52
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyScreen DailyDavid D'ArcyMagnus Carlsen, called the Mozart of chess, became world champion in 2013 at the age of 22. Benjamin Ree’s rousing documentary shows us how this taciturn prodigy got there, and how his family keeps him sane.
- 70We Got This CoveredLauren Humphries-BrooksWe Got This CoveredLauren Humphries-BrooksTo make a movie about such an elusive figure is a challenging undertaking, and it’s a testament to the quality of Magnus that the film succeeds as well as it does.
- 70Village VoiceDaphne HowlandVillage VoiceDaphne HowlandRee makes things easy for people who don't play chess, deftly pacing Carlsen's triumphs and failures and milking the suspense as "the Mozart of chess" employs his intuition to win, in an age when many players depend on computers to hone their skills.
- 70Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenLos Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenThe loneliness of the long-distance chess grandmaster is affectingly conveyed in Magnus.
- 70VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanMagnus, it turns out, is the anti-Bobby: a fascinatingly “normalized” prodigy.
- 63Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger Moore[Ree] virtually never surprises us, making his film more a celebratory hagiography for proud Norwegians than anything the rest of the world, in and out of chess, can embrace.
- 60Total FilmNeil SmithTotal FilmNeil SmithIt’s too brief to convey the intellect and almost mystical ability that underpin Carlsen’s success.
- 42The PlaylistKevin JagernauthThe PlaylistKevin JagernauthMagnus is gifted with a tremendous opportunity and mostly squanders it, creating a profile that certainly admires Carlsen, but does little to uncover the methodology or magic behind the dazzling display he demonstrates on the board.
- 40The GuardianLeslie FelperinThe GuardianLeslie FelperinEven though director Benjamin Ree has accessed the family archive of footage showing young Magnus as a socially awkward prodigy through the years and interviewed him directly many times, the film barely dents his inviolate wall of polite reticence.
- 20The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis[An] insipid and uninformative portrait of singularity and obsession.