Upon its release, the film received mostly positive reviews from critics, although their praise was more muted than it had been for the thematically similar "Goodfellas", released only five years earlier, with some reviewers criticizing Scorsese for retreading familiar territory. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 80% based on 64 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Impressive ambition and bravura performances from an outstanding cast help "Casino" pay off in spite of a familiar narrative that may strike some viewers as a safe bet for director Martin Scorsese." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B-" on scale of A+ to F.