Like many good documentary filmmakers, Tristan Patterson is a talented eavesdropper who lets characters articulate overriding themes.
- Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail, December 16, 2011
In following this scattered character around, "Dragonslayer" director Tristan Patterson makes a very purposeful documentary about the pessimistic worldview of the nation's youth, and what that means for the future.
- Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle, November 17, 2011
A youth culture backdropped by the crumbling edge of California is rendered with punk rock energy and grace.
- , Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2011
The portrait is dispiriting overall, inspiring little affection from viewers, but feels authentic and fair.
- John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter, November 08, 2011
Despite a slew of skateboarding films in recent years, each one quite distinct, Patterson's pic arguably comes closest to channeling the culture's punk vibe and youthful abandon, albeit filtered through an outsider's aesthetic.
- Robert Koehler, Variety, November 08, 2011
Patterson's one-of-a-kind hybrid captures a socio-historical moment with the kind of charged authenticity that only comes from a willingness to embrace contradictions: It's discursive and hypnotic, laconic and urgent.
- Karina Longworth, Village Voice, November 08, 2011
Seamlessly dovetailing style and subject, "Dragonslayer," a poetic and affectionate portrait of the professional skateboarder Josh Sandoval, known as Skreech, vivifies a subculture of random hedonism and future myopia.
- Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times, November 03, 2011
With its propulsive punk-rock soundtrack and beautifully rough cinematography, Dragonslayer makes you care about this scrawny young man, skating to nowhere.
- Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly, November 02, 2011
For a tagalong doc, Dragonslayer is remarkably well shot, with a worn-in quality that belies its digital origins.
- Sam Adams, Time Out New York, November 01, 2011
Is Josh "Skreech" Sandoval the least deserving documentary subject ever?
- Nick Schager, Slant Magazine, November 07, 2011
