Most critics regard Scarface as a major early gangster film whose force survives its historical importance. Praise centres on Hawks’s inventive direction: the opening tracking shot, expressive shadows, visual contrasts and rapid montage give the violence pace and character. The reviews also find considerable wit beneath the brutality, with several praising the dark humour, lively script and cast, while its depiction of gangster style is repeatedly credited with helping establish the genre’s conventions.
The spread is broadly favourable rather than unanimous, with seven positive assessments, two mixed and none negative. Reservations concern the film’s moralising and the handling of its cruelty: the Los Angeles Times notes the unusual combination of brutality and preachiness, while Variety finds it unusually cruel, though softened by moralising and punishment. Variety also singles out George Raft’s restrained, coin-tossing performance as a source of sympathy within that harsher assessment.