It's all very unnerving, modern and yet veins-in-the-teeth visceral.
- Tom Long, Detroit News, March 09, 2012
As a portrait of modern warfare, politics and propaganda, "Coriolanus" is intriguing, even if the gritty action sequences don't quite measure up to the realism of "The Hurt Locker."
- Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic, March 08, 2012
Fiennes's adaptation is a reflection of spin, media influence in public debate, the cult of personality and the glorification of war.
- Thomas Caldwell, Cinema Autopsy, March 07, 2012
Though I understand why they dare not tamper with Shakespeare's brilliant lines, it feels more and more like an unnatural gimmick when contrasted with the contemporary setting.
- Simon Miraudo, Quickflix, March 05, 2012
This is a blood-and-gutsy adaptation of a bloody and gut-wrenching tragedy by Shakespeare.. Director and co-star Fiennes has chiseled the play into a contemporary setting, not unlike Baz Luhrmann did with Romeo + Juliet, and just about as inventively
- Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile, March 03, 2012
Ralph Fiennes turns one of Shakespeare's least-loved plays into a slashing, muscular but uneven modern drama in his film-directing debut.
- Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 01, 2012
Even in what is viewed as a minor work, the inevitable currents of ambition and violence, cruelty and competition, rivalry and rage run strong and truthfully.
- Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer, February 16, 2012
When Caius Martius heads into battle against the invading Volscians, we get 20-odd minutes of brutal street-fighting with RPGs and crackling automatic weapons. The film was shot in Serbia; dial a few decades back and it could have been set there.
- Ty Burr, Boston Globe, February 16, 2012
In his first film as a director, Fiennes proves that he knows Fiennes the actor inside out, with a self-knowledge that's rare, even admirable.
- Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle, February 02, 2012
You buy the concept, from start to finish, because it feels strong and purposeful and in sync with Shakespeare's own vision of a malleable, fickle populace and a leader raised by the ultimate stage mother.
- Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, February 02, 2012
Visually and dramatically it works well-it's Shakespeare by way of Black Hawk Down-but as an allegory of modern-day geopolitics it doesn't really go anywhere.
- J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader, February 02, 2012
I admired the movie even though I found it neither fish nor fowl.
- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, February 02, 2012
What remains, in distilled form, is the poetry of violence and contempt-the source of the play's unfailing reputation for political threat and mischief.
- Anthony Lane, New Yorker, January 23, 2012
Slathered in blood, covered with scars and glowering with a predator's gaze, Ralph Fiennes makes a fierce and impressive Caius Martius Coriolanus.
- Connie Ogle, Miami Herald, March 23, 2012
The film has fifth-act problems, as did the play, but Fiennes' bleak overview should leave receptive viewers feeling daunted and haunted.
- Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine, January 08, 2013
The play's inherent difficulties notwithstanding, Coriolanus, the movie, is a perfectly sound achievement.
- Greg Quill, Toronto Star, January 08, 2013
Fiennes leads a cast that, at least in the major roles, is uniformly powerful.
- Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, January 08, 2013
The other actors do their best to help Fiennes define this curious anti-hero. Incapable of playing the role of peacetime compromiser, his Coriolanus comes across as a warrior who simply can't function without a war.
- John Hartl, Seattle Times, January 08, 2013
Fiennes creates a pitiless world without refuge, where neither the soft nor the unbending can survive.
- David Jays, Sight and Sound, June 18, 2012
"Coriolanus" is a triumph.
- Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 30, 2012
