Enter a Rotten Tomatoes movie slug to inspect the stored movie, batches, snapshots, and reviews.
Movie ID: 750
RT slug: chaos_walking
RT URL: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chaos_walking
Release year: 2021
Runtime: 109 mins
Wide release date: 2021-03-05
Limited release date: —
Festival premiere date: —
Streaming release date: —
Tomatometer final: 21%
Audience score final: —
Genres: Adventure, Sci-Fi
Directors: Doug Liman
Writers: Christopher Ford, Patrick Ness
Producers: Alison Winter, Allison Shearmur, Doug Davison, Erwin Stoff
MPAA rating: PG-13
Executive Producers: —
Created: 2026-06-14 19:57:21
Updated: 2026-06-14 19:57:21
On a distant planet where all living creatures can hear each other's thoughts, a young man discovers a mysterious woman whose silence could change everything.
—
Canonical reviews: 155
Canonical fresh: 32
Canonical rotten: 123
Canonical calculated Tomatometer: 21%
Latest snapshot UTC: 2026-06-14 19:51:30
Snapshot Tomatometer: 21%
Snapshot review count: 155
Snapshot fresh count: 32
Snapshot rotten count: 123
Source note: Imported from manual review paste batch #1300 (full_snapshot)
| Company | Role |
|---|---|
| Lionsgate | distributor |
| Quadrant Pictures | production |
| Billing | Name | Character |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daisy Ridley | Viola Eade |
| 2 | Tom Holland | Todd Hewitt |
| 3 | Mads Mikkelsen | Mayor Prentiss |
| 4 | Demián Bichir | Ben Moore |
| 5 | Cynthia Erivo | Hildy Black |
| Batch ID | Status | Mode | Created | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 766 | processed | — | 2026-06-14 19:57:21 | Processed successfully into movie_id=750 using update_mode=merge_non_empty. |
| Batch ID | Local Snapshot | UTC Snapshot | Entered % | Entered Count | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1300 | 2026-06-14 14:51:00 (America/Panama) | 2026-06-14 19:51:30 | 21% | 155 | processed | Mode=full_snapshot. Processed 155 row(s); 0 row error(s). Parsed unique reviews in this batch=155, fresh=32, rotten=123, tomatometer=21%. Net new reviews added=155, fresh=32, rotten=123. Current canonical totals=155 reviews, 32 fresh, 123 rotten, tomatometer=21% (20.645%). Entered review count matched parsed batch count (155). Entered tomatometer matched parsed batch value (21%). |
| ID | Critic | Outlet | Fresh? | Score | RT Time Raw | Approx Published UTC | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 170701 | Francesca Steele | iNews.co.uk | Rotten | 3/5 | 2024-12-10T23:23:05Z | 2024-12-10 23:23:05 | It’s attractively presented, though tonally confused and an interesting idea that does ultimately grapple with – and condemn – uncontrolled male rage/desire. |
| 170702 | Yasmine Kandil | Discussing Film | Fresh | 3.5/5 | 2024-07-09T20:04:08Z | 2024-07-09 20:04:08 | Despite its flaws, it’s worth a watch to make one’s own opinion and to ponder on some of the hard-hitting questions that the narrative poses. |
| 170703 | Manuel São Bento | MSB Reviews (Ghost.io) | Rotten | D+ | 2023-07-24T21:58:24Z | 2023-07-24 21:58:24 | The whole "men’s thoughts are seen by everyone, but women’s thoughts are not" is depicted in a way that leaves men portrayed as pigs and insinuates women have no brains. One of the worst films of the year. |
| 170704 | Maggie Lovitt | Millennial Falcon Reviews | Rotten | C | 2023-03-27T14:48:47Z | 2023-03-27 14:48:47 | The most egregious act of this film is to have such an incredible cast entirely underserved by the script. |
| 170705 | M.N. Miller | Ready Steady Cut | Rotten | 2/5 | 2022-09-11T07:22:41Z | 2022-09-11 07:22:41 | Chaos Walking is nothing but a stagnant and boring sci-fi adventure film that’s nothing but “exposition” in the not-too-distant future. |
| 170706 | Keith Garlington | Keith & the Movies | Rotten | 2.5/5 | 2022-08-17T20:56:02Z | 2022-08-17 20:56:02 | What we get is a movie built on a compelling and imaginative premise that realizes much of its potential. At the same time it leaves way too many loose ends, making it feel like a frustrating first installment rather than its own well-rounded movie. |
