55
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- I am at a loss to understand why this film has been marginalized. Branagh’s "Flute" is a joy.
- 70SalonStephanie ZacharekSalonStephanie ZacharekEven though there were moments in The Magic Flute when I wondered if Branagh hadn't truly gone off his rocker, I found its audacity exhilarating. [11 Sep 2006]
- 60The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThis is a genial and good-natured production with much spectacle and entertainment to offer, and, like all of Branagh's classical revivals on celluloid, it manages to be high-minded and yet accessible.
- 60Time OutTime OutApart from a fascination with the hate-spitting mouth and throat of Lyubov Petrova’s vocally pyrotechnic Queen of the Night, the visual gimmicks are individually tolerable. But they don’t add up to anything particular.
- Most unwary cinema-goers who see The Magic Flute will vow never to cross the threshold of an opera house as long as they live.
- 40VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyThere's not much magic left in Kenneth Branagh's The Magic Flute. Relocating the 1791 opera to WWI and adopting a hard-edged approach that worked for "Hamlet," Branagh has wrought a "Flute" for high-end aficionados only. Lavishly mounted and well sung, but thin on charm and spontaneity, pic is likely to hit a bum note at general wickets.
- The state of uncertainty persists for the entire film, as you wait in vain for the director to tie the pieces together.