Overview
- The film opened in theaters on Sept. 10 and critics’ early reviews are mixed, with praise for acting countered by objections that could affect opening-week audience expectations.
- Andrew Garfield’s central turn and supporting work by Woody Norman, Jamie Bell and others are widely singled out as the movie’s chief strengths.
- Multiple reviewers object to a late-stage storytelling decision that repositions the protagonist, calling that choice anachronistic, distracting and damaging to the film’s historical weight.
- Critics also flagged technical problems, naming heavy use of digital backdrops, noticeable CGI and jostled handheld camerawork as factors that make the world feel synthetic and uneven.
- Focus Features faced a brief, contested marketing push that suggested a familiar folklore angle and then removed the material, a campaign misstep that reviewers say has amplified scrutiny and could shape box office and public reaction.