Eliza Berman of
TIME magazine called the track "an anthemic tribute to the film's heroic protagonist," describing its sound as "poppy and easy on the ears, bordering on anthemic as it builds to a cathartic release in the final minute." She also commented, "If someone were to commission a song to play over the credits of a movie about heroic determination that comes out on Christmas Day, Coldplay's 'Miracles' would be it."
Rolling Stone magazine's Daniel Kreps wrote that "It's easy to picture 'Miracles,' which will likely generate some Best Song Oscar buzz, accompanying the
Unbroken end credits," and described the song as "piano-driven," "gentle, uplifting" and "reminiscent of Coldplay's latest single '
Ink'." Ryan Kristobak of
The Huffington Post noted, "Sonically similar to the band's most recent album,
Ghost Stories, 'Miracles' is a classic Coldplay mixture of sad, yet inspirational, with a dash more of the latter in keeping with the movie's story."
Radio.com's Shannon Carlin commented, "With a sweetly strummed guitar, a twinkling piano and a lot of snapping, this song sounds triumphant and as varied as the film itself. It also sounds ready for its Oscar moment. Frontman
Chris Martin sings about angels that talk to him, lightning strikes and floating above the world. It's all pretty magical." Tom Breihan of
Stereogum called the song "a fairly generic uplift anthem that really just sounds like a Coldplay song," adding that "it's a more rhythmically focused Coldplay song than it has to be, and it's a bit surprising hearing the band trying out ideas on
syncopation during an Oscar-season end-credits anthem." ==Personnel==