Most critics find Krull a derivative fantasy adventure whose action fails to sustain an absorbing story. The praise centres on its fantasy world, with the more receptive reviews finding charm and excitement in the effects and imagery. Even some sceptical responses allow it modest pleasures: Variety credits Peter Yates’s professionalism and the mainly British cast with keeping the material from becoming laughable, while finding it never quite dull.
The spread is wide, particularly on the effects and the question of whether the quest entertains. /Film offers the clearest positive dissent, praising the practical effects, spider sequence and miniature fortress, and arguing that familiarity need not spoil the enjoyment. Other reviews find the effects poorly realised and the action clumsy. Eye for Film is especially severe, finding too little imagination, humour or character development to establish an emotional connection. The central divide is between enjoying the fantasy trappings and finding them insufficient.