Generally favorable reviews - based on 41 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 41
  2. Negative: 0 out of 41
  2. As a result of Mann's craftsmanship and concern, Collateral crackles with energy and purpose, a propulsive film with character on its mind and confident men and women on both sides of the camera.
  3. Reviewed by: Joanne Kaufman
    Hugely entertaining thriller.
  4. The best kind of genre filmmaking: It plays by the rules, obeys the traditions and is both familiar and fresh at once.
  5. 88
  6. 88
  7. Reviewed by: Mike Clark
    Shake it all up and you get Collateral, a movie with only one conceivable flaw: its disinclination to break new ground, though no one held that against "The Fugitive" more than a decade of Augusts ago.
  8. Michael Mann's tensely funny and alive Los Angeles night-world thriller, is, in its own twisty way, a very high-stakes buddy movie, yet it doesn't look like one, because it leaps off from a situation more jangled and threatening than we're used to.
  10. Reviewed by: Colin Kennedy
    Perhaps the best premise for thrills since "Speed," only this time the bad guy’s on board and the battle of wits is more philosophical debate than pop quiz.
  12. Reviewed by: David Ansen
  13. Reviewed by: Richard Schickel
    As much a dark, odd couple comedy as it is a quirky, efficient little thriller.
  14. Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    Occupying a dramatic, philosophical and sensory twilight zone that casts a considerable spell, this intensely focused piece soars not only on the director's precision-tooled style but also on the outstanding interplay between leads Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx.
  15. If Collateral is all formula, it's polished to a fine sheen.
  16. 80
  17. Really two movies: a taut, terrific, realistic crime drama, and, by the end, an over-the top, high-tech extravaganza which tries to out-Woo John Woo and turn Cruise into another Terminator.
  19. 75
    Collateral is a small, modest movie writ large by people so talented, they aren't capable of anything less.
  20. The whole movie is something of a joke, a feature-length prank that mixes stark violence and shock humor in the mold of Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction." Though it is a far less ambitious entertainment than Tarantino's masterpiece, it has its moments.
  21. 75
    Stylish - if predictable - thriller.
  22. Foxx makes what he does look effortless. He's the reason to see Collateral, as he walks into the frame and walks off with the picture.
  23. Collateral is a good idea for a movie, backed up by expert execution... It's straight-up entertainment, not something to see and then talk about a month later, but definitely something to enjoy.
  24. 75
    Cruise is chillingly credible as the cold, cruel Vincent. And Foxx shows unexpected depth and humanity as Max, whose night encapsulates the cliché about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
  25. The first half is exhilarating, and the rest is a tolerably honourable surrender to Hollywood conventions.
  26. Reviewed by: M. E. Russell
  28. Reviewed by: Pete Vonder Haar
    After a solid hour and a half, the climax almost seems to have come from a different movie. Collateral is still a hell of a ride, but could've used a smoother landing.
  29. 70
  30. 70
    Mann's moody Collateral unravels toward the end, faltering at its conclusion but dispensing enough atmosphere, characterization, and world-weary humanism along the way that audiences would be wise to enjoy the ride without worrying too much about the final destination.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 198 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 88 out of 104
  2. Negative: 8 out of 104
  1. Sep 29, 2011
  2. Feb 28, 2014
  3. Feb 22, 2014
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