64
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83The Film StageRory O'ConnorThe Film StageRory O'ConnorAnytime it feels that Before We Vanish is getting too caught up in its thought process, the director is always ready with a flash of ultra violence, slapstick humor, or a pithy line.
- 80The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottMr. Kurosawa, a prolific and skilled genre master, spins this parable with a light, nimble touch, punctuating heavy passages of exposition with punchy, modest action sequences and snatches of incongruously bouncy music.
- 75Slant MagazineGreg CwikSlant MagazineGreg CwikOn its own, this is a fun, broadly satirical alien-invasion film, more self-aware than self-serious, but its beauty, its poignancy, comes from its relationship to Kiyoshi Kurosawa's other work.
- 70VarietyMaggie LeeVarietyMaggie LeePlaying frequently like an absurdist political satire with only flashes of violence, this low-tension, drawn-out work won’t gratify the chills or adrenaline rushes fanboys crave, but the ending strikes a romantic chord so pure that all but the most jaded cynics will be moved.
- 70Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangLos Angeles TimesJustin ChangIf Before We Vanish isn't nearly as focused or accomplished as Kurosawa's horror masterpiece "Cure" (2001), or as shattering as his magnum opus "Tokyo Sonata" (2008), it's nonetheless a reminder that he has few equals when it comes to spinning even the flimsiest B-movie template into a cinema of ideas.
- 63ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThe promise of Before We Vanish’s early moments is never fully realized, however, as the movie plods and meanders through an overly-familiar narrative on its way to a half-baked and uneven conclusion.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonThe Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonPerpetually shifting gears between playful sci-fi pastiche, quirky rom-com and apocalyptic thriller, Before We Vanish might have worked better as a single dedicated genre, but it becomes a little scrambled trying to cover several at once.
- 50IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichThe movie is every bit as bloated as his last few, but its charms remind us of his great potential (and potential greatness).