--- title: "Michael Collins: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/michael-collins/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/michael-collins" critics_score: 67 critics_reviews: 12 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Michael Collins (1996): what the critics said Critics' score 67 from 12 reviews: 8 positive, 3 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics come down in favour, and the praise gathers around Neil Jordan’s handling of the story as a thriller: the reviews keep returning to its pace, its scale and the momentum of its set pieces, with several noting the cross-cutting and the atmospheric camerawork and design. Liam Neeson’s Collins is the other point of agreement, described as vital, magnetic and blood-curdling by turns, and a number regard this as Jordan’s most ambitious film to that point. The reservations are almost all about history. A recurring complaint is that Collins is painted as a saint and Éamon de Valera as a villain, with The Guardian objecting to specific liberties, including an exaggerated massacre. Roger Ebert finds the Julia Roberts romance unnecessary. Empire is alone in thinking Neeson lacks charisma, and The Independent reserves its warmest words for Alan Rickman. The spread is wide, running from outright enthusiasm to The New York Times, which calls the film sugarcoated and sloganeering. ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 11 October 1996. The film is a rare epic true story transferred to screen with matching intelligence, skill and elan; it is an extremely cinematic, beautifully made David Lean-type epic with a vital, confidence-filled performance by Neeson that captures Collins perfectly. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-10-11-ca-52601-story.html) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). Jordan's most ambitious and satisfying film to date, a dense and stirring thriller tracing Collins's career with real scale, pace, menace and moral import. Exceptional performances (aside from one mannered turn) and atmospheric camerawork and design evoke a country in turmoil. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/michael-collins) ## The AV Club — John Krewson Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 29 March 2002. Neil Jordan's film is an extraordinary epic that succeeds as both cinema and history. Liam Neeson's performance as the title character stands out as stirring and blood-curdling. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/michael-collins-1798195688) ## Empire — Ian Nathan Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic praises Jordan's intelligent, passionate direction and the film's momentum as a thriller about the Irish revolutionary, while noting it stumbles due to Neeson's lack of charisma in the lead role. It highlights strong supporting performances and moments of directorial mastery in cross-cutting. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/michael-collins-review/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 25 October 1996. The critic praises the film as a strong portrayal of the Irish revolutionary as a clear-sighted folk hero who used innovative guerrilla tactics and sought pragmatic peace, crediting Liam Neeson's performance. It criticizes the unnecessary romantic subplot with Julia Roberts' character and questions the film's depiction of Eamon de Valera as overly villainous. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/michael-collins-1996) ## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 7 October 1996. Jordan has made a thriller that is astonishingly untalkative and blarney-free, depending on episodes to excite rather than persuade; it is a strong advance on his previous work, with fine cinematography, though it encourages the audience to like Collins too much and has some sketchiness. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/10/14/the-thrill-of-a-cause) ## The Times — Kate Muir Rating ★★★★☆. 4 March 2016. The critic praises Liam Neeson as superb in the lead role and notes the film's heart and dramatic energy despite some historical deviations and period scenery. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/classic-film-michael-collins-1996-x8pl7sxp3) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 10 November 1996. The critic views the film as a well-mounted but overly schematic and romanticized biopic that portrays Collins as a plaster saint while demonizing the British. It singles out Alan Rickman's complex, menacing performance as de Valera for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/film-a-hero-too-good-to-be-true-1351628.html) ## The Guardian Rating B (entertainment). 9 December 2010. The critic finds the film watchable and mostly well-judged on a worthy subject but undermined by careless liberties with the facts, including exaggerating a massacre and implying de Valera's involvement in Collins's assassination. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/dec/09/reel-history-michael-collins-irish) ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 3 September 1996. Festival review. The film is intelligent, enormously accomplished and seriously problematic, with tremendous action, incident and momentum that comes off like political history as gangster film; it has strong efforts from all hands but does not quite pay off dramatically. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/michael-collins-1200446989/) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 11 October 1996. The critic notes the uphill battle Jordan faces in selling the little-known subject and criticizes the film's sugarcoating and sloganeering, but praises its passionate enthusiasm for the material and Neeson's magnetic, blustery performance as Collins. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/11/movies/michael-who-irish-freedom-fighter-and-big-fella.html) ## Paste — Ciara Moloney Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 25 October 2021. The critic positions the film as a major but underappreciated work outside Ireland that nonetheless became a cultural cornerstone there upon release. They single out its big-studio Hollywood sheen and star power as elements that make it a compelling, if flawed, biopic worth revisiting on its own terms. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/neil-jordan/michael-collins-liam-neeson-anniversary) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/michael-collins.md