Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
45
(18 sources)
45
(18 sources)
-
70
The New York Times
Inspiring enough to make you wish that the filmmakers had reined in their sentimental excesses. Read Full Review » -
70
LA Weekly
This is exceedingly earnest stuff, dolloped with Christian goodness and solid production values. Read Full Review » -
70
Chicago Reader
While Hanon's film stints on character development, he convincingly portrays the events that foster redemption and forgiveness, as over time the Waodani shed their culture of violence. Read Full Review » -
58
The Onion (A.V. Club)
In spite of End Of The Spear's fundamental conservatism, the missionaries' disastrous initial encounter with the Waodani ultimately teaches the progressive message that when it comes to winning the hearts and minds of foreign cultures, Bibles and superior technology are no substitute for a thorough understanding of their language and culture. Read Full Review » -
50
Village Voice
Spear has all the earmarks of a middling Indiewood product, from its competent second-tier cast (including "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" hunklet Chad Allen in a dual role as a slain missionary and his grown son) to its earnest plotting and leaden pacing. Read Full Review » -
50
Variety
Although overly earnest and often stilted, the film should find great favor principally among religious auds. Read Full Review » -
50
Los Angeles Times
What creeps in is the dramatic simple-mindedness attendant with a purity-of-purpose mind-set. Read Full Review » -
50
The Hollywood Reporter
It might have been inspired by actual events, but End of the Spear is, literally and figuratively, simply too dull to make any impact. Read Full Review » -
50
Philadelphia Inquirer
Shot in Panama, with a cast of local Indians and B-tier Latino and Anglo actors, End of the Spear has neither the marquee heft nor the artistic gravitas of "The New World." Read Full Review » -
50
Boston Globe
It's not remotely as luscious or half as bold as Malick's movie, but it is shorter and more educational. Read Full Review » -
50
Washington Post
The movie is tentative, dramatically speaking...The most powerful moments come at the end -- documentary excerpts of Steve Saint, the son of one of the missionaries, and his friendship with Mincayani, the man who killed his father. Read Full Review » -
40
Austin Chronicle
The naiveté with which the missionaries approach their initial meeting with the Waodani, whose propensity to violence was well-documented, appears at once incredibly stupid and divinely loving. Read Full Review » -
38
New York Post
A sincere but underwhelming dramatization of one of the biggest news stories of 1956. Read Full Review » -
38
New York Daily News
In documentary footage played over the closing credits, the real warrior is introduced to American fast food and returns to his people too fat and sluggish to spear himself a snack, let alone a missionary. Read Full Review » -
38
TV Guide
This ersatz jungle adventure is really a thinly disguised Sunday School lesson in faith, charity and the savagery of life without Christ. Read Full Review » -
38
Chicago Tribune
A childish and visually repetitive movie, ham-fisted, proselytizing and overtly simplified. Read Full Review » -
25
-
25
San Francisco Chronicle
A Christian-themed film about redemption with almost no redeeming qualities as entertainment. Read Full Review »
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