| 170707 | Joe Lipsett | Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr Podcast | Rotten | 2/5 | 2022-07-28T13:22:39Z | 2022-07-28 13:22:39 | Despite the charms of Holland and Ridley, this ineffectual adaptation of Ness' book can't overcome its uninspired source material. Despite opting for a more straightforward narrative, this is bland YA action that even Liman's direction can't save. |
| 170708 | Nestor Bentancor | Nestor Cine Desde Hollywood | Rotten | — | 2022-06-19T02:16:56Z | 2022-06-19 02:16:56 | A cacophonic waste of talent and time that feels like a slow walk to nowhere. |
| 170709 | Victoria Luxford | City AM | Rotten | 2/5 | 2022-03-02T14:39:03Z | 2022-03-02 14:39:03 | Chaos Walking is dreadfully dull. There must have been an interesting pitch to get so many great performers involved, but their abilities are lost in the endless studio tinkering. |
| 170710 | Brian Eggert | Deep Focus Review | Rotten | 2/4 | 2022-02-12T21:53:08Z | 2022-02-12 21:53:08 | It contains bland dialogue, superficial characterizations, unremarkable visuals, and overly familiar plotting. |
| 170711 | Carson Timar | ButteredPopcorn | Fresh | C | 2022-02-12T05:22:24Z | 2022-02-12 05:22:24 | Chaos Walking might be far from a great film but for the teen sci-fi genre, the film feels at least passable. |
| 170712 | Therese Lacson | The Beat | Rotten | — | 2021-10-09T03:02:45Z | 2021-10-09 03:02:45 | The film might lure in fans with its star-studded cast, but pacing issues and a lack of conviction make it fall flat. |
| 170713 | Witney Seibold | Critically Acclaimed Podcast | Rotten | — | 2021-09-14T19:41:07Z | 2021-09-14 19:41:07 | What likely works well in print - seeing and hearing all men's most embarrassing thoughts - makes for a distracting visual busyness on film. Additionally, the insight gained from such a trick is paltry. |
| 170714 | Tom Beasley | metro.co.uk | Rotten | — | 2021-07-29T17:10:45Z | 2021-07-29 17:10:45 | Arriving a decade too late to fully capture the YA boom, it's a baffling, low-energy exercise in filmmaking by studio committee. |
| 170715 | Robin Holabird | KUNR (Reno, NV) | Rotten | — | 2021-07-16T19:01:36Z | 2021-07-16 19:01:36 | Chaos Walking has thought-provoking themes but lacks the energy of similar titles. |
| 170716 | Amanda the Jedi | Amanda the Jedi (Youtube) | Rotten | — | 2021-06-28T20:11:19Z | 2021-06-28 20:11:19 | The production story is infinitely more entertaining than the movie. Genuine apologies to the fans who were waiting YEARS for this adaptation. |
| 170717 | Mimi Wong | Mediaversity Reviews | Rotten | C | 2021-06-24T19:42:59Z | 2021-06-24 19:42:59 | In the hands of a different filmmaker, Chaos Walking could have put forth a potent message. |
| 170718 | Leonie Cooper | NME (New Musical Express) | Rotten | 2/5 | 2021-06-17T23:34:17Z | 2021-06-17 23:34:17 | A dreary plod through the sexist apocalypse... |
| 170719 | Rachael Harper | SciFiNow | Fresh | 3/5 | 2021-06-04T21:32:35Z | 2021-06-04 21:32:35 | Chaos Walking has a great setup with a phenomenal cast, all of which have been edited into an easily digestible package. |
| 170720 | Mel Valentin | That Shelf | Rotten | — | 2021-06-04T20:42:18Z | 2021-06-04 20:42:18 | [The film's] singular, myopic focus on Todd, Viola, and their struggle to escape from Prentiss and his army preclude anything except a shallow dive into surface-deep ideas. |
| 170721 | John Serba | Decider | Rotten | — | 2021-06-03T15:40:22Z | 2021-06-03 15:40:22 | There's all kinds of potential here, but the movie is intent on being a generic sci-fi actioner with some neat FX and not much else. |
| 170722 | Zehra Phelan | Flavourmag | Rotten | 1/5 | 2021-06-02T12:10:23Z | 2021-06-02 12:10:23 | A dull plodder where misogynistic men rule results in an empty husk of a story that should have kept its thoughts to itself. |
