Mostly this is just too mild, too quiet, too distant. It tracks its target. But it never quite manages to get it in its sites.
- Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger, April 06, 2012
Dafoe proves to have the right blend of ruggedness and sensitivity for this conflicted hero.
- Kyle Smith, New York Post, April 06, 2012
"The Hunter" is engrossing and thoughtful entertainment. It's a mystery with a message.
- Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, April 06, 2012
"The Hunter" loses its way.
- Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News, April 05, 2012
"The Hunter" doesn't particularly test him, but Dafoe, who's in every scene of the film, easily dominates it.
- Jake Coyle, Associated Press, April 03, 2012
It's all intended to be darkly metaphorical. In actuality, it's a mediocre film unfolding without plan, purpose or enthusiasm.
- Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 03, 2012
The character arc is strong on paper but not well-realized on film, and therein lies The Hunter's greatest failing.
- James Berardinelli, ReelViews, April 13, 2012
By the time The Hunter jettisons its narrative ballast altogether and embraces its elemental appeal, it's too late.
- Adam Nayman, Globe and Mail, April 13, 2012
The film is really Dafoe's show, and he reminds once again why he is such a tremendous actor and also one so easy to underestimate and take for granted.
- Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, April 12, 2012
Nettheim films long stretches without dialogue and lets the landscape take centre stage, relying on Robert Humphreys' superb camerawork to tell the story.
- Linda Barnard, Toronto Star, April 12, 2012
A movie with more plot than it can comfortably handle.
- Ty Burr, Boston Globe, May 17, 2012
A slow-burning, beautifully shot, understated philosophical thriller.
- Kim Newman, Empire Magazine, July 01, 2012
Dafoe is eminently watchable, and for the most part it's a distinctive, atmospheric movie that cherishes the persistence of mystery.
- Steve Rose, Guardian [UK], July 05, 2012
There's a gripping moral weight to the questions of survival and profiteering the story raises, and the worryingly inexact moment when our interest in endangered species tips over into thoughts of human gain.
- Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph, July 05, 2012
If you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise, in the form of an elegant genre-hopper coming on like Werner Herzog meets Michael Crighton.
- , Film4, July 04, 2012
Not much happens in "The Hunter." And what little does happen, happens very slowly. And then is repeated.
- Soren Anderson, Seattle Times, April 19, 2012
You watch Dafoe's intelligent hands skillfully setting traps, building fires and squeezing triggers, and wonder if an entire movie might be made of such manly components.
- Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York, April 03, 2012
You want to say: "Can I have the message in a separate envelope and just spend the film looking at the landscapes?"
- Nigel Andrews, Financial Times, July 05, 2012
Unfocussed and thematically overburdened. More could have been said with less.
- Matthew Thrift, Little White Lies, July 05, 2012
Dafoe invests every action with a sense of purpose (not, thankfully, the same thing as meaning), to the extent that viewers would likely turn up to watch him peel potatoes, Jeanne Dielman-style.
- Sam Adams, AV Club, April 05, 2012
