52
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80CineVueZoe MargolisCineVueZoe MargolisOverall this is a remarkable debut from Elba, and it makes for an engaging, captivating watch.
- 80Film ThreatBradley GibsonFilm ThreatBradley GibsonYardie is a ripping classic gangster tale done right, but that’s only part of the appeal. It goes beyond the narrative into full cultural immersion with music as the window into a time and place.
- 63ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliBy incorporating a strong Jamaican flavor and infusing the mix with reggae and dance, Elba provides something more interesting than the standard tale of gang warfare and drug deals that forms Yardie’s skeleton. However, although these unique elements form an effective distraction, their ability to captivate wears thin, exposing the threadbare, overfamiliar story that struggles mightily to keep viewers engaged.
- 63Washington PostMichael O'SullivanWashington PostMichael O'SullivanIt’s all kiss-kiss, bang-bang and backstabbing, with a twist that, while effective, leads to a denouement of questionable — and not entirely satisfying — moral reckoning. In some ways, Yardie plays out like a film noir, but with a strangely sweet ending, and without that genre’s deliciously bitter aftertaste.
- 60The GuardianMike McCahillThe GuardianMike McCahillA debut of unarguable promise, though – plenty to build on if Elba can resist the adolescent lure of running round with 007’s PPK.
- 60EmpireJimi FamurewaEmpireJimi FamurewaNeither a luridly enjoyable piece of Scarface-style pulp or a nuanced genre subversion, Idris Elba’s directorial debut is a fitfully entertaining 1980s gangster thriller.
- 50Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinLos Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinElba brings care to the film’s performances, period look and musical elements. But the freeze frames, needless voice-over bits and stalled narrative momentum undercut the picture’s potential power and uniqueness.
- 40The Observer (UK)Simran HansThe Observer (UK)Simran HansAn over-explanatory voiceover seems to indicate a lack of confidence in the script’s jumbled plotting and laggy pacing. The performances aren’t bad (Ameen’s charisma eclipses the expositional dialogue), but the stakes feel low and the characters gangster-movie generic.
- 38Slant MagazineDerek SmithSlant MagazineDerek SmithThe film’s tendency to break the “show, don’t tell” directive becomes especially irksome in its homestretch.
- 25San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleThe story, based on a novel by Victor Headley, is pointless and occasionally ridiculous. And the movie is hardly helped by a protagonist that we’re expected to care about, even as he does an unending series of colossally stupid, violent and self-destructive things.