| 170723 | Jorge Loser | Espinof | Rotten | 1/5 | 2021-05-17T05:40:45Z | 2021-05-17 05:40:45 | Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland are shipwrecked in a cacophonous sci-fi western that does not take advantage of its attractive concept. [Full Review in Spanish] |
| 170724 | Matt Hudson | What I Watched Tonight | Fresh | 6/10 | 2021-04-29T23:10:50Z | 2021-04-29 23:10:50 | It's an uneven final product that's janky, simmering, formulaic, and sensitive all at once but one that's perfectly watchable. |
| 170725 | Matthew Turner | Hero Collector | Rotten | 2/5 | 2021-04-29T16:11:37Z | 2021-04-29 16:11:37 | [This is] ultimately something of a disappointment, thanks to its poorly executed central set-up and a sub-standard script. |
| 170726 | Janire Zurbano | Cinemanía (Spain) | Fresh | 3/5 | 2021-04-27T17:00:16Z | 2021-04-27 17:00:16 | It's pleasantly surprising to see that Chaos Walking is not as dire as its bumpy and never-ending post-production predicted. [Full review in Spanish] |
| 170727 | Norman Wilner | NOW Toronto | Rotten | 2/5 | 2021-04-23T23:31:04Z | 2021-04-23 23:31:04 | The messiness of Liman's obviously expensive, weirdly superficial adaptation of Patrick Ness's YA franchise makes a little more sense once you learn it's been banging around for four full years... |
| 170728 | Chris Knight | National Post | Rotten | 2/5 | 2021-04-23T17:10:35Z | 2021-04-23 17:10:35 | Chaos Walking represents something of a misfire, despite the charm and chemistry of its stars. |
| 170729 | Barry Hertz | Globe and Mail | Rotten | — | 2021-04-22T22:20:55Z | 2021-04-22 22:20:55 | For any filmmaker contemplating their own YA franchise, Chaos Walking is an instructive anti-manual. For the rest of us, it's just noise. |
| 170730 | Richard Crouse | Richard Crouse | Rotten | 2/5 | 2021-04-22T15:30:28Z | 2021-04-22 15:30:28 | Chaos Walking has ideas that feel ripe for satire, social commentary and drama but squanders them in favor of crafting a tepid young adult friendly dystopian story. |
| 170731 | Tim Brayton | Alternate Ending | Rotten | 1.5/5 | 2021-04-16T06:50:08Z | 2021-04-16 06:50:08 | The longer Chaos Walking goes, the more of a catastrophe the story becomes. |
| 170732 | Aaron Neuwirth | We Live Entertainment | Rotten | 4/10 | 2021-04-14T19:20:48Z | 2021-04-14 19:20:48 | A half-hearted attempt to fill out this world with characters and ideas serving as a setup for future stories while telling a primary narrative that's never engaging enough. |
| 170733 | Dan Sareen | Flickering Myth | Fresh | — | 2021-04-08T18:30:37Z | 2021-04-08 18:30:37 | If nothing else, the feature reflects Liman's true nature as a filmmaker - an eclectic product that may barely be hanging together, but certainly pleases with what's there. |
| 170734 | Alistair Harkness | Scotsman | Rotten | — | 2021-04-07T18:50:29Z | 2021-04-07 18:50:29 | [T]he film is also catastrophically hampered by the need to dramatise and visualise the audible thought processes of every male character... |
| 170735 | Mark Kermode | Kermode & Mayo's Film Review | Rotten | — | 2021-04-06T22:30:38Z | 2021-04-06 22:30:38 | It lacks heft, or interest. Absolutely bone-numbingly dull and stupid. |
| 170736 | Dolores Quintana | Dolores Quintana | Rotten | — | 2021-04-06T01:51:01Z | 2021-04-06 01:51:01 | CHAOS WALKING is CHAOS AS FILMMAKING. It had potential as a YA franchise entry but with bland lead actors/characters and a script that doesn't fully commit to its premise. |
| 170737 | Edward Porter | Sunday Times (UK) | Rotten | 1/5 | 2021-04-05T21:40:34Z | 2021-04-05 21:40:34 | It is a drab collection of fights and chases - a butchered version of the film's source novel, The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. |
