42
There’s no reason for a film with a plot this simple to drag on to the two-hour mark. In a movie filled with public executions, that running time qualifies as truly cruel and unusual punishment.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
30
Village Voice by Amy Nicholson
While Kiriya can shoot a sword fight, his preferred pace is glacial. He wants to make sure the audience feels every plot point.
25
Another macho celebration of fighting for "freedom" because someone else told you to, devoid of any acknowledgement of the inherent irony of that ideology.
38
It will be hard for audiences to remain even vaguely attentive during this slog of a feudal vengeance tale.
20
The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck
Neither the dramatic nor action elements are remotely compelling, with the nearly two-hour running time feeling interminable.
40
Last Knights is a fairly ludicrous mystery and a so-so action movie, but it’s nonetheless been constructed with an earnest attention to detail that shouldn’t be taken for granted.
20
this old-school international hodgepodge production is weighed down by a lumbering humorlessness and a glacial pace that makes it seem far longer than its 115 minutes.
40
Los Angeles Times by Robert Abele
The medieval-tinged adventure Last Knights will test your patience for speeches about honor, grim declarations of loyalty and pre-battle glowering.
25
This ponderous drama from director Kazuaki Kiriya quickly gets weighed down by its own blood-drenched armor.
40
Screen International by Tim Grierson
Last Knights is little more than a dutifully compiled collection of genre conventions, its tale of a group of brave knights seeking vengeance for their fallen leader so undemanding that it’s almost charmingly pedestrian.