52
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Film ThreatEric CamposFilm ThreatEric CamposExcellent acting, great music, amazing artwork and gorgeous Christopher Doyle type cinematography make this film an absolute treat to sit through. It's like a big piece of candy.
- 80VarietyDavid RooneyVarietyDavid RooneyA richly textured drama with an angry poetic edge that gets inside the obsessive subculture of New York graffiti artists, Bomb the System signals the arrival of a talented filmmaker in NYU film graduate Adam Bhala Lough.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceA needlessly circuitous plot twist leaves a bitter taste, but not before the film's scruffy charm does its work.
- 70The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenBomb the System, which rides on a subtle hip-hop soundtrack, might be described as soulful pulp; cult recognition awaits it.
- 60TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghIn the end it's all seductive surface and no substance, but Lough has a bold eye and a vivid sense of uniquely urban beauty.
- 50Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittWell acted and ably directed, if not very probing about its subject of underclass youth.
- 50Los Angeles TimesKevin CrustLos Angeles TimesKevin CrustHurting the film is the fact that the central character, Anthony, is so self-absorbed.
- 50New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanThe first feature from Adam Bhala Lough is brashly passionate in its desire to express the power and validity of graffiti art. But it's also preachy and single-minded, populated by a world of sympathetic heroes and hissable villains.
- 38New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickA mild, slow-moving drama that belatedly tries to argue that graffiti writers are political artists, not an urban blight.
- 30L.A. WeeklyErnest HardyL.A. WeeklyErnest HardyAs Bomb snakes its way toward tragedy, it grates rather than entices. The actors come off more as poseurs than as characters, and the film's political and cultural insights are superficial and old hat.