| 170738 | Amber Wilkinson | Eye for Film | Fresh | 3/5 | 2021-04-05T13:10:09Z | 2021-04-05 13:10:09 | If the film's intellectual potential is ultimately under-explored - and the level of animal peril decidedly high - this is nevertheless a watchable if flawed adventure buoyed by its central cast. |
| 170739 | Dominic Griffin | The Armchair Auteur | Rotten | 4/10 | 2021-04-04T20:50:19Z | 2021-04-04 20:50:19 | A tragedy of studio tinkering and excessive rewrite bukkake, Chaos Walking could have been something special, but worse than being an unmitigated disaster, it's simply boring as hell. |
| 170740 | Laura Potier | Outtake Mag | Fresh | 2.5/5 | 2021-04-04T15:20:15Z | 2021-04-04 15:20:15 | Chaos Walking has a lot of problems... [but it] is still perfectly watchable - particularly for current blockbuster-starved audiences. |
| 170741 | Candice McMillan | Seattle Refined | Rotten | — | 2021-04-03T23:00:18Z | 2021-04-03 23:00:18 | All the Noise in the world can't save this flashy bit of futuristic melodrama from being blinded by its own conceit. |
| 170742 | Sarah Cartland | Caution Spoilers | Rotten | 2.5/5 | 2021-04-03T09:20:36Z | 2021-04-03 09:20:36 | Despite its big budget it reminded me of those 1970s/80s sci fi serials on British TV that involve endless running through Oxfordshire woodland. It's not the disaster its troubled history might indicate though, and Holland is great. |
| 170743 | Kevin Maher | The Times (UK) | Rotten | 1/5 | 2021-04-02T22:21:20Z | 2021-04-02 22:21:20 | This device, of course, worked on paper, in the source novel, The Knife of Never Letting Go, by Patrick Ness. But it's appalling on film. |
| 170744 | Clarisse Loughrey | Independent (UK) | Rotten | 2/5 | 2021-04-02T17:40:34Z | 2021-04-02 17:40:34 | A semi-competent sci-fi yarn that suffers, if anything, from being too simple in its execution. |
| 170745 | Eddie Harrison | film-authority.com | Rotten | 2/5 | 2021-04-02T09:00:30Z | 2021-04-02 09:00:30 | Chaos Walking is a utter mess, too silly for adults, too dry and weird for kids... |
| 170746 | Robbie Collin | Daily Telegraph (UK) | Rotten | 2/5 | 2021-04-01T19:41:00Z | 2021-04-01 19:41:00 | Holland and Ridley have all the rapport of two tree trunks, and the deeper dramatic and comedic possibilities of the one-way torrent of intimate thoughts between them goes bafflingly unexplored. |
| 170747 | Dan Buffa | KSDK News (St. Louis) | Rotten | F | 2021-03-31T21:40:50Z | 2021-03-31 21:40:50 | Oftentimes, a film isn't promoted heavily because the studio is trying to let out a far without anyone noticing. Well, Lionsgate, I heard and smelled this one. |
| 170748 | Nicola Austin | We Have a Hulk | Fresh | 3/5 | 2021-03-31T20:20:59Z | 2021-03-31 20:20:59 | Chaos Walking is a fascinating but flawed dystopian adventure, with a fantastic central dynamic between leads Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley elevating the script. |
| 170749 | Pablo O. Scholz | Clarín | Fresh | — | 2021-03-31T15:50:10Z | 2021-03-31 15:50:10 | As an action-adventure film, Chaos Walking never ceases to entertain for a single moment. [Full review in Spanish] |
| 170750 | Hayden Mears | HeyUGuys | Rotten | 2/5 | 2021-03-30T16:10:25Z | 2021-03-30 16:10:25 | Big names and a big idea - sadly a loose narrative grasp lets down what could have been a compelling film. |
| 170751 | Megan Whitehouse | Starburst | Rotten | 2/5 | 2021-03-29T21:40:47Z | 2021-03-29 21:40:47 | If this were 2013, they might have worked, but now, such attempts feel staggeringly outdated. |
| 170752 | Niall Browne | Movies in Focus | Rotten | — | 2021-03-29T18:30:40Z | 2021-03-29 18:30:40 | 1.5 A waste of time, money and talent - it's probably best if you give Chaos Walking a miss and watch one of Doug Liman's better movies. |
| 170753 | Emma Simmonds | The List | Fresh | 3/5 | 2021-03-29T13:00:35Z | 2021-03-29 13:00:35 | The combination of western and sci-fi influences results in some decent costume and production design, and there are a number of exciting sequences. |
