents an electrifying and unforgettable look at life in a place that God has all but forgotten. Read full review
88
USA TodayMike Clark
This is one movie in which you don't feel the long-ish running time, in part because there always seems to be a surprise (as well as a new street guerrilla) around every corner. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Despite the grim, serious nature of the subject matter, Meirelles unearths occasional moments of humor, although they are often of the gallows variety. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
An epic docudrama - electric and raw. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Undeniably powerful, the work also comes with its own built-in shield against feeling any one character's difficulties too deeply, or for too long. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
A tightly woven tapestry of extraordinary breadth, and director Fernando Meirelles's control over the material is extraordinary. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleOctavio Roca
Brutal, tough to watch but impossible to ignore. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
In God's ghetto, as in so many of the world's forsaken places, warring armies of infants brandish their weapons of self-destruction, while politicians bluster and inspectors sleep. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
For those who didn't get enough violence from Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York," welcome to City of God. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderStaff (not credited)
Predictably, the violence is overwhelming. But the massacres are glamorized, and the characters look like they're posing for tourism posters. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
It's sensationally well-made: skittery and kinetic, packed with mayhem, yet framed (and narrated) with witty detachment, so that the carnage never seems garish. The film is far from a work of art, but it marks the emergence of a great new action superchef. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Nothing if not confrontational. Read full review
70
VarietyDavid Rooney
The impressive filmmaking craftsmanship and sharp storytelling skills make this two-hour-plus epic fly by. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It takes a strong stomach to sit through its two-plus hours of non-stop brutality (much of it involving very small children). Read full review
63
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
A razzle-dazzle lower-depths melodrama. Read full review
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