Independent Cinema writes: We saw it in Drive, Valhalla Rising, Bronson, and even a little bit in Fear X; how Nicolas Winding Refn incorporates the backgrounds and visuals of his movies into the actual telling of the plot is almost too obvious. Neon colors and the pounding of Martinez’s score (and second-time collaboration with Refn) echo throughout Only God Forgives and tell the story more so than the actual characters. With another stellar cast and a second dive into the Gosling well, Nicolas Winding Refn wears thin from its shallow plot and excruciatingly slow-moving pace. Only God Forgives winds up feeling more like Refn burying himself in excess pretentiousness; that same pretentious style that he balanced expertly with his last three films. He does not go so far as to create a bad movie, but he goes into all his stylistic flourishes in order to create a film of excess, and ultimately one that feels way too polished for its own good.
Only God Forgives is an unconventional masterpiece with a fantastic Blu-ray release, boasting reference quality sound and picture.
Jeremy of The Daily Rotation wrote, "This year we’ve been gifted with some great tracks by some of the industry’s best, plus some new-comers or remotely unknowns have managed to sneak in and deliver where it counts. I know the year isn’t over with just yet, but I’ve thought long and hard about this list of my top five favorite movie soundtracks of 2013. There are a few more films coming out this year that could potentially make this list, but I’ve always been one to listen to a complete soundtrack for a month or two before allowing it to grace such a list, which means that this post wouldn’t be able to run until February or March if I continued to go by those standards."
TF: When actors decide to partner up with directors over multiple projects, there's inevitably a creative, artistic and muse-y reason why.
"...that same pretentious style that he balanced expertly with his last three films."
Although I'm sure this film may fall under the adjective, I can't help but wonder if most people know what the term "pretentious" actually means/signifies.