| 170754 | Andrew Murray | The Upcoming | Rotten | 2/5 | 2021-03-29T11:40:15Z | 2021-03-29 11:40:15 | Chaos Walking is supposed to be the start of a trilogy. The best thing to come out of this film is that its dismal reception may mean the sequels will never be made. One can only hope that's the case. |
| 170755 | Steven Prokopy | Third Coast Review | Fresh | 2.5/4 | 2021-03-26T18:10:47Z | 2021-03-26 18:10:47 | There's certainly a metaphor to be explored about the relationship between the humans and the indigenous population, but Chaos Walking doesn't seem the least bit interested in exploring it. |
| 170756 | Kevin Harley | Radio Times | Rotten | 2/5 | 2021-03-24T18:10:49Z | 2021-03-24 18:10:49 | A mess of half-hearted set-pieces, ill-developed plot details and underused co-stars, the result leaves only a sense of potential wasted, lost in the Noise. |
| 170757 | Matt Neal | ABC Radio (Australia) | Fresh | 3/5 | 2021-03-23T10:00:30Z | 2021-03-23 10:00:30 | Chaos Walking isn't great, but it's good enough thanks to its fascinating premise and its committed cast. |
| 170758 | Murjani Rawls | Substream Magazine | Rotten | — | 2021-03-20T11:10:14Z | 2021-03-20 11:10:14 | Mired down by reshoots and a long production period, unfortunately Chaos Walking squanders it's great cast and good ideas. |
| 170759 | Matthew Passantino | Awards Radar | Rotten | 2/4 | 2021-03-18T17:00:33Z | 2021-03-18 17:00:33 | ...Most of Chaos Walking plays like a game of YA dystopian Bingo. |
| 170760 | John Nugent | Empire Magazine | Rotten | 2/5 | 2021-03-18T11:20:37Z | 2021-03-18 11:20:37 | A disappointment. A premise with much promise has been turned into a bland retread through YA's most familiar faults - despite some bold efforts from Holland, Ridley and Mikkelsen. |
| 170761 | Oliver Jones | Observer | Fresh | 2.5/4 | 2021-03-15T11:00:18Z | 2021-03-15 11:00:18 | In our current age of preprocessed film spectacle, there is something strangely pleasing-exciting even-about how profoundly unkempt this all feels, especially for a film on this scale. |
| 170762 | Piers Marchant | Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | Rotten | 79/100 | 2021-03-12T22:31:09Z | 2021-03-12 22:31:09 | Instead of following the concept to its more logical and interesting extensions, the film seems content to dance around such worthy complications in order to keep things above-board and cutely saccharine. |
| 170763 | Peter Travers | ABC News | Rotten | — | 2021-03-12T15:41:06Z | 2021-03-12 15:41:06 | A hot mess that throws a wet blanket of dystopian drivel over fresh young stars Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland. 'Chaos Limping' is more like it. |
| 170764 | Rich Cline | Shadows on the Wall | Rotten | 2.5/5 | 2021-03-12T02:41:01Z | 2021-03-12 02:41:01 | It's visually inventive and thematically suggestive, but the film stubbornly remains a rather cartoonish battle between people who have no textures. At least the superb cast makes us wish it was better than this. |
| 170765 | Cynthia Vinney | CBR | Rotten | — | 2021-03-11T19:40:50Z | 2021-03-11 19:40:50 | Despite Holland's charmingly youthful screen presence... he comes across as an irritating child whose fascination with Viola seems to start and end with the fact that she's a girl. Star Wars' Ridley doesn't fare much better. |
| 170766 | Randy Myers | San Jose Mercury News | Rotten | 1/4 | 2021-03-11T13:30:25Z | 2021-03-11 13:30:25 | There's something worth exploring here, but the story is stuck in the gestating process. |
| 170767 | Perri Nemiroff | Perri Nemiroff (YouTube) | Fresh | 3/5 | 2021-03-11T01:40:43Z | 2021-03-11 01:40:43 | A narrative mess that coasts on its fascinating core concept and the power of Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley's screen presence. |
| 170768 | Luke Buckmaster | Flicks (AU, NZ, UK) | Rotten | — | 2021-03-10T23:10:49Z | 2021-03-10 23:10:49 | The gawkiness of the male adolescent experience seems to seep into everything, from the coarse chemistry between the two leads to the film's jarring perspective on sound-image relations. |
