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Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: MODERATE (cg) "Christian Bale grows tiresome as a drunk, but then straightens up and is an adequate hero, although lacking in depth and background." (Read the full review...) 740 words, 01/20/12
Mike Hale, New York Times: POOR "...revisits the Nanjing massacre of 1937 by making something resembling a backstage musical, with breaks for the occasional ghastly murder or rape." (Read the full review...) 936 words, 12/21/11 Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: WEAK (cg) "Zhang Yimou romanticizes the unimaginably awful, turning gold-hearted prostitutes and virginal orphans into cinematic martyrs." (Read the full review...) 189 words, 12/23/11 Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times/Chicago Tribune: WEAK "...slathers on schmaltz.... the lurid beauty of the visuals (photographed by frequent Zhang collaborator Zhao Xiaoding) and the hokey exaggerations of the story are well matched." (Read the full review...) 749 words, 12/23/11 V.A. Musetto, New York Post: POOR (cg) "...a ludicrous soap opera... Battle scenes are spectacular -- great explosions! -- but most of the screen time is taken up by a contrived and schmaltzy script..." (Read the full review...) 181 words, 12/23/11 Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: MODERATE (cg) "Christian Bale grows tiresome as a drunk, but then straightens up and is an adequate hero, although lacking in depth and background." (Read the full review...) 740 words, 01/20/12 Tim Grierson, Village Voice/LA Weekly: POOR "Zhang Yimou mostly just proves that there's no tragedy too terrible that it can't be turned into an operatic pageant -- human suffering reduced to visual showmanship." (Read the full review...) 426 words, 12/21/11 Greg Quill, Toronto Star: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Though it's a big story about important things, and based on Geling Yan's popular novel '13 Flowers of Nanjing,' the movie feels way too long." (Read the full review...) 667 words, 02/24/12 Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE (cg) "...the Chinese cast recite grammatically perfect, phonetic English so stilted you find yourself wishing the film would stick to subtitles." (Read the full review...) 644 words, 02/24/12 Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK (cg) "It's too well produced to write off completely, but it's not good at all." (Read the full review...) 221 words, 02/23/12
Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: MODERATE (cg) "It's as if the story gets in the way of artful filmmaking, which is a tragedy for the movie but also a disservice to history that adds cinematic carnage to a horrific turn of events." (Read the full review...) 479 words, 01/20/12 Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: MODERATE (cg) "...melodramatic cheese... but the battle scenes are everything you'd expect from the man who staged the colossal opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics." (Read the full review...) 134 words, 05/18/12 Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic: WEAK (cg) "...you are left to decide if it is morally acceptable to make, or to enjoy, a cinematically sophisticated, well-acted film that turns real, historic tragedy into entertainment cliches." (Read the full review...) 606 words, 03/30/12 Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...features the sort of loose, open acting Bale often seems to take himself too seriously for. But he reminds you here that, in addition to everything else, he could be a big movie star, too." (Read the full review...) 881 words, 01/20/12 Walter Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: MODERATE (cg) "...affecting at times, but finally feels overblown and heavy-handed. It's a disappointment from director Zhang Yimou ('Ju Dou,' 'Raise the Red Lantern')." (Read the full review...) 403 words, 12/23/11 Gary Thompson, Miami Herald: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...a massive clash of content and tone, a strange hybrid of 'City of Life and Death' and 'Father Goose' that nevertheless, in the hands of Zhang Yimou, musters a few striking moments." (Read the full review...) 318 words, 04/13/12
Tim Grierson, Village Voice/LA Weekly: POOR "Zhang Yimou mostly just proves that there's no tragedy too terrible that it can't be turned into an operatic pageant -- human suffering reduced to visual showmanship." (Read the full review...) 426 words, 12/21/11 Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: MODERATE (cg) "...unimpressive... With some lovely slow-motion shots of bullets piercing stained glass, Zhang practices the mortician's art himself, prettifying something awful." (Read the full review...) 142 words, 01/19/12 Tasha Robinson, AV Club: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...individual performances and scenes are striking and masterful, but taken as a whole, it's less a film than a rallying cry of 'Our people feel more deeply than yours.' " (Read the full review...) 551 words, 01/19/12 Alison Willmore, Movieline: VERY GOOD (cg) "...finds plenty of moments in which Zhang's skill as a filmmaker and his deft handling and interest in female characters shines..." (Read the full review...) 985 words, 01/19/12 Andrew Schenker, Slant: MODERATE (cg) "...has too many weak, unconnected strands (what's the subplot about the narrator's father doing here anyway?), too much overtly expositional dialogue, and too unfocused a narrative to really cohere." (Read the full review...) 482 words, 12/18/11 Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK (cg) "It's too well produced to write off completely, but it's not good at all." (Read the full review...) 221 words, 02/23/12
Mike Hale, New York Times: POOR "...revisits the Nanjing massacre of 1937 by making something resembling a backstage musical, with breaks for the occasional ghastly murder or rape." (Read the full review...) 936 words, 12/21/11 Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times: WEAK "...slathers on schmaltz.... the lurid beauty of the visuals (photographed by frequent Zhang collaborator Zhao Xiaoding) and the hokey exaggerations of the story are well matched." (Read the full review...) 749 words, 12/23/11
Justin Chang, Daily Variety: GOOD "...a uniquely harrowing account of the rape of Nanjing. Simultaneously florid and gritty... a work of often garish dramatic flourishes yet undeniable emotional power..." (Read the full review...) 1,077 words, 12/11/11 Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: WEAK "...unconvincing.... a conscious bid to make the horrors of the Nanjing story dramatically accessible to a wider audience... it plays like hokum." (Read the full review...) 1,184 words, 12/11/11 Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times: WEAK "...slathers on schmaltz.... the lurid beauty of the visuals (photographed by frequent Zhang collaborator Zhao Xiaoding) and the hokey exaggerations of the story are well matched." (Read the full review...) 749 words, 12/23/11 Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: FAIR (cg) "...one of the worst works in the otherwise brilliant career of Zhang Yimou.... a mishmash of a movie, a conventional, old-fashioned schmaltzy work..." (Read the full review...) 572 words, 12/26/11 Mike Hale, New York Times: POOR "...revisits the Nanjing massacre of 1937 by making something resembling a backstage musical, with breaks for the occasional ghastly murder or rape." (Read the full review...) 936 words, 12/21/11
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