Although the film is replete with suspense, it's often at its best when playing the characters on the raft off one another.

| Mar 25, 2020

Considering we all know the outcome, the levels of tension remain impressive, while an atmosphere of melancholy tempers even the most triumphant moments.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 21, 2014

It is beautifully shot and has the same fierce intelligence about it that you find in its producer's other epic "quest" movies.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 19, 2014

The wacky, amateurish derring-do of the six-man crew, led by the lanky, floppy haired Pl Sverre Valheim Hagen as the ethnographer Heyerdahl, is astounding.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 19, 2014

Enjoyable but not as exciting as it should be.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 19, 2014

It's intrinsically rousing stuff, although the journey is a little low on drama apart from the odd shark attack and a bit of bickering between Heyerdahl and his virtually indistinguishable crew of blond men with beards.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 18, 2014

A big-spirited and inspiring boy's own adventure.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 18, 2014

Not the most ambitious film on Thomas's resum, but as sturdily assembled, in its old-fashioned way, as the authentic balsa-wood raft on which Heyerdahl and his five intrepid crew-mates made their trek.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 18, 2014

It's played as such a straight-up-and-down, old-fashioned, formulaic adventure that it lacks any intimacy or feeling and almost can't be bothered with its own characters.

| Dec 11, 2014

It's an absorbing and often lyrical piece of storytelling that doesn't overembellish the facts or rely on a pumped-up score or whiplash editing to heighten the dramatic action.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 31, 2013

Kon-Tiki is a widescreen man-against-nature epic, beautifully shot and boasting seamless, stunning visual effects.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 17, 2013

"Kon-Tiki" is awesome in the true sense of the word: You sit in awe of the bravery, audacity, stupidity and natural power on display. Ah, to imagine and dream. And to go forth.

| Original Score: A | May 17, 2013

How much is fiction and how much is deliberate confusion?

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | May 16, 2013

Upbeat and less exciting than you might wish, though it could be a good adventure film for older kids.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 16, 2013

The characters don't register as much more than genre archetypes, but that doesn't spoil the fun, since the filmmakers re-create the journey in such vivid detail.

| May 3, 2013

Most everyone loves a ripping good sea yarn, so why doesn't Kon-Tiki rip?

| Original Score: 2/4 | May 3, 2013

Part history lesson, part classic adventure tale and often stunning to watch.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 2, 2013

"Kon-Tiki" is stalwart and uplifting and there are passing moments of wonder.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 2, 2013

Unfortunately, sharks and whales aren't the stars of the film, so the movie is a pretty humdrum affair when it focuses on humans, even when actors are playing characters based on real people.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | May 2, 2013

Kon-Tiki has the look and feel of a big, bracing adventure. It skirts many of the emotional issues in favor of high adventure with hungry sharks and monster storms.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 2, 2013