86
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenThe film is a singularly huge, relentless, all-encompassing set piece that mutates and spasms with terrifying lack of foresight. It's all business, business, business.
- 91The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyDrug War brings to mind Soderbergh’s recent "Side Effects", a film defined by similar changes in perspective and genre. However, while "Side Effects" is best at its midpoint, before the viewer has really figured out what kind of movie it is, Drug War becomes both weightier and more playful with each transition, building to a harrowing finale.
- 90The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThe Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungIn Drug War, Hong Kong genre master Johnnie To gives a superlative lesson on how to give an updated, thoroughly engrossing twist to the classic cops-and-robbers chase.
- 90New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinHot-dog Hong Kong action stylist Johnnie To has never achieved the cult status of John Woo in this country, but his explosively entertaining — and startlingly splattery — Drug War should win him new fans.
- 90Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonVillage VoiceMichael AtkinsonDrug War might arguably be [To's] best film for this reason—it doesn't attempt to raise the stakes on its genre, but instead fully exploits what's there, piecing together an elaborate narc campaign tale out of classic clichés and tight-knot plotting, and letting the disaster of balls-out crime make its own statement.
- 80VarietyBoyd van HoeijVarietyBoyd van HoeijA nail-biter that’s actually quite light on action but so well-scripted and shot, it’s nonetheless edge-of-your-seat material.
- 80Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichNot a bad setup for a cops-and-robbers thriller, and in the hands of action-movie maestro Johnnie To, the result comes very close to greatness.
- 75The PlaylistJessica KiangThe PlaylistJessica KiangThe low-key nature of what's come before simply serves to render all the more effective the final shootout, when the film careens completely, and bloodily, off the rails.
- 63Film.comJordan HoffmanFilm.comJordan HoffmanDrug War is by no means a bad film, but it doesn’t do much to push the needle of originality, and doesn’t glide enough to represent perfection of the genre.