| 170769 | Jeanmarie Tan | The New Paper (Singapore) | Rotten | 2.5/5 | 2021-03-10T21:50:43Z | 2021-03-10 21:50:43 | After 30 minutes of this contrivance, it gets so clamorous and tedious, you just wish thought balloons would pop up instead. |
| 170770 | Micheal Compton | Bowling Green Daily News | Rotten | D+ | 2021-03-10T19:30:36Z | 2021-03-10 19:30:36 | Nothing short of a cinematic train wreck -- a wanna-be franchise tent pole that stumbles out of the gate and never recovers. |
| 170771 | Amy Nicholson | FilmWeek (LAist) | Rotten | — | 2021-03-10T11:40:40Z | 2021-03-10 11:40:40 | It's got a major director, a major cast, it's based on a major, award-winning book trilogy, and it's just a major disaster. |
| 170772 | Dann Gire | Chicago Daily Herald | Rotten | 1.5/4 | 2021-03-09T00:31:04Z | 2021-03-09 00:31:04 | As expected, Liman keeps the action moving at a serviceable momentum, but his characters run low on solid emotional connections between each other and us. |
| 170773 | Shani Harris | Culturess | Rotten | — | 2021-03-08T20:21:07Z | 2021-03-08 20:21:07 | Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley try their best to elevate the material. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything they could do to redeem Chaos Walking. |
| 170774 | Dennis Schwartz | Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews | Rotten | C+ | 2021-03-08T08:30:13Z | 2021-03-08 08:30:13 | A watchable stinker. |
| 170775 | Andrea Chase | Killer Movie Reviews | Rotten | 2/5 | 2021-03-07T19:50:30Z | 2021-03-07 19:50:30 | That an important plot point hinges on an advanced sort of USB port connection is also something of a letdown. |
| 170777 | Samuel Leggett Jr. | JVS Media & Productions/Team JVS | Rotten | 4/10 | 2021-03-07T16:30:21Z | 2021-03-07 16:30:21 | The actors do a decent job with the material , but the execution of the film was not presented well, plot was left in shambles and "the noise" is not understood in any way |
| 170776 | Nguyên Lê | The Young Folks | Rotten | 3/10 | 2021-03-07T16:30:21Z | 2021-03-07 16:30:21 | It's disturbing how often one expresses nothing when presented with information meant to advance the plot, seed the sequel or explore the subtext. |
| 170778 | Sara Michelle Fetters | MovieFreak.com | Rotten | 1.5/4 | 2021-03-07T02:30:28Z | 2021-03-07 02:30:28 | [It's] hard to imagine a more forgettable piece of sci-fi hooey than Chaos Walking. |
| 170779 | Robin Clifford | Reeling Reviews | Rotten | C | 2021-03-07T00:30:35Z | 2021-03-07 00:30:35 | Maybe the problems of story and the "noise" will not be noticed by the Young Adult audience at which it is aimed. Then again, kids are smarter than we give them credit for. |
| 170780 | Adam Graham | Detroit News | Rotten | D- | 2021-03-06T08:10:46Z | 2021-03-06 08:10:46 | It all adds up to a lot of noise that's best to just tune out. |
| 170781 | Esther Zuckerman | Thrillist | Rotten | — | 2021-03-06T06:20:44Z | 2021-03-06 06:20:44 | In another world, Chaos Walking has Jupiter Ascending potential, wherein it's weird enough to be fascinating. Alas, it's just a snooze. |
| 170782 | Pete Hammond | Deadline Hollywood Daily | Rotten | — | 2021-03-06T05:50:34Z | 2021-03-06 05:50:34 | Production values are excellent, but Planet New World ain't all that different from Planet Earth. |
| 170785 | Josh Kupecki | Austin Chronicle | Fresh | 3/5 | 2021-03-06T05:40:31Z | 2021-03-06 05:40:31 | Chaos Walking has some things going for it, notably the ramifications of the Noise, and Todd and Viola's uncovering of the secrets of Prentisstown and New World. |
| 170784 | Andy Crump | Paste Magazine | Rotten | 5.8/10 | 2021-03-06T05:40:31Z | 2021-03-06 05:40:31 | Chaos Walking feels like a condensement of Ness' trilogy of books instead of a straightforward translation of the first, and consequently there's too much that needs to happen in too slim a running time. |
