Good Kill 2015

Sara Stewart, New York Post: Niccol's film may not be perfect, but it shines a light on a subject many viewers will know vaguely by name - and not much more. Read more

Guy Lodge, Variety: Andrew Niccol takes on the topical issue of drone strikes in a tense war drama notable for its tact and intelligence. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: Heavy on speeches and light on actual drama. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: This is repugnant stuff. But, at least in the film, there's no gray area. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: "Good Kill" wants to use the movies as a Trojan horse to confront us with our international sins. It's a worthy effort, even if it's not a very well-built horse. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: The bold, confrontational tone commands one's attention, and the cast -- which also includes Bruce Greenwood and Zoe Kravitz -- is superb. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: "Good Kill" is darkly enlightening, but it's not really all that good. Read more

Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: Directed and written by Andrew Niccol (whose phenomenal 1997 film Gattaca also starred Hawke), and supposedly "based on actual events," Good Kill raises important questions about the nature of modern warfare, but it is a bit heavy-handed and strained. Read more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: Good Kill is well-intentioned, but the topic of joystick combat needs more nuanced treatment than it gets here. Read more

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: Psychologically complex and unsettling ... Read more

Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times: Where Niccol succeeds is in creating an atmosphere of self-loathing, both for those manning the drones and the audience watching them work. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: The discomfiting premise and a fine performance by Hawke make this somewhat thinly written drama worth seeing. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: Hawke is on a roll right now, and "Good Kill" stirs him to another performance of cogency and zeal. Is it sufficient, however, to support an entire movie? Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: What Niccol is really interested in ... is what this kind of warfare does to the men and women pushing the buttons and adding up the numbers. Read more

Justin Chang, NPR: It's a movie that hits every one of its ideological targets, but still winds up missing the mark. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: It's all far more unsettling than any horror film. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: Disregard the arguments for and against drone warfare advanced in "Good Kill," and the movie still makes a persuasive case that our blind infatuation with all-powerful technology is stripping us of our humanity. Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: One of the most insightful films about the War on Terror since 9/11. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Good Kill excels as a character study with Niccol's screenplay making Egan a fascinatingly conflicted and flawed individual and Ethan Hawke giving one of his best recent performances bringing the man to life. Read more

Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: But the visuals pack a visceral punch. Every time Tom zeroes in on a target, every time he pushes that button, what we see on those monitors is brutally authentic. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Will gamers be the drone pilots of tomorrow? Will death lose its sting? Niccol conjectures all over the place. He's doing too much, pushing too hard. Condemn the guy or clone him? You be the judge. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: Thoughtful and immensely gripping ... Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: How long can you push that button before feeling like an assassin? How do you relate to teammates who say that's exactly the right thing to do? Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: We need to have a dialogue about the wages of war in the remote-control era. But it's hard to spark a good dialogue with movies whose dialogue is so bad. Read more

Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail: Good Kill is half-measure, with a redemptive ending that plays as safe and bogus. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: A sombre, intelligent drama that critiques Obama's ongoing drone policy while still positioning its button-pushing characters as tortured anti-heroes. Read more

Steve Tilley, Toronto Sun: It's thoughtful and timely, offering an unsettling look at the two faces of modern warfare. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: The picture is quiet, tense, and thoughtful. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Potent enough to make me wish it were less clunky. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: For the most part, "Good Kill" asks pertinent, enduring questions, not by way of polemic, but through the study of a character whose professionalism and competence are given full respect, even when they're challenged by the mission at hand. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Compelling as the subject may be, its abstract nature would challenge the most skillful of dramatists, and Mr. Niccol's script seldom rises above slogans, argumentation and standard-brand domestic tension. Read more