- 8
...may be the concert film as glorified promotional product, but it captures a genuine youthquake.
—Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly
- 7
...makes a persuasive case for its titular star as a far more talented-than-usual teen idol. As much a legitimate documentary as it is a 3D concert film and teen girl squeal-delivery device, the film possesses surprising moments of candor on the toil of teenage superstardom, even if the overall effect is purely promotional.
—Andrew Barker Variety
- 7
...generally succeeds ... thanks to a visually energetic approach by director Jon Chu that keeps all the obligatory backstage/onstage bits moving fluidly.
—Michael Rechtshaffen Hollywood Reporter
- 7
Will Never Say Never change your opinion of Justin Bieber? Probably not. But it does offer an interesting look at exactly what Bieber fever is, how it spread so fast and who is behind it.
—Jennifer Cady E!
- 6
...watching Never Say Never is akin to being an aging suburbanite circa 1964 and accidentally walking into a packed screening of A Hard Day's Night.
—Bill Gibron filmcritic.com
- 6
At 70 or 80 minutes, reduced to crazy fans, backstage atmosphere and home-movie footage of Mr. Bieber playing hockey and pounding the drums, Never Say Never could have been entirely satisfying. At 105 minutes it's exhausting, even though it has been expertly cut together.
—Mike Hale New York Times
- 6
After a while the movie starts to feel like lethal injection by bubblegum.
—Peter Travers Rolling Stone
- 5
Even if you're not much of a fan, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never isn't as painful as you might expect.
—Scott Bowles USA Today
- 4
Strictly as a piece of filmmaking, Never Say Never is a bit of a mess.
—Mark Olsen Los Angeles Times
- 4
...like its 3D sequences, Never Say Never has only the illusion of depth; beyond the shiny visuals and trumped-up origin story, there's nothing but flat emptiness.
—Genevieve Koski Onion AV Club
- 4
...amounts to a G-rated infomercial for the Bieber brand.
—Lou Lumenick New York Post
- 3
...not good -- not that it needs to be. It is draggily paced and lacks felicity of form; the 3-D is a rip-off and the songs are pap...
—Nick Pinkerton Village Voice
- 3
...not good -- not that it needs to be. It is draggily paced and lacks felicity of form; the 3-D is a rip-off and the songs are pap...
—Nick Pinkerton LA Weekly
- 3
The whole thing just seems so fake and manufactured that it's hard to tell where Bieber actually stands in all this laser-blasting, sparkling-3D mess.
—Robert Tumas Slant Magazine