| 170783 | David Ehrlich | IndieWire | Rotten | C- | 2021-03-06T05:40:31Z | 2021-03-06 05:40:31 | "Chaos Walking" has no time for any thoughts that might complicate its ultra-bland hero's journey. |
| 170786 | Kevin Carr | Fat Guys at the Movies | Rotten | 2/4 | 2021-03-06T01:51:47Z | 2021-03-06 01:51:47 | needlessly convoluted |
| 170787 | Robert Denerstein | Denerstein Unleashed | Rotten | — | 2021-03-06T01:51:45Z | 2021-03-06 01:51:45 | Aside from the discovery of a vast, previously crashed ship, Chaos Walking lacks sci-fi scale. It almost feels as if the characters are playing at inhabiting a new planet without ever having left Earth. |
| 170788 | Charlie Ridgely | ComicBook.com | Fresh | 3/5 | 2021-03-05T23:31:15Z | 2021-03-05 23:31:15 | There's a fun and determined soul at the center of this story. Pair that with some great action sequences and two of the industry's brightest young stars, and you've got a film that endears against all odds. |
| 170789 | Todd Jorgenson | Cinemalogue | Rotten | — | 2021-03-05T22:11:07Z | 2021-03-05 22:11:07 | The translation from page to screen is mired in contrivances and cloudy character motives, perhaps in a misguided effort to streamline the offbeat premise for mainstream consumption. |
| 170790 | Kevin Brackett | ReviewSTL.com | Rotten | C- | 2021-03-05T22:11:05Z | 2021-03-05 22:11:05 | ...a predictable and lackluster script doesn't leave room for much intrigue along the journey. |
| 170791 | Matt Singer | ScreenCrush | Rotten | 5/10 | 2021-03-05T20:30:46Z | 2021-03-05 20:30:46 | Has the kind of premise that great sci-fi movies are made out of, and that lesser sci-fi movies waste in the service of generic action. |
| 170792 | James Verniere | Boston Herald | Rotten | C+ | 2021-03-05T18:50:48Z | 2021-03-05 18:50:48 | Rey Skywalker and Spider-Man deserve a better film that this. |
| 170793 | Jeff Mitchell | Phoenix Film Festival | Rotten | 2/4 | 2021-03-05T18:50:46Z | 2021-03-05 18:50:46 | There's a whole lot of story here, and it's better suited for a 10-part series rather than a dialed-down feature film. |
| 170794 | Gavia Baker-Whitelaw | The Daily Dot | Fresh | 3/5 | 2021-03-05T17:41:06Z | 2021-03-05 17:41:06 | If you like the sound of some not-too-schlocky thrills featuring well-chosen roles for Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland, it's worth checking out. |
| 170795 | Bilge Ebiri | New York Magazine/Vulture | Rotten | — | 2021-03-05T17:31:04Z | 2021-03-05 17:31:04 | You keep hoping a giant thought bubble will fly out of the bushes and whack someone over the head. |
| 170796 | Matt Zoller Seitz | RogerEbert.com | Fresh | 2.5/4 | 2021-03-05T17:11:02Z | 2021-03-05 17:11:02 | But once you're immersed, it's a powerful experience that lingers in the mind long after the film's many disappointments have started to fade. |
| 170797 | Luke Gorham | In Review Online | Rotten | — | 2021-03-05T15:11:03Z | 2021-03-05 15:11:03 | There's legitimate visual finesse to appreciate in the film ... but in Chaos Walking, what you hear is what you get, and, frankly, it's not enough. |
| 170798 | Matthew Razak | Flixist.com | Fresh | 6.6/10 | 2021-03-05T14:00:37Z | 2021-03-05 14:00:37 | By landing a quality director and two engaging leads, the film delivers on its quick pace and story but simply stumbles over its bigger issues. |
| 170799 | Shaun Munro | Flickering Myth | Rotten | 2/5 | 2021-03-05T13:30:32Z | 2021-03-05 13:30:32 | After spending years necrotising on a studio shelf, it won't surprise anyone to learn that Chaos Walking fritters away its kernels of interest and a wildly over-qualified cast on the usual tedious YA nonsense. |
| 170800 | Sarah Ward | Concrete Playground | Rotten | — | 2021-03-05T08:50:23Z | 2021-03-05 08:50:23 | This isn't a complex, layered or thoughtful film... 'noise' is the absolute right word for it. |
Showing the latest 100 canonical reviews for this movie.