58
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzArizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzThe directors (Lapeyre also wrote the film) have gathered a terrific bunch of young actors for the film, which plays at times like a “Lord of the Flies” knockoff but also has something original to say.
- 80New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierNew York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierThere’s social commentary in all of this, but it takes a back seat to a surprisingly compelling narrative of the two combating teams.
- 75The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenThe narrative meanders on occasion, the conceit can seem repetitious, the editing is loose. Nevertheless, buoyed by the naturalism of its exclusively young cast, the picture effectively gets into your head and under your skin.
- 75McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMcClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreIt’s engrossing, violent, frightening and funny in the ways it captures the way kids speak with no adults around, and the way kids act when society’s rules take a back seat in time of war.
- 70The DissolveScott TobiasThe DissolveScott TobiasI Declare War holds off as long as it can before dumping its emotional payload. Until then, the film gets uncomfortable laughs from the games children play, and play for keeps.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeCo-directors Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson balance humor and fun with a little fear in a thoroughly accessible way.
- 70Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlExciting and thoughtful, scraped free of the empty provocations of the wicked-pixie Hit-Girl scenes in Kick-Ass, I Declare War offers movie thrills—smartly plotted betrayals and escapes—as well as its share of disappointments.
- 67Austin ChronicleSteve DavisAustin ChronicleSteve DavisIn the end, I Declare War is both enthralling and a little frustrating in its refusal to fit neatly in any box. Its unpredictable tone clicks back and forth between the comical and the serious like the safety catch on a firearm.
- 58The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe problem, mainly, is that Lapeyre’s kids are stock types: runts, bullies, toadies, a girl with a big crush. In essence, they are kids’-movie tropes pretending to be war-movie tropes — one layer of generic material being used to cover another.
- 50Slant MagazineAndrew SchenkerSlant MagazineAndrew SchenkerThe film rarely takes us past its rather obvious conclusions about the potential bestial nature of kids and how that may translate to the larger battlefields.