“Shadow Force” partial poster featuring Omar Sy and Kerry Washington.
Shadow Force — an action thriller starring Kerry Washington and Omar Sy — is new in theaters. How are critics reacting to the movie?
Rated R, Shadow Force opens in theaters nationwide on Friday. The official summary for the film reads, “In Shadow Force, Kyrah (Washington) and Isaac (Sy) were once the leaders of a multinational special forces group called Shadow Force. They broke the rules by falling in love, and in order to protect their son, they go underground.
“With a large bounty on their heads, and the vengeful Shadow Force hot on their trail, one family’s fight becomes all-out war.”
Directed by Joe Carnahan, Shadow Force also stars Mark Strong, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Cliff “Method Man” Smith.
As of Friday, Shadow Force has received a 40% “rotten” rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics based on 16 reviews.
The RT Critics Consensus and Popcornmeter score from verified users’ ratings are still pending.
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘Shadow Force’?
Peter Debruge of Variety is among the top critics on RT who gives the film a “rotten” rating, writing, “A bullet-riddled scenario this simplistic and improbable can’t afford to be as sentimental as Shadow Force often gets.”
Barry Hertz of the Globe and Mail also gives the film a “rotten” rating on RT, writing, “Shadow Force deserves to be buried deep inside any random streaming service’s catalogue, never to be unearthed by even the most indifferent and callous what-to-watch-next algorithm.”
Clint Worthington of RogerEbert.com isn’t a fan of the film either, writing on RT, “The sitcommy scenes of family arguments and droll wisecracks clash with the grimmer aesthetic [Joe] Carnahan wants to give it, so Shadow Force feels like an action film serving two masters and fulfilling neither’s needs.”
There are not any “fresh” reviews from any of RT’s top critics as of the time of this publication, but Shadow Force earned positive reviews from other critics on the review aggregation website.
Among them is Cole Groth of Fandomwire, who writes in his “fresh” review on RT, “Shadow Force is a surprisingly competent action thriller that rises above its lackluster marketing with strong performances and stylish direction.”
In addition, Travis Hopson of Punch Drunk Critics gives Shadow Force a “fresh” review on RT, writing, “Shadow Force is definitely a theatrical release that should’ve been on streaming, but it’s not without its charms, mainly the passionate chemistry between [Kerry] Washington and [Omar] Sy.”
Shadow Force opens in theaters nationwide on Friday.