Critic Reviews
56
Metascore
Mixed or Average
positive
22(59%)
mixed
12(32%)
negative
3(8%)
Showing 37 Critic Reviews
83
Berg doesn't let up on the tension, even when the action is bloodless.
80
Not quite as smart as it wants to be, and a better action movie than it is a political thriller, this is still a heart-pounding drama.
75
Overall, the film is smart and engaging, and if it plays a little on our fears of the next big terrorist attack, it does so without feeling exploitative.
75
Matthew Michael Carnahan's caffeinated script isn't much concerned with balance, but it gets some anyway, from the resonant images of culture clash that Berg catches on the fly and a remarkable performance from Ashraf Barhom.
75
Director Peter Berg and first-time writer Matthew Michael Carnahan do a smooth, efficient job of storytelling most of the way.
75
Though its violence is searing and brutal, the film, about four FBI agents investigating a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia, shows a conscience and a brain, and if it explains things a bit simplistically at times, so much the better.
75
Foxx is magnetic in the lead, and the subplot in which he bonds with his Saudi police liaison (Ashraf Barhom, giving the movie's best performance) is touching.
70
A realist thriller that mixes crowd-pleasing mayhem with provocative politics.
70
A timely--if tepid--fantasy of American vengeance on the Qutbian extremists of Saudi Arabia.
70
Sensationally directed by Peter Berg, it’s a combination forensics detective movie (car bomb blows up secure American compound in Saudi Arabia--who dunnit and how can we stop him from doing it again?) and red-meat waste-the-terrorists action picture.
