Editing Small Soldiers (section)

===Critical response===
On [[review aggregator]] [[Rotten Tomatoes]], ''Small Soldiers'' has an approval rating of 50% based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 6.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Small Soldiers'' has plenty of visual razzle-dazzle, but the rote story proves disappointingly deficient in director Joe Dante's trademark anarchic spirit."<ref>{{Cite Rotten Tomatoes|title=Small Soldiers (1998)|id=small_soldiers|type=m|access-date=March 5, 2025}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=August 7, 1998 |author1=EW Staff |title=Critical Mass |url=https://ew.com/article/1998/08/07/critical-mass-36/ |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |access-date=December 7, 2022 |archive-date=December 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210163553/https://ew.com/article/1998/08/07/critical-mass-36/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Siskel & Ebert]] gave it Two Thumbs Down. [[Roger Ebert]] gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, saying: "The toys are presented as individuals who can think for themselves, and there are believable heroes and villains among them. For smaller children, this could be a terrifying experience."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ebert|first=Roger|date=July 10, 1998|title=Small Soldiers movie review & film summary (1998) {{!}} Roger Ebert|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/small-soldiers-1998|access-date=2020-07-17|website=rogerebert|language=en|archive-date=2020-08-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809211737/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/small-soldiers-1998|url-status=live}}</ref> Caroline Westbrook of ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and said: "It's ''[[Gremlins]]'' with toy soldiers, except not quite as dark or funny."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Westbrook|first=Caroline|date=2000-01-01|title=Small Soldiers|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/small-soldiers-review/|access-date=2020-07-17|website=Empire|language=en|archive-date=2019-12-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226040544/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/small-soldiers-review/|url-status=live